PORT ANGELES — City Council candidate Max Mania was once again on the offensive against his opponent, Edna Petersen, at a forum last week.
The Thursday night forum — sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Clallam County and American Association of University Women, and the last one scheduled for the four Port Angeles City Council positions up for grabs — also included City Council candidates Larry Little, Cody Blevins, Patrick Downie, Harry Bell, Brooke Nelson and incumbent Betsy Wharton.
In front of a capacity crowd of about 80 in the council chambers at City Hall, Mania accused Petersen of violating the city’s municipal code regarding conflicts of interest when she served on the council as an appointee from 2006 to 2008.
“Edna, while she was briefly on the council, voted to give huge city construction contracts for The Gateway to her son’s construction company,” said Mania, who also came out swinging at an Oct. 5 debate.
“This not only violated city rules regarding conflicts of interest, but, I believe, also showed a serious lack of judgment.”
Mania was referring to City Council minutes from two meetings, one in 2006 and another in 2007, which say Petersen announced that her son, Gerald Petersen, works for Primo Construction before voting in favor of construction contracts with the Carlsborg-based company.
Petersen said at the forum that her son is a superintendent with the company.
The meeting minutes, provided to the Peninsula Daily News by Mania, show that those contracts were for two sewer projects that were not related to The Gateway transit center.
No conflict
Petersen defended herself by saying that she cleared herself of any conflict of interest, under advice from City Attorney Bill Bloor, by announcing publicly before the vote that her son works for Primo Construction, and criticized Mania for suggesting that her son owned the company.
“My son does not own a construction company that did any work with the city of Port Angeles,” she said.
“That’s an absolutely erroneous statement.”
Mania conceded after the forum that his statement was “a little ambiguous” when asked about it, but he said he did not intend to imply that Gerald Petersen owns the company.
“Conflict of interest applies if they are an employee” as well, he said.
The section of the city’s municipal code that Mania was referring to says that no “officer, employee, or agent of the city of Port Angeles” will award a contract supported by federal grants if there would be a conflict of interest, “real or apparent.”
The code lists members of immediate family members who have an interest in the contract as a conflict of interest.
Bloor was out of town Friday and could not be reached to clarify the code, particularly the reference to federal grants.
Petersen also used about half of her closing statement to fire back at Mania.
Disrespect
“Candidate Mania has insulted me this evening . . . I never intended for this race to come to this level of disrespect,” she said.
“And I apologize to all of you that you had to listen to it this evening.”
Would Petersen handle a similar situation differently, if elected?
She said Friday she wouldn’t need to, since she had followed the advice of the city’s attorney, before adding:
“I just did what I thought I was supposed to do. I raised my hand at meetings, said I have a son that works with Primo.”
“My son doesn’t support me [financially]; I don’t support him,” she said.
While they exchanged blows at the beginning and end of their debate, both candidates showed little difference in their answers to the questions from the audience.
Audience questions
They both referred to Rayonier Inc.’s former pulp mill site on the Port Angeles waterfront as a “jewel” that needs to be redeveloped, said it was too early to tell how much city money will need to be spent on the property — which has been a state cleanup site since 2000 — urged people to shop locally in response to a question on how to fill the vacancy at the former Gottschalks downtown location, and said that residents need to become more involved in their city government.
The rest of the forum was cordial, with each of the other six candidates stopping far short of criticizing each other.
Even when Nelson was asked why she chose to run against Wharton, the council’s deputy mayor and sole incumbent in the general election, and what she could have done better during her time on the council, the real estate agent chose instead to give her opponent a compliment.
“I haven’t found anything distinctively unsatisfactory” with Wharton, Nelson said.
“Anyone who serves or chooses to run is committed to our community.”
Wharton also spoke fairly highly of her opponent.
“I wish I could work with Brooke” on the council, she said.
During their debate, Nelson said the city should figure out how to turn the jobs on the Elwha dams removal project into long-term employment.
The two dams on the Elwha River west of Port Angeles — the Glines Canyon Dam and the Elwha Dam — will be removed in a $308 million project scheduled to begin in 2011, with the goal of restoring salmon runs in the river.
Wharton, who was elected the council in 2005, said she has the experience that the council needs.
Little-Blevins
Candidates Little and Blevins both emphasized economic development during their debate.
Little emphasized enacting the recommendations from a report issued by the American Institute of Architects last August on how Port Angeles can improve its commercial areas, mainly downtown, as a way to provide a “blueprint for a more vibrant community.”
“I think we are at the bottom of the threshold for really turning the corner for some very positive things in this community,” he added.
Blevins, in his response, focused on bringing more family-wage jobs to the city.
“We need to have a diverse economy here,” he said. “One that offers opportunities to allow younger families or even older families to be able to stay here . . . and give to their family.”
When asked about “economic sustainability,” Bell and Downie both said that they favor jobs that provide a balance between economic and environmental needs.
“We need to fulfill our needs without closing the needs of generations in the future,” Bell said.
Downie said, “This is a town of hard working people, and we need to expand and become more diverse.”
Both also said they would be open to having a Lower Elwha Klallam tribal representative sit on the council as a non-voting member.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
