PORT TOWNSEND — Candidates for the Jefferson County District 1 commissioner seat discussed at a forum how the county could help create affordable housing.
“There has been a lot of discussion about affordable housing where the county hasn’t been at the table,” Kate Dean said at the forum at the Port Townsend Community Center on Wednesday.
She added that the topic is brought to her attention several times a day.
“The county has a lot of assets like land and bonding capacity, and should choose to apply them in this area,” she said.
Dean, 41, is the North Olympic Peninsula Resource Conservation & Development Council manager. She is on the Aug. 2 primary election ballot with contractor Tim Thomas, 45; Jefferson County Planning Commission chair Cynthia Koan, 53; contractor Jeff Gallant, 59; and Port Townsend landscaper Holly Postmus, 55.
The top two vote-getters will advance to Nov. 8 general election, regardless of party affiliation.
Gallant is running as a Republican and Postmus has expressed no praty preference while the others have expressed a preference for the Democratic Party.
The winning candidate will fill the seat vacated by Phil Johnson, who opted not to run for reelection.
Permit fees
Koan said the county can be most accommodating by lowering permit fees for those who cannot afford them.
“Our Department of Community Development is a profit center and needs to make money but people who don’t have a lot of money cuts a lot of the access,” she said.
“We are in a place where a lot of people want to live, but there are people who can’t afford to pay.”
Thomas said the city council and county commissioners could jump-start the construction of affordable housing by approving waivers that allow builders to create “mini apartments” for singles and young couples.
This would more likely occur in Port Townsend due to the lack of sewer service in unincorporated areas, he added.
“The best place for this to do this is inside city limits because they already have the infrastructure in place,” Thomas said.
Gallant suggested establishing alternative revenue sources, such as a housing trust that operates like a land trust, providing construction money to potential low-income homeowners.
“There aren’t a lot of people building houses on [a less expensive] level as builders are having a hard time getting their money back,” Gallant said.
Environmental issues
Gallant said he is an atypical Republican since his biggest priority has to do with environmental issues and dealing with global warming.
The forum took a lighter tone with its second to last question, when 9-year old Rennie O’Donnell asked if they would do anything to make school buses less uncomfortable.
Thomas agreed they aren’t comfortable and said he’d like to see better seats.
Koan, who grew up in Port Townsend, recalled a school bus driver who drove so fast on a hilly road that students would fly into the air, sometimes landing on the seat in front of the one in which they had been sitting.
Gallant provided a one word answer: “No.”
Dean, speaking last, said the question opened a related question.
“This is a great opportunity to talk about walking and biking,” she said.
“Creating a walkable environment is a very important part of structural development.”
O’Donnell is Dean’s daughter. Dean said that she did not ask her to speak at the forum.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
