PORT HADLOCK— Between January and August, the voters changed their minds, the director of the Jefferson County Library concluded after a bond measure to expand the Port Hadlock facility was soundly defeated.
The bond would have raised all but $600,000 of a $9 million bond for expansion of the Jefferson County Library’s main branch.
In the first count of primary election ballots Tuesday night, those rejecting the measure cast 4,059 votes, or
54.46 percent, while supporters cast 3,394 votes, or 45.54 percent. A supermajority — 60 percent plus one vote — would have been needed to pass the measure.
The next count of outstanding ballots in the all-mail election, which is planned at about noon Friday, isn’t expected to change the outcome.
“We polled the electorate in January and found that a majority of the voters favored that action, something that changed substantially between January and August,” library Director Ray Serebrin said Wednesday.
“We ran this vote in the middle of a very bad economic situation, and that contributed to its defeat,” he said.
The poll conducted by the Nelson Report of Salem, Ore., in January surveyed 373 people and reported a 67 percent approval rating — more than enough to pass the measure.
“We would not have proceeded with this if we didn’t have that information,” Serebrin said.
“But the voters gave us the message that they did not support our vision.”
If it had been approved, the measure would have raised property taxes by $44 per year for 20 years for a house valued at $250,000, which is the average home value for the library district.
It would have been used to renovate and expand the main library in Port Hadlock, adding 9,700 square feet to the existing 10,000-square-foot building, which will also have undergone considerable renovations.
In the wake of the measure’s defeat, Serebrin said he will meet with the library board in the next month and attempt to develop funding alternatives.
He does not now know what those options might be.
He said the need for more space and facilities that motivated the measure still exists and that the current facilities do not serve patrons’ needs.
He said the library would not be cutting back on hours or employees as “the measure was meant to support new facilities and will have no impact on service.”
During the campaign, Davis Steelquist of Quilcene became a spokesman against the measure but said he supports the library.
“The measure failed because the board and the library director allowed the consultants’ enthusiasm to drive them rather than having them figure out what the community could afford and support,” Steelquist said.
“They needed a ‘devil’s advocate’ to argue whether some of the things they wanted were really needed.”
Steelquist said he thought the $9 million figure could have been pared down to $3 million or $4 million.
The total number of ballots counted in Jefferson County on Tuesday — which included ballots for a Port Townsend City Council race — were 9,901, or 45.36 percent, out of 21,827 issued, said Karen Cartmel, chief deputy auditor and elections coordinator.
________
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
