PORT ANGELES — Candidates for two seats on the seven-chair Port Angeles City Council found few areas of disagreement at a Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce forum Monday.
The forum featured candidates for Position 1, incumbent Brad Collins and challenger Drew Schwab, and Position 5, incumbent Dan Di Guilio — who serves as the council-elected mayor — and Noelle Fuller.
About 40 members of the chamber and their guests at Monday’s luncheon meeting at the Red Lion Hotel provided questions on subjects including awarding contracts to local businesses and the fate of tall fir trees growing at Lincoln Park.
Candidates were asked for their positions on the trees, which the Federal Aviation Administration says have grown too tall and affect runway approaches at nearby William R. Fairchild International Airport.
The Port of Port Angeles, which owns the airport, and the city, which owns the park, have been collaborating on a long-term plan to redevelop Lincoln Park and remove most of the trees that the FAA says grow into the approach zone of the runway.
Port commissioners have advocated clearcutting the flight path and replacing the existing 60- to 70-year-old trees, mostly Douglas fir, with varieties that will not grow as tall.
But the tall trees have their fans, and the prospect of their felling has sparked a public outcry from neighbors and many of those who use the park.
“We do need to trim those trees,” said Di Guilio, a retired Clallam Transit manager who has been on the City Council for four years.
Some of those trees will need to be removed to keep the runways open, he said.
Every time those corporate jets come here, they are carrying clients who bring money to Port Angeles businesses, he said.
“We have to do something with the trees,” said Fuller, a Port Angeles native and owner of a downtown retailing business.
Many of the trees will have to come down, but some are included to be cut that are not in the flight path, she said.
“We could potentially preserve some of those,” she said.
There is one road west from Port Angeles and one road east, said Schwab, a Port Angeles business owner and member of the Port Angeles Downtown Association Board of Directors. In a catastrophe, the airport is the city’s lifeline.
“If the trees need to be cut, the trees need to be cut,” he said.
“Clearcutting Lincoln Park is an extreme option but is not what is called for by the FAA,” said Collins, a former city planning director who is completing his second year as a council member and formerly sat on the port’s airport advisory committee.
Cutting at the park, Collins said, should be no different than that done at Jessie Webster Park, where hazardous trees — those that were diseased or old and could fall and injure someone — were removed.
“Look at these as hazard trees that could cause an airplane to crash,” he said.
One audience member asked why large contracts have been awarded to out-of-state businesses, when there are businesses in Port Angeles that do the same job and would keep the money in the community.
“If you can get that service locally, I would go there,” Collins said.
Schwab agreed but noted there are a number of laws requiring governments to take the lowest bidder, with little or no leeway for cities to choose local businesses over low bidders from other areas.
“The local bidder is not always the lowest bidder,” he said.
Also at times, a local business may not be the most qualified for the job, Fuller said. Choosing the right person for the job is important.
Di Guilio agreed if there is someone local with the technical expertise required for the job, that business would be encouraged to bid for the job.
“We cannot require local preference,” he said.
Contenders for Position 6, incumbent Don Perry and Sissi Bruch, and incumbent Cherie Kidd are expected to take part in a second chamber forum at noon, Monday at the Red Lion Hotel, 221 N. Lincoln St.
Candidate Cody Blevins, who was challenging Kidd for Position 7, bowed out of the race for personal reasons.
All seven Port Angeles City Council candidates are scheduled for a League of Women Voters candidates forum at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, in the Port Angeles City Hall council chambers, 321 E. Fifth St.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
