PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Democratic Party wants the city and port to stop funding Port Angeles Harbor-Works Development Authority.
In a unanimous vote of the 50 Democrats at the county Democratic Party Convention over the weekend, the party asked the City Council and Port Commission to halt the funding or put the public development authority’s status to a public vote.
Of the $1.3 million already loaned to the 23-month-old authority by the port and City Council, “this resolution does not address that,” said county party chairman John Marrs.
The resolution was originally drafted by Norma Turner, a longtime Harbor-Works foe, and was passed unanimously by the county Democratic Central Committee, Marrs said.
“I think it is interesting that this went through two different groups, and both passed it unanimously,” Turner said Monday.
“I think it just goes to show that just like I hear everywhere I go, people have questions and concerns about the formation of Harbor-Works and what they are doing.
“But when you go to [local government] meetings, all you hear is universal support — I think that this shows that there is a disconnect.”
Harbor-Works was created in May 2008 to possibly acquire Rayonier Inc.’s 75-acre former pulp mill site and redevelop the property, as well as assist in the environmental cleanup of the land and acquire a large existing tank to handle sewage overflows.
City and port staff worked behind the scenes for months to put documents together to create the public development authority.
The authority was officially approved at a May 20, 2008, joint city-port meeting.
Turner and Port Angeles attorney Shirley Nixon have been unsuccessful in getting the state Auditor’s Office to challenge the formation of Harbor-Works.
Port Angeles Mayor Dan Di Guilio, who was a City Council member when Harbor-Works was created, declined Monday to comment on the Democrats’ resolution.
“This is the first I’ve heard about it, and I’d like to ask them some questions on their reasoning before I can make any comment,” he said.
Port of Port Angeles Commission President George Schoenfeldt, who considers himself a political independent, said the Rayonier property “had sat there for 11 years before we got involved, and I have to wonder where the Democratic Party was at that time to make something happen.”
He said that Harbor-Works was created for fact-finding and, if the property lends itself to public ownership, it will acquire it.
“I’m a little disappointed that this late in the game they come out with a statement like that,” Schoenfeldt said.
“It is unfortunate that the partisan politics have to get involved in something like this — but for us at the port, they are just a part of who we have to listen to and what we feel is best overall.”
He said he did not believe that the statement from the party would be enough to bring the issue back before the three-member Port Commission.
“Of course, once we have all the information from Harbor-Works and all of the data, we will give input on whether they should [acquire the Rayonier property],” he said.
“And no decisions have been made.”
City Council member Brad Collins, a former Port Angeles community development director, was a critic of Harbor-Works when he was running for a seat on the port commission last November.
After narrowly losing to incumbent Commissioner John Calhoun, Collins was appointed to the City Council.
“My position has not changed,” Collins said. “I don’t believe that this should move forward.
“Since I’ve been appointed, no funding decision on Harbor-Works has come up.
“Most city councils are not really responsive to Republican or Democrat type of issues, but who knows, I’m new here so maybe this council will be.”
Orville Campbell, president of the Harbor-Works Board of Directors, said that the group probably will not discuss the Democrats’ resolution.
Turner said that although she drafted the original resolution, several other people in the county Democratic Party worked on it as well.
“This isn’t really a partisan issue,” she said. “It could have easily been any other community group.
“We haven’t pursued that, but it is an idea to think about that other groups might also pass similar resolutions.”
__________
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
