PORT ANGELES — City Councilwoman Cherie Kidd has received consent from her council colleagues to seek grant funding for suicide-prevention barriers on the Eighth Street bridges.
But the former mayor did not get the go-ahead until after a sometimes-heated meeting Tuesday.
Council members questioned the efficacy of the resolution that would authorize Kidd to seek 100 percent grant funding for enhanced safety railings for the two spans.
They first voted 4-2 in favor of the measure.
But it was not enough to give Kidd the unanimous approval she had requested as part of the resolution.
Mayor Dan Di Guilio and Deputy Mayor Patrick Downie were opposed.
Councilman Dan Gase was absent. A real estate broker, he said Wednesday he was at a real estate continuing education class in Seattle.
The tide changed after a five-minute recess.
Prodded by Councilman Lee Whetham, who said he did not realize the resolution needed unanimous approval, council members rescinded the measure they had just voted on.
Then, sitting at the dais in council chambers, they changed the wording to downplay Kidd’s involvement, crossing out her name in two instances and substituting it with “the city.”
But it retains a “whereas” that recognizes Kidd’s offer “to lead a search for a 100 percent funding grant for purposes of installation of an augmented safety railing system for the [Eighth] Street bridges.”
They also took out the unanimous approval requirement — and approved it unanimously anyway.
Kidd, her arms outstretched and her mouth agape, looked stunned but happy.
By Wednesday morning, Kidd said she realized she still has work to do.
The resolution does not foresee city money being spent on the barrier, the cost of which has been estimated by public works at about $1 million.
Yet most state and federal capital-project grant funding requires matching grants.
“I realize that,” said Kidd, who is running for re-election, on Wednesday.
“I’m just taking it a step at a time with a positive attitude.”
She said she discussed a possible grant with a contact in Olympia but would not be more specific Tuesday night or in an interview Wednesday.
The bridges have 4-foot-6-inch wall railings and stand 100 feet above the Valley Creek and Tumwater Truck Route gorges.
There have been four deaths by suicide from the spans since 2009, when they replaced bridges built in 1936 that were supplemented with higher barriers after construction.
There also have been 23 suicide threats, which did not result in death, at or within a block of the bridges as of Tuesday since the spans were built, according to police records. The last was April 11.
The suicide threats range from actual attempts to someone who, for example, sees a person standing at the railing and reports their suspicions to the police, Deputy Police Chief Brian Smith explained Wednesday.
The City Council decided in 2014 not to install taller railings or fences, opting instead for four suicide-prevention signs containing a crisis hotline phone number on light poles on each span.
Whetham, noting that Clallam County alternates between having the first- and second-highest overall deaths by suicide of any county in Washington state, said the bridges attract those who are thinking about doing themselves harm.
Fences would give them a chance to think about it, “a chance for someone to reach out and give them a hand,” Whetham said.
Kidd said when the new bridges were built, an advisory committee unanimously recommended higher fences, but the cost was prohibitive.
She defended mental health services but said more is needed.
“Sometimes, a safety net can be helpful,” she said.
But Downie, one of the more vigorous critics of the original resolution, suggested a portion of grant funding — perhaps 20 percent — should also pay for mental health services “for people who never get to that point” of jumping off one of the bridges.
“If you ask the folks at Peninsula [Behavioral] Health, they would welcome any financial support to augment their professional services,” he said.
“I will take your request under advisement,” Kidd responded.
“I will do my best to accomplish this. You are asking me to do everything.”
Di Guilio said he was concerned about asking one council member to seek funding.
Responded Kidd: “I brought this to the council so I would not act alone.”
She also repeatedly stressed that the full council would have the final say on accepting fence funding.
Councilwoman Sissi Bruch said she was hesitant to install higher fences “because I don’t believe in them.”
Councilman Brad Collins said he expected the community would pressure the City Council to supplement grant funding.
“Being on the City Council is pressure, sir,” responded Kidd, a former mayor. “We can’t please everyone.”
The revised resolution makes Kidd’s efforts “more collaborative,” Downie said after the meeting.
“[Kidd] has to be the leader, but she doesn’t have to be the exclusive leader.”
It’s also “much more generic,” Di Guilio said Wednesday.
“It was all-inclusive of the council rather than identifying one council member.”
Residents also weighed in on the usefulness of fencing during the public comment portion of the meeting before council members took up the issue.
“You’re going to [die by suicide] whether there’s a railing or not,” Audra Cyganowski said.
Cheryl Baumann disagreed.
“Studies have shown that if you can deter people who are suicidal for a reasonable amount of time, that deterrent gives them time for treatment and services and a new lease on life,” she said.
Baumann suggested the city should offer 15 percent in matching funds to attract a grant.
“They want to see if you’ve got skin in the game,” she said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
