PORT ANGELES — To manage its finances in a tough economy, the city of Port Angeles needs to work with Clallam County government, other cities and the Port Angeles Downtown Association.
That was one of the conclusions reached in a seven-hour Port Angeles City Council retreat at Peninsula College on Saturday.
“There’s just no way that the city can do everything on our own,” Port Angeles City Manager Kent Myers said after the meeting.
“We’re going to depend on a real close working relationship with the county, the downtown business association, working with other cities, and just have to be better partners because of the need for dollars.”
The seven council members also discussed an increase in public records requests — 52 since January, costing $20,018, compared with 19 in the same time period in 2008 — and ways to provide information to the public.
No action was taken during the casual, informal retreat that included a working lunch with the city’s department heads.
Rules and procedure
Topics included city finances, City Council rules and procedure, future sustainability, public records requests, ways to be more transparent and improving working relationships with local media and within the council itself.
Myers said he will bring several recommendations about topics discussed at the meeting to the council at 6 p.m. Tuesday, during its regular meeting at 321 E. Fifth St.
“It was very positive and productive,” Myers said about the retreat. “I think the major accomplishment as a result of this is, the council members understand each other better.
“I think it provided a much-improved level of understanding between the individual council members.”
The council also discussed ways to handle the flood of public record requests.
Records requests
The requests varied, but they have become more frequent since executive sessions were held on The Gateway project, a downtown transit center that has opened only to bus traffic, it was noted.
“Would those have happened if we had the discussion on The Gateway out in the open?” Myers asked.
“I don’t know.”
Myers said the city has the ability to post more documents on its Web site, which could help reduce costs.
Council member Cherie Kidd said the city can improve its outreach by staffing booths at community events.
“We need to be out there and accessible, to increase the feeling that we’re accessible, so we can listen,” Kidd said.
Council member Karen Rogers countered Kidd’s argument.
“Why do you think we’re not out there?” Rogers asked.
“Have you been to the grocery store lately?”
Kidd said a public forum with two council members called community convesations has not met expectations because of the low turnout.
She suggested that city officials make themselves more accessible to the public by setting up a booth at community events.
Deputy Mayor Betsy Wharton broached the idea of displaying visuals of the city’s long-term plans, like a south-side expressway, on the empty wall space at city hall.
Financial future
At the end of the first quarter, Port Angeles had a general fund balance of $1.15 million more than budgeted.
“Knowing the challenges ahead of us, let’s just put that in the reserve right now,” Myers told the seven council members.
“Don’t spend that for a lot of new capital projects, but let’s kind of set that aside for right now, and see what happens over the next three to six months.”
Cost saving ideas like cutting back the hours at the city utility counter were floated, but few other specifics were mentioned in the board discussion.
Wharton said the public should be included early in the budget-making process.
“The picture is not very bright for 2010,” Myers said.
“Things look pretty bad in terms of sales tax, the closing of Gottschalks, the closing of the [Hood Canal] bridge [for six weeks beginning May 1] and I could go on and on. We’ve got to be very conservative spending every dime.”
Mayor Gary Braun agreed with Myers’ assessment that that city needs to shore up its finances.
Port Angeles Police Chief Terry Gallagher asked the council to consider an already-understaffed police force and fire department.
“When you’re doing your long-range planning, please don’t forget about public safety,” Gallagher said.
‘Work closer’
“As we move forward in dealing with the tough financial issues, I think the council will work closer together now as a result of this discussion,” Myers said after the meeting retreat.
Council member Don Perry agreed.
“We didn’t make any decisions, but we got a lot of food for thought for the future,” Perry said.
Council member Dan Di Guilio said the retreat was “very productive.”
“We all expressed a lot of opinions about the policy of the city and our visions for the community,” Di Guilio said.
“At least now we’re all on the same page,” Perry added.
Said City Council member Larry Williams: “We just had a good overall, broad flushing out of lot of different topics.”
The long-time council member said retreats like Saturday’s are held intermittently.
“It’s been a while,” Williams said.
“It was time.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
