PORT ANGELES — A contract renewal for the Clallam business incubator was slated for routine approval at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
Instead, it was the subject of heated debate before being rejected on a 4-3 vote.
Another contract with the Clallam County Economic Development Council, also slated for routine approval, was pulled from consideration by Councilwoman Karen Rogers, who said it was at the request of the EDC.
“Let us look at it in more detail,” said City Councilman Don Perry, after the vote to reject the 2009-2012 contract with the Clallam business incubator, known as the Incubator@Lincoln Center.
Councilwoman Cherie Kidd initiated the move to remove the incubator contract from the consent agenda, saying she wanted to review the agreement before approving it.
The consent agenda is a list of routine items that are approved with a single vote.
Rogers, Councilman Larry Williams and Mayor Gary Braun voted for approval of the contract, which did not state a monetary amount.
Kidd and Perry were joined in rejecting the contract by and Councilman Dan Di Guilio and Councilwoman Betsy Wharton.
Perry questioned why an agreement that used to be for one year now was for four years.
Wharton said she saw too much similarity between the Incubator and the EDC.
“Why do we have two agencies doing the same job?” she asked.
