PORT TOWNSEND — The relationship between the city of Port Townsend and Jefferson County could improve significantly, said City Council candidates.
About 60 people attended Monday night’s forum at the Port Townsend Elks Club for Position 6 candidates David Rice, 32, and Amy Smith, 33; and Position 7 candidates David Faber, 32, and Travis Keena, 39.
The candidates will be on the Nov. 3 general election ballot, which will be mailed to voters Oct. 14.
The topic of city-county relations was introduced by Jefferson County Commissioner Kathleen Kler.
She asked how the relationship between the two governing bodies “could be healthier and allow us to work together.”
Said Smith: “We need to understand . . . where those communication breakdowns happened so we don’t repeat them.
“Both of our jobs have to do with taking care of the public, making it absolutely necessary for the governments to work in collaboration, in concert and pointed in the same direction,” said Smith, who works as executive director of the Boiler Room.
‘Making assumptions’
Rice said breakdown comes “from people making assumptions and not taking the time to listen to each other.
“I would encourage the county administrator and the city manager to meet frequently, and for the members of the City Council and county commission to attend each other’s meetings and listen to what each other has to say.”
Rice works in visual design and creative service and is a production assistant for Workin’ Man Creative, a partner with Rock Fish Group.
Faber, a Port Townsend attorney, said several disagreements between the city and county go back to the 1970s.
That drove a wedge between the two entities, he said, adding that he thinks the situation is improving.
Keena, who works in maintenance for the Port of Port Townsend, said the agencies overlap in several areas and that money could be saved if the different agencies “collaborate instead of trying to do things differently.”
Incumbent City Councilman Robert Gray, who is unopposed for the Position 4 seat, said at the forum that the divide is wider between residents of Port Townsend and those in other parts of the county than with the city and county government.
Smith and Rice, who are friends, expressed regret they are opposing each other.
Rice said the two have much in common, including many mutual friends. Smith encouraged Rice “to run again in two or four years.”
Faber said of Keena that the two “agree on a lot, although we have different education and employment backgrounds.
“I have experience dealing in complex issues of policy and law, and I am a negotiator, a skill set that will benefit the City Council,” he added.
Keena said he initially ran because he wanted someone young to be on the council.
“We have different ideas about funding,” he said.
“I’m a little more wary about expecting grants, as they often don’t cover everything you need to fund and they have strings attached.”
The Position 6 seat is being vacated by Mayor David King, who is not running for a third term.
Deputy Mayor Kris Nelson is not running for re-election to Position 7.
The meeting was the second in a series of three candidate forums sponsored by the chamber on successive weeks.
Jefferson Healthcare commissioner candidates appeared Sept. 21. Port of Port Townsend candidates are scheduled to appear at noon Monday at the Port Townsend Elks Club, 333 Otto St.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
