PORT TOWNSEND — Twenty-three people have been hired by the city of Port Townsend since Pamela Martinez, the new Director of People and Performance, began Oct. 1.
These include five entry-level police officers and two officers making lateral moves into the police department, which has been suffering from a severe shortage.
Martinez informed the Port Townsend City Council of these and other hires during a workshop meeting this week.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” she said, even if those police officers won’t be picking up shifts any time soon. They will need background checks and training, which can take many months, Police Chief Tom Olson has said.
“The good news,” the chief told the council, “is we did recently hire a CSO [Community Service Officer], and he’s hit the ground running,” already attending a Rhododendron Festival meeting this week.
Brian Kalscheuer is the full-time civilian CSO who will be working with organizers of some 60 public events during the coming festival season, Olson said in a later interview.
He’ll also be involved with downtown parking enforcement and collect data about speeding in various neighborhoods.
During the City Council’s Monday night meeting, such hirings were part of a discussion of the 2022 work plan, a document covering some 60 tasks city leaders want to complete. They’re color-coded: Green means it’s on track; yellow means delayed and red means it probably will wait till 2023.
Green projects include:
• The Sims Way Gateway Project, which may mean cutting of some 130 poplar trees;
• The “How Your City Works” educational program to be presented by the Port Townsend Library;
• The city’s staff recruitment strategy with focus on the Police Department;
• Strategic and sustainability planning for the city’s parks, with new director Carrie Hite;
• The Mountain View Commons master plan;
• Planning for sustainable Mountain View Pool operations.
Among the tasks given the yellow light are the Evans Vista affordable housing project. The city purchased 14 acres for a developer to build new housing south of Sims Way near the Rainier Street roundabout, but progress is delayed, Public Works Director Steve King said.
“We were hoping for some [state Department of] Commerce funding for technical assistance,” he said, adding that the grant didn’t come through.
The city also lacks a planning director, which “hurt us a bit,” King said.
Lance Bailey, who held that post until last December, left it vacant when he moved to the city of Monroe.
Implementation of the comprehensive streets plan, with traffic calming devices, striping and new revenue procurement, is also delayed. So is the launch of a Race and Social Justice Advisory Board.
King added that he’s tired of saying “We can’t do this because we don’t have staff. That’s all we ever say” — so he listed tasks that have moved forward.
They include the building of the city golf course well, the tracking and billing of Port Townsend Paper Corp. water use and the planned installation in July of lights at Tyler Street Plaza.
The stalled projects include a city parking management strategy. Parking has been the topic of much debate this spring as the City Council considers whether to allow long-term “streateries,” dining spaces where there were once parking spaces downtown and Uptown.
That debate is on the agenda for the council’s meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday; attendance can be in person at City Hall, 250 Madison St., or online via cityofPT.us and then Government and Agendas and Minutes.
The entire 2022 work plan presentation is also on the city’s website via City Meetings & Events, under the April 11 City Council Workshop agenda.
Parking enforcement is “a staffing issue,” the police chief said, since it takes time for officers to mark vehicle tires and then cite drivers who stay too long.
Olson said he’s not interested in having volunteers enforce the time limits on downtown spaces, as has been done in the past. He also issued a warning: “We will be out there this summer,” he said.
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Jefferson County Senior Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz @peninsuladailynews.com.
