PORT TOWNSEND — Former Mayor Kees Kolff plans to apologize for his role in a California shipping company’s decision not to locate its new shipyard in Port Townsend.
City Councilman Kolff, whose term as mayor ended at the beginning of this month, issued a statement at a City Council retreat on Saturday saying he would apologize for any mistakes he might have made in meeting with the president of Santa Maria Shipping LLC.
Kolff said he will issue the apology during a speech at Tuesday night’s council meeting.
The council meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers of City Hall, 540 Water St.
The shipbuilding company last week announced that it had chosen Raymond in Pacific County over Port Townsend for its new plant to build small container ships.
The Santa Maria company president and Port of Port Townsend staff have said that the former mayor’s blunt comments during a November meeting in a Port Townsend restaurant dissuaded Santa Maria from locating here.
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The rest of the story appears in Sunday’s Peninsula Daily News.
