PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County’s economic future will be the topic of a free “Community Conversation” with nationally known planner and engineer Charles Marohn at 5 p.m. Thursday, courtesy of a coalition of local leaders.
The Intergovernmental Collaborative Group, formed last June to confront COVID-19’s effects on the county, will host the two-hour open meeting, which can be viewed live via the link provided at www.co.jefferson.wa.us. KPTZ-FM 91.9 and KPTZ.org also will broadcast the event live.
Marohn is the founder of Strong Towns, an organization devoted to helping communities build financial resilience, and the author of “Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity.” Working from his hometown of Brainerd, Minn., he gives presentations across the United States.
The collaborative group, which includes representatives from Jefferson County’s Board of Commissioners and Public Utilities District, the city of Port Townsend and the Port of Port Townsend, hired Marohn to give an hour-long talk and then take questions from the audience and the collaborative group for another hour.
District 1 Port commissioner Pam Petranek, rotating chairperson of the group, hopes for an invigorating evening.
“While some will advocate for a return to pre-COVID-19 economic status quo, others will see this [period of time] as an opportunity for change,” she said.
In an interview this week from his office in Minnesota, Marohn spoke about the balancing act communities must perform if they’re to prosper.
“Cities are way more than growth and job creation,” he said.
“Cities are human habitat; habitat we’ve built for ourselves,” though all too often, the way those roads and buildings are designed don’t improve quality of life.
Communities struggle to fund the construction and maintenance of those basic things, Marohn added, saying they may depend too much on the federal government.
The Strong Towns approach, explained in articles and podcasts on strongtowns.org, is based on a new way of thinking — one that takes into account what humans need to live their best lives.
“I’m a firm believer we can do complex things together,” Marohn said. “Government has a big role,” but communities must build themselves from the bottom up.
A city like Port Townsend, for example, can become too reliant on federal money to repair and improve its roads. Time and energy poured into getting those grants can crowd out the need to come at such problems with creative approaches.
As a member of the Intergovernmental Collaborative Group, the Port of Port Townsend is paying Marohn $2,000 for Thursday’s presentation.
On its website, Jeffcotogether.net, the group provides links to its other endeavors, including the COVID-19 Recovery & Resiliency Plan adopted in December.
The plan, which aims to communicate a vision of resilience for Jefferson County, lays out a list of goals that range from opening an affordable childcare center to providing a COVID navigator to connect people to post-emergency services.
More wi-fi hotspots, computers and internet services to underserved households, a mental health resiliency project and planning for countywide broadband service are also on the list.
COVID-19 is the first of many future shocks, Petranek noted, adding the time is now to reform the county’s economy.
“Let’s proactively build a new shared language and framework for the future,” she 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.
