PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson Transit Executive Director Peggy Hanson will make two presentations on a proposed sales tax increase today — and she plans to do so carefully.
“It’s a hard road for me to walk,” said Jefferson Transit Executive Director Peggy Hanson last week.
“When asked a question, I need to stay away from any passionate speech and just supply the facts.”
Jefferson County voters will be asked in the Feb. 8 special election to approve a 0.3 percent sales tax increase to benefit the public bus service.
Approval of the measure would raise the county sales tax rate to 9 percent.
Hanson and transit board members have said failure of the measure would lead to layoffs and cuts in service.
If approved, the agency would begin receiving revenue in September.
Hanson will give two presentations today on the effects of passage or non-passage of the measure.
One presentation will be at 10:30 a.m. in front of the Jefferson County commissioners in their chambers at the county courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St., and the other at noon before the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce at 55 Otto St., Port Townsend.
Hanson, as she prepares to make these and other presentations, is aware of the law: She and all transit staff are forbidden from taking a position on the measure during working hours.
And she’s “keenly aware of what is going on in the county.”
On Oct. 30, a complaint was filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission against County Manager Philip Morley, alleging that Morley illegally lobbied for a 0.3 percent sales tax increase to benefit the county and the city of Port Townsend.
Voters approved the measure in the Nov. 2 general election. It will go into effect April 1.
Morley said he carefully parsed all his statements to ensure they followed the stated guidelines.
But Ron Gregory said that “scare tactics” were used to persuade senior citizens in particular that services would be cut if the measure did not pass.
After he filed the complaint, Gregory — who is the Jefferson County Republican chairman but who said he acted as an individual — held the complaint as he awaited more information after filing a request for all e-mails in which the proposition was mentioned by county employees.
County officials determined that 8,485 e-mails qualified.
Gregory received the first batch of 608 e-mails last week, with the remainder expected by the end of January.
Information requests are completed when the employees have time available. The first batch took about 10 hours over a period of two months.
“I am looking through the material right now and have found a few messages that may support the idea that Morley acted illegally,” Gregory said Friday.
“I will examine it all and will determine later whether to continue with the complaint or drop it, but the PDC will make the call.”
Gregory said he would wait until the evidence was in before making any accusations or drawing conclusions.
“I want to be fair,” he said. “I don’t want to accuse the county of anything they didn’t do.”
Hanson is attempting to prevent any similar action against the transit agency, she said.
She has made the regulation clear to all employees, she said.
This extends throughout the organization.
If a passenger asks a bus driver about the measure, the driver is allowed to present only objective facts — or more than likely, refer the passenger to an informational source.
Hanson acknowledged it can be difficult for voters to believe an agency representative is objective when it comes to the funding of the agency, but this makes following guidelines even more essential.
“If you were to say to me, ‘Why should I vote for this?’ I wouldn’t answer you directly,” she said. “I am only allowed to say what will happen if the measure passes or if it is voted down.”
Aside from staff instruction, she is routing all e-mail where the measure is referenced into a specific folder which will be made available for any information request.
“Transparency is the rule of law here,” she said.
________
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
