Housing woes hashed out before hearing

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Even a week before the county convenes its official public hearing on whether to place a home opportunity fund levy on the November ballot, people continued to offer personal testimonials about the impacts of the county’s lack of affordable housing.

The Jefferson County commissioners have scheduled a public hearing for 6 p.m., Monday, July 24 in the Jefferson County Superior Courtroom, but during their July 17 regular commission meeting, Brent Garrett and Diane Johnson suggested that the county needs to invest in expanding sewer systems to make more housing possible.

Garrett claims he’s faced with the prospect of evicting “two 65-year-old ladies” from the upstairs apartment in The Hadlock House because the septic system has been deemed insufficient to serve the apartment, while Johnson recalled the goal of Margaret Matheson to establish low-income senior housing in Port Hadlock, which she sees as having been held up by a lack of a sewer system.

“The land is available,” Johnson said. “We’ve offered. A lot of units are already in the planning department, but there’s a backlog of permits. Why is there a logjam?”

YOUNG FAMILIES

Bruce Cowan, manager of the Homes Now! campaign on behalf of the levy, asserted the importance of providing affordable housing to younger families, especially since the unfettered housing market “does not respond” to the needs of low-income renters.

Cowan reiterated his comments made at the Sheriff’s Citizen Advisory Committee meeting July 6, and called for the identified staffing need for sheriff’s deputies to be “considered separately,” although he believes that affordable housing contributes to public safety.

“Those who have more stable housing are less likely to break the law,” Cowan said.

Tom Thiersch addressed the comments of Cowan and Johnson, urging the commissioners not to confuse low-income housing with the housing market overall, since “most of that backlog of permits is not for low-income housing,” and recommending further sewer development rather than “a charity giveaway.”

“If you invest in infrastructure, you will get your money back,” said Thiersch, who recommended the county follow the example of the City of Seattle by working to repeal the state law against an income tax.

HOUSING ANXIETY

Serenity Lombard was hesitant to speak about her own housing anxiety, but now that her child has graduated from high school, she expects she’ll be moving out of the community soon.

In 2009, she moved into a rental for $650 a month, and didn’t see that cost change until five years later.

“After that, I saw two-bedroom rentals go for $700, then $850,” Lombard said. “I met a woman with two children who was homeless because she couldn’t afford housing here.”

Lombard previously worked at a local software company that went out of business after eight years, and she questioned why another one hadn’t sprung up to replace it, given how close Port Townsend is to the high-tech industries of Seattle.

“If I’m being expected to pay $1,800 a month now, plus utilities, I should have a job where I can make $35,000 or $40,000 a year.”

Commissioner Kate Dean thanked Lombard for sharing her story, and agreed with Thiersch that the Growth Management Act has had the unintended consequence of “accumulating capital in urban areas, and limiting it in rural areas.”

Commission chair Kathleen Kler noted that, as the prioritization of federal funding moves toward public/private partnerships, problems arise because “sewer systems don’t offer a return on their investments for private businesses,” although she and County Administrator Philip Morley hastened to add that the county is “still pursuing” housing options in Port Hadlock.

SHERIFF’S EMAIL

Prior to the commissioners’ meeting, in an email dated July 12, Sheriff David Stanko repeated the results of the Washington State University staffing study that concluded that his department needs seven additional deputies, and contrasted the costs of those hires with the levy being proposed by the county of 36 cents per $1,000 assessed property value.

“I need seven deputies,” Stanko wrote. “A deputy costs [4 cents per $1,000]. So for [16 cents], I could have 4 deputies.”

In the email, Stanko accused the commissioners of being unwilling to compromise.

“I believe that housing is important,” wrote Stanko, whose email nonetheless declared that “PUBLIC SAFETY trumps all until I am staffed.

“I have had 4 serious situations in the last 18 months that could have ended in deadly force,” Stanko wrote. “All four worked out OK. This because of our stellar deputies and the ‘grace of GOD.’ One deputy was in a [19-minute] fight in Brinnon. Without a backup, that is not acceptable.”

When contacted by The Leader via email, Stanko wrote that he was “just trying to get all the facts out to inform our community of the issues that are important. We are mandated for public safety. I realize, as I said, that housing is an issue. However, public safety is a priority for our community, and me, to send our deputies home safe to their families.”

The “Jefferson County Washington” Facebook page reposted the content of Stanko’s email online July 16, but Stanko pointed out that Jefferson County, the Sheriff’s Office and Stanko himself “do not maintain a social media presence.”