I want to congratulate the director of development services, presumably with the full support of the city manager, and city council, for making the tough decision to approve the temporary housing permit for “Pat’s Place” on 10th Street. 

I understand that there were many objections to this and I can empathize with those who opposed the decision. But I think this is an example of true leadership — making tough, unpopular decisions in the face of strong opposition. Real leaders make hard choices. It feels to me like the city leaders are really beginning to take action on the housing crisis that they declared several years ago.

What I would very much like to see as a next step is to locate the next tiny village of temporary wooden tents either on the open space facing the county courthouse or perhaps on the land around the uptown community center. 

I think that people who are fortunate enough to live in Uptown, myself included, ought also to be including temporarily unhoused folk in our part of town. I strongly encourage the city leaders to take such action. I would support such action 100 percent.

Peter West
PORT TOWNSEND