Aug. 28 Leader:  City staff “discovered” a water system leak — forty million gallons, about 500,000 gallons a day. Manager King said the leaky pipe was difficult to access. The gusher has eroded a salmon migration creek; years of investment to revive this creek lost. For approximately 2 ½ months the city was unaware it was burning through an extra 15M gallons of water each month.

In July a water main broke at Mt. View campus; there was no back up shut-off valve. In the pool filter room the electrical panel, installed lower than the overflow pipe, was drowned leading to a $60,000 fix to raise it above the flood zone.

Pot-holed roads act like speed bumps. A few dangerous limbs on poplars along golf course lands await pruning. Some quite nice poplar pruning has occurred along 12th street and the north side of Sims way - a good start.

Manager Mauro blocks public access to his staff on Fridays to give them more time for…. He orders parties to celebrate: logging significant trees, installing miles of impervious surfaces, directing people with myriad signs and gallons of painted striping. Stormwater catchment basins have been installed along with plans to sell park lands to developers. The  impacts to habitat, wetlands, intermittent streams and ponds are unknown. Is anyone looking at the overall natural cycles and  functions along with the community commitment to steward parks, trees, trails - the stuff of beauty, an inviting small town.

Is Mauro and his staff incompetent, lacking necessary experience to care for the existing infrastructure of this small berg; to access the difficult places;  to plan regular maintenance, to upgrade and repair? Is it too difficult to respect the vision and goals of the community recorded in the Comprehensive Plan?  How would the managers react if someone lost track of their six figure salaries?

Something is amiss. The job description included five years of city management experience. A previous council hired an ambitious person with little experience.  So what’s the plan?

Julie Jaman

Port Townsend