The Association of Washington Cities recently announced that the city of Port Townsend was awarded a Municipal Excellence Award for cooperative work among local municipalities in the area.

The Intergovernmental Collaborative Group, which consists of the city, Port of Port Townsend, Jefferson County Public Utilities District, and Jefferson County, was awarded for its planning and cross-municipality teamwork to assist families, businesses, residents, and more during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond.

The city of Port Townsend was one of five cities honored for putting creative ideas to use for their community.

“This year’s winning projects highlight just a few of the ways that Washington cities are leading with innovation and resilience to solve a diverse range of challenges, including affordable housing, public health, and economic recovery,” said Alicia Seegers Martinelli, interim CEO of the Association of Washington Cities.

Each year, the association’s Municipal Excellence Awards provide ideas and inspiration to communities around the state, showcasing successes that can be emulated in other cities. The competition is open to all 281 cities and towns in Washington state. The winning cities are recognized at the Association of Washington Cities’ annual conference, held on Thursday, June 23.

The city was chosen for the award from 22 applicants.

“The various governments in small jurisdictions like Port Townsend and Jefferson County need to come together to deliver big things for their communities,” said Port Townsend Mayor David Faber.

“With our Inter-governmental Collaborative Group, we are showcasing our commitment to end the conflicts of the past, be the best stewards of public resources we can be, and actualize a positive vision of the future,” he added.

The Intergovernmental Collaborative Group is composed of the 16 elected officials from all four general purpose agencies in the Jefferson County region. The group was forged during crisis and choreographed and amplified significant community efforts, meeting dozens of times and fostering many more dozens of community group meetings of more than 100 people playing active roles.

The initial result of the effort was a self-forming constellation of six community groups that focused on six main identified challenges and priorities that relate to structural vulnerabilities in areas such as children and families, jobs and the economy, broadband, food resilience, culture and events, along with human services. City officials noted the outcome was a fully-adopted action plan with federal funding for implementation guided by the broader community.

That plan can be found at www.jeffcotogether.net.

Since that endeavor, the Intergovernmental Collaborative Group has been evolving to take on a range of other topics, officials said, including a unified and codified agency-approach to economic development, action on climate change, coordination on federal funding and initiatives, and the $2 million Sims Gateway and Boat Yard Expansion Project.