EDITORIAL: Grassroots messages

Posted

First and foremost, a brief round of applause and thanks to all those who have stepped forward to run for local office this year.

Almost all of the nonpartisan positions that were open this year are volunteer jobs, seats on those grassroots boards of small taxing districts, such as school boards and fire boards, that determine how our children are educated, which streets get paved and which parks stay open.

“All politics is local,” so the saying goes. So the question after filing week earlier this month is: What’s really going on in local politics in Jefferson County?

Let’s start with the news that young people have finally arrived in Port Townsend: Ariel J. Speser, 32, a homegrown attorney who works for the Northwest Justice Project, is automatically joining the Port Townsend City Council. Incumbent Catharine Robinson did not file to retain the seat, and no one else filed, so Speser has cinched a seat on the seven-member board at the end of the year.

Speser joins two other council members who are under the age of 50, Amy Howard and David Faber, as well as veterans Michelle Sandoval, Deb Stinson, Pamela Adams and Bob Gray.

Port Townsend and Jefferson County may be continuing to go gray and age, but come January 2018, the median age of the council will go down a notch.

Then there’s the Chimacum School District, which has two contested races. Jack McKay, Jared Shepherd and Wilma Hackman all want the District 5 position. There will have to be a primary election to narrow the field to two for the general election. Sarah Martin and Ron Riggle are vying for the District 1 seat. Both races ought to be interesting in light of a recent meeting during which concerns about academic achievement and discipline were raised, and rather loudly.

There are also races for two of three seats on the Port of Port Townsend Commission. Incumbents Brad Clinefelter and Peter W. Hanke picked up opponents during filing week. Bill Putney filed against Clinefelter, and Keith Beck filed against Hanke. There’s a lot going on at the port since executive director Sam Gibboney took over. There are many new faces on the port’s decision-making crew.

A three-way race that could make a difference at Jefferson Healthcare is between three newcomers to the political scene: Bruce McComas, Bernie Donanberg and Cheri Van Hoover. Although the vast majority of hospital commission votes are unanimous, there’s been a nuanced divide on the board with commissioners Matt Ready and Kees Kolff leaning ever so slightly on one side of the political table, and commissioners Jill Buhler and Marie Dressler leaning ever so politely on the other side.

Veteran commissioner Tony DeLeo, who decided not to run after 40 years of public service, was seemingly smack in the center. It will be interesting to see who supports whom in this race.

And finally, there’s the question of what happened in the Brinnon Park and Recreation District No. 2, which was created in 2012 in response to talk in Jefferson County of creating a countywide park and recreation district.

Brinnon voters decided they wanted no part of a countywide district and they formed their own before further action could be taken.

Now, not a single one of the members of that board has stepped up to stay on the board. There’s a special filing period this week, and if no one files, Brinnon may not have a park and recreation district.

As they say: All politics is local. The applause is over. It’s time to get to work and start asking good questions of the candidates who have so honorably stepped forward to run for local office.

– Allison Arthur