As Fort Worden PDA founding board members who served until June 2021, including three years as chair and vice-chair, we’d like to respond to The Leader’s recent articles on the Fort Worden Public Development Authority’s history — articles that in our view contain many inaccuracies and omissions. Most glaring: Any account is misleading that doesn’t cite COVID as the main culprit in the PDA’s eventual downfall. Much has been written elsewhere about the pandemic’s impact on hospitality businesses across America, and the impact was even worse for PDAs, which were ineligible for state or federal COVID relief funding.

The PDA’s history is complicated. We inherited a challenging situation in 2014, burdened by decades of unfunded deferred maintenance (now estimated at $300 million), below-market lease rates to campus partners, and under-investment in long-term, diversified revenue streams from food and lodging. Mistakes were made, yet the first PDA board and staff also achieved much. While the Leader articles referred to ballooning costs, they neglected to note that revenues grew from $1.4 million in 2014 to $6.9 million in 2019. Yes, costs grow when revenues grow.

Pre-COVID, the PDA invested in great improvements that the property’s next operator could leverage: Makers Square, now home to KPTZ, Northwind Art, and Centrum; remodeling of the Beach Canteen, Commons Café (Reveille), and the old Guardhouse, which became Taps, a vibrant community gathering space; and significant improvements to Bliss Cottage, the Ranger and Hospital Stewards Houses, and Officers Row #4. These improvements not only fueled revenue growth but also attracted THING, a glorious, multicultural festival for the whole family.

We didn’t do everything right. We dealt with various accounting and control issues, which led us to begin a search for a new chief financial officer even as we also searched for a new executive director to replace the retiring Dave Robison. COVID forced us to cancel both searches. But until the pandemic hit, our board believed we were headed in the right direction toward a sustainable future.

The initial PDA made long-term, critical investments to create new, diversified revenue streams and lower the cost of operations. We took on a $1.6-million Energy Efficiency bond aimed at lowering energy costs, with the savings intended to repay the debt; a $2-million glamping bond to add single-room hospitality options and expand hospitality revenue; and a $1.5-million bridge loan to fund Makers Square construction, backed by reimbursable public and private grants.

Also, while we served with the PDA’s second executive director, Dave Timmons, our board approved a $1.9-million loan to cover operating losses during the pandemic and to pay back the Glamping bond for funds used. In total, PDA debt totaled $6.9 million when we left the board. Yet Timmons is quoted in the Leader as saying he resolved over $15 million in debt issues. If he really believes that, we ask where the rest of this debt came from.

While the Leader raised many questions about Robison’s tenure, the paper showed little curiosity about what Timmons could have done differently. Having worked closely with both men, we know they both are dedicated public servants. But we wonder if the pandemic’s effects were exacerbated by Timmons’ decisions. With the transfer of hospitality operations to an external organization, he first recommended the PDA charge a 3.5% concessionaire fee, then reduced the fee to 3%. Should this fee have been higher to ensure greater coverage of PDA’s operating costs? Timmons also recommended reducing lease payments to zero for partner organizations with buildings outside of Makers Square, supposedly in exchange for partners assuming maintenance costs for their buildings. Yet, partners already were responsible for most maintenance all the way back to when State Parks was landlord. The loss of operating revenue was part of what made it impossible for the PDA to fund operations, which is why it ultimately disbanded.

There’s plenty of blame to go around. But blame COVID for the closures and construction delays that led to cost overruns and a dramatic loss of revenue. The PDA’s demise was a direct result of the pandemic, which caused a series of cascading effects that none of its several governance structures could recover from. That’s the story.

Recriminations about the past are pointless. We all should be focused on how to renew and evolve this potential jewel in our midst—the Fort Worden Lifelong Learning Center. We should support State Parks’ emerging efforts to maintain its infrastructure and normalize its operations. We should support Centrum and the other partner organizations that are continuing to serve the community and even stepping up their commitments to the Fort. Fort Worden is an iconic property, and we’re hopeful that it has a very bright future ahead—if we all pull together.

Norm Tonina and Gee Heckscher were members of the board of directors of the Fort Worden Public Development Authority from 2014 to 2021.