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The Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader, 226 Adams Street, Port Townsend, WA (2025)

06/30/2025

A catio is the cat’s meow but birds like it too for the safety

By Scott Doggett for The Leader

Catios are the solution to most, if not all, of the world’s problems.

But first, for the uninitiated: Like “brunch,” which combines the two special words “breakfast” and “lunch,” “catio” is the product of “cat” and “patio.” It is an enclosed outdoor area, often extending from a patio, designed for cats.

It can be a stand-alone structure, like a chicken coop, or attached to a house. The latter option allows Tiger to move freely between the house and his designated outdoor space.

All catios prevent cats from roaming freely and potentially hunting birds or falling prey to predators.
A catio can also refer to a patio that has been enclosed with wire mesh. People and pets typically enter and exit such a catio through a sliding glass door. For countless photos of catios, Google the word or seek out catio pages.

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/29/2025

City council candidate forum set for mid-July

Leader staff

Port Townsend voters will soon have the opportunity to hear from new candidates hoping to represent them on the city council.

The League of Women Voters of Jefferson County will host an online candidate forum featuring Fred Obee, Mikki Porter and Dylan Quarles on Wednesday, July 16 at 6 p.m. All three candidates are vying for Position 1.

Two other council members — Libby Wennstrom and Neil Nelson — are seeking reelection unopposed unless Obee, Porter or Quarles were to mount a write-in campaign challenging one of them. They will not be included in the forum. It is the league’s policy to hold forums only for contested races.
The forum will be available to attend online or broadcast on KPTZ. The league will post a recording of the forum on its website afterward.

Candidates will respond to questions submitted by the community and selected by the league.

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/28/2025

Worldwide amateur radio has field day at Fort Worden this weekend

By Kirk Boxleitner

It started nearly a century ago, its reach spans the globe, and the public will be able to check it out at Fort Worden this weekend.

“‘Ham’ radio operators will communicate across the country, without reliance on cell towers or power stations,” according to Larry Morrell, who handles publicity for the Jefferson County Amateur Radio Club. “More than 1,500 stations will deploy all over the U.S., and contact each other using a variety of communication modes.”

It coincides with Jefferson County Commissioners’ proclamation designating June 23-29 as Amateur Radio Week, in recognition of the value of the service provided by amateur radio operators in the county. The Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) will be conducting its Field Day for 2025 on Saturday and Sunday, June 28-29, at Fort Worden State Park.

ARRL Field Day started in 1933 and has been held annually ever since, except during World War II, according to Morrell. He credited that practice as helping to build the skills that ham operators use to assist in disasters and support public events...

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/27/2025

Ethics complaint about mishandling pool incident heads to hearing examiner

By James Robinson

The ethics complaint against City Manager John Mauro appears to be drawing to a close with final submission deadlines on June 26 and 27.

Mauro and complainant Rev. Crystal Cox have both filed motions for summary judgement, with Cox, of the Universal Church of Light, filing a reply to Mauro’s motion on June 22.

Cox filed the original ethics complaint against Mauro with Phil Olbrechts, the city’s hearing examiner, on March 2. The complaint alleged six violations, among them “deliberate” violations of open meeting and open record laws, harassment of staff and city council members, falsifying resume and credentials, special privileges in regard to the city paying Mauro’s personal legal fees and in Mauro’s hiring of a public relations firm, which Cox alleges was used to give special privilege to the Olympic Peninsula YMCA and to prejudice the community against Julie Jaman and her supporters following the incident at the Mountain View Pool in 2022 when Jaman confronted a transgender employee in the locker room there.

Olbrechts issued a partial order of sufficiency on May 11 for one of the complaints and gave Cox the opportunity to provide more detail on two other allegations while dismissing the remaining three allegations. Cox submitted an amended complaint on May 21 that consolidated two of the allegations into one, and dropped the remaining third allegation. Olbrechts filed a “ruling of sufficiency” on Cox’s complaint on May 31.

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/26/2025

City aims to replace $4,316-a-week finance temp

By James Robinson

City officials are completing a background review on a finalist for the finance manager position that, once filled, will eliminate the expense of one of its most expensive temporary hires.

The city has been paying roughly $8,000 a week for 21 months to Robert Half, a global staffing and business consultancy, for two temporary employees in the city’s finance department. City staff said two weeks ago they had been actively seeking candidates to fill the vacancies, advertising in multiple places.

“We have interviewed six candidates for the finance manager position, including two Monday, Jodi Adams, the city’s finance director, wrote in a June 17 email. “Everyone we have interviewed brings a diverse set of skills, yet many applicants have not met the minimum qualifications we require for the position. Hiring on skills as well as fit for the team tends to lead to successful longer term employment so we are making sure we are not rushing to fill the position.” At that time, no offers had been made, “but we would like to fill the position as quickly as possible.”

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/25/2025

PUD rates set to surge 30% by 2028

By Mallory Kruml

Jefferson County Public Utility District customers may be surprised by what shows up on their August electricity bill.

Starting July 5, customers across the board will see an average increase of 9% in their monthly payment. Additional rate increases of 6.75% could take effect in 2026, 2027 and 2028.

Residential rates will increase slightly higher than average — 9.01% on July 5, and a planned 7.31% in 2026, 7.28% in 2027 and 7.25% in 2028 — as the group is currently paying less than the cost of service. Commissioners will need to approve those hikes each year.

The average residential PUD customer currently pays $133.34 per month for electricity, according to Financial Consulting Services (FCS) estimates. Beginning July 5, those bills will increase by approximately $12 per month under the newly approved rates. The average monthly cost could reach at least $176.80 by 2028 — an overall increase of $43.46 over three years for the same level of service. That is an increase of more than 32%.

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/14/2025

Sheriff’s report supports hospital whistleblower

By James Robinson

Jefferson Health Care Commissioner and whistleblower Matt Ready will see his complaint move forward against the Jefferson Health Care Board, key leadership and legal counsel, according to a report from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

“The actions likely violate OPMA (Washington State Open Public Meetings Act), with civil penalties applicable, and may constitute official misconduct if intent is proven,” wrote Detective Sergeant Derek Allen, of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

Jefferson County Sheriff Andy Pernsteiner assigned the complaint to Allen after Ready submitted his complaint and supporting evidence to Jefferson and Clallam County sheriff’s offices. Ready said the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office had not responded to his complaint.
“Criminal conspiracy or racketeering seems less supported, requiring much further evidence.”

For the full story, pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/13/2025

East Jefferson Fire Rescue responded to 5,656 calls in 2024

By Mallory Kruml

East Jefferson Fire Rescue (EJFR) released its 2024 annual report on June 4.

The 24-page document highlights EJFR’s growth and its ongoing commitment to the health and well-being of its staff and the surrounding community.

Covering Jefferson County Fire Protection District 1, EJFR served over 28,000 residents across 123 square miles with nine stations, 68 employees and 24 volunteers.

In 2024, EJFR responded to a total of 5,656 emergency calls, seeing an increase of nearly 10% from the previous year. Port Townsend accounted for 2,410 of the incidents, with the majority of calls being EMS or rescue-related.

Despite the growth and its aging fleet and facilities, the department’s response time improved by 11.4%, dropping by 49 seconds from the previous year.

“Arriving on scene faster allows us to begin medical care faster and to mitigate the impact of fires, traffic accidents, and other hazards more effectively,” wrote Robert Wittenberg, EJFR’s community risk manager. “And with increased call volume, this improved response time became even more beneficial to the community.”

Wittenberg attributed the improvement to technology upgrades and increased staffing.

For the full story, pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/12/2025

Mill cites $319M economic impact

Leader Staff

The old adage, “The smell of the mill is the smell of money,” appears to hold true, according to an economic impact study released today that details the Port Townsend Paper Company’s (PTPC) economic impact on Port Townsend and Jefferson County.

Mill executives anticipate the report will inform discussions as they and city leaders evaluate the current rate model. It sets the rate per 1,000 gallons that the city and the mill pay, currently set at $1.20. The Leader estimates that PTPC pays about $4.7 million, based on its current usage.

“The water supply agreement specifies that we update the rate model every five years,”Mauro said. “Working together with the mill, we will evaluate the OGWS Fund (the balance, revenue and expenses for the proceeding five-year period,) as well as a projection for operations and maintenance costs and investment into capital needs during that subsequent twenty-year period.” OGWS stands for Olympic Gravity Water System.

Mauro said the current agreement was adopted in 2021, and “we anticipate updating the rate model at that five-year period by the end of 2026.”

According to a white paper published by the city in 2021, “Like the development of the Olympic Gravity Water System in the late 1920’s, the development of an agreement between the [city and PTPC] is a significant undertaking with the stakes being high for both parties. As such, the negotiation of a mutually beneficial agreement warrants thoughtful collaboration based on the best data possible.”

For the full story, pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/11/2025

City relies on costly temps while key positions remain unfilled

BY JAMES ROBINSON

Since September 2023, the City of Port Townsend has spent well over a half a million dollars with Robert Half, a global, business consulting firm that specializes in placing temporary finance and accounting professionals.

According to city records, those funds, totaling $579,573 through June 2, or roughly $8,000 a week, have gone for two contract employees — a finance director, as termed by Half for the payscale and level of expertise, and a payroll position earning $107.92 an hour and $84.55 an hour respectively.

The city classifies the finance director as a senior accountant, said Jodi Adams, the city’s finance director. Half “provide[s] the services of accounting and payroll as well as finishing projects that were delayed by having those vacancies, and training for our current staff,” she said.

“These are skills that we either do not currently have on staff, or our employees have a full-time job already and are not able to absorb the additional workload.”

Adams said the city had been “actively recruiting” and noted that the overall expense of the city’s internal finance department has been reduced while it used Half. She also noted that “a good portion of this is offset by the salary and benefit savings we have from those vacant positions in the finance department.”

The general fund budget summary indicates the finance department budget is down.

For the full story, pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/06/2025

Chimacum School District plans for budget shortfalls, tightens belt

By James Robinson

With costs outpacing revenues, Chimacum School District officials are planning for a year of spending in the red as they brace for more state and federal funding shortfalls.

“Although we are budgeting for a healthy 13% fund balance, we anticipate a year of deficit spending of about $330,000 in a $17.5 million budget,” according to an email June 2 by school officials.

“We are looking at instability in funding sources in the near future and planning ahead for what is needed,” said Roxanne Hudson, board chair of the school district.

Chimacum School District Superintendent Scott Mauk said even with the revenue shortfalls, the district would not lose any teachers, nor would there be layoffs, but there would be cutbacks through attrition and the elimination of jobs.
“We are cutting several positions and combining some positions,” Mauk said. “We have quite a few retirements, leaves, and resignations.”

They intentionally waited for the final results of the legislative session “so we could begin crunching actual apportionment numbers for a more accurate budget,” he said. “We wanted to communicate that we are deficit spending (revenues outpaced by costs) but that we have a fund balance to continue this year.

Mauk added they were “trying to tell folks the way things are as we go forward.”

For the full story, pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/05/2025

PDA officially dissolved

By James Robinson

The Port Townsend City Council dissolved the Fort Worden Public Development Authority (PDA) during its regular council meeting June 2, thus marking the end of the city’s 16-year effort to co-manage Fort Worden Historical State Park as a public-private partnership.

City council members and staff described the dissolution as a formality, a tidying up, the last bit of unfinished business to bring the PDA era to a close. During the proceedings, little mention was made of repaying the $6.2 million owed by the PDA to Kitsap Bank.

In an unsigned letter submitted for public comment, Kitsap executives wrote about their long history of involvement and service to the Port Townsend community, “including loaning $6.2 million to the PDA. We wanted to help the Authority with its plans to improve Fort Worden Park.”

The letter suggested longtime implications of Kitsap Bank’s relationship with the city. “The subsequent failure of the PDA has caused significant harm to the Bank. In addition to the more than $6.2 million loss the bank has incurred, the handling of the matter has eroded the bank’s trust in local government, which will impact future partnership opportunities.”

For the full story, pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

The Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader

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