(Blogger’s note: This blog originally ran on Peninsular Thinking, but just begged to be included in the resurrected Bremerton Beat.)

Q: How does one sum up the life of the 2013 Bremerton City Council?

A: In verse, of course. Happy holidays, everyone.

***

Bremerton’s City Council, which started with nine,
in January became eight, when Roy Runyon resigned.

The Council acted quickly to replace the space,
Wendy Priest, they found, to be a familiar face.

There was much work to be done, too many parks to fund,
so former Mayor Bozeman was put under the gun,

To find a solution, a way to sustain parklands,
and luckily for the city, volunteers would lend a hand.

The city faced a choice, when Craig Rogers retired,
and found a new police chief, who vowed to catch frequent flyers.

In public works, the city said,
the payments weren’t enough,

So they pushed utility rates up,
without much of a huff.

Too many homes abandoned, Councilman Younger decreed,
So Council mandated they be licensed, and it passed with esprit.

And not only them, the Council the wished to heighten,
the requirements for landlords, and for them to be licensed.

A groundswell then formed, to study the city auditor,
They started to wonder, what city did he monitor?

They discussed all the merits, but they couldn’t get past one,
the public would react, like they were pulling a fast one.

So the auditor stayed, said the conference center was bleeding,
The city responded with what they felt it was needing.

The city said an expansion, would bring in lots of revenue,
it was only losing money, because growing it was overdue.

And speaking of downtown, the trees on Fourth Street,
had to go, the city said, for they were tearing up concrete.

But a backlash ensued, and tree huggers raised hell,
and a tree group was formed, to find which would be felled.

The Council then decided, that regulations were too tight,
drive-thrus could come back, to the car lover’s delight.

But pedestrians and bikes, they would have victories too,
Lower Wheaton and Washington, will get multimodal avenues.

Grants would cover those, street maintenance they could not,
so the Council decided, that utility fees could be brought.

And all this despite, an election fight that pressed,
one the mayor and the judge, and all council members would address.

Patty Lent and Todd Best, did battle for the mayor,
in the end, Lent prevailed, despite the naysayers.

The Tourism Bureau, the Council decided,
wasn’t pulling its weight, and ought to be chided.

The new year will bring new faces to the table,
our second term mayor will hope the seven’s able.

One thing is certain, for the Council’s 2014,
a lot of energy, they will need, or at least some caffeine.

Blogger’s note: The fight over electric vehicle charging stations on the Pacific Avenue improvement project was omitted from the year in verse. On purpose.