SKIA — Why So Small?
July 24th, 2008 by Steven GardnerWe’ve known for a while that the SKIA annexation was to be done in two slices, the first one to be on the Bremerton City Council agenda Wednesday. But the difference in size between those pieces is pretty significant.
So I finally got around to asking someone, several people actually, why it’s being done this way, because a suspicious person could have ideas. The night of the Mariners (well, Red Sox) game I attended was one of the few times I lamented not being a sports reporter. On that desk no one faults you for suspecting that there might be strategy involved in, say, changing the amount of playing time a guy gets closer to the trade deadline. In other circles of life, people sometimes get offended if you ask them about ulterior motives. I understand that’s part of my job, but it doesn’t mean it has to be one of my favorite parts of the work. What’s true, though, is in most cases people understand why I ask and seldom are surprised by the question.
That was true in this case. The very public reason to split the SKIA pie in one huge piece and one tiny one is that the small piece doesn’t require the port’s participation. Port commissioners haven’t decided whether they want their SKIA property to be part of the City of Bremerton.
I asked a few people if there were some strategic reasons to do it this way. Would it make the second annexation easier if the first one went through without comment?
Most people didn’t want to go on the record on this question. I asked Rod Reid, who owns part of the SKIA North property, the basic question about any advantages. “Yeah, I would think,” he said, but it didn’t appear that he had spent a lot of time thinking about that.
It is possible that it would make the second annexation easier. If the north property goes through without much comment, there would be a few more feet of contiguous property already in Bremerton for the second annexation. If the first annexation is a fight, but is ultimately successful, those involved would hope all the obstacles would be discovered in the first effort. If the fight is a win for annexation opponents, then it raised the likelihood the parties would abandon hope on the second site.
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Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
July 24th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
“…Rod Reid, who owns part of the SKIA North property, the basic question about any advantages. “Yeah, I would think,” he said, but it didn’t appear that he had spent a lot of time thinking about that….”
Maybe you should interview another part owner of the SKIA North property. One that might be interested enough to know something or offer opinions.
What do the property owners want?
Sharon O’Hara
July 31st, 2008 at 9:47 pm
A free ride by the looks of it.