Tag Archives: Port Orchard City Council

On Tuesday’s PO Council Agenda

Adoption of Resolution No. 020-10, Approving the Design Review Board’s Recommendation for Proposed Development at 710 Bay Street: Will the city council give the go ahead to the first development project to come through under the city’s new Downtown Overlay District plan? The plan was intended to promote tasteful development in the downtown core. The council last month got hung up on how Swenson’s plans would work with the marquee and needed a month to think about it.

Approval of Contract No. C044-10, Authorizing the Mayor to Execute Professional Services Agreement with Jones & Jones Architects and
Landscape Architects, Ltd., for the design of McCormick Village Park: Things are moving forward with planning for a planned 63.5 acre public park in the McCormick Woods/Sunnyslope area.

More on McWoods park … The McCormick Village Park Plan Subcommittee will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall

Also on the council’s agenda:
Amending Port Orchard Municipal Code Chapter 5.12 “Business Licenses” to Incorporate the Partnership with the Washington State Department of Licensing
Master License Service: By working with the state’s Department of Licensing, the city hopes to make the process of reapplying for a business license smoother and more efficient. Presumably a benefit to both the city and business owners. I will check on that.

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Other News From PO City Hall

We have reported today on a Washington State Patrol report that Port Orchard Mayor Lary Coppola was arrested early Sunday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. We will be posting an update shortly, which will include a statement from the mayor.

In part, he said, “As a person who has always accepted responsibility for my actions, I will do so in this instance as well, no matter how it turns out, and expect no special treatment.”

In other news from City Hall, Coppola recently posted his Mayor’s video report for April on the City’s Web site. His topics: Puget Sound Regional Council’s Vision 2040; the joint lease of Given’s field recently approved by the city council for South Kitsap Western Little League and South Kitsap Pee Wees; a new business opening in downtown; the opening of the Port Orchard Farmer’s Market; a recent meeting of mayors from around the state; YMCA Women of Achievement representing South Kitsap; more hints about a new grocery coming soon to downtown PO; online utility bill payment; and plans to reprise Paint the Town (according to the mayor, Delialh will again be contributing significantly toward the effort), this time with a focus on the waterside buildings.

(See the bottom of this post for links to recent city council video coverage provided by the city.)

Coppola dedicated about two-thirds of his video to Vision 2040’s transportation element, known as T2040. He explains his take on the plan’s potential impact on economic development in Kitsap County and the region. Coppola was one of only two members of the PSRC executive board to vote against T2040 on March 25, primarily because of tolls. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn was the other. Coppola said he wants Port Orchard citizens to be able to get in and out of town without having to pay tolls or a vehicle-miles-traveled tax.

“Many of the ideas advanced in the Vision 2040 plan may be acceptable and actually pragmatic for King County and the I-5 corridor, but we (not clear if he’s talking about the city of Port Orchard or mayors of the county) strongly question the validity of what amounts to a King County soluntion being forced upon the rest of us,” he said on the video.

Coppola also talks about the importance of the region investing in technological infrastructure to promote telecommuting, which would reduce impact on roads, bridges and ferries.

As an interesting little grace note at the end of the video, Coppola talks about the recent downtown spring cleaning event. “I personally spent four hours on the end of a power washer, and several people pointed out that if this whole mayor thing doesn’t work out, perhaps I should get a job in the public works department,” he said, laughing. “Hopefully it won’t come to that.”

Port Orchard City Council Videos:
April 13
April 20 work study
April 27

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PO Council Video Now Up on Kitsap Sun Website

Find video coverage of the Port Orchard City Council’s Jan. 19 work study meeting, courtesy of the City of Port Orchard, at www.kitsapsun.com. Scroll to “Videos” and find it under “recent.” Or watch it here:

Note: I get a message that says “no image” on the screen. If you see this, just click play. The video works fine. Let me know if you have any glitches.

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Know Your City Government Committee Members

Following on my recent post about the popularity among City Council members of the finance committee, here’s the council’s recommendation for appointments to committees for the upcoming two-year term. A resolution on committee appointments will come before the council on Tuesday.

Finance Committee: John Clauson (chair), Rob Putaansuu and Jerry Childs.

P.S. Putaansuu at the council meeting Jan. 12 was appointed mayor pro tem for 2010 by the council.

Public Property Committee: Fred Olin (Chair), Carolyn Powers, Fred Chang

Tourism Committee: Jerry Childs (Chair), Jim Colebank and Fred Chang

Utility and Sewer Advisory Committee: Rob Putaansuu, John Clauson and Fred Olin

Fred Chang is the council member overseeing the city’s lodging tax advisory board.

Carolyn Powers, who has served as alternate to the mayor on the Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council for six years, was approved by the council on Tuesday to be the second voting member to the KRCC. Now that Port Orchard has grown by roughly 2000 in population due to annexations, the city is eligible for an additional voting member on the county-wide board that coordinates on policy decisions. Members of the KRCC, including Powers, represent Kitsap County’s interests to the Puget Sound Regional Coordinating Council. Coppola welcomes having the added vote on the KRCC. “Any time you have a bigger voice, it’s a benefit.” he said. Jim Colebank is alternate to Powers.

Colebank alternate

KRCC
Caroly powers
Colbank alterate
City because of growth get s wtwo vting seta mayor and Carolyn (caroly alt 6 yerars )

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PO Council: Some Jostling for Finance Committee Slots

At Tuesday’s work study meeting, Port Orchard City Council members parceled out committee assignments. Most of the time, this is a process of seeing who steps forward to volunteer for a committee, but in the case of the finance committee, there were more applicants (five) than slots (three).

The reason, Mayor Lary Coppola said after the meeting, boils down to: money is power. “It’s the decision-making committee,” Coppola said. “So many decisions that happen on the council are driven by money.”

Councilman Fred Chang, one of the five contenders, put it this way, “For those of us not on it, we feel there’s a lot of information discussed there, and by the time it gets to the council, there’s already three of the four votes we need (out of seven council members to make a majority). … It’s not so much that they make decisions against what the rest of the council would agree with, it’s just that we’re not privy to information we need.”

Council members do receive minutes of committee meetings, not quite the same as being in on the discussion, I would guess.

Council members who have served on the finance committee for the past two years include John Clauson (chairman), Rob Putaansuu and Carolyn Powers. Besides the three incumbents and Chang, Councilman Jerry Childs threw his hat into the ring for the upcoming term.

Council members each wrote their three top recommendations for the committee on slips of paper. City Clerk Patti Kirkpatrick tallied the winners: John Clauson (who also was chosen by the council to remain chair), Rob Putaansuu and Jerry Childs.

The process seemed to me a little old school and had shades of a fourth grade popularity contest. But, according to City Attorney Greg Jacoby, it was all above board. I had the misconception that no action could be taken at a work study meeting. That’s not true, Jacoby said. State statutes allow final action to be taken on items at properly publicized work study meetings, as long as the item is on the agenda and as long as it doesn’t involve approval of contracts or bills for payment. Jacoby said it is customary for Port Orchard (and most other local jurisdictions) to use study sessions for in-depth discussions and briefing on issues that will come before them at regular council meetings.

Furthermore, said Jacoby, the paper slip voting did not constitute final action. The council will entertain a resolution at its regular meeting Jan. 26 regarding committee membership. Terms run two years. Writing the names on paper was a way to come to consensus on the council’s recommendations for the finance committee.

Information on committees and boards can be found on the city’s Web site. Upcoming committee meetings, which are open to the public, are listed on the regular council meeting agenda, which is available on the city’s Web site and by request by calling City Hall, (360) 876-4407.

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PO Council: One Vote Could Mean a Recount in Powers-Lucarelli Race

After Thursday’s election’s update, a single vote could trigger an automatic recount in the race for Port Orchard City Council Position 2.
Incumbent Carolyn Powers has 1,206 votes and 49.90 percent of 2,417 votes total, including 18 write-ins. Cindy Lucarelli has 1,193 votes and 49.36 percent of the grand total.
An automatic recount is triggered when the certified vote count, due Nov. 24, shows candidates within .5 percentage points of one another. According to Kitsap County Elections Manager Dolores Gilmore, write-in votes by law are not factored into calculations to determine if an automatic recount is in order.
Without the write-ins, Powers has 50.27 percent of the vote, and Lucarelli has 49.73. If Lucarelli earned at least one more vote (and Powers earned none), those percentages would change to 50.25 and 49.75 respectively, giving a margin of .5 percent.
Granted, with an estimated 50 votes left to count county-wide, there are still a number of scenarios that could produce other results.
Gilmore said races this close are notable but certainly not unheard-of.
“We’ve seen it where it’s been very close. We’ve had tie races and tossed coins,” she said.
A coin toss occurs if, after the recount, the race is still tied. Such situations typically occur in smaller districts, where the number of votes have a bigger impact percentage-wise. Gilmore has seen five coin toss races during her career in elections.
Votes are recounted by machine if candidates are within .5 percentage points of each other. They are manually recounted if the margin is .25 percentage points or fewer.
Stayed tuned for our follow-up coverage of this and other races in Election 2009.

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Port Orchard Council to Vote Tuesday on Tax Ordinance

The Port Orchard City Council on Tuesday will vote on an ordinance declaring substantial need to raise taxes up to one percent. In past years, the city has automatically been able to do so. But this year, an ordinance is necessary because of negative inflation and the fact Port Orchard’s population has increased beyond the threshold that triggers a vote in such a case.

Read the complete story here.

Also at the meeting, the council will issue proclamations recognizing November as Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and recognizing Deliah Rene Luke for spearheading the Paint the Town event in August.

I’ll be at the meeting. Comment here, or e-mail me with your questions for the council, chenry@kitsapsun.com.

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Lucarelli-Powers Race Too Close to Call

Incumbent Fred Chang is beating challenger Amy Igloi-Matsuno, despite her heavy investment in the campaign. Igloi-Matsuno spent $18,662 to Chang’s $9,212, for a total of more than $27,000. I’d say it’s safe to say that’s a record for campaign spending in a Port Orchard council race. In unofficial results, Chang had 54.57 percent of votes counted to Igloi-Matsuno’s 45.10 percent.

Kitsap County Elections Manager Dolores Gilmore on Tuesday evening reported that 35.77 percent of votes in the City of Port Orchard have been counted so far. There are 5,082 registered voters in the city. The county auditor’s office is expecting a 50 percent turnout, Gilmore said.

In the race for city council position 2, incumbent Carolyn Powers, seeking a sixth term on the council, held a sliver of a lead over challenger Cindy Lucarelli.
Powers had 50.35 percent of the vote to Lucarelli’s 49.01 percent.
“I don’t think I have any choice but to wait and see what comes tomorrow,” said Powers, who has served on the council since 1988.
Lucarelli, who was defeated in 2007 in a race against veteran councilman John Clauson, was optimistic about the results.
“I’d like to have it the other way around but, hay, that’s pretty close, and there were a lot of ballots that were mailed in late. I’m hoping it gets turned around,” she said.

The auditor’s office will post revised counts daily at 5 p.m.
“By Friday, we should have the majority of the ballots to be counted,” Gilmore said.

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The Chang – Igloi-Matsuno Race: A Footnote

Tomorrow evening, we’ll know the outcome of the race for Port Orchard City Council Position 6 between incumbent Fred Chang and challenger Amy Igloi-Matsuno. I’d like to address a comment posted during the campaign on a letter to the editor.

As I wrote in my coverage of the race, Port Orchard Mayor Lary Coppola has been clear he admires Igloi-Matsuno’s business savvy and community involvement. But he has not officially endorsed her, as he has incumbent Carolyn Powers in her race against Cindy Lucarelli for Position 2. That has raised public speculation about the possibility of Coppola’s providing behind-the-scenes support to Igloi-Matsuno’s campaign.

Kkurly, in a comment on an Oct. 8 letter to the editor, questioned Igloi-Matsuno’s use of Coppola’s Wet Apple Media for graphic work related to her campaign, suggesting it would be a gift. Kkurley said, “Let’s ask Amy to do this before the election….pay her bill to Wet Apple printing.” In fact, a filing submitted Oct. 27 to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission shows she has. The statement of revenue and expenditures from Igloi-Matsuno’s campaign treasurer Jennifer Christine shows the bill for $5,075 was paid Oct. 16. Services were for “graphic design for all printed materials and Web site design.”

For the record, Christine is a Wet Apple employee who also volunteered for Coppola’s campaign in 2008. She said she does not make filings on company time.

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