Rada Files as Write-in for Manchester Port Position

MANCHESTER
Rada Files as Write-in for Manchester Port
Ron Rada, current chairman of the Manchester Community Council, has filed with the county auditor’s office as a write-in candidate for the Port of Manchester position 2.
Up until now, incumbent Dan Fallstrom was running for the position unopposed. Rada has owned property in Manchester for eight years. He would have filed earlier, he said, but wasn’t eleigible, because he and his wife Joyce just moved into their home in July.
Rada said, if elected, he would exercise the port’s capacity to promote economic development by buying land for an expansion of the Manchester Library and for a community center. Manchester Library is owned by Friends of the Manchester Library and sits on port land. The Manchester Community Council, of which Rada is chairman, has been trying to get a community center going, and land is the missing ingredient, Rada said.
Rada would also address Manchester’s lack of parking, especially during boating season. He would like to see the port buy land for that purpose, but, he said, a balance has to be struck so the area doesn’t end up looking like “one big parking lot.” Also there are limited parcels available for that purpose.
Rada said the port needs to begin asking for voluntary fees from non-resident boaters who use Manchester’s dock.
“We’re not talking megabucks, but it really would help offset some of the maintenance costs,” Rada said.
Rada, 60, is a financial advisor with Edward Jones Investments of Port Orchard and a retired Army lieutenant colonel. He is a past president of the Port Orchard and South Kitsap Area Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club of Port Orchard.
Rada will hold weekly meetings for campaign supporters at 3 p.m. Thursdays in the Manchester Library.