HomeMy WebLinkAbout08City of Port Townsend
(360) 379-5047 (email: citycouncil@ci.port-townsend.wa.us) www.ci.port-townsend.wa.us August 2005
City Update by City Manager David Timmons
As budget season approaches and the Council begins consideration of 2006 funding for the
City’s operating and capital programs, the overall outlook for the City’s finances is positive in
some areas and problematic in others. Finance Director Michael Legarsky and I have reviewed
the City’s finances and have authorized short-term investment of 16,432,538.00 of city funds. The majority of
these funds are construction, bond and trust fund reserves and not operating cash. Also, the City currently
has over $50,000,000.00 available debt capacity. With property reappraisal completed this year, the City debt
capacity will increase to an estimated $92,000,000.00. Simply stated, the City has very little debt and its finan-
cial picture appears stable.
The annual financial audit is currently being carried out by the State Auditor’s Office. They will be conducting
a higher-level audit that follows federal guidelines as we have been successful in receiving over $800,000.00
in grants for 2004. In the past five years, the City has received a “clean” audit report. The term “clean”
means there are no findings or recommendations by the State Auditor’s Office. In fact, the City’s grant admini-
stration procedure is being used as a model by other cities.
We still maintain an “A” rating from Standard and Poor’s that was granted to us in the last two bond issues.
Twice the reports stated that the community’s rating was an “A-“, but due to the strong financial management
of the administration, they recommended an upgrade to an “A”. This is unique for a small community.
The financial issue that is stressing the community is basic and one that is an issue for all small communities.
We have 100 year old infrastructure that is deteriorating. We have addressed the utility portion of this issue
through our rate adjustments and capital facilities planning and isolated the remaining need which is mainte-
nance and improvements to the streets. The General Operating Fund cannot continue subsidizing the Street
Fund as it has in the past. We need to find a source of sustainable funding for the streets. Because the levy
approach failed our strategy has shifted to alternatives such as fire district consolidation and/or alternative
taxes and fees. If a solution is not found, we compromise our ability to maintain current service levels. In ba-
sic terms, this is the fiscal vise impacting communities all across the country.
As we enter into the budget process for 2006, we invite you to participate. All meetings will be open to the
public and dates and locations announced in The Leader, on the City’s web site, PTTV channel 48 and posted
on the door of the Waterman and Katz Building. Please join us.
HOOD CANAL BRIDGE CLOSURE
The latest scheduled bridge closures will be:
August 11, 8 pm thru August 15, 4 am
and, August 21, 8 pm thru August 25, 4 am
In last month’s newsletter, the phone number for
additional information and alternate routes was in-
correct. The correct number is 1-877-595-4222.
You say the bridge is out? What will you do?
Come join Main Street’s “ParTy in P.T.”
August 12, 13 and 14
featuring storewide sales, restaurant discounts,
outdoor dining, Point Hudson open house ac-
tivities, beer and root beer gardens, music on
the street and of course,
Bizarre Bazaar
August 13 and 14, 9 am to 1 pm
at the Mount Baker Block Building.
LIBRARY NEWS
The filling of the Youth
Services Librarian and Senior Library
Associate/Teen Specialist’s positions is
finally complete. Jean Tarascio has been
promoted to the position of Youth Ser-
vices Librarian and Rachel Aronowitz has
been hired as the new Senior Library Associate/
Teen Specialist. Jean possesses a strong back-
ground in early childhood education. During her
four-year tenure in the Youth Department she has
been responsible for developing creative and inno-
vative programs for children including such suc-
cesses as summer reading, baby story time and a
Spanish language collection. She will be working
with staff and the community to evaluate and de-
fine the future direction for youth services at the
Port Townsend Public Library.
Rachel Aronowitz comes north from the
Berkeley Public Library where she held
the position of Teen Reference Librarian.
Rachel is no stranger to Port Townsend,
having come numerous times to attend
Centrum’s Festival of American Fiddle
Tunes. One objective of the library’s
long-range plan is to re-establish the library con-
nection with teens. Rachel has excellent creden-
tials and experience in this area and we anticipate
many exciting teen “happenings” very soon.
UPCOMING LIBRARY EVENTS:
§Gypsy Caravan Day on Friday,
August 10 from 2-4 p.m. Young
adults, ages 12 and up, will spend
an afternoon in the land of the
gypsies. There will be tarot card
readers, henna tattoos, and a presentation on
the unfortunate history and plight of the gypsies
around the world from Spain to India as well as
traditional music and photographs. Everyone is
encouraged to dress up and refreshments will
be served.
§Uptown Parade on August 20.
A giant dragon puppet created
by children with the guidance
of Thaddeus Jurczynski will be
part of this Port Townsend tradition for kids.
§Readers Are Novel Lovers Book
Group on August 19. This is a new
library book group initiative that will
hold its first organizational meeting
on Friday August 19 at 6:30 p.m.
This program will provide a unique
opportunity to discuss books and to
meet new book lovers.
CITY COUNCIL E-MAIL
Many citizens communicate with City
Council members via e-mail. We
encourage everyone to take advantage
of this means of communication; however, when e-
mailing your City Council members, please keep in
mind that e-mail messages are public records which
are disclosable to the public under Washington
State’s Public Disclosure Act (PDA). Requests for
confidentiality of any e-mail cannot be honored un-
der the PDA. Each e-mail to Councilors is logged
and downloaded into a correspondence file which
may be viewed by any member of the public.
All e-mail correspondence to elected officials must
be sent to their official city email address. City pol-
icy requires that any e-mail communication regard-
ing city business received at a home address by an
elected official be forwarded to the City Clerk’s of-
fice. This policy protects the City from incurring
penalties under the PDA for potentially making an
incomplete response to a records request, and also
protects Council members from having the contents
of their home computers subject to discovery in liti-
gation.
Council email:
citycouncil@ci.port-townsend.wa.us (for entire
council) or at the following individual addresses:
Catharine Robinson, Mayor
crobinson@ptcitycouncil.org
Michelle Sandoval, Deputy Mayor
msandoval@ptcitycouncil.org
Kees Kolff kkolff@ptcitycouncil.org
Geoff Masci gmasci@ptcitycouncil.org
Freida Fenn ffenn@ptcitycouncil.org
Frank Benskin fbenskin@ptcitycouncil.org
Laurie Medlicott lmedlicott@ptcitycouncil.org
Jean Tarascio
Rachelle
Aronowitz