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The Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader, 226 Adams Street, Port Townsend, WA (2025)

06/26/2025

City aims to replace $4,316-a-week finance temp

By James Robinson

City officials are completing a background review on a finalist for the finance manager position that, once filled, will eliminate the expense of one of its most expensive temporary hires.

The city has been paying roughly $8,000 a week for 21 months to Robert Half, a global staffing and business consultancy, for two temporary employees in the city’s finance department. City staff said two weeks ago they had been actively seeking candidates to fill the vacancies, advertising in multiple places.

“We have interviewed six candidates for the finance manager position, including two Monday, Jodi Adams, the city’s finance director, wrote in a June 17 email. “Everyone we have interviewed brings a diverse set of skills, yet many applicants have not met the minimum qualifications we require for the position. Hiring on skills as well as fit for the team tends to lead to successful longer term employment so we are making sure we are not rushing to fill the position.” At that time, no offers had been made, “but we would like to fill the position as quickly as possible.”

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/25/2025

PUD rates set to surge 30% by 2028

By Mallory Kruml

Jefferson County Public Utility District customers may be surprised by what shows up on their August electricity bill.

Starting July 5, customers across the board will see an average increase of 9% in their monthly payment. Additional rate increases of 6.75% could take effect in 2026, 2027 and 2028.

Residential rates will increase slightly higher than average — 9.01% on July 5, and a planned 7.31% in 2026, 7.28% in 2027 and 7.25% in 2028 — as the group is currently paying less than the cost of service. Commissioners will need to approve those hikes each year.

The average residential PUD customer currently pays $133.34 per month for electricity, according to Financial Consulting Services (FCS) estimates. Beginning July 5, those bills will increase by approximately $12 per month under the newly approved rates. The average monthly cost could reach at least $176.80 by 2028 — an overall increase of $43.46 over three years for the same level of service. That is an increase of more than 32%.

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/14/2025

Sheriff’s report supports hospital whistleblower

By James Robinson

Jefferson Health Care Commissioner and whistleblower Matt Ready will see his complaint move forward against the Jefferson Health Care Board, key leadership and legal counsel, according to a report from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

“The actions likely violate OPMA (Washington State Open Public Meetings Act), with civil penalties applicable, and may constitute official misconduct if intent is proven,” wrote Detective Sergeant Derek Allen, of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

Jefferson County Sheriff Andy Pernsteiner assigned the complaint to Allen after Ready submitted his complaint and supporting evidence to Jefferson and Clallam County sheriff’s offices. Ready said the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office had not responded to his complaint.
“Criminal conspiracy or racketeering seems less supported, requiring much further evidence.”

For the full story, pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/13/2025

East Jefferson Fire Rescue responded to 5,656 calls in 2024

By Mallory Kruml

East Jefferson Fire Rescue (EJFR) released its 2024 annual report on June 4.

The 24-page document highlights EJFR’s growth and its ongoing commitment to the health and well-being of its staff and the surrounding community.

Covering Jefferson County Fire Protection District 1, EJFR served over 28,000 residents across 123 square miles with nine stations, 68 employees and 24 volunteers.

In 2024, EJFR responded to a total of 5,656 emergency calls, seeing an increase of nearly 10% from the previous year. Port Townsend accounted for 2,410 of the incidents, with the majority of calls being EMS or rescue-related.

Despite the growth and its aging fleet and facilities, the department’s response time improved by 11.4%, dropping by 49 seconds from the previous year.

“Arriving on scene faster allows us to begin medical care faster and to mitigate the impact of fires, traffic accidents, and other hazards more effectively,” wrote Robert Wittenberg, EJFR’s community risk manager. “And with increased call volume, this improved response time became even more beneficial to the community.”

Wittenberg attributed the improvement to technology upgrades and increased staffing.

For the full story, pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/12/2025

Mill cites $319M economic impact

Leader Staff

The old adage, “The smell of the mill is the smell of money,” appears to hold true, according to an economic impact study released today that details the Port Townsend Paper Company’s (PTPC) economic impact on Port Townsend and Jefferson County.

Mill executives anticipate the report will inform discussions as they and city leaders evaluate the current rate model. It sets the rate per 1,000 gallons that the city and the mill pay, currently set at $1.20. The Leader estimates that PTPC pays about $4.7 million, based on its current usage.

“The water supply agreement specifies that we update the rate model every five years,”Mauro said. “Working together with the mill, we will evaluate the OGWS Fund (the balance, revenue and expenses for the proceeding five-year period,) as well as a projection for operations and maintenance costs and investment into capital needs during that subsequent twenty-year period.” OGWS stands for Olympic Gravity Water System.

Mauro said the current agreement was adopted in 2021, and “we anticipate updating the rate model at that five-year period by the end of 2026.”

According to a white paper published by the city in 2021, “Like the development of the Olympic Gravity Water System in the late 1920’s, the development of an agreement between the [city and PTPC] is a significant undertaking with the stakes being high for both parties. As such, the negotiation of a mutually beneficial agreement warrants thoughtful collaboration based on the best data possible.”

For the full story, pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/11/2025

City relies on costly temps while key positions remain unfilled

BY JAMES ROBINSON

Since September 2023, the City of Port Townsend has spent well over a half a million dollars with Robert Half, a global, business consulting firm that specializes in placing temporary finance and accounting professionals.

According to city records, those funds, totaling $579,573 through June 2, or roughly $8,000 a week, have gone for two contract employees — a finance director, as termed by Half for the payscale and level of expertise, and a payroll position earning $107.92 an hour and $84.55 an hour respectively.

The city classifies the finance director as a senior accountant, said Jodi Adams, the city’s finance director. Half “provide[s] the services of accounting and payroll as well as finishing projects that were delayed by having those vacancies, and training for our current staff,” she said.

“These are skills that we either do not currently have on staff, or our employees have a full-time job already and are not able to absorb the additional workload.”

Adams said the city had been “actively recruiting” and noted that the overall expense of the city’s internal finance department has been reduced while it used Half. She also noted that “a good portion of this is offset by the salary and benefit savings we have from those vacant positions in the finance department.”

The general fund budget summary indicates the finance department budget is down.

For the full story, pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/06/2025

Chimacum School District plans for budget shortfalls, tightens belt

By James Robinson

With costs outpacing revenues, Chimacum School District officials are planning for a year of spending in the red as they brace for more state and federal funding shortfalls.

“Although we are budgeting for a healthy 13% fund balance, we anticipate a year of deficit spending of about $330,000 in a $17.5 million budget,” according to an email June 2 by school officials.

“We are looking at instability in funding sources in the near future and planning ahead for what is needed,” said Roxanne Hudson, board chair of the school district.

Chimacum School District Superintendent Scott Mauk said even with the revenue shortfalls, the district would not lose any teachers, nor would there be layoffs, but there would be cutbacks through attrition and the elimination of jobs.
“We are cutting several positions and combining some positions,” Mauk said. “We have quite a few retirements, leaves, and resignations.”

They intentionally waited for the final results of the legislative session “so we could begin crunching actual apportionment numbers for a more accurate budget,” he said. “We wanted to communicate that we are deficit spending (revenues outpaced by costs) but that we have a fund balance to continue this year.

Mauk added they were “trying to tell folks the way things are as we go forward.”

For the full story, pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/05/2025

PDA officially dissolved

By James Robinson

The Port Townsend City Council dissolved the Fort Worden Public Development Authority (PDA) during its regular council meeting June 2, thus marking the end of the city’s 16-year effort to co-manage Fort Worden Historical State Park as a public-private partnership.

City council members and staff described the dissolution as a formality, a tidying up, the last bit of unfinished business to bring the PDA era to a close. During the proceedings, little mention was made of repaying the $6.2 million owed by the PDA to Kitsap Bank.

In an unsigned letter submitted for public comment, Kitsap executives wrote about their long history of involvement and service to the Port Townsend community, “including loaning $6.2 million to the PDA. We wanted to help the Authority with its plans to improve Fort Worden Park.”

The letter suggested longtime implications of Kitsap Bank’s relationship with the city. “The subsequent failure of the PDA has caused significant harm to the Bank. In addition to the more than $6.2 million loss the bank has incurred, the handling of the matter has eroded the bank’s trust in local government, which will impact future partnership opportunities.”

For the full story, pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

06/04/2025

Allegation of favoritism in city hall clears first legal hurdle

By James Robinson

The ethics complaint against City Manager John Mauro will move forward to hearing or summary judgement, following a “ruling of sufficiency” filed by Phil Olbrechts, the city’s hearing examiner, on May 31.

“The Mauro complaint is found to sufficiently allege facts that could constitute an ethics violation if Mr. Mauro used his position to grant special privileges to one side of a community transgender debate,”Olbrechts wrote. “In this regard, Mr. Mauro might have committed an ethics violation if he acted outside of his job responsibilities in using city resources to address a trans-gender incident at the YMCA. He may also have committed an ethics violation if he granted special access to a city council meeting for a group on one side of the trans-gender incident to the exclusion of the opposing group.”

Olbrechts noted that meeting sufficiency is “a very low bar.”

“A complainant only has to establish that her or his allegations establish an ethics violation if the allegations are proven true.”

Olbrechts also acknowledged that at sufficiencty review, a “defendant has no opportunity to present opposing facts. Mr. Mauro needs to be heard on his reasons for an accurate adjudication.”

For the full story, pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

05/31/2025

Julie Jaman lawsuit settles out of court

BY LEADER STAFF

The lawsuit filed by Julie Jaman against the city of Port Townsend and the Olympic Peninsula YMCA, among others, has been settled, according to a city press release dated May 27. It was first reported on May 16 by The Leader.

Jaman, 82, was banned from the Mountain View Pool in Port Townsend, operated by the YMCA through a joint management agreement with the city, after she confronted a transgender pool employee in the women’s locker room in 2022.

Jaman had claimed the violation of her constitutionally protected rights to free speech, due process, and equal protection under the First and Fourteenth amendments.

All parties have agreed to settle all claims, with no admission of liability.

Jaman will receive $65,000, paid fully by the Olympic Peninsula YMCA’s insurance companies, according to the city release. Jaman remains banned from all facilities owned or operated by the Olympic Peninsula YMCA.

Additionally, both Jaman and the defendants in her lawsuit — which includes the city of Port Townsend and the Olympic Peninsula YMCA — have agreed not to harass or make statements to any member of the public, including in the media or on social media platforms, that they know to be false, according to the city’s release.

05/30/2025

Sheriff’s office achieves accreditation

BY LEADER STAFF

After years of effort, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has earned accreditation from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) for the first time.

“JCSO began working on becoming accredited in 2017 under Sheriff Stanko. It’s been a long process, and thanks to our dedicated Accreditation Manager Ben Stamper and our professional team at JCSO, we have finally achieved our goal,” said Sheriff Andy Pernsteiner in a prepared statement. He added that the department was proud of the accreditation.

WASPC accreditation certifies that a department is operating under best practices and standards for law enforcement, the press release reads. The process consists of seven phases: interest and initiation, self-assessment, mock assessment, final file review and site visit, accreditation commission review, executive board approval, and award.

JCSO received its accreditation award on May 21, joining 79 other accredited law enforcement agencies in the state.

“Police accountability is important to ensure and improve public trust,” said WASPC Executive Director Steven Strachan in the same statement. “The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office took these direct and tangible steps to earn the public’s confidence in their operations. The community should be proud of the men and women who serve them every day.”

For the full story, pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

05/29/2025

Canadian tourism cools, Port Townsend feels the heat

BY MALLORY KRUML

For decades, retired clinical social worker Andrew Brown regularly made trips from Victoria, B.C., to the Swan Hotel in Port Townsend.

This year, and for the first time in 20 years, he’s staying home.

“It’s a very special place to me,” he said, noting he comes to town perhaps four times a year. “But, I will not visit for the near foreseeable future.”

Brown said he’s watched his fellow Canadians become wary of crossing the border, with many angry over their country’s treatment by its neighbor.

“There’s a general boycott in B.C. towards the U.S.,” he said. “What’s being said is let’s not put money into the United States, let’s not travel to the United States. Let’s not put ourselves at risk of being harassed at the border; let’s wait until they sort their problems out and start conducting themselves as the Americans we knew before the Trump administration.”

Brown is among a significant block of Canadians who have decreased — or halted — their visits to the U.S. in response to President Donald Trump announcing tariffs on most Canadian imports and threatening to annex Canada as America’s “51st state.”

This stance is being felt by merchants and others reliant on tourism revenue in Port Townsend and around the Olympic Peninsula as the Memorial Day holiday ends and the summer season begins.

Typically, Canadians fuel 15 to 20% of business on the Olympic Peninsula, according to the Olympic Peninsula Visitors Bureau. This year, that number is down significantly.

“Overall, anecdotally, I would say we...

For the full story, pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

The Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader

06/26/2025

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