HomeMy WebLinkAbout101617_cbs010, coN SSf District No. 1 Commissioner: Kate Dean
District No. 2 Commissioner: David W. Sullivan
ODistrict No. 3 Commissioner: Kathleen Kier
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County Administrator: Philip Morle
Clerk of the Board: Erin Lund gre
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SIN SPECIAL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTk
of July 24, 2017
Madam Chair Kathleen Kler called the meeting to order at the appointed time in the
presence of Commissioner David Sullivan and Commissioner Kate Dean.
HEARING re: Declaring an Emergency with Respect to the Availability of Housing that
is Affordable to Low -Income and Very Low -Income Households, and Calling for an Election on a
Property Levy to Establish a Home Opportunity Fund.
After Madam Chair Kler reviewed the procedure for the hearing, County Administrator Philip Morley
gave a power point presentation on the proposed fund which explained the hearing and levy process, and
gave an overview of how the fund would operate and a timeline of implementation, if approved.
Madam Chair Kler opened the hearing to public testimony.
Emily Ingram, Port Townsend: She stated she is a homeowner in Port Townsend and sits on the Boards
of Habitat for Humanity for East Jefferson County and the Real Estate Professionals for Affordable
Housing Board. She is also a local mortgage lender. Every day she helps people live here, at least that is
the plan. When someone comes to her office looking to become a homeowner and she cannot help them,
9 times out of 10 it is simply a matter of affordability. These are people who are productive, responsible,
working members of our community. Just in the last few weeks they have included a man who works
full time for the Chimacum School District, a young family with another baby on the way, she is a stay
at home mom, he works for a local manufacturing company, and a single mom who works for one of the
very non -profits represented in this room today. These are people with good credit and good jobs. They
are working full time, most are raising a family, but they just don not earn enough to own a home here.
She believes it should be possible for working people to afford a home and still be able to have money
left -over for the basics like food, transportation and childcare. With the Home Opportunity Fund, an
organization could offer a down payment assistance loan that could bridge the gap between what these
folks can afford and the actual costs of homes here. This would enable working class families to stay in
our community and raise their families here. Thank you.
Harold Rogers: He stated that he is dead against more taxes and is getting tired of hearing "taxes, taxes,
help this, help that." When he started his job at the mill 41.5 years ago, he went and got his home, paid
for it a couple times over. He cannot see why he should be taxed because someone cannot get a job.
That's not his fault. People paying taxes should not be dumped on for people who do not want to pay
them. Is this going to help that? He does not think so. He is dead against it. He is sorry. He knows a lot
of people are hurting, and a lot of his friends are hurting, but stated that a lot of people do not want to
work. A lot of them do not want to go out and do the job and work. He worked 41 1/2years to get his
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Commissioners Meeting Minutes of July 24, 2017
home and every time he turns around there is taxes for schools, and he dead set against the new
proposed tax levy. He does not want to pay any more taxes and is sick of it.
Dale Wilson: He stated he represents the Olympic Community Action Program (OlyCAP). OlyCAP's
governing board of directors has unanimously endorsed the Home Opportunity Fund. They realized that,
and strongly believe, that affordable housing development is an economic need and a human necessity.
Affordable housing doesn't just happen, it won't just happen unless we as a community do something
about it locally. It's like raising a family, it requires a village and Jefferson County is our village. The
Home Opportunity Fund is a unique chance for this community to finally quit talking and do something.
Thank you.
Pete Von Christierson, Port Townsend: He stated he is on the Homeward Bound board, which is a
housing non-profit agency. Affordable housing is in very short supply and very much needed. He
strongly supports the levy idea stating that it is a very important method of obtaining affordable housing.
You have to have money before you can build any housing. The levy is extremely important. He
recommends that all housing either rental or homeownership, that is developed with the levy funds, be
required to be permanently affordable, not 40 years. To not have a permanently affordable requirement
would mean that the subsidy that goes into building a house, which is usually $100,000 - $400,000
would be lost when it is sold after 40 years. He believes it is very important to make these housing units
permanently affordable. Such a covenant would not prohibit a homeowner from selling or a renter from
moving out, but it would mean the sale price or rental price would be kept at a level that is affordable.
This can be accomplished through an agreement or by using a non-profit that specializes in these
arrangements. Thank you very much.
Julia Cochrane Port Townsend: She stated she lives with people who mow your lawns, clean your
houses, take care of the elderly, do daycare, walk dogs, work in the restaurants, bag at Safeway and they
live with her because they cannot find a place to live. She begs that there is some solution to this
problem.
Brent Garrett: He stated that he believes this problem was created by Jefferson County. He has been in
Jefferson County Public Health for 1'h years trying to get a business open and currently owns two in the
County and is trying to open a third which will create 15 new jobs. At the meeting Commissioner
Sullivan attended Saturday, Ron Vasenda talked about his struggles in trying to open up a campsite in
Jefferson County. He wanted to put up 5 yurts on 10 acres, and the manufacturer would not even sell to
Jefferson County because of the nightmare of doing anything in this County. As a follow-up, he called
Rainier Yurts out of Seattle, the sales representative had a note on her desk warning about Jefferson
County. There are multiple horror stories about people trying to build homes here and start businesses
here. Fortunately, we will have a venue for these stories to come out. It is frustrating. When was the last
time an apartment was built in Jefferson County? 40-45 years ago and not in Port Townsend, in the
County, this is a huge County. When was the last time an apartment was built? Why haven't they been
built? $25 Million has been collected for the sewer system in the Port Hadlock, Irondale, Chimacum
Urban Growth Area (UGA). The ground is still undisturbed. This would fix everything, or at least a
good chunk of it. He asked the Commissioners and people present in the meeting to think about it. Why
hasn't an apartment been built in the county in 40 years. That $1.9 Million per year can go a long way to
start fixing this, and that is a long-term fix. He thanked the Commissioners.
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Gene Farr, Jefferson County: He stated that he submitted written testimony via email. He is appalled that
the Commissioners are even considering this as they have to declare an emergency to break the I% cap
on property taxes. It is sure folly to waste the taxpayers money this way and is absolutely ridiculous to
do this for a problem the County Commissioners have caused already. In other words, if we had decent
zoning, codes, and permitting processes here, the housing could be built. But that is only one side of the
equation, you have to consider that affordability is a balance between the cost of the housing and what
people can afford to pay. We need to get the zoning and all the regulations and bureaucracy to tamp
down to where we can build houses and more importantly apartments and things like that to be used as
entry level housing for people. On the other side of the equation, you have to do something to create
more living -wage jobs in this County. That is a basic problem as other people have already pointed out,
its jobs, jobs, jobs. If you do not have living -wage jobs here, there will never be a match between what
people can afford to pay and what the housing costs. He noticed the City of Port Townsend is starting to
look at zoning and regulations, but they are not looking at the other side of the equation, so they are
equally bad. We need to make sure all the regulatory processes, zoning, all the regulations, all of these
things that you control, is done in such a way to encourage the building of housing and the entrance into
this county or the expansion of businesses, entrepreneurs that will develop living -wage jobs. That is the
real answer. To call this a Home Opportunity Fund and say it's not government housing, that is
ludicrous. You take the tax payers money, you filter it through the County Administration, you build in
10% for the County, it goes off to the organizations, they take their percentage to feed and hire people,
and it finally gets down to someone to build something, or modify an apartment or run things. That is
absolutely ludicrous. You have to work the basic problem, and that is jobs. You have got to get
affordable housing as well as living -wage jobs or it will never work. The seven year limit on this
proposed levy will never go away. You will have to renew it because subsidized housing does not make
it affordable.
Stuart Milbrad, Port Ludlow: He stated he agrees to a great extent with Mr. Farr's remarks. He believes
this is being approached from the wrong end. There is definitely a housing problem. He does not see a
plan, he has extended the numbers and tried to put that into the number of units of new housing, and it
does not look like you are adding that many units. We have to have a viable economy in our County.
The four largest payroll, three are public. It is the people that are being employed in the service end of
things that have a hard time finding rentals because of the shortage, a lot of which is caused by short
term rentals we have here. Perhaps those people should be looked at to help subsidize the need rather
than the general population. He urged the Commissioners to get a plan that really works. Thank you.
Michael Peterson, Port Hadlock: He stated he will be one of the people who will eventually benefit from
the passing of this levy. Recently, he was placed on medical retirement due to complications of diabetes
and other issues as well. He currently makes $755 a month, of that, his rent is $650 a month. If it were
not for friends and family helping him take care of these other bills through PUD, OlyCAP or other
organizations available to him, he would not be able to live here and would need to live with family. It
has been said there needs to be jobs and other things that need to boost the economy. He agrees with
that. There is nothing here for people with younger families, and the younger generations. All of our
money is filtered into other counties because we do not have the development and infrastructure
available to this community. He lost his house in 2003 to a wildfire that went through, so he knows first-
hand to look at the bottom and expect someone to help him. He implores everyone voting on this levy to
understand that this is also something that goes into helping people later down the road should they lose
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the ability to care for themselves, their families or their mortgages. This will at least give you the
opportunity to live within the community and have a place to call your own. He prepared a written
statement which he submitted. (See Hearing Record). Thank you for your time.
Bonnie Broders, Port Townsend: She stated that the Commissioners and their minions are the cause of
the housing problem. The Commissioners had policies in place for the last 20 years to restrict housing.
Zoning, exorbitant fees, burdensome regulations have caused this problem and now you want to fix it.
She has a son who wants to build a house in the County. The first step was to get a housing number
before you can get a building permit. That was last November. He has not yet got his housing number so
he cannot even apply. She is building a house in Port Townsend and submitted 60 pages of plans,
documents, specifications, but that is not enough. There are 41 more things she needs to do. She needs to
get an engineer from Seattle to come do some work and hire a soil engineer for when they do the
excavation. She is five feet from the septic and electrical hookups and it costs $5,000 for the septic
hookup, $5,000 for the electrical hookup, and $400 to review the plans which will have to be redone
causing more fees. She anticipates around $6,000 - $10,000 in permit fees. The Commissioners are to
blame for the high cost of permit fees. The Commissioners need to be the solution and reduce the fees,
being more cooperative and helpful so they can actually get their plans through and get some building.
The private sector is a solution to the problem, and you need to be cooperative to reduce fees, getting rid
of regulations and helping out.
Marty Gilmore; Port Townsend: He thanked the Commissioners for holding the hearing on the critical
issue and many voices need to be heard. He supports both of the actions the Commissioners are asked to
take. It should be easy to declare a housing crisis. We have seen the data, we have heard the personal
stories, we all have friends, families or neighbors having trouble finding a place to live in this
community. If we do not address housing, all of the other things we come here for, the richness of the
community is going to go away because people cannot afford to live here and cannot afford to work
here. It will become this old seaport preserve that will become a museum, and stop being a community.
Please declare the crisis. He urged the Commissioners to put this measure on the ballot. There are three
of you Commissioners, and even with all your capabilities, there is only three of you. Saying no to this
opportunity at this moment, he believes is unfair to the greater community. Even with all the people in
this room and testifying, around 200-400 people testifying, that is still maybe only I% of the voters in
Jefferson County. This measure deserves to be put on the ballot because there has only been about a
month of discussion on this topic, and if it is on the ballot, there will be 3 more months to discuss this
issue. This one item, if it passes, it is still only one component. If it is on the ballot it will generate more
discussion on all the rest of the issues that affect housing and affordability in this community. Some of
the speakers have talked about job creation, permitting, zoning and those all undoubtedly need to be
addressed. While those are being addressed, people still need to live here, and they cannot afford to live
here. People still need to address affordable housing and this is a measure that will possibly address it
and certainly create discussion and more ideas. Please put it on the ballot. Thank you.
Bill Lowry, Port Townsend: He read from a statement he submitted as written testimony. (See hearing
record)
John Gusoskey, Quilcene: He stated that he retired from the Navy in 1979 after 20 years of service and
two tours in Vietnam. When he got out of the Navy, he suddenly discovered that he would not be able to
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live on the magnificent retirement that a grateful nation was willing to give him for his service in
Vietnam, so he had to get a job. Fortunately, he had the training and expertise to get a good paying job.
We have had several people point out the non-existence of living -wage jobs in Jefferson County. That is
not good and the County Commissioners do not seem to do anything to enhance the ability of a business
to open up and employ people and pay them the living -wages that would allow them to afford housing.
This is the crux. Anytime you have a levy for taxes, that tax will never go away. He doesn't care that it
is written for seven years. It is just not going to go away. The taxes will never decrease. The other side
of this, is what is going to be achieved by this levy. His property taxes will go up a bit more than what
County Administrator Morley has said. Maybe he is fortunate, but he has worked to get to where he is.
The problem that we are being faced with is being asked to give away what we have earned, to support
people who maybe are not willing to work to get what we have. Everyone has the willingness to support
those who are trying and in need, we cannot turn our back on these people. We cannot turn our back on
any of our neighbors, we have to help them. This is not the right way to do it. This levy should not be on
the ballot. The reason for that being if you go back to Thomas Jefferson, when the voting class
outnumbers the working class, a civilization is destined to fail.
Nils Pedersen, Port Ludlow: He stated that he is the President of the Board of Directors for Habitat for
Humanity for East Jefferson County and he is speaking on behalf of the organization. Habitat supports
both the declaration of the housing emergency and the Home Opportunity Fund initiative. The
affordable housing emergency in the County is apparent. Families, seniors and low-income workers
cannot find affordable homes in this County. As we saw before, almost 1 in 5 children in our schools is
living in poverty, and we have over 100 children that are homeless. Habitat's vision is a world where
everyone has a decent place to live. For 20 years, Habitat has been building and repairing homes in this
County for lower income partner families. The need now is so much greater than what habitat and other
groups in the County are able to address. The Home Opportunity Fund can make significant progress in
creating and preserving affordable housing. Habitat just dedicated two new houses on Saturday for two
partner families. It includes a single mom with an active young boy and a baby girl who is just starting
to walk. These kids will grow up in a decent home they can afford. Studies that have been conducted by
both academics and experts draw a straight line between housing quality and the well-being of children.
Surveys of Habitat homeowners show improved grades, better financial health, and parents more sure
they can meet their family's needs. Strong and stable homes help build strong and stable communities.
2/3 of the tax levy would go to projects that target the very low-income residents of our community.
This part of the community, which makes 50% or less of the median income in our area, is one that
Habitat has found increasingly harder to serve. Families of this income level often cannot meet the
minimum income requirements of the Habitat program. This levy represents a serious opportunity to
address the need for housing for our lowest income neighbors. Our support does not depend on our
being able to participate in the fund we should note. We support the creation of this fund so that
everyone in our community can have a decent place to live. Thank you.
Pat Teal, Port Townsend: She stated she is the resident Commissioner on the Peninsula Housing
Authority Board, but is speaking for herself. We all know we have a problem with affordable housing in
this community. We know it is a huge problem. She shares Habitat's vision. Everyone deserves to have
a happy, affordable, secure home to live in. That security is vital to people's mental and physical health.
People are on edge, stressed, fearful, angry when living without housing security. We have all heard the
horror stories where there is rent increase, or a home selling and the tenant not being able to find another
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home. All have heard the horror stories, and people are afraid. This leads to mental and physical health
problems, community, economic and family problems. This could be a huge part of the solution by
declaring an emergency and getting this levy on the ballot. She is an example of what can happen when
you go from an insecure housing situation to a secure housing situation. She is disabled and living on a
social security income. The space rent for the mobile home she owned and was living in, went from a
quarter of her income to half of her income and was no longer sustainable for her. When the opportunity
came up for self-help housing, she signed up and stated that she worked harder than she has ever worked
before on building her home for 18 months and moved in earlier this year. It has made a huge difference
for her mental and physical health and her being able to contribute to this community. She would like
others to experience this opportunity.
John Collins, Port Townsend: He thanked the Commissioners for the opportunity and stated he is a
retired educator. He has a vision for this wonderful community of Jefferson County; for every child to
start each day well -rested, nourished, homework completed, healthy and secure in the knowledge that
they can return at the end of the day to a safe and decent home. We all know that for many of our
families in this community that is not a possibility due to the absence or severe shortage of housing for
them. Presented with the stark reality that right here in our home County, this basic human right of a
decent place to live for every family is not available, what do we do? He is a member of the Habitat for
Humanity Board. He stated that we heard from Nils on the position of Habitat for Humanity. Mr. Collins
stated that he volunteered for Habitat here and in other communities. He understands the needs and the
basic human right for a decent place to live. The proposed Home Opportunity Fund is not a silver bullet,
but it is one way to chip away at backlog to decent housing that can be affordable. It is time to stop
bemoaning and sharing with each other the knowledge that there is a problem and actually step up to the
plate and do something. He applauds the Commissioners for bringing this to the voters and hopes that
voters will see fit to support this. Thank you.
John Hamilton, Port Hadlock: He stated that he supports the Commissioners calling the situation a
housing crisis and the initiative should be placed on the ballot. He is a Vietnam combat veteran who
spent two years in the military, one full year of which was in Vietnam during the 1968 Tet Offensive.
He knows a lot of veterans who have struggled with their return home after these kinds of experiences.
25% of the homeless are veterans of wars we have had. Others that just live off the grid and you don't
know anything about. When veterans do come home from the war situation, they either land on their feet
or their head. The intensity of what they have experienced, leaves them with intense anxiety, depression
that leads to difficulty with relationships, and they become either a workaholic or they are not able to
keep a job down. In his experience, he landed on his feet, became a workaholic and is able to survive by
himself. He receives veteran benefits due to his exposure to agent orange which led to severe health
problems. There are a lot of veterans like this. It is not just because they are in a war zone or have been
in combat, it is the fact of what have we done to them? We have exposed them to bad chemicals and
other things along with the combat situation. In the past decade it has only become recognized that so
many emotional problems are reality for veterans. He knows a number of them in this community that
struggle to find homes, cannot find work because they are disabled, and a lot of those are emotional -
related disabilities. They would love nothing better than to find a place to live. If the initiative passes,
veterans would be able to tap into some of their veteran benefits to pay for housing. He sees some great
possibilities to help veterans become whole again and give them meaningfulness in their lives. Thank
you for your time and having this open debate.
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Tom Thiersch: He stated that this proposed fund is supposedly after the situation in Bellingham. He
looked into Bellingham and saw what they have done since 2012, and he is not encouraged by their
success. According to their own numbers, they are only providing 26 rental housing units per year, for
the last 4 years. That is not a great track record considering they are raising $4 Million per year, in
comparison to the $1.8-1.9 Million proposed for Jefferson County. That is a concern for him. If the levy
passes, and a financing plan is developed, he hopes that Jefferson County will do better than that with
the funding. He is not opposed at all to the notion of supporting low-income people. He served on the
Citizens Advisory Board for the PUD, and he was one of the strongest proponents to get the low-income
support program in place. The fact that he may be opposed to this levy, does not mean that he is opposed
to helping those in the community that need support. He does not like the way it is being proposed this
time around, and does not believe it is the right approach. The Pros of the potential levy are that it may
provide assistance to a limited number of low-income residents. The Cons are the fact that this is a large
property tax increase if you measure against the size of the General Fund Levy for property taxes, that is
a 22% increase. That is significant and possibly the biggest property tax increase of the County this
century. The financing plan is a draft, it is not final. It is kind of like "Well trust us, we are going to do
the right thing." Ronald Reagan referenced the nine most terrifying words... "trust us" may be two of
the most terrifying words. This is a band-aid approach, It is a temporary approach and not a long-lasting
permanent solution to the problem. He believes that the true long-lasting permanent way to address
housing in the County in general, is to build the sewer. Put this $14 Million into finalizing the sewer, get
it up and running, provide a place where we can provide high-density housing and a place where
builders can actually do their jobs. Thanks.
Diana Assumpcao: She read from a statement she submitted as written testimony. (See hearing record)
Sonny Flores: He stated he see this as a housing and a jobs issue. We want jobs here, but people do not
want businesses to come here. People want to keep the quaint Port Townsend, community, retirement,
entrepreneurs, visionary feel, but you need living -wages and money to afford housing. He is a veteran
and retired law enforcement and has seen the effects of homelessness, poverty, low wages and how it
affects the community as a whole. He agrees there needs to be housing, but noted the State of
Washington will be imposing a $1,000 tax on homeowners over the next four years as well to help pay
for school education, which he agrees with. He would like to know if the Board has looked into other
alternatives on funding a land trust. Vashon Island has a community land trust and had homes for
$174,000. He is unsure, but believes Commissioner Dean visited Vashon Island. People were able to
afford homes priced at $174,000 which is great. He does not know how they funded it. He would like
the Board to look at other ways of funding this. He suggested an extra sales tax called the "Penny Tax"
where you pay an extra penny for every $10.00 spent, but it should be the same tax across the board, not
just property owners to pay the bill. Annually, $180 per year is what he would be required to pay if the
levy were to pass, which is not a lot to him, but could be to those on fixed incomes. He is fortunate
enough to have retired. Some have suggested that as a retiree, he can claim an exemption, but he cannot
because he is not old enough to get the senior exemption. He has heard a developer withdrew plans to
build a 700 -house development here because of issues with the City of Port Townsend and funding and
infrastructure. The City of Port Townsend requested the developer pay for infrastructure. If the County
wants homes to be here, you need to help developers. If someone was seeking to build 700 homes here,
but they pulled out because the City of Port Townsend was not willing to work with them, infrastructure
issues, that has to be looked at. How do we get developers to stay here? How do we help them build
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these homes at an affordable price? He appreciates the Board looking at this issue. He spoke to Bruce
Cowan and other people working on this. He was totally against the idea at one point, but he is on the
fence about the issue now. For him, it is not a lot of money, but what next when something needs to be
done? Will you look at property owners again? Why do property owners always have to pay this? He
does not mind helping out, but he has always worked to get to where he is at. He left his city to get a
good job and come back and suggested that is what some need to do.
Francesco Tortorici, Port Townsend: He stated he came to the hearing with ideas of what he was going
to say ,but after hearing the previous speakers, it is important that this issue go to a vote. He commends
the Commissioners for bringing the issue up and letting the public decide. He is concerned with the
wording and believes it should be referred to as "affordable housing" and not just low-income housing.
He believes that will help with the dialogue. He was a building official in the County when he first
moved here and he was a building official in the City of Santa Fe, New Mexico when they adopted their
Affordable Housing Program, and it was not just collecting funds like this, it is multi -pronged. It is also
helping the developers and possibly expediting their building permits. In Santa Fe, they set the criteria of
what an affordable home would be, calculating square footage and price. If criteria for an affordable
home was met, you would get an expedited building permit and building fees were refunded if it sold as
an affordable house. There are many things to look at and he applauds the Commissioners. Thank you.
Sandy Humphrey, Port Ludlow: She stated she opposes the whole thing, even placing the issue on the
ballot. She feels like she didn't go to school for five years, worked her way through college and teach
for 40 years, saved every penny she had to be able to afford a home for herself that she bought at the top
of the market in Port Ludlow. The tax base is so high right now, and then there will be the education tax
increase which could add hundreds of dollars. The proposed Jefferson County tax increase is just
another burden. Someone stated the taxes never go away. There were taxes passed in Port Ludlow, and
when the tax levy comes up for renewal, it is put out that there will be no increase in taxes, just vote it
on in. The taxes always stay. Her sister loved this area and she retired outside of Houston, Texas instead
because she could not afford to live here after retiring from working for 40-50 years. Her little sister,
who had worked in a fireworks factory her whole life, and who lives in Louisiana along the bayou,
called her 25 years ago to tell her that she found the house of her dreams amongst the weeds. Her sister
told her they went to a realtor agent and gave them a check for $800, which was the price of the house.
That was all she could afford, and they have lived there ever since. Their lease has gone up from $5/year
to $85/month. She would hate to see the beautiful little town of Port Townsend change, but it will
change if you bring in all the houses who's tenants will not pay taxes. In the newspaper it was suggested
that the new housing would provide people with a safe place to live. Well, why do we have to provide
them with housing? If they were not previously here, it would be even safer for her. People should go
where they can afford to live and get a better paying job somewhere else, other than asking the people
who have saved all those years to help pay for your housing. Thank you very much for listening to me.
Kathy Morgan: She recited a quote from Gaston Bachelard "If I were asked to name the chief benefit of
the house, I should say: the house shelters day -dreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house
allows one to dream in peace." She recited a quote from Maya Angelou "The ache for home lives in all
of us, the same place where we can go, be as we are, and not be questioned." She stated in the past year,
OlyCAP has turned away 150 families that are homeless, most of them living in their cars. Over 50% of
these families have dual incomes and cannot find housing. OlyCAP cannot find housing for them either.
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They have a local school report of 100 school-age children that are currently homeless. At their last
Point in Time count in Jefferson County, they counted 234 homeless people in one day in the bitter cold
of January. Our state legislators still have not agreed on a capital budget and it took three special
sessions, and last minute planning to come up with an operating budget. Our federal programs have all
been slated to lose federal funding or drastically cut funding to our safety net programs for our most
vulnerable. We as a community can do better for our families, disabled, senior citizens and children. It is
up to our community to help solve this problem and up to her to personally take responsibility to help
achieve it. She is a homeowner and if it goes to a vote, she will vote yes.
Randy Calkins, Port Ludlow: He stated he has lived here since the 1970's and watched three apartments
be built in Port Hadlock; Island View Apartments on Oak Bay Road, Garden Court Apartments and
another one on Irondale Road by Bill Eldridge. The Garden Court Apartments have had lengthy waiting
lists for years, and there was a housing problem back then. He does not know what happened in the
zoning and when it changed, but he does not think there is any zoning for apartments in Port Hadlock
anymore. He stated it is the Commissioners job to find out if that is the case, and if that can be changed.
Without the zoning, there will be no low-income apartment housing going in whether this issue passes
or not. Thank you.
Frank Hoffman, Port Townsend: He thanked the Commissioners for bringing the thoughtful proposal to
the public. He contrasted his mind with the zany goings on with the City of Port Townsend Manager
about this issue. It may not be a perfect proposal,, but it is a breakthrough that he and other housing
advocates have been waiting for, for years. He appreciates the Commissioners bringing this forward and
he will be voting in favor of it. He hopes that the Commissioners will continue to listen to them
regarding the concept of what the actual housing will look and be like. He hopes that slums on the edge
of an industrial park will even be considered. In the talk about the deserving poor, and the non -deserving
poor, he does not know who gets to make those decisions and he does not feel up to making that
decision. We need to look out for our neighbors, particularly at this time when there is so much chaos
nationally. He understands the limitations the Commission has regarding creation of jobs. There is so
much we could fault you about, but he appreciates this issue being brought up for proposal, and it is a
really well done proposal. Thank you.
Karl Boettcher, Port Townsend: He stated he has lived a mile outside the limits of the City of Port
Townsend for the past 10 years. He has a concern with respect to the proposal and believes it is
misleading, wrong and needs to be revised. In his opinion, the proposal is subsidizing housing at the
expense of property tax payers. Every year his taxes go up, and when he asks the County Assessor, he is
told that is just the way it is. The Assessor hears him but does not listen to him and nothing changes. He
believes the City of Port Townsend and Jefferson County need to revise the building restrictions. There
are so many hurdles that are involved, and he does not understand why it is that way. It is a political
football that goes back and forth and nothing gets done. This is not a new issue, affordable housing has
been an issue ever since he has been here and nothing gets done. The streets are miserable, the
information associated with the proposal is misleading, and it should be corrected somehow. He heard
this should not be addressed as an emergency issue because then it could go on the ballot without a vote.
This is wrong. The people need to express the position in this matter very much. It is a serious issue. The
City of Port Townsend and Jefferson County are a special area for living. Not everybody can live here.
Not everybody can have a Rolls Royce, he has a little old Chevy as he cannot afford a Rolls Royce. Port
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Townsend and this area fall into that category. If you are not able to maintain a standard of living here,
then you have to find somewhere else. Please consider all the issues that have been expressed today,
otherwise it is civil war. Thank you.
Paul Cahill, Port Townsend: He asked if the Commissioners could put a monetary value on
affordability? County Administrator Philip Morley replied that affordability is considered no more than
30% of your income and it depends on how many people are in your home and income level. Sooner or
later we are going to ask "When is a house affordable?" Houses will be built, but how can you guarantee
that they will be affordable? How will you guarantee they will be affordable in 40 years or in perpetuity?
He has retired from the military and is a retired university teacher, and whenever he hears "property
tax," he gets real excited and not in a good way, because he is on a fixed income. Sooner or later, he
fears that the increased levies and taxes will take his home away, which will defeat the purpose of trying
to create housing in the community. He hopes that the Commissioners would spend as much energy and
devote as much time to the adoption of a minimum wage law, creation of economic development
programs and plans and to the easing of regulations to the creation of housing. Jobs, minimum wage,
economic development; that is the alternative to this tax increase. Thank you very much.
Roger Sorensen, Quilcene: He thanked the Commissioners for providing the opportunity to speak and
thanked those making comments at the hearing. He stated that his position on the issue has shifted back
and forth as he listened to public testimony and different perspectives he has not heard before. He
follows along the vein of what Mr. Cahill stated. He needs better metrics than what has been provided.
With the figures stated by County Administrator Morley at 30% of an income or livable wage, that
doesn't cut it. He needs to know the price of an affordable house and needs to know what a livable wage
is. He hires people as laborers to work on his property at a rate of $20-30 per hour, that is $40-60,000
per year. He understands a lot needs to be taken out of that. When he started off his professional career,
he made about $9,000 per year, and he did not end much higher than what he is paying people right
now. He made some excellent choices to get him where he is. He has a son that is disabled and would
qualify for these programs. He himself was injured and managed to go through education based on the
state support system. He wants to help people, but he cannot support this program until he gets the
metrics. When you manage these funds, where do the funds go? What is the overhead cost? Another
gentleman earlier made the excellent point that this will be about a 20% increase in the General Fund
Tax. That is insane. You don't do that. If you can leverage those funds 1 to 5, that is an outstanding
return on your money. And if it is that good, do you not have the funds in the County General Fund right
now to demonstrate that you have the ability to do that and create, and then come back and sell? You are
shaking your head no, have you tried? Where can you find those funds? He believes it is possible
because he worked for state government and he knows that if cuts came down to it, he could find funds
for high priorities. This is being called "an emergency" and it can be done at a County level. He cannot
support it as it is now, even though he knows people need help. If he received metrics, he would not vote
against it.
Dan Nieuwsma, Port Townsend: He stated that he is a retiree volunteer with many different groups in
the area, including the Boeing Bluebills, which he is missing a BBQ for to attend this hearing. Tonight
we have heard many touching stories about the issue of affordable housing. It is a known issue. We hear
about it from Seattle, Bellingham, Olympia, and it is a national issue, but is this the right measure, or is
this just another feel good measure to address this. If you look at the draft financing plan, it is always a
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little different. The delegation on how to raise the funds is well done, but there is little about how it is
expended well. Will it just be here in Port Townsend, or you going to address the issues in Coyle,
Brinnon and Quilcene. He does not want to see money being taken from the entire County and just being
spent in Port Townsend. He asked how are you going to guarantee 40 years? There has never been a
consistent 40 years of expansion in Port Townsend. We have a boom and bust cycle. There will be a
bust cycle later too. How do you guarantee 40 years? The document does not do that. If you look the
week before last, the front cover of the Port Townsend Leader, there were three articles. One talking
about tonight's hearing, one about affordable housing projects dropping out of the County due to
regulations, lack of sewers and uncertainty of occupancy, and one article about the state tax going up 91
cents per thousand due to education issues that they are trying to resolve with the state budget. He is
concerned that another tax this fall will poison anyone for any needed taxes for safety and health in this
community. It is not really addressed where these funds will go and there are other things we could
spend our money on if we need to raise taxes that have legitimate uses and planned uses, not just some
vague feel good about it. Thank you.
George Yount, Port Townsend: He thanked the Commissioners for the hearing and discussion. He hopes
that this goes on the ballot so a full community discussion can be conducted with far more people than
those in this room. He thinks it is no surprise that he is a real old guy, and he likes taxes. The County can
take as much money from him as they want, because he cannot take it where he is going. He would
rather spend it on community than on himself. We have a community crisis here, with the point being
that his brain says he can go up and wash that window on the second story with a ladder, but his body
says forget it and he needs someone else to do that for him. Fortunately, he can hire people to do that for
him thanks to the jobs like that in this County. We are an old county, the second oldest county age -wise
in the state and the 5th in the nation, which should tell you something about our economic base. This is a
very complex issue and the County can have his taxes any day. Thank you.
Jon Cooke, Quilcene: He noted to County Administrator Morley that he was using Comp Time to attend
the hearing. He stated that there are not that many active Republicans in the room, so for those that have
spoken against the proposal, to label them as Republicans would be a lie. This proposal is a band-aid to
a serious problem. The real issue is jobs. We need affordable jobs. There is someone at McDonald's
who is the assistant manager, and he sees him a lot when he goes there. The man is a good leader, but
where he is going from there? He is the assistant manager at McDonald's and he needs an avenue to get
a better job, but you won't find that in this County. That goes the same with affordable housing. If
people had jobs they could afford housing. It would be there. Department of Community Development
(DCD) staff are hardworking people. They are nice. They have a tough job, but they are forced with too
many regulations, which is not their fault. The regulations cause them to require this and engineer that.
That is not their fault. It is the County's fault for too many regulations. He has volunteered for Habitat
for Humanity several times. He loves it and said it is a great program which produces three houses per
year and is a short term problem solved. If you need affordable housing, you need a lot of houses going
up, not just three per year. If approved, there would be a 9 -member board and the Commissioners would
choose who gets to sit on that board and he believes that anyone who has spoken negatively about the
proposal would not be chosen to sit on that board. The school tax will be a big hit as well with people
being upset about that as well.
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Mike Regan, Port Hadlock: He stated that he is glad this issue has been brought up and he hopes there
will be a lot more discussion that proceeds. He is willing to support this provided that the following
conditions are to be met: if the goals are the same as the Burlington, Vermont model, which are to
protect the vulnerable, producing affordable housing and preserving affordable housing in perpetuity.
We must not tax ourselves in the name of an opportunity fund and then create a big opportunity only for
developers, investors and speculators while throwing token help out to those who truly need it.
Following the Burlington example, we should establish a community land trust as an independent non-
profit corporation. To start, the trust requires a parcel of land through purchase, foreclosure or donation,
etcetera. When there are houses on it, the trust then sells them to qualified low-income families, but
retains ownership of the land underneath. This cuts costs of owning a house by a large margin. After the
home appreciates in value, the owners can re -sell and can keep any equity improvement money, but can
only retain up to 25% of any increase in the value of the house. That way the homeowner is rewarded,
but the house remains affordable for future homeowners. He quoted a happy Vermont resident who
stated: "I think every community should have a land trust, not just as a fringe option, but as a dominant
model to keep housing affordable. " He hopes that this measure gets a lot more discussion. There are
many ideas floating around that he hopes can surface and be incorporated into the solution that we
finally come up with. He hopes it is setup so that the system will run in perpetuity. One idea that has
been used in Canada to address housing was to put a tax on vacancy, and incentivize people to rent
things that are vacant. This County has a large number of vacant homes which is an additional aspect
that can be addressed.
Jan Krick, Port Townsend: She stated she would like to speak as loud as she can because the levy is very
important and she wishes to see it pass. However it cannot be just about dollars and cents. She believes
it must be an innovative and exciting plan that this community can get behind. The inclusionary model is
an innovative idea for affordable housing that will pay for itself. In the inclusionary model, homes of all
sizes are developed together using the same high quality materials that are sustainable and inviting. Due
to mixed housing models, affordable housing subsidies are not required. Large houses on large lots cost
more to build and deliver more to owners and renters, thus costing more to buy. They would offset the
costs of smaller houses, making them affordable. Small and tiny houses that have small lots, so their
construction would require fewer building materials. When those building materials are all sustainable,
all of the same high quality and durability, then affordable houses in the neighborhood do not need to be
subsidized and can therefore remain affordable through perpetuity. The attendant assets that are
available to all who live in an inclusionary neighborhood will be a quality location in the community
that enhances livability while maintaining high resale value, a community garden so that all neighbors
stay healthy and spend less of their income on healthcare. The pedestrian quality of the neighborhood
means that a mixed-use neighborhood that offers less driving and less fuel used. One could walk through
the neighborhood to the barber shop, after picking up a coffee, pause through the garden to select a ripe
tomato for dinner, and then walk home, chatting with neighbors along the way. She showed a picture of
a tiny home from her tiny home calendar this year. It was built in 1956 in Canada and is still in pristine
condition after 61 years, adorned with a simple yard that would be inexpensive for working-class people
to care for. Affordable housing can be built in an exclusionary manner and low -maintenance features
constructed in a way that promise low utility costs and maintain affordability in perpetuity due to an
attractive location and sustainability, and high quality building materials used in every sized house in the
entire development. She invited everyone to a meeting Friday, August 4, 2017 regarding Inclusionary
Living.
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Tom Fairhall, Port Townsend: He stated he has lived here for about 20 years. He supports the
declaration of emergency and placing the measure on the ballot, but he has lots of concerns about the
wisdom of the proposal. He shares many concerns with people in the audience that the penciling out of
how much benefit this will do in terms of actually building homes for people who need them, and how
much this will address the problem really needs to be addressed. The public needs to be convinced of the
cost benefit ratio of this proposal and shown valid data to support it. Those things would need to be
addressed before he would vote for the proposal. This County has an enormous amount of vacant land
which is not developed for anything. It is just forest land, acres and acres, square mile after square mile
of land that could conceivably be used for housing. He believes the reason that we do not have low
income housing, is that there just is not the zoning or ability of the county to promote and incentivize the
owners of land to build housing. The real root of the problem has to be addressed, and the tax on
property or the proposal will address the root of the problem. The red tape and difficulty in getting the
County's blessing and approval to build housing is really at the core of the problem. He lived in Chicago
for many years and he has seen what has happened to government subsidized and supported housing.
They get built, they do not get maintained, they deteriorate and then they get torn down. It is a
tremendous waste of taxpayer money. He believes that we need to find solutions that work for this
community and the private sector. Changing the incentive models and zoning here is a better way to do
it rather than taxing property owners, unless the County can convince him that the taxes that will be
raised here will provide a decent number of houses. Thank you.
Bruce Cowan, Port Townsend: He stated he was a teacher in Jefferson County for 35 years and has seen
the struggles of families with young children over the years and their situation has never been more
challenging than it is today. Some of those stories are being heard today. Other stories include families
that are camping because their rent went up and they have a child about to go into school, families that
have had to move multiple times because their houses have sold, other families who have had to move
because their rent went up and they cannot find a new place to live. Pat Teal tells the story of how
affordable housing has made a difference in the quality of her life. Instead of struggling, she has a place
that is stable and she can count on, and she does not have to worry about moving again. He shares John
Collins' vision and that we can agree that children should have the opportunity to succeed in life and
should have a secure home to go to when the school day ends. People who do the work in Jefferson
County should be able to live in Jefferson County. Some of the workers do not make a lot of money, but
we need the people who need affordable housing to do those jobs. The assistant manager at McDonald's
may move up to another job, and someone else will do that job and that person will need somewhere to
live, if we are going to keep going to McDonald's. We may not be able to do anything about the market
forces that are creating this crisis, but our community has done a lot to support the agencies and non-
profits that are working to make things better. They have not been able to keep up, but they could do
more with more resources, and many of their boards support this measure. He has heard a lot of
rhetorical questions about people who are wondering how this would work. He would refer them to
documents that already exist. He explained that the financing plan is a work in progress and open to
suggestion. He is in favor of both aspects of the questions being put forward tonight. He and Deborah
Pederson have formed an organization called Homes Now which can be found online at
HomesNowJefferson.org. They are in favor of putting this on the ballot and County documents and
other information can be found on their website. They are in favor of passing this and using the revenue
to build the homes that will remain affordable over the long term, that can be guaranteed. Let's pass this
and build some homes for our people. Thank you.
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Deborah Pederson, Port Townsend: She read from a statement she submitted as written testimony. (See
hearing record)
The meeting was recessed at 8:00 p.m. and reconvened at 8:12 p.m. with all three
Commissioners present.
Dennis Schultz, Port Ludlow: He stated that when taxes are raised, rent prices go up which affects the
low-income people. There is another tax coming up this year and programs do not adjust automatically
for tax increases. He has heard about the difficulties and problems of getting a building permit here. He
has friends who are builders who came to Jefferson County because they liked it and had the intention of
building low-income housing. When his friends realized the difficulty in working with the building
department and trying to get permits, they gave up and went elsewhere. It is a well-known fact in this
state that Jefferson County is not friendly to builders or businesses either. If you want to fix this County,
you will need to change the building codes. He has known businesses that have left because they have
outgrown their facilities and cannot enlarge them and that needs to be changed. The County needs to
zone more properties as industrial and has the ability to change and designate some industrial parks and
areas, that is already given by the state legislature, but the County has not done anything about that. The
Commissioners need to fix the commercial areas and get a decent industrial area with infrastructure and
then send the Economic Development Council (EDC) out to find real businesses and not just one to two
man startup companies. With real businesses come real jobs and they will create more jobs. Family -
wage jobs turn over about 7 to 8 times in the community with the money they spend. Most of the
builders that used to build here, left. He gave an example of a man who built a million dollar house,
hired local labor, which represents around $6-7 Million in sales and business in the county. The
Commissioners completely ignore that and chase businesses and builders off, making this a retirement
community with old people and people struggling to survive. The kids leave, you need to do something
about the economy and not just affordable housing.
Carl Hansen, Port Townsend: He read from a statement he submitted as written testimony. (See hearing
record)
deForest Walker, Port Townsend: She stated she has had many decades of working on behalf of the
poorest of the poor and has been involved in many organizations, but is speaking as an individual. It has
been interesting and heartening to listening to the commentary thus far. She is not sure if this is the best
time for the proposal with the voting public, but she supports putting it on the ballot and letting the
voters decide. Without more information, she does not believe the proposal has a good chance of
succeeding. She needs information for voters. In her mind, this is not about property owners paying for
housing for poor people who do not want to work. That is not even her concern or what she sees. She
sees the voting public and property owners need to know why this is in their best interest, and she does
not see that being addressed. If the idea is to move this forward, people need to understand that when
more people are housed, communities are safer, we save more money on big ticket items like emergency
room, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT), ambulance costs, jail costs for criminal trespass for
stealing a sandwich from Safeway. These kinds of things are significantly decreased, and we have seen
these decreases in communities across our nation when there is safe and affordable housing for all of our
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Commissioners Meeting Minutes of July 24, 2017
citizens. The voting public needs to understand that. The property owners should not be on the hook for
this whole meal. She believes the intention of the fund should be open to anyone who wants to
contribute to it and she knows renters and owners who would be willing to donate to such a fund for
affordable housing. The Commissioners' job is to listen to all of the public and make a decision whether
to put it before the voting public, and there, their job ends. She believes the proposal will have a better
chance of passing if the Commissioners advocate for it among their voting constituents and work
cooperatively with the City of Port Townsend government and convince them to do the same.
Ken Neufeld, Chimacum: He stated that it has been discussed or proposed as a Jefferson County issue,
when the real issue that he hears from everyone is that this is a Port Townsend issue. If you are going to
tax someone, why don't you tax Port Townsend instead of the rest of the County? It is your problem, not
our problem. He understands that the Navy is buying houses, $1-3 Million dollar homes on the Coyle
Peninsula and turning around and demolishing them so they can add a buffer zone to the Bangor
Military Base. They have a budget of $100-200 Million to do this. Why can't we tap into them since
they are removing from our tax base $100-200 Million of potential tax base money? Why are we not
addressing that? This is the first municipality he has seen that is proposing two levies in one resolution.
He does not know the legal aspect of that, but does not believe it is correct and is illegal. Over the years
the County has acquired thousands of acres of land. If this is such a serious issue, why do you not either
log the land or sell off some of the land or rezone the land to solve the problem?
Ellen O'Shea, Chimacum: She stated she volunteered with the Point in Time Count last winter. She
talked to a lot of people and learned a lot. She met two couples who could be described as people
experiencing lack of work and lack of housing. Both couples graduated from Chimacum high school,
went to Peninsula College and received some training and could not find work here. For awhile they had
housing, but lost their housing because the price of housing went up so fast. They moved to Seattle
where they really could not find housing. One person from each couple was hired at Amazon and they
lived in vans and were chased through the neighborhoods at night because it is against the law to live in
vans. They brought their partners and children back to the area saying it is better to be homeless here
and safer, than in Seattle. The two partners went to Seattle and come back once a week. They still live in
vans and move throughout the neighborhoods. They would like jobs and housing here. They make $16
an hour, but not enough to find housing in Seattle or here. They tried to combine their resources and rent
a house, but the house was sold and became an Air BNB. She is in support of this levy but has concerns
about the way it will be financed. It should support permanent affordable housing and include
community housing trusts, previously described tonight. Some aspect of it should be able to help people
own homes, which would be perfect for the young couples she described. They have jobs and are willing
to work. The County needs to bring jobs here and it is really difficult because many communities in this
County do not have internet and they cannot work from home. One of the people she mentioned earlier
was offered to work for Amazon from home, but the only place to get fast internet is at the library.
Community, economic development, real jobs, and technology are important. We live close to Seattle,
and a lot of people live all around the outskirts of Seattle and work from home because many of the
technical companies are willing to do that. She supports the proposal, but there needs to be a
combination of bringing jobs and housing here.
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A FT y
Norm Norton: He read from a statement he submitted as written testimony. (See hearing record) He
added that he would like to see a significant relaxation of the overwhelming numbers of licenses and
fees that plague builders and small businesses in Jefferson County. Thanks.
David Faber, Port Townsend: He stated that although he is a member of the Port Townsend City
Council, he will be speaking as a private citizen, property owner and job creator who is deeply
concerned about the future of Jefferson County. We are in the midst of a full-blown housing crisis.
Home prices are skyrocketing, wages are stagnating and as anyone who has tried to find a place to live
around here will tell you, it has become nearly impossible for folks who have good jobs. On Saturday
night, he ran into a friend who has a decent job in the County working in finance. His friend who has
deep ties to Quilcene and Port Hadlock, moved a little over a year ago and has spent the past year trying
to find stable housing. He was told that if he cannot find a permanent solution to his housing needs soon,
he will have to move away from Jefferson County once and for all and take with him his valuable
knowledge and skills. For those of you who say that we just need economic development and jobs, we
do have jobs in the community and we are growing jobs in the community all the time right now. We are
losing people who cannot find a good, stable place to live, even with those jobs. If the future economic
prosperity of our community does not convince you of the problem, the housing crisis is also hurting the
elderly and the sick amongst us. His mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, suddenly weakened,
unable to climb stairs and in need of frequent assistance, she was moved from her home in Olympia,
knowing they needed her to live closer to them. His apartment is a third floor walk-up and not a suitable
solution for her, so they tried to find other housing for her here in Jefferson County, but could not find a
reasonable place for her to live. Much to his frustration and sadness, his mom had to spend the summer
and the duration of her chemotherapy treatments on couches and guest rooms of friends who graciously
put her up throughout Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap Counties. It was heartbreaking to watch his mom
have to suffer through cancer, while unable to find stable housing. These are two of many examples of
our housing crisis wreaking havoc on our local community. It is past time to respond and take action.
We need housing and homes for people now and cannot afford to wait for a "perfect solution" and to
expect the market will respond. The housing crisis we are experiencing is a market failure plain and
simple. The Home Opportunity Fund is the first serious solution he has yet to see move forward. He is
worried Jefferson County will become another Aspen, Colorado or Carmel, California, another place
where locals can no longer afford to live. He urged to not let that happen and let the housing crisis
deepen and drive good people away from our community. He urged the Commissioners to declare the
housing crisis and put the Home Opportunity Fund on the November ballot and please support the Home
Opportunity Fund. The future of Jefferson County really does depend on it. Thank you.
Mark Blatter, Port Townsend: He stated he is a new resident of Jefferson County. He spent a good
number of years as an affordable housing developer, project manager, developing manager and
executive director for non-profit affordable housing developers. The market will not provide affordable
housing, you would see it if it would. The market provides what we have and though he does agree that
the relaxation of some regulation and the waiver of some fees can help there, there will always be folks
at the lowest income level with serious impediments to work, that will need housing support. In Seattle,
a housing levy they have works very well and it was renewed by the population four times. It is a bigger
city and the levy raises millions of dollars and has built thousands of units. The reason it is so successful
and so effective is that it provides the local leverage for other public funding and private funding for
housing development. Often it can be the first "in" which is critical because all the other funders want to
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Commissioners Meeting Minutes of July 24, 2017
be the last "in." There is a great need and a great result from local housing levies to spur affordable
housing developments. It will leverage many times the amount directly raised by the levy. He addressed
a previous comment about how the housing development will attract residents from elsewhere, which he
believes is pretty unlikely, but stated you cannot regulate that. In his experience with building an
affordable home ownership opportunity project in Bainbridge Island, 90% of the residents there had ties
to Bainbridge Island. They were either from there, moved away and could not afford anything when they
wanted to move back, or they grew up there, their families or parents were from there, or they worked
on Bainbridge Island, or had a connection to the community to begin with. Isn't that what is most
important? We talk about housing and crisis and building housing, but really it is the people. Mr.
Cowan's comment regarding "we need the people who need affordable housing." It is not the guy who
works at McDonald's, it is the people who teach our kids, our parents when they need to downsize
income, it is all the people that add to our quality of life here because we interact with them on a daily
basis. They provide services, provide work for us, educate us, entertain us. They are part of our
community. What is our community? It is the people who live here and want to live here. It is all those
people who make up our community and we should care about the people who want to live here.
Roger Horner, Chimacum: He stated he moved here in 1981 and did not realize it was a depressed area,
and he could not find work, so he commuted down to Tacoma to get work to start with. No one forced
him to come up here and he has kids that cannot afford to live here that have moved elsewhere. He is
very much against this issue because he has not seen a government do anything efficiently. The money
will be received and then distributed to each organization, and each organization will have their hand in
the pocket and by the time the money gets to where it needs to go, there will only be about 10% left. He
is very much against that and added that where there is a vote, it will be the property owners that will be
the ones who are taxed. The people that do not own property will vote yes saying that it is a good deal
because they are not paying for it. They may end up paying for it rental -wise, but they do not realize
that, they will end up voting for it because they do not believe it will come out of their pocket, it will
only come out of the pockets of property owners. Thank you.
Vicki Kirkpatrick, Jefferson County She stated that she is the Jefferson County Public Health Director.
There is a direct tie between the importance of housing and health. There is a lot of talk about health,
healthy economy, healthy community and we use that word "health," but it begins with healthy
individuals and healthy families which leads to healthy communities. Housing is a fundamental need
and fundamentally important to health. Affordable housing enables people to pay for other basic needs
such as utilities, food and medical care which reduces the incidences of negative health outcomes such
as diabetes, anxiety and depression. Affordable housing reduces stress and related adverse health
outcomes. Ultimately, we cannot have a healthy community if we do not have healthy individuals. There
is a lot of discussion tonight including economy or income and jobs, all of which are important. They are
what is called the social determinants of health, which are as critical to individual and family health as
access to the healthcare system. It is not necessarily a one -prong approach, but not having housing
creates a stress in the family that leads to a chaotic life and has a tremendous impact on children. It is
one of the adverse childhood experiences that has lifelong impacts on our future generations. It is nearly
impossible to be homeless and to be healthy, or to be housing stressed and to be healthy. She would like
the Commissioners to be aware of the connection of the importance of housing as well as income,
education and other social determinants, but fundamentally and foundationally the importance of
housing to health.
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Malcom Dorn, Port Townsend: He thanked the Commissioners for the public forum and opportunity to
speak and hear our neighbors. He stated he has been a builder in Jefferson County for 33 years and
employs eight employees. He moved here in his 20's and affordable housing was an issue then, we had
to be creative. He lived in a turkey shed and shared a house with a lot of other people at one point. They
had to make it work and they did. It is still is an issue and we still need to be creative. He would like to
draw on our collective wisdom to solve these problems. There is not one single, simple solution, and
while he applauds this effort, it won't fix all. If we all pull together, we can find a path. His niece lives
in the Haines Street cabins and has a year residency there. She and her daughter are looking for stable
long-term housing after that, so it is personal for him. He supports and thanked the Commissioners
offering the voting public the opportunity to choose whether we want to create a fund to leverage other
funding to truly make a difference in our affordability housing shortage. He is a builder and would love
to be able to afford to build affordable housing and would commit to doing that if he could. He urged the
Commissioners to place the measure on the ballot so they can continue this discussion and find solutions
to our housing crisis.
Monica Bell: She read from a statement she submitted as written testimony. (See hearing record)
Doug Milholland, Port Townsend: He stated he is grateful for a democracy that encourages public
participation and it is important to exercise our opinions and learn from each other as we go through this
process. He welcomes placing this on the ballot. He agrees with Mr. Dorn, it is very difficult to make
affordable housing at this point in time. He urged the Commissioners to find a way to help people who
own property, to be able to put accessory dwelling units, mother-in-law apartments on their property,
regardless if this goes to ballot or not. This would help the housing stock enormously and it also helps
people that are struggling to own a house pay for things. It is something that can be done and something
he encourages the County to do. The housing in Port Townsend he noticed has radically increased in
costs over his lifetime. The housing cost when he first got here were very different than they are now, or
even were in 2009. No one knows what the future holds in terms of the value of real estate in Port
Townsend, Washington. We only hope the teachers and people who provide service in restaurants, will
find a place to live. Good luck with this and to us all.
Christopher Robin: He stated he is not in favor of using taxes to solve this problem, but he does think
that everyone's heart is in the right place. We all have the same goals and we all want to succeed and
solve the homeless problem. The best way is to think outside the box and use a new plan. He explained
his proposal he calls The Love Plan. It is the City's and the County's need to increase their income
streams, which can be done if they own the housing stock. This can be done by ramping up slowly by
creating mobile home parks that are affordable, and they do not need to be slums. He encourages
everyone to go to Marrowstone Island and check out the RV Park there called Island Retreat. It is a
beautiful place and easy to create because you would own the dirt, you can take a tractor, add utilities
and make a beautiful mobile home park with many spaces. After that, you can start getting income
through rent. The key is to start building assets, which is how you build wealth. He does not believe you
get there by selling stuff, not create levies. Taxes end up hurting some people regardless. The key thing
is to start building assets. With a tractor, nice area and planning, an income stream can be created and
multiplied by 5-10 times as the County has plenty of land, it can be done. His plan could be used to help
the homeless as well. Perhaps 1 in 10 and 1 in 15 mobile home slabs could be given away or Section 8
to homeless people, and one by one, we can address this issue. With taxes, if the gentleman is correct
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0J
about Bellingham, creating 26 units with three Million dollars is not enough, we are going to lose the
raise. Thank you.
Ron Ride, Chimacum: He stated that his family has lived in the Chimacum Valley for 53 years. He
stated he wished that B.G. Brown and George Brown were still alive, because they were around during
the beginning of the Growth Management Act (GMA), and they were told by people that this problem
would happen. They were told that Commissioners would stop the growth and the development of
Jefferson County, and you have succeeded in it, now you have this problem and you are trying to fix it.
In the 1970's there was Fisher Homes and Lee Homes and they built the majority of affordable houses
for families just starting off in the Port Hadlock, Chimacum and Chimacum Grange area. What do we
have now? You have successfully shut down the whole County. You have allowed no growth, no
expansion. He has struggled with that to start his own business in the valley 30 years ago. He and his
wife have been investing in people by providing affordable housing. Are you going to be the ones to tell
them when our property taxes go up and we raise those rents, why we did? The Commissioners get in
tune with the people that have been here for a long time and start listening. When the Commissioners
make the mistakes, it costs them the money. He has listened to this growing up, and they said this
system was not going to work, he heard it over and over again and no one listened. Where are we at? No
answers. County Administrator Morley replied saying we are listening. Mr. Riggle asked are you really?
Are you going to make any differences? He is the second generation to tell the Commissioners that the
system is not working. You need to make it so that people can build homes and businesses here and
work with them, instead of being told they cannot do that when they go to the building permit office.
There needs to be someone in the permitting department that can say this is what we are going to do to
help you do this, instead of saying you cannot do this. He built two homes in this County and kept
hearing that it could not be done. 18 months of fighting to get his own business started, and he was born
and raised here. He was told he owned the land but they are going to tell him what he can or cannot do
with it. Is that America? Is that what we were raised to be? Is that the land of the free? He told the
Commissioners they best take a look. Thank you.
Dave Eddie, Port Hadlock: He stated he attends Irondale Church, where, over five years ago they started
providing soup to the community. The soup service is free and is every Tuesday night. They have tried
to work on getting housing for people and they are up against a wall. He can see why the Commissioners
wish to present the proposed plan to address affordable housing, and why they want to see it work, but
added that it cannot work. In Appendix A on Responsibilities for Fund Board. It starts off with the first
and following years as all being develop, develop, develop and it is not until the 7th or 8th year where
there is a bulleted item which states "Make award recommendations to the Board of County
Commissioners." What have you done in the previous years for low-income housing? Do you have
anything in the last 10 years you have done? In the State of Virginia, they said they were going to build
this year 100 15x20 houses for their veterans. This is what they planned to do. Jefferson County has no
brick and mortar on the ground. If the Commissioners have been working with this, then this would be a
great plan, but it will take years to develop this and make it work, if it will work. The County has no
experience and the building department is an antagonistic, torturous path. He was looking into buying a
modular home in Clallam County to move to Jefferson County. The lady at the business stated that he
could have the pad ready to go, and they will submit the permit, but noted that the permitting department
has 45 days and that permit will not go out until the last day of the 45 days. Why? He would call that
malicious compliance. The problem Jefferson County has is the building department. You have to cure
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something there to make it user-friendly. That is the one item that is the biggest road block in this
county. Plenty of people have horror stories on trying to get things done. We the people would love to
be able to work at this and solve this.
John Gunning, Jefferson County: He stated he owns Colinwood Farms and they are a certified organic
farm for the past 28 years. All the testimony he has heard lends itself to the farm survey done five years
ago in which 70 farms were surveyed and they figured farmers were making $7-8 per hour. All the
testimony he has heard, backs up the fact that we do not have sustainable farming in place. He has to go
to Seattle, each Sunday, to two markets where people pay a reasonable, good price for organic food. He
had a natural food store in Port Hadlock, Washington for three years, but the community would not
support it because they could not afford it. He tours natural food stores all over because his heart is
there. He wished his natural food store could have made it. A farm and a store together is quite an
accomplishment. When he walks into the co-op in Mount Vernon, it is a beehive. That is not happening.
He recommended that the Commissioners and the County Administrator take a trip to Burlington,
Vermont and look at their farming community. If we do not have tiny homes as part of farming, we
cannot afford to keep people because we go through them like water. He also urged the Commissioners
and the County Administrator to walk through all the farms in Jefferson County and understand their
problems and understand why we need tiny homes that are part of the regulation to make us like
Burlington, Vermont.
Brody Turner, Jefferson County He stated he is worried that by declaring this an emergency, the
Commissioners can override the 1 % hold on property taxes and raise that at their will. This will just be
the beginning of taxes on property. He cannot afford anymore, he is retired and is on basic income. It
scares him that the Commissioners have the ability to raise his taxes. He does not want to give the
Commissioners the authority to override the I% growth on property taxes that is in place right now. You
do not need the money, this is a band-aid process. The Commissioners need to encourage builders to
build and give them the opportunity to do so, to where they can make a profit and live too. The codes at
the building department need to be reviewed. He has built a home here and has experienced the
nightmare people have talked about at the building department. He was flabbergasted when he was told
he could not get his building permit in less than 60 days. They were right, it took over 60 days to get his
permit. He lived in a trailer with no electricity or water and just had access to a porta-potty for an
outhouse. He cannot believe the troubles people have to go through to get a building permit and he
cannot imagine what it would be for a contractor to get something started. That part needs to get under
control to be able to open up those opportunities. The laws need to be changed, the codes, the
regulations, to welcome these people in and give them an incentive to build here. He has lived here 9
years. He has seen builders come and go because they cannot make a living here. He urged the
Commissioners to make this a place where builders want to come and build for us. We need all these
different homes. The idea about mobile home parks, and converting vacant land, those things need to be
rezoned, if that is what it takes. He urged getting builders to relocate here and get involved and make it
affordable for them to do so. Raising taxes would be like throwing away money. Invite the builders to
come and build the houses you need. Thank you.
Sydney Collins, Port Townsend: He stated the testimony he heard has been interesting. He sees a
problem with affordable housing only for 40 years, and then after 40 years, it could be private. He does
not like this public and private partnership. He has lived in the County for seven years, in the City of
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Port Townsend for five years and he is a veteran living on minimum social security and he makes $879
per month. If it were not for Barbara Moore, he would not be able to live here. Jefferson County is like
Chicago and Boston, there are "Northies" and there are "Southies." He believes that people do not want
to change the nature of this town because they are old and retired people, unlike himself, that have
money. South town with trailer parks, that is a whole other community, this is not one town. Much of
our problem is from the outside. He mentioned the rate of the tax levy and stated that if he owned a
$500,000 piece of property, it would not be uncommon, because the only people that can afford to build
houses anymore are rich people. He lived in King County for 19 years and carpenters could not live in
the houses they built. Even though King County is outside of our area, we are still part of all of that.
Looking at the whole world and the "banksters" that have taken $26 Trillion, that is a conservative
economist. Of the 10 Million households, that's 30 Million people, on average, that is 10% of our
population of the homeless, what do they get. That needs to change. This is people's economics. Eight
men in this world now own wealth equal to $3.5 Billion people, half the population of the earth. We are
not immune to that, even though Port Townsend has a reputation from 25 years ago, that we are special.
People in Seattle were telling me about that. We need to look at these things, there are multiple
approaches. He likes the idea that someone suggested and believes there are certain aspects of society
that need to be socialist like the roads, police, schools and libraries. We have some socialism and he
does not want the government making shoes and does not want them in business, but he would like to
see housing stocks and to own the banks.
Beulah Kin solver: She stated she is the Executive Director at the Dove House and she lives in Jefferson
County. She thanked the Commissioners and stated she has been in housing meetings for 10 years and
was excited to see a full house for the hearing. Every housing meeting has been a full house with lots of
ideas. She is not an expert in building houses, her expertise is in domestic violence and sexual assault.
She does know that Jefferson County has a problem and it has increased over the past 10 years. It is not
just a problem for low-income, homeless and victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. She has
more and more problems with finding people homes, whether they have a Section 8 voucher or other
voucher. The Dove House is currently supporting a family at the fairgrounds with young children and
someone who is pregnant and they have to move every 7-10 days because those are the rules in Jefferson
County. They live in a tent because they cannot find a home. She has a daughter who is the General
Manager at Discovery Bay and makes a good income, but she cannot find a home here. She will not be
able to stay here if she cannot afford a home. She has a son who works for the County and he is having
trouble finding a home because every home he rents, goes up for sale. This is a community problem. She
supports the levy and the emergency, and stated the community needs everybody. We need the young,
the old, servers, and home caregivers. We need us all, and without it, we will not be what we love,
which is a unique and beautiful place. We need to pass this levy. Some have said this is a band-aid, and
she may agree with them. It may be a band-aid, but it is a start, and she is very open to anyone who has
an opinion or solution. She welcomed anyone to contact her at the Dove House and she would talk to
them about solutions, because it will take more than this to fix the problem, but we have to start
somewhere. She will support the levy and she is a single mom who owns a home, and the passage of the
levy would mean she gives up a latte or a beer around once per month. That is all it costs to put someone
in a home. Thank you.
Ariel Speser, Port Townsend: She read from a statement she submitted as written testimony. (See
hearing record)
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Howard Killam, Port Townsend: He stated he has worked at the mill for 29 years and he has raised five
children. One of his children was able to buy a house here. He is a firefighter and he works a second job
and works 60-80 hours per week. The housing is just incredible, he agrees, his children cannot afford to
live in this community. He has two other boys, a 23 year old and a 20 year old making $43 per hour, and
they cannot find a house to live. One bought an RV and is living on his girlfriend's parent's property. He
realizes the issue here, but raising the taxes is not going to help. He thinks the building process is the
issue. He came back today after visiting family in Kennewick, Washington and they are building a house
and it took them two weeks to get a building permit. Kennewick has a housing crisis too, but they are
having a housing boom, they cannot build apartments fast enough. The holdup in Jefferson County with
permitting is hindering things. There has been many suggestions here tonight that he thinks are
wonderful, such as using the County properties, putting in mobile homes. He started off in a mobile
home in Jefferson County, and he built a home in 2000. Fortunately, the market was down when he did
otherwise he would not be able to afford it now. He could not hire people at the mill due to housing.
People would accept the job, but would turn the job down since they could not find a house. He had
planned on staying here, but with the way the taxes are going, more than likely, he will go out of state.
He is starting to look that way because of the taxes.
Dashiel Morley, Port Townsend: He stated he is disappointed. He likes the sound of the levy which
states that it will provide for people who cannot provide for themselves. It will help a few people who
really have not contributed much to the community, and won't. We can see that all around the country,
that we are becoming a cesspool for the filth that is piling into our country from primarily the Middle
East and South America. Madam Chair Kler interjected that Mr. Morley was crossing the border with
his statements. She stated that he missed the introduction where she explained some of the language that
would not be allowed. Mr. Morley continued and stated that he grew up in Edmonds, Washington, a
retirement community similar to this one, maybe one that was more built-up. They managed to provide
for everyone. He lived there for a long time, walking the streets, and he did not see huddles of people
with nowhere to live. The City of Edmonds provided for them. The monopoly which was created by the
Commissioners' predecessors has created the lack of opportunity. This is an opportunity fund, but he
does not believe it will come to fruition. He believes it just sounds great, but there are a lot of things to
address before we introduce something like this. Taxes are not really the key to unlocking potential in
this community. He believes that loosening the ridiculous environmental regulations that have been
slapped onto the citizens and businesses in this County need to be somewhat relaxed and mostly lifted so
we can start getting some businesses in here. Some people will say there is not enough people to work or
infrastructure to support those businesses, but if you look at Sequim, Washington and Port Angeles, they
are booming. There are car dealerships, logging industry, and there weren't those things 100 years ago,
but there is now.
Jeff Gallant, Port Townsend: He stated that he is a builder and has been building for 40 years, 30 years
of which has been in Jefferson County. He does not see this as a regulation problem, but he does have
questions about zoning and providing appropriate land. This is a supply and demand function that
provides housing. Zoning is an important part of that. Regulations are not as much of the issue, as they
provide safety, stability and predictability. When you build a home with a long -life history to it that will
last a long time, everyone benefits from that. The problem that he sees with our Department of
Community Development (DCD), is they are not in touch with what the consumer understands. They are
not in touch with what their customer, who walks in the door asking for a permit knows and what they
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do not know. They do not have the resources to educate them to get to the point where they want to be.
He asked simple questions about the next stages of the energy code. Washington State is on track to
increase the energy code. About every six years for the next 20 years, there is an increase in the
requirements, and they are sort of predictable. If we know they are coming, we can train the builders on
what to do and we can get support groups that can provide services like blower door tests and various
other things, then we can plan those elements in there and they do not become real costly. The problem
is there is no training at DCD. They do not know what the next phases are, they referred him back to the
Washington State University Extension, who does not know. There are problems with that. He is not in
support of or against the program, he believes democracy will handle that themselves. They will decide
with their pocket books. That is how our country decides things, with our pocketbooks. He is concerned
the county is going around the comprehensive planning process, which is currently in a 20 year review
process, could be the late 16 year renew process. He stated we have had a Urban Growth Area (UGA)
for the past 20 years now, which was done prior to the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan. We are not
really supporting that UGA planning process. We need to put our funding into the UGA and back it up.
Hearing no further comments, Madam Chair Kler closed the public hearing. She stated that written
testimony will be accepted through July 26, 2017 at 4:30 p.m. She added that deliberations on the
proposal will be held at a Special Meeting on Monday, July 31, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. in the Board of
County Commissioners' Chambers.
NOTICE OF ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Dean moved to adjourn the meeting at
9:22 p.m. until the next regular meeting or special meeting as properly noticed. Commissioner Sullivan
seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote.
SEAL:
ATTEST:
JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Kathleen Kler, Chair
David Sullivan, Member
Carolyn Avery, CMC Kate Dean, Member
Deputy Clerk of the Board
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