Fort Worden Advisory Committee members expressed great satisfaction Monday after Gov. Chris Gregoire signed the bill, born in Port Townsend, that repeals the much-maligned $5 fee that caused state park attendance to plummet during the past three years.
In Jefferson County, Port Townsend city and county leaders essentially paid the state to keep Fort Worden State Park parking free of the $5 day-use fee approved by state park commissioners in 2003.
They were the only ones to subsidize the parking fee in the state.
House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, took on repealing the fee as her personal priority of this year’s session, assisted by her former aide, Port Townsend Democratic activist Nora Porter.
Kessler, whose 24th District includes Jefferson and Clallam counties, called the fee “an experiment that failed” because too many average citizens simply stopped using their parks.
Included are such popular attractions on the North Olympic Peninsula as Fort Flagler State Park, Dosewallips State Park and Sequim Bay State Park.
“This is a happy day,” she said Monday after Gregoire signed the repeal bill.
“We hope those millions of people will come back to the parks.”
Outcry of citizens
Porter said it’s laudable that lawmakers listened to the outcry of ordinary citizens.
“This just proves that citizens can fight city hall,” she said.
“This was the right thing to do, and the House, the Senate and the governor heard us.
“We have the Democrats to thank for giving the parks back to the people who own them.”
Republicans also adopted free park day use as a major session goal this year.
Porter was joined Monday afternoon by several other Fort Worden Advisory Committee members attending Gregoire’s bill signing at her office in Olympia, including committee chair Jean Dunbar, Jefferson County Commissioner Phil Johnson, D-Port Townsend, and Tim Caldwell, Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce general manager, committee member George Randels, and Patience Rogge, with Friends of Fort Worden.
Also attending was Teri Nomura, Jefferson County Democratic Party chairwoman, County Commissioner David Sullivan, D-Cape George, and former Port Townsend Mayor Kees Kolff, who was a Fort Worden committee member when he was on the City Council last year.