SEQUIM — At long last, the Sequim City Council has appointed some — but not quite all — members of a new citizens’ advisory group.
In a process council member Susan Lorenzen called “like picking teams in elementary school,” 15 residents were named to Sequim Speaks, a panel conceived by council member Ken Hays in early 2008.
The committee, designed to stimulate two-way communication among residents and the Sequim council, is open to people inside and outside Sequim’s city limit. Applications will continue to be accepted via the city’s Web site, www.ci.Sequim.wa.us, and at City Hall, 152 W. Cedar St.
Earlier this year, the council, faced with a shortage of applicants, reduced Sequim Speaks’ minimum membership to 15 from 22 people, with a majority from inside the city limits. So Monday night, the council automatically appointed all nine of the Sequim residents who applied: Patrick Thomson, Mary Miller, Halina and John D’Urso, Dave Neidhardt, Richard Petit, Lloyd Pedersen, Mary Moore and Richard Tarbuck.
Turning to the more plentiful applicants who live outside town, Lorenzen appointed Craig Stevenson, an advocate for soccer fields north of Carrie Blake Park who said “kids and families” are his major interests.
Mayor Laura Dubois selected Sue Erzen, who volunteered on the Ad Hoc Citizens Committee that reviewed the Sequim Comprehensive Plan in 2006. Erzen also served on the Clallam County Charter Review Commission that same year and has volunteered at the Dungeness Wildlife Refuge.
Hays appointed a man with whom he has not always agreed: real estate broker and retired Army Col. Mike McAleer.
Council member Erik Erichsen named Susan Weidemier, a mother of three who listed youth culture and “green jobs” among her concerns.
Walt Schubert appointed Al Friess, a SunLand resident and frequent contributor to community projects organized by the Sequim Education Foundation, the Rotary Club and others.
Council member Bill Huizinga selected retired Army Reserve medical officer and Audubon Society volunteer Bill Jensen.
With a dozen others on the Sequim Speaks applicant list, the council decided to let the absent Paul McHugh pick two more. He’s vacationing in Idaho, and none of the other council members could say when he’ll be back, so City Attorney Craig Ritchie reminded them McHugh can e-mail his choices in for ratification later this month.
In other action, the City Council authorized up to $300,000 for another long-awaited project: remodeling the Sequim Police Department. The station, in the J.C. Penney shopping center at 609 W. Washington St., will expand into the suite next door, the former Danny’s restaurant. Because Police Chief Robert Spinks expects to run his department in this location for at least another five years — instead of building a new station for an estimated $6 million — the council voted unanimously for the more expensive remodeling option: traditional hard walls instead of movable room dividers. Spinks said this will be much safer for his officers and front-office staff.
A police department the size of Sequim’s would typically fill a 20,000-square-foot space, Spinks said. After remodeling, his station will grow to about 11,000 square feet. So while $300,000 sounds princely, “don’t think this is a Cadillac,” he told the council.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladaily news.com.
