SEQUIM – When e-mailing, Sequim Sense’s organizers call themselves “The Gang.”
No names, however, appear on the nascent group’s Web site, though exclamations and strong calls to action abound. The site, www.SequimSense.com, surfaced a few weeks back, with lavender borders and “Welcome to our Website and Becoming a Community Activist!” on the home page.
“Hi Gang!” began an e-mail sent out to alert Sequim community members to the site.
“The design is supposed to be friendly and carrying with an emphasis on our older demographic,” it continued. “You have been invited to an organizational meeting for Sequim Sense, which is looking for common sense for our town in city government.”
The message’s signature: “The Gang!”
That meeting, held May 2 at the home of Sequim Planning Commissioner Mike East, was to have attracted potential officers for Sequim Sense.
But the only attendees were a reporter and two Sequim area residents: Randall Tomaras, a photographer who later said he wasn’t interested in joining the group, and Patricia Allen, who said 2008’s changeover to four new City Council members — Ken Hays, Susan Lorenzen, Erik Erichsen and Mayor Laura Dubois — hasn’t been healthy.
East ended the meeting before it started, showing disappointment at the sparse showing. He’d e-mailed invitations to about 30 people, he said, in hopes of galvanizing them to take up the Sequim Sense fight for “positive leadership.”
East wouldn’t give specifics, nor would he say who wrote the Web content, which includes anonymous testimonials from people who’re apparently unhappy with the new council majority.
“I expect my city’s elected officials,” one nameless person says, to “not play games.”
“I have been disappointed with the change for change sake that I’ve watched this past year,” says another.
When pressed, East said that the firing of city manager Bill Elliott in May 2008 is one example of a costly decision by the new council.
The four newcomers voted to dismiss Elliott, while Paul McHugh, a long-serving council member, cast the lone vote to keep him. Council member Bill Huizinga was absent while Walt Schubert had left the meeting.
It was only a study session, and he’d thought the rest of the council wouldn’t take such an action until its regular evening meeting.
Schubert, it turns out, is among those who’ve participated in Sequim Sense planning sessions.
In a recent interview, he outlined his reasons for concern about the current state of the city: “I want to make sure we continue to have safe neighborhoods . . . and adequate housing,” he began, adding that he’s intent on “saving the farms and open space,” putting an end to the “wasting of time and money” and instituting “reasonable” taxes and developers’ impact fees to make the city business-friendly.
Schubert’s words are similar to those on the Sequim Sense “Our Concerns” page.
Others who’ve attended the group’s planning sessions include Mike McAleer, a longtime real estate broker, and Larry Freedman, a developer and former chairman of the Planning Commission.
Both Freedman and McAleer suggested that Sequim Sense may become a political action group recruiting candidates for election to the City Council this November, but said they’ve yet to find anyone who’s ready to run.
Schubert believes that the newer members, whom other critics sometimes call the “gang of four,” would prefer to “stop all growth inside the city.”
Dubois bristled when she heard that and when she was asked about the Sequim Sense Web site’s calls for saving open space, “thoughtful impact fees” and “common sense in local government.”
“Those are all of the things we want,” she said. “We have not instituted a single impact fee yet.”
Firing the city manager last year, she added, was costly in large part due to the severance package approved by a previous City Council.
Elliott’s golden parachute totaling $152,318 included a year’s salary — $96,324.80 — added to his contract by the council in 2006.
“They passed that poison pill, not us,” Dubois said.
But due to the city’s termination agreement with Elliott, “we will not say anything negative about [him]. We remain mute,” she added.
When four new, change-oriented council members were elected in November 2007, “I’m sure it was a shock to them,” Dubois said of Schubert and McHugh.
She acknowledged that she’s tangled with the two men over the past year. But the third veteran member, Huizinga, is a different story.
“He is great to work with. I have learned a lot from him,” Dubois said.
Hays, when asked about Sequim Sense, said he’d never heard of the group. In response to Schubert’s contentions, he said Elliott had to go because “his management style was incompatible” with the city Sequim is becoming.
“We’re not anti-growth,” Hays added, “but we want it managed.” Many proposed developments have come before the council without proper processing by city staff, he said.
Schubert has said that new council members have “bullied” staff, adding that firing Elliott made others at City Hall fear for their jobs.
“I just don’t think that’s true,” Hays said, adding that he considers the council-staff relationship to be a healthy one.
Meantime, mystery still surrounds Sequim Sense. The Web site gives a physical address, 1400 W. Washington St., Suite 186, but the only thing at that location across from Wal-Mart is a block of mini-storage units.
The site also has a link to a blog, but the comments there are still at zero.
On the “Get the Facts” page, Sequim Sense’s originators write: “We don’t allow hot air to replace the facts, we’ll be posting the real story whenever the gossip gets too thick in town!”
Why all the secrecy? “I don’t know exactly,” replied Schubert. “I’m not that much involved in it . . . Like any organization, some people don’t want to be identified because it might not be good for their image or their business.”
The officers of Sequim Sense will come out soon, both Schubert and McAleer predicted.
“I’ve provided some input,” McAleer said. “I think they’re trying to get organized” and will make their leader known shortly.
“It’s certainly not going to be me,” he added.
Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
