PORT ANGELES — Olympic National Park shouldn’t grow larger, the state Department of Ecology should speed cleanup of the Rayonier mill site, and Medicare reimbursements should increase.
Oh, yeah, and somebody should provide more affordable housing.
Two of Gov. Chris Gregoire’s cabinet members received these messages, among others, on Thursday during a heavily scheduled visit to Clallam County.
Gary Robinson, director of state Information Services, and Cindi Holmstrom, chief of the Department of Revenue, repaid the suggestion with a wish of their own:
All communities should be as collaborative as Clallam County in their approaches to shared problems.
Robinson and Holmstrom were dispatched to Port Angeles as part of a two-day, 14-city blitz across the state by Gregoire aides pushing her plan for Washington’s economic future.
She calls it The Next Washington.
Robinson and Holmstrom breakfasted with business people, lunched with local elected officials and gave interviews to KONP-AM and Peninsula Daily News.
At the PDN, they said collaborative efforts have become Clallam County’s hallmark — and have won the county more than its share of state and federal grants.
“What a great job your community has done taking a cooperative approach,” said Holmstrom.
“That’s one of the initiatives in the governor’s plan, that approach to economic development.”
Holmstrom and Robinson cited these examples:
* The Community Advocates for Rural Elders — CARE — Partnership that received a $150,000 Robert Wood Johnson grant to study health needs of senior citizens and $750,000 more to implement solutions.
* The North Olympic Peninsula Skills Center, cooperatively run by the county’s five school districts _– Quillayute Valley, Cape Flattery, Crescent, Port Angeles and Sequim.
* The Olympic Public Safety Communications Alliance Network — OPSCAN — which will provide direct emergency radio links among 42 agencies ranging from the U.S. Coast Guard to the Clallam Transit System.
* The Continuum of Care/Shelter Providers Network that the state has praised for its broad approach to ending chronic homelessness in Clallam County.
* The county Economic Development Council’s Collaboration Works efforts with its clusters that focus on various industries.