By Charlie Bermant
Peninsula Daily News
PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County commissioners are preparing for the last in a series of outreach sessions with citizens who live outside the county’s population centers — and the one farthest from the county seat in Port Townsend.
On Tuesday, the three commissioners will meet with constituents on the west side of the county, convening a special meeting at
7 p.m. at the Hoh Tribal Center, 2483 Lower Hoh Road in unincorporated Jefferson County.
While the commissioners and county staff members make regular trips to the West End, this is the first commissioners’ meeting to take place in that area since March 24, 2003, said Lorna Delaney, Board of Commissioners clerk.
The West End meeting follows similar outreach meetings at Cape George, Brinnon and Coyle.
This series of meetings was designed to give people in outlying areas a chance to have a more spontaneous interaction with the commissioners than the public comment segment of the regular meetings conducted in the Jefferson County Courthouse in Port Townsend, said county Administrator Philip Morley.
“When it isn’t a large group, it allows citizens to have informal contact with the commissioners where they can talk about what’s on their mind,” he said.
In some cases, a group can be too small, such as the April 14 Cape George forum, when not one member of the public turned up.
The meeting coincided with the Cape George Community Board, which was discussing the revision of certain covenants.
That evening, the commissioners convened the special meeting and waited 10 minutes to adjourn after the public failed to appear.
The April 27 meeting in Brinnon and the May 4 meeting in Coyle generated more interest, with about 25 people turning up in Brinnon to discuss the disposition of the community center and motel.
Morley said many of those attending these meetings have concerns about specific public works projects.
He expects this to be true on the West End, where road washouts are common.
The meetings use an “issue mapping” technique, where Morley collects questions on sticky notes and groups them into topics before opening the discussion.
Morley said the commissioners had not yet decided to stay overnight after the meeting or attempt to drive back home the same night.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.