PORT ANGELES — Candidates for two of four City Council seats in the Nov. 8 general election answered questions Wednesday on raising taxes and the waterfront master plan during a Port Angeles Rotary Club meeting.
About 30 Rotarians attended the forum to hear contenders for Position 6, Deputy Mayor Don Perry and Sissi Bruch and incumbent Cherie Kidd.
Candidate Cody Blevins, who was challenging Kidd for Position 7, did not appear and announced later Wednesday that he was bowing out of the race for personal reasons.
The candidates were each given time for an introduction and four minutes to answer questions.
Waterfront plans
The candidates were asked how the city would move ahead to implement the city’s waterfront master plan.
It’s a 10-year plan because the city doesn’t have the funding to do it all now, said Kidd, a third-generation Port Angeles resident finishing her first term in office.
The city plans to narrow Railroad Avenue, widen pedestrian paths and add overlooks and picnic tables, she said.
“We have a grant for part of it,” Perry said.
The master plan has been broken into four stages — the first stage is partially funded and set to begin in 2012, he said.
While there are beautification plans for the city’s waterfront areas, funding them is becoming more difficult.
“The grant money is starting to dry up,” said Bruch, a member of the Port Angeles Planning Commission with two decades of experience in planning and design here and in other states.
The city needs to prioritize, she said. “It’s important these plans come to fruition.”
Tax increase
The candidates were asked if there would be city property tax hikes this year in light of declining property values.
The city did not increase property taxes last year and does not expect to take a 2 percent increase — 1 percent this year and 1 percent “banked” from last year — Kidd said.
However, there may be some increases in utility bills due to Bonneville Power Administration wholesale rate increases, said Kidd, who automatically receives a second four-year term as the result of Blevins’ withdrawal.
Perry agreed that there would be an increase of electric rates and a possible increase in property taxes.
Property values have decreased by as much as 30 percent, Bruch noted.
Any tax increase will be done during the budget process with public input, she said.
Last week, contenders for Position 1, Councilman Brad Collins and challenger Drew Schwab, and Position 5, Mayor Dan Di Guilio and challenger Noelle Fuller, took part in a similar Rotary forum.
Future forums
The next Port Angeles City Council candidate forums will be held at noon Monday, Oct. 10, and Monday, Oct. 17, at the Red Lion Hotel before a Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce audience.
A League of Women Voters candidate forum will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, in the Port Angeles City Hall council chambers.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.