PORT TOWNSEND — Government can’t be rushed, according to the four candidates seeking election to the Port Townsend City Council this year.
“Some parts of democracy are not efficient, and they are not supposed to be,” said Port Townsend Deputy Mayor George Randels, the only incumbent on the candidate panel, at a forum Tuesday afternoon at the Northwest Maritime Center during a Port Townsend Rotary meeting.
“The balance between democracy and efficiency is a delicate one, but I think we’ve achieved the balance,” Randels said.
Council meetings used to be much longer and often lasted until midnight, Randels said.
“The problem with City Council meetings is not speeding it up; it’s getting more people involved in it,” said Robert Gray, who is opposing Randels for Position 4 on the City Council.
“These are very important meetings, and very few people in the public show,” he added.
Gray said the public comment process at council meetings is discouraging.
People only get three minutes to speak, he said, “and after 21⁄2 minutes, they ring a bell that jars everybody, and they tell people to get off and go home.
“I think what the City Council needs to do is to get out into the community and have meetings with different groups,” he said.
“They’ve got to go to the people rather than asking the people to come to them.”
Randels and Gray do not have a primary contest and will first face each other in the Nov. 8 general election.
The race for Position 3, which is being vacated by Laurie Medlicott, will appear on the Aug. 16 primary election ballot.
That’s because it was a four-way race until last week, when Paul Richmond, a Port Townsend attorney, and Pamela Adams, a retired chiropractor, both dropped out, Richmond because of time constraints and Adams because she did not meet residency requirements to serve.
Both missed the deadline for withdrawing from the race, and so their names will appear on the ballot.
The two viable candidates for the seat — Jack Range, a 25-year-old investigator, and Deb Stinson, 55, a 2011 Heart of Service Award winner — spoke at Tuesday’s forum.
“Democracy is not pretty and not efficient,” Stinson said.
“But it is especially important that we hear all voices and act in the public interest.”
Said Range: “I think that I would bring to City Council a collaborative work ethic,” Range said.
Neither Stinson nor Range has held previous elective office, though Stinson has a long public service resume.
“Port Townsend needs a very thoughtful and experienced leadership, and we should seek every opportunity we have to make Port Townsend the best place it can be for families of all ages,” she said.
That means, she said, that “young families have great eduction and great recreation opportunities along with living wages generated by a knowledge-based economy.
“And seniors should have really meaningful engagement opportunities in all levels of the community, and everyone should be able to find the goods and the services they need.”
Range said he would bring a younger perspective.
“It’s my experience as a 25-year-old in this town is what will bring a new light to city issues,” Range said.
“You need someone in a decision-making position who is directly affected by the recession because I am not in a place where I have an income I can fall back on to support myself here.
“So the decisions I make on the council will directly affect my life, the lives of my friends and my future in this town.”
Tuesday afternoon’s forum was the first of three scheduled for this week.
Tuesday night, the Jefferson County Democrats hosted a forum at the Port Townsend Community Center, while the League of Women Voters will hold a forum at 7 p.m. today at the Masonic Temple, 1338 Jefferson St.
Primary ballots will be mailed to voters today.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.