QUILCENE — The implementing of the Discover Pass as a requirement for the use of state parks was executed poorly in its first iteration, and its process needs to change, according to a state representative.
“The whole idea of the Discover Pass wasn’t handled well,” said Rep. Steve Tharinger, D-Sequim, at a town meeting that drew about 20 people.
“It was supposed to provide a funding stream, but it is difficult to purchase and isn’t very customer friendly.”
Tharinger said he has introduced legislation to allow one pass to be transferred between multiple vehicles owned by a single family, as the non-transferability was the greatest customer complaint about the passes which were implemented last summer.
Tharinger also favors loosening the Discover Pass requirements for Fort Worden State Park, which he said “is not a normal park.”
Tharinger said the pass was intended to close a
$60 million annual deficit in the park’s budget but had only provided $25 million.
Aside from the Discover Pass, Tharinger favors modifying the new park usage fees that are meant to raise funds but end up penalizing visitors.
As an example, he said the increase in parks usage fees resulted in the cancellation of the Brinnon Shrimpfest this summer.
“The new policy raised fees to $3,000, which is cost prohibitive. The entire event doesn’t take in that much,” he said. “We need to modify the fees so they charge hundreds of dollars rather than thousands of dollars, which will allow the event to happen.”
Aside from parks, Tharinger spent a good portion of the just-over-one-hour session addressing education.
“Some people feel that we need high standards for our graduates that are determined by test scores, but the tests aren’t always a good indicator of learningm and the goalpost is always moving,” he said.
“We need to examine how we judge our students and test our students and the requirements we have for graduation because we can dampen their interest in being curious and becoming lifelong learners, and we might not get the same kind of creativity, ingenuity and out-of-the-box thinking that we want.”
Tharinger cited Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who died in October, as an example.
Jobs attended the prestigious Reed College but dropped out because the school was costing his parents too much money and audited courses such as calligraphy to stimulate his creativity.
Taking these courses, Tharinger said, ended up in Jobs designing computer interfaces that are in wide use today.
Tharinger said a music degree can be valuable, even if it doesn’t teach workplace skills.
“Music provides an organized, mathematical way to look at things,” he said. “With the challenges we face in the global economy, it is the creativity that music represents and calligraphy represents that becomes very important.”
The discussion was driven by representatives of the Chimacum School District, two teachers and a board member, who spoke against funding cuts.
The importance of education was also addressed by Lillian Kuehl, a Quilcene Schools alumni who now works as a lab manager for Taylor Shellfish.
“If we have eighth-graders that are not ready for high school, if we are graduating students from high school that are weak in reading and writing, if we have people who can’t go to college because it’s not affordable, if our workforce doesn’t have the mid-level tech skills that tech companies want, we are not fulfilling our paramount duty,” she said.
“Fortunately in Quilcene, class sizes weren’t a problem because there weren’t enough of us, but I really valued that experience.”
Kuehl, coincidentally, graduated from Reed.
Tharinger’s appearance was one of a series of legislative town meetings that were taking place over the holiday weekend.
“The legislative session is due to end March 9, and I hope we are done by then,” he said. “The numbers are getting better, but the solutions don’t get any better if we spend more time on them.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.