PORT TOWNSEND — Port of Port Townsend Commissioners approved an updated strategic plan that was created with the assistance of a committee composed of 12 community members and stakeholders who met throughout the spring.
Commissioners Pete Hanke and Carol Hasse voted for the plan at their meeting on Wednesday. Commissioner Pam Petranek had an excused absence.
Committee members met with commissioners at their morning workshop during which they explained some of the language changes, the inclusion of tribal commercial fishing and aquaculture in its objectives and the addition of new ventures like Short’s Family Farm and an industrial park.
“It was basically sound,” said the port’s Deputy Director, Eric Toews, of the 2010 strategic plan the committee worked on. “But it needed to be streamlined to make it more accessible to decision makers and the public.”
Feedback was solicited through an online questionnaire, a community open house and a request for public comments.
The committee suggested the port not wait another 10 years to revise its strategic plan. Instead, it said the port should review it at least every one or two years.
“I appreciate the time it took to put this together,” Hanke said. “It came at a busy time for you.”
Hasse agreed.
“Thank you for keeping us on course,” she said.
Also at their morning workshop, Hanke and Hasse discussed how the port might become a stronger and more visible agent in boosting economic development in Jefferson County, and they revisited the idea of being designated the county’s state Department of Commerce-designated Associate Development Organization (ADO).
EDC Team Jefferson is the county’s current ADO. As one of its funders, the port pays EDC Team Jefferson $40,000 a year, an amount commissioners have discussed as perhaps not the best use of funds since they have not seen measurable benefits.
“I am very reluctant to fund the EDC any more in terms of us putting more dollars into the budget,” Hanke said. “I have not in my time as commissioner seen the EDC really produce what I think should be effective promoting economic development in the community.”
Hasse said there is a need for more coordinated marketing for businesses, tourism and other economic sectors in the area.
“The loss of the chamber was a bigger hit than I had imagined,” she said of the closure of the Jefferson County Chamber. “That’s something our EDC should do.”
The port already committed to some level of EDC funding for 2026, Executive Director Eron Berg said. He suggested that, with EDC Executive Director David Ballif being hired in May, it might not be a good time for the port to change its relationship with the organization.
Berg said he and Pete Langley of Port Townsend Foundry were working to create a Jefferson Manufacturers Association that would represent and engage with those businesses with the goal of convening the first week of October during National Manufacturing Week.
A resolution that would have put a measure on the Nov. 4 ballot asking voters to increase port commissioner terms from four to six years was tabled.
Commissioners said they received pushback from their constituents against the measure.
Hanke said he liked the measure, but the reasons and benefits for the change might not have been effectively communicated to the community. First, it would create staggered terms so two of the three seats would not come up for election in the same year — particularly if they were new to the role. Second, it would allow new commissioners time to get up to speed.
“It’s taken me four years to get used to it,” said Hasse, who was elected in 2022.
They agreed to discuss the subject again in early 2026 and at their yearly retreat.
Meanwhile, the Gardiner Boat Ramp will be closed from Monday through Oct. 3 due to construction and infrastructure improvements.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
