SEQUIM — Some got strokes. Others got a “we’re working on it.”
The town hall meeting hosted by the Sequim City Council on Monday night was punctuated by a few complaints and pointed questions — about the city’s sidewalk shortage, building heights and door-to-door peddlers who prey on seniors.
But the exchange between council members, Mayor Walt Schubert and those who spoke into the microphone was noticeably without vitriol.
While the rest of the council sat at tables a few feet from the audience, Schubert brought the microphone to those who raised their hands.
Three dozen members of the public — plus Clallam County Commissioner Steve Tharinger, D-Dungeness, and members of the Sequim Planning Commission and Citizens Parks Advisory Board — listened politely.
It was a long way from the Wal-Mart public hearings held a few years ago, said Dave Kacoroski, who moved to Sequim from Seattle several years ago. He prefers the small-town government’s accessibility.
“It’s a lot more fun at this level,” said Kacoroski.
Off-leash dog park
The off-leash dog park advocates, of whom there were at least four at the meeting, spoke early — and basked in praise.
“How soon will we be getting a dog park?” asked Dave Toman.
“It’s in the process,” replied Schubert.
He turned to Public Works Director James Bay, who has said a 1-acre off-leash park is possible within Carrie Blake Park.
Bay turned to Ruth Marcus, who last month helped start Sequim’s dog-park movement when she and other advocates attended a Parks Board meeting, created Sequim Dog Park Pals and a Web site, www.SequimDogParks.org.
Marcus said she’d had a productive meeting Monday with Bay and that the construction of an off-leash park would be on the City Council’s May 22 meeting agenda.
“We feel very positive about this working relationship,” Marcus said of the Pals’ dealings with city officials.
