(Airdate: March 29, 2024) Taylor Clark welcomed co-host Greg Brotherton and we had a chance to talk with DIane McDade about plans for a Jefferson County Pool. Diane is the President of the JefCo Aquatic Coalition and we talked about the formation of a new task force being put together to investigate pool options and ideas.
(Airdate: March 22, 2024) Guest host Taylor Clark and co-host Kate Dean welcomed Olympic Peninsula YMCA Executive Director Wendy Bart. We talked about the planned Early Learning & Family Support Center which will be sited a on the Port Townsend High School Campus. More information is available at https://www.olympicpeninsulaymca.org/early-learning-port-townsend.
(Airdate: March 15, 2024) Jim Burke and co-host Commissioner Greg Brotherton welcome Brent Butler, Chief Strategy Officer for Jefferson County in the Department of Community Decision, to discuss the impacts of short term rentals like Airbnb, Vrbo, and Hipcamp.
(Airdate: March 8, 2024) This week on County Connections co-hosts Jim Burke and County Commissioner Greg Brotherton welcome Samantha Harper, the Project Manager of the PORT HADLOCK SEWER PROJECT. She talks about the new sewer system due for completion by July of 2025. She outlines the components and steps as well as the fact that the project is actually 50 projects in one, which makes it more manageable and allows for greater involvement from local contractors, businesses, homeowners and Habitat For Humanity.
(Airdate: March 1, 2024) Taylor Clark co-hosted with Jefferson County Commissioner Kate Dean, and they welcomed Jefferson County Parks and Rec Program Coordinator Chris Macklin, and talked about the amazingly wide variety of kids and adult recreational sports programs the county supports, particular the youth rec soccer league, kids and adult basketball, volleyball, even zumba! Chris is something of a local legend with kids who have participated in these family friendly programs over the years. Spring kids soccer signup is open now through March 15th. There are openings for coaches, too. If you are interested in being a youth soccer coach call Chris at 360-385-2221.
(Airdate: February 23, 2024) Taylor Clark and co-host Heidi Eisenhour welcomed Merrily Mount, VP for the Jefferson County section of the Olympic Discovery Trail. We got an overview of all sorts of interesting developments going on with this long distance trail. For more information go to https://olympicdiscoverytrail.org/. Get on your bike and check it out!
(Airdate: February 16, 2024) County Connections had a guest host today, Taylor Clark, along with co-host Heidi Eisenhour (Jefferson County Commissioner) as we welcomed Laura Tucker (Environmental Health Specialist) and Kara Billinger-Hessom (Community Health Educator) discussing cannabis and teens and addiction.
(Airdate: February 9, 2024) Jim Burke and co-host County Commissioner Greg Brotherton spoke with newly hired Central Services Director Tracy Coleman, who oversees three departments in Jefferson County Government: the Central Services Department, which comprises: Facilities, Fleet Services, Geographic Information Services, and Computer Networks. Tracy talked about upcoming capital projects and her love of horsepower.
(Airdate: February 2, 2024) Co-hosts Jim Burke and Kate Dean welcome Sarah Melancon, Director of Human Resources for Jefferson County. They discussed what she does and how important every employee of the County is to providing services to the public. They also talked about the ways in which Jefferson County recruits, hires, and supports them in their important work.
Jim Burke and co-host Commissioner Greg Brotherton welcome Matt Sircely, Vice-Chair of The Jefferson County Planning Commission and Joel Peterson Associate Planner- Lead for the County Department of Community Development. They all discuss the Planning Commission’s mandate to update the comprehensive plan for Jefferson County, which will be updated in June of 2025, and seeks community input from everyone in the meantime to make sure issues like housing and growth are updated to reflect the ongoing needs in the County. The Planning Commission is composed of 9 citizen volunteers appointed by the Board of County Commissioners to support the Department of Community Development and to make advisory recommendations on land use planning matters to the Board of County Commissioners as authorized in the Planning Enabling Act (RCW 36.70.040).
