This week on Brewocracy Now, co-hosts Jim Burke and city manager John Mauro spoke with Lindsay Wayland of The Port Townsend Arts commission about a new Port Townsend Poet Laureate program which is seeking applicants to become the first poet Laureate for 2024.
Co-hosts Jim Burke and John Mauro were alone together for this installment of Brewocracy Now. John filled Jim in on matters discussed at Monday’s meeting of City Council including sewers, edge lane roads and street repairs.
Co-hosts City Manager John Mauro and Jim Burke welcome Rita Hubbard and talk about all things about The 2023 Rhody Festival coming up May 17 through May 21. They talk a bit about KPTZ’s 12th birthday too.
Today, co-hosts John Mauro and Jim Burke (in for Taylor Clark in May) welcome Shelly Leavens,
the NEW Communications and Marketing Manager for the City Of Port Townsend. They discussed how Shelly came to work for the City Of Port Townsend (her first day was today!) and a few other topics, like the Mountain View Pool replacement planning.
Guests on Brewocracy Now included Officer Kamal Sharif of the Port Townsend Police department, and Suzie Haynes (she is a personal trainer, and her business is called “S cubed” – S3). They were on to talk about the upcoming Bike Rodeo to help teach kids (and adults) about how to ride bikes safely. The Rodeo takes place on May 6 at Blue Heron School, from 8am to 4pm. We also discussed last night’s open house about the golf course, and tonight’s open house (in Chimicum) about the pool. Check the cityofpt.us web page for a list of upcoming events like this. There are lots of opportunities to provide input. John Mauro also gave us an overview of the new Port Townsend Poet Laureate program. Finally, we discussed once again John’s recent sojourn to the Boston Marathon where he ran consistent 6:40/mile splits and finished in under 3 hours. Congratulations are in order.
Mayor David Faber joined co-hosts Jim Burke and John Mauro, they talked about the successful, recent Connectivity Fair and Transportation Fair. Other topics were the second Golf Course Open House coming up at Fort Worden Commons on Wednesday, April 26 at 5pm, and the Healthier Together Pool open house on April 27 at Chimacum High School. Mayor Faber reminded us that candidates for City Council need to file between May 15 and May 19. And John teased that the City of PT has hired a new Communications and Marketing Manager to be announced on Friday April 21.
Guests were Dan Burden, internationally recognized proponent for walkable cities, and Port Townsend Assistant City Engineer Jeff Kostechka, a new member of Port Townsend’s professional staff who is also studying in the UW Sustainable Transportation Graduate Program. We talked about transportation policy engineering and how we might continue to make Port Townsend a ‘fifteen-minute city’ for walking and biking. This all leads up to the “Moving in the Right Direction” conference, Friday April 14. More information on the conference (which is open to the public) may be found here.
Taylor Clark and Port Townsend City Manager John Mauro talked about a wide variety of topics, including the new 7th Haven Apartments, the importance of federal funding for this sort of project, the upcoming meeting of the Financial Sustainability task force, the importance community members running of public office or otherwise getting involved in advisory boards and community groups. It takes a village.
Brewocracy Now on March 30 featured a grab bag of different topics. Co-host Taylor Clark talked to John Mauro about recently passed changes supporting housing, and we looked towards what will be happening to support housing going forward. John talked about The Community Read event last Tuesday and an upcoming meeting in Chimicum about the pool. John asked that if people have time, could they please fill out the Pool Survey (linked here) which closes Friday, March 31 at 5pm. We also heard some pending budget items at the state level that might possibly benefit Port Townsend, and then, sadly, we ran out of time.
KPTZ News Producer Jim Burke sat in for Taylor Clark this week and with his co-host, City Manager John Mauro, spoke with Planning and Community Development Director Emma Bolin and Mayor David Faber. They discussed:
John and Taylor’s guests today were Melody Sky Weaver from the Port Townsend Library and Monique Gray Smith, who did the young adult adaptation of Braiding Sweetgrass which the Port Townsend community read this month. We had a very soulful conversation that is hard to characterize here. Just listen! And read!
Co-host John Mauro is back from his break and reflects on what that meant for him as well as the excellent work of the city leadership team while he was gone. We discussed city efforts to pay off some of our debt and why that is important. John also talked about efforts by the city to coordinate the replacement of our pool including a planned public meeting “Healthier Together” that is coming up at the Fort Worden commons. on March 14. Mark your calendars! (Note: Our planned guest, Monique Gray Smith was delayed due to travel problems and will be joining us next week)
On Brewocracy Now, Taylor Clark hosted Melody Sky Weaver, Director of the PT Library, and Steve King, Director of Public Works for the city. The discussion began with the community read (Braiding Sweetgrass). Melody will be joining next week along with Monique Gray Smith, who did the young adult adaptation that we are all reading. Steve and Taylor both pledged to read it. Also discussed were infrastructure projects, including the library ADA bathroom, work on city hall, the Point Hudson jetty, the concrete asbestos pipe on Water Street, the Gravity Water System that feeds both PT and the Mill, a possible mitigation for king tide flooding in the Boat Haven.
Taylor’s guests on Brewocracy Now were Port Townsend City Councilor Owen Rowe as well as Port Townsend City Attorney Heidi Geenwood. Owen is the chair of the Culture and Society subcommittee and Heidi is the staff liaison. We talked about the proposed Equity, Access, & Resolution (EAR) Advisory Board, and about the framework defining advisory boards and subcommittees.
Taylor’s guest on Brewocracy Now was Emma Bolin, Port Townsend Director of Planning and Community Development. We discussed the process the city is in to develop “Tactical Infill”, to improve our housing availability by encouraging the development of new living spaces such as ADU (Accessory Dwelling Units). The Port Townsend Planning Commission will be meeting March on proposed changes to zoning and code. Final recommendations go to the City Council on March 20. More information is available at here.
Taylor’s guests included Connie Anderson, Port Townsend City Director of Finance and Technology, and Monica MickHager, City Councilor and chair of the Finance and Budget subcommittee. Topics discussed included the budget process, the role of the F&B Subcommittee, funding source “buckets”, and how that impacts spending. They also talked about the city’s progress on debt and Connie reminded us about the ongoing Financial Sustainability Initiative. The City of PT Budget itself may be found here.
Taylor Clark‘s Brewocracy Now co-host was Port Townsend Library Director Melody Sky Weaver and our guest was Port Townsend Police Chief Thomas Olson. We discussed community policing efforts including a proposed citizen’s advisory group, upcoming bicycle police, and some outreach programs with our police at the library.
Today’s Brewocracy Now featured guest hosts Jim Burke (in for Taylor Clark) and Steve King (in for John Mauro). Steve King is the Director of Public Works for the City of Port Townsend, and is acting City Manager while John Mauro is on vacation until the first week of March. Today, Jim and Steve had as their guest speaker, Aislinn Diamanti, City Council Position #2, who is on the Council Infrastructure and Development Committee. They spoke about paving streets which will take place this year, Evans Vista, the underpinnings of Lawrence Street, and the need to create proper drainage next to streets BEFORE repaving.
Today on Brewocracy Now co-hosts Taylor Clark and City Manager John Mauro were joined by Mayor David Faber. Highlights of their discussion included housing policy and funding for road repairs.
Co-hosts Taylor Clark and John Mauro talked with BOCC Commissioner Greg Brotherton and County Administrator Mark McCauley about collaboration between the city and county.
Today on Brewocracy Now co-hosts Taylor Clark and City Manager John Mauro were joined by Carrie Hite, Director of Parks and Recreation Strategy. They discussed the golf course planning process and upcoming open house. Details are available at www.cityofpt.us.
John Mauro was way from Brewocracy Now this week and Port Townsend Director of Public Works Steve King was Taylor’s guest. They discussed the the work repairing the current sewer line break as well as snow removal and sand removal following the snow storm.
Taylor and John’s guests today included KPTZ News Producer Jim Burke and Port Townsend City Director of Parks and Recreation Strategy Carrie Hite. We talked about the ongoing process “Envision Port Townsend Golf Course and Mountain View Commons” including their next meeting, an Open House planned for January 11, 2023.
Today on Brewocracy Now co-hosts Taylor Clark and City Manager John Mauro were joined by Port Townsend City Councilmember Libby Wennstrom. Libby answered questions about her first year on Council. They also talked about tonight’s Planning Commission Open Microphone (6pm in Council chambers) collecting public input on zoning changes to increase housing availability.
Today on Brewocracy Now co-hosts Taylor Clark and City Manager John Mauro discussed a variety of topics including; the status of the “Raccoon House’ code enforcement action; poplar trimming; recent striping of new “Edge Lane” roads, and traffic calming.
Today on Brewocracy Now co-hosts Taylor Clark and City Manager John Mauro were joined by Steve Tharinger, Washington State Representative for the 24th Legislative District, and Teri Nomura, local realtor and housing advocate. A variety of topics were discussed including; local housing projects, support at the state level for housing reform, and the status of the “Racoon House” code enforcement case.