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 Chimacum 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:

• What happened at council Monday, what it means, and what to expect next Monday.
• How’s it is part of the City’s bigger picture housing strategy.
• And, if time allows: what’s next?

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.