County Connections

(September 23, 2023) This week’s County Connections features Jim Burke, co-host, County Administrator Mark McCauley, and County Treasurer Stacy Prada discussing the 2024- 25 biennial budget for Jefferson County.

(Airdate: July 21, 2023) Jim Burke and co-host Jefferson County Commissioner Greg Brotherton spoke with Nicole Gauthier, General Manager of Jefferson Transit, and Debbie Jahnke of the Transit Advisory Group (TAG) about busses and transit in Jefferson County.

(Airdate: July 14, 2023) Greg Brotherton zoomed in from Andrea’s Beauty and Barber in Quilcene (where he was getting his hair cut) to talk with KPTZ guest host Taylor Clark about sewer systems (this seems to be a favorite topic for Taylor) as well as upcoming community meetings: July 19 at the Tri-Area Community Center, August 18 in Gardiner, September 8 in Brinnon, Sep14 in Quilcene, and October 6 at the Hoh Tribal Center, all at 6pm. They also talked about the PUD fiber project and made a plea for civil community dialogue. Closing Music was “Please Don’t Let me be Misunderstood”.

(Airdate: June 23, 2023) Jim Burke and co-host Greg Brotherton welcome Al Cairns, Director of Jefferson County Solid Waste, to talk about the County’s effort to create a plan to expand and upgrade the Solid Waste Transfer Facility.

(Airdate: June 9, 2023) KPTZ’s Chris Bricker sits in for host Jim Burke.  This week’s co-host, County Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour, emphasizes the importance of forests in Jefferson County and focuses on the history, overview, and legislative updates of Washington’s Trust Land Transfer Program, and introduces two key local conservation projects that have benefited from the Program over the years: the Quimper Wildlife Corridor, and the Dabob Bay Natural Area.  Special guests are Carrie Clendaniel, Preserve Manager for the Jefferson Land Trust and the Quimper Wildlife Corridor, and Peter Bahls, Executive Director of Northwest Watershed Institute.

(Airdate: June 2, 2023) Jim Burke and co-host County Commissioner Kate Dean speak with Wendy Bart, CEO of Olympic Peninsula YMCA and talk about childcare and the planned childcare and family support center that is to be built on The Port Townsend High School property with the cooperation of the YMCA, Jefferson Healthcare, Jefferson County, Port Townsend, and additional funding from Washington State and the US Government.

(Airdate: May 26, 2023) This week on County Connections co-hosts Jim Burke and Commissioner Greg Brotherton spoke with Brent Butler about his new role in the Jefferson County Dept. of Community Development about big and small changes coming to Jefferson County as a result of declared Urban Growth Areas (UGAs) in Port Hadlock and Port Townsend. “Stock Plans” are being uploaded to the County website on June 15 for a 3-week public comment period. Stock plans are ready-to-go plans for commercial buildings and housing to streamline the design and permitting process to save time and money for builders and developers to build out Port Hadlock and Port Townsend over the next few years to increase housing and business development.

(Airdate: May 19, 2023) Jim Burke and his co-host this week, Greg Brotherton, welcome their guest, Monte Reinders, P.E. who is the Public Works Director and County Engineer. They discuss roads, roundabouts and other areas that are the responsibility of the Jefferson County Public Works Department.

(Airdate: May 12, 2023) Jim Burke and his co-host this week Heidi Eisenhour spoke with Bob Wheeler about the Port Hadlock Sewer Project, the progress so far, and what people can expect to see happening soon, with with groundbreaking this summer.

(Airdate: May 5, 2023) This week co-hosts Jim Burke and Commissioner Kate Dean welcome State Representative Steve Tharinger and talk about all the bills that were just passed in the Legislature, and the one important piece of legislation THAT WAS NOT. There will be a special session in May to make sure there are actually state laws in place in terms of drug enforcement before current laws expire on June 30.