City Council Approves Funding for Ferries and Furry Companions; Releases Statement on ICE
In a meeting full of community positives, the police statement acknowledging inability to prevent a potential ICE presence brought a change in temperature.
News by Angela Downs
PORT TOWNSEND, WA — The January 20 council business meeting, led by Deputy Mayor Owen Rowe, was full of approval, donations for dogs and funding for ferries.
Chief of Police, Thomas A Olson and new Deputy Chief, Kamal Sharif, opened the meeting with an update on their work, and answered questions from council members about the police's role in relation to ICE. “Our function and goal is community safety,” said Chief Olson, “We’ll do everything we have to do to make sure that our community is kept safe. Unfortunately I have no say in what work they do and where they do it, but I certainly can be a part of keeping the community safe and them safe as well, as long as they’re in our community, as would be any other guest in our community. . . [W]e have rallies and protests in this community every month, and our community has been very responsible in how they’ve done those and it has not been an issue up until this point.”
Many of these rallies are held at the Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park, where the city is celebrating a ribbon cutting on January 28 from 12-1 p.m. for the restrooms. “I’m excited about this because I think that’s been something that we’ve struggled to get off the ground ever since probably we got that RCO (Recreation and Conservation Office) grant many decades ago to actually do that work. It’s great to have completion of that project, ” said City Manager, John Mauro. The park’s restrooms may also be a boon for the unhoused.
New public restrooms alone aren’t the level of solution needed for the housing crisis we face. The Annual Point In Time Count, January 29 in Quilcene, Port Townsend and Port Hadlock, will help provide statistics for reference when discussing and implementing solutions.
Systems that maintain human dignity are often found in waste management solutions. The Solid Waste Facility is moving. Those interested in the site for the new Solid Waste Facility and any details about when or how it will happen, or have anything to say about the project, can attend the public meeting on January 26, at the Tri Area Community Center in Chimacum. Conversations held there about the county facility will be brought back to inform discussions about city recycling.
As the city looks to expand, it needs to consider the details of growth. Deborah Jahnke, Chair of Parks, Recreation, Trees and Trails Advisory Board, suggested a definition of Dense Housing to include dog shared spaces. “We have more households with dogs than children, but many households have both dogs and kids,” Jahnke said, “Dog owners pay taxes, just like the rest of us and deserve the same amenities. And while we are densifying affordable housing, and we talk about the need for more distributed parks for our kids, we should also recognize that denser housing does not provide families sufficient space for those dogs to exercise and play safely. So we need to add that to the calculation of shared space.” A $10,000 donation was offered by the James Steward Todd estate and Council accepted the donation to be used for a timber frame weather shelter at the Mountain View Dog Park.
All council members present signed the Governor's Budget Letter strictly about ferry funding. The $3.1 billion supplemental transportation budget will not be funded by new taxes but by bonding existing revenue. $1.1 billion of the budget will be for Washington Ferries renewal and maintenance. Based on assessments of cost and efficiency, the ferries are built in Florida and shipped. Publicly elected officials in the Puget Sound region have signed the letters, Puget Sound Regional Council.
The next Port Townsend City Council meeting will be at 6 p.m. February 2, 2026.
