Obee Kicks Off Filing Week with bid for City Council
News by Nhatt Nichols
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Photo provided by Fred Obee [/caption]
Election season has officially kicked off in Jefferson County, with the start of filing week, the week in which candidates for government office can file to run. Applications opened Monday, May 5, and will close on Friday, May 9. Candidates then have until May 12 to withdraw their application.
So far, only a handful of candidates have filed, nearly all of them are incumbents standing for re-election. Among the exceptions is Acting Sheriff Andy Pernsteiner, who is hoping to be elected to the office that he currently occupies.
Most notably, Fred Obee, a former journalist and long-time city resident, is running for the Port Townsend City Council seat currently occupied by Ben Thomas, who has chosen not to run for re-election.
Obee spent 20 years at the Port Townsend Leader, starting as a reporter covering county government and eventually becoming the Leader’s general manager. He has continued to be an involved community member, moderating election forums for the League of Women Voters and serving on the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce.
He also served on the board of the statewide Washington Coalition for Open Government for a decade. The coalition is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that supports citizen access to government records and meetings.
Obee cited a desire to be a part of the discussion around long-term planning as one of his major reasons for running, with a special interest in the findings of the Financial Sustainability Initiative, which won an award in 2024 for Local Government Excellence in Community Sustainability.
“There's a couple of things in [the Financial Sustainability Initiative] that make me wonder whether that's going to be possible or not. One is that they want to annex the Glen Cove industrial area, and I wonder whether that's politically possible,” Obee said.
Obee also stated an interest in keeping the golf course undeveloped and using other city-owned property to address the affordable housing crisis.
“The city’s own reports show we have plenty of vacant land to accommodate our projected population. We don’t need to carve up public open space to provide housing,” Obee said.
The city’s financial position is also quite worrying, Obee said in a press release.
Obee applied for the seat Aislinn Palmer vacated in 2024, but wasn’t appointed at that time. He is currently running unopposed, but with four days left for candidates to file, someone will likely file to run for the same seat.
“I'm not hoping for an opponent, but if one pops up, I'm happy with that,” Obree said. “I always think positions should be contested, that's part of my DNA. We benefit from a discussion, and that's how we choose the way forward. So I'd be happy to have one.”
