Kittitas County Port District

04/14/2018

April 4, 2018 | Cle Elum | Kittitas County Sentinel Comments on the April 24, 2018 vote for A Measure Regarding the Formulation of a Port District in Kittitas County ~~~ A few general thoughts … As individual members of the Sentinel Group we have differences of opinion between us as to whether all...

11/07/2016

Down to the wire - be sure to share your support for the good a Port will do for Upper County and help dispel any misunderstandings or misconceptions oan your personal FB page!

11/05/2016

With all the national noise, here is something important to vote on right here where we live … also a good reminder to everyone to turn in our ballots.

Have you decided on your vote for Proposition No.1? “A measure Regarding the Formation of a Port District in Upper Kittitas County” It's only fair to share ...

11/04/2016

Ports do not pick winners and losers. Their efforts are aimed at improving the lives of their citizens. They do not issue grants, subsidies, or loans.

11/04/2016

Here's a letter from an advisor, mentor and friend. Someone I love, even though we don't always agree.

Letter:

So there I was, almost a year ago, sitting in a public meeting with Armstrong, Berndt, and Bowen. They touted the praises of a port district to all the people that were there including the 3 councils from the upper county. They explained that Anderson Hay already promised $5000 toward their efforts. They said we could have 2 port districts, one upper and one lower, or we could have a county-wide port. Anyone in the upper county was heavily leaning toward two ports, so that funds collected in the upper county would stay here, rather than be controlled by the lower county. My take was that this was the direction the Chamber was given. Imagine the surprise when Armstrong announced to the Cle Elum City Council in February, that the County’s Task Force decided to go with a county-wide port.

This is why we started the effort to get an upper county port on the ballot. I have never in my conservative life, voted to increase my taxes except for increases that pertained to public safety - fire or police – since, in my opinion, this is the only thing government has a responsibility for.

I have wholeheartedly supported the UCK Port because a county-wide port will inevitably be created. Some have said that it would never pass. Well, with big investors ready to put in money, guess where the money would go first? We may have equal assets between the upper and lower counties but we cannot compete with their voter population. We need the port up here to help our economy.
Some have also raised concerns that folks would not have a say in what projects are done under the port authority. I have advocated all along that not only will the port commissioners be elected at large (with no special interest districts), but that public participation be required through the entire process.

County-wide port commissioner districts would have to be drawn much the same as current county Commissioner districts. How would that work for you? We are going to get a port district whether we like it or not. If you want to have a say in how your money is spent, then for heaven’s sake, vote YES for Prop 1 and make the lower county get their own district.

Kelli Conner

11/04/2016

Hey - all you Port supporters! Put a "I support the Upper Kittitas County Port District" statement on your personal FB page. Thanks.

11/04/2016

This is about us! Final Version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8p0yK1RFjc

11/02/2016

Here is a letter from the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce. After a difficult winter and spring, they became active advocates, contributors and volunteers. Like we said in last week's ad in the Tribune, None of agree on everything, but we all agree on this "Vote Yes! UKC Port". This is about coming together for a common cause.

LETTER

As the county’s designated economic development entity, the Chamber is a strong supporter of port districts. And for good reason. In a state with a dizzying number of obstacles to doing business (like an income tax just for business owners) a port is the one true job creation tool. That’s why 70% of Washington counties have them. Our neighbor Grant County has 12. We have zero.

The Chamber also knows firsthand how narrow our economy is. Kittitas County’s largest employer is government. Nothing else comes close, and that’s not healthy. Sure, we’ve steadily developed tourism, but we lack the good-paying manufacturing and technology jobs that underpin balanced economies.

And that’s what a port does. For example, most businesses prefer to either rent or buy an existing building or at least to purchase a lot with the required zoning, sewer and utilities already in place. Several great Upper County properties are zoned and waiting to be developed for light industry and commercial businesses but lack an entity (a port) to undertake the needed infrastructure.

And ports today can do far more than growing and attracting industry. A port could be used to transform downtown Cle Elum or connect the Iron Horse, Coal Mines and Suncadia trail systems into a major recreational attraction. The possibilities are staggering.

Yes, a port means a levy. Nothing is free, although in the world of taxes even the maximum port levy is quite small and overseen by elected commissioners answerable to the public. It says something that there is no movement to eliminate ports in the 70% of counties that have them.

The choice is simple: vote no to remain “economically distressed” with each generation of our young people leaving for stronger economies elsewhere. Or vote yes for jobs, brighter and more attractive communities, and opportunity.

Jim Armstrong
C.E.O. Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce

10/31/2016

Here is a copy of the poster tha ran as an ad in last Thursday's Tribune. You likely know most of these folks. Add Dave Bridgeman and Cheri Marusa to the list. They were late confirming to me but wanted to be mentioned.

10/31/2016

10/30/2016

In November 2015, Jim Armstrong of the Kittitas County Chamber, Gary Berndt and David Bowen (Port Task Force) brought together the citizens of the Upper County to present the formation of a Port District in Kittitas County. The clear choice of the presenters was a single County-Wide Port. The mood in the room was to favor a two port solution rather than county-wide.

There are some folks in upper county that would still favor a county-wide port. Some also favor no port at all. Here's the problem. Both of these positions will result in the formation of a county-wide port if our effort were to fail. I am on record in support of a county-wide port should that happen.

Our opportunity at forming a "Home Rule", Local Control Port District will sunset in 2020 The County will have the ability to form a Port District indefinitely, and likely sooner rather than later. You can read about it in the 3/10/2016 edition of the NKC Tribune. HEADLINE: "Chamber opts to postpone bid for county-wide port district". Check the Daily Record in that time frame as well.

Finally, there was a total of 24358 ballots sent out for this general election. Only 6158 or 25.3% of the total, for the Upper county. You do the math. It"s just a matter of time before the county does this for us.. VOTE YES! UKC Port

10/29/2016

In an earlier post Susie Weis stated "Doug is a very busy businessman putting in a $5 million fiber optic plant to improve our community. Our family took that risk we didn't ask for any tax dollars". Really?

While doing some research, I found some interesting information on the (WUTC'S) Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission's web site, https://www.utc.wa.gov/docs/Pages/CompanyNameBrowser.aspx.(link below) Put Inland in the search block. It seems that in reality, Inland Telephone has not only asked for but received our tax dollar subsidies for some time. It is unclear how much based on documents from Online Content. More details can be obtained by a FOIA request.

Personally, I tend to support these programs and believe Inland should take advantage of them when they can. These funds come from the "federal high cost fund" and designated for Poor Rural Areas. I don't mind that some of my money is being spent on a local utility. And, I applaud Inland for investing personal funds in their business. It's what we "corporations" need to do.

My problem is the hypocrisy of her statement, including those presented by Surrogate Deborah Parrish at last Wednesday's Candidate Forum. Ms.Parrish, reading from a prepared statement, claimed repeatedly, that establishment of a Port District would "only benefit corporations".

Fact is, Port Districts cannot subsidize businesses or corporations. All proposed expenditures of Port Funds are vetted by the citizens and either approved or denied by locally elected commissioners. Continuous, strict, state and local oversight, is required.

Let's be smart here. Because I am a fiscal conservative, I know a good investment when I see it. When I figure out how, I'll post a sample document. It is tme to take this opportunity to create new history by Voting YES for the UKC Port District.
Search for filings by Company or DBA
utc.wa.gov