In the interest of full disclosure, I’m the immediate past chair of the KEDC, and a current member of its executive committee and board. For many years, I was perhaps its most vocal and persistent critic, until being lured onto the board several years ago hoping to help facilitate positive changes — some of which have actually occurred.

The Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council (KRCC), which is comprised of representatives of all the local governments, as well as the Port of Bremerton, recently voted to hire an outside consultant and appoint a task force to study and report on what needs to be done countywide to foster long-term and ongoing economic development. Although it puts the KEDC in a very awkward position — not being able to move forward hiring a new director, or raise any private sector dollars until the process is complete, I applauded the idea.

The county has been very supportive of the KEDC, with healthy funding and not interfering in its day-to-day workings. The Port has been a stellar partner as well, with strong financial support and hands-on participation.

The cities’ commitment however — to both the organization and economic development — is questionable at best.

Exactly what is local government’s financial commitment to the KEDC’s $350,000 annual operating budget? Answer: $86,000. It breaks our as follows:

• Kitsap County: $72,000 (Plus a dollar-for-dollar match of private sector funding up to $60,000 specifically earmarked for a separate fund devoted strictly to marketing);
• Port of Bremerton: $35,000;
• City of Bremerton: $8,000 (Down from $16,000 a year ago);
• City of Poulsbo: $5,000;
• City of Port Orchard: $1,000.
• City of Bainbridge Island: $0.

Meanwhile, the top six private sector contributors funded the KEDC this year at just over $50,000 in cold, hard cash, with an additional $20,000 or so of in-kind donations.

There were at least two separate supporters that each contributed more than all the cities combined. Other business community contributors made up the balance of the organization’s operating budget.

With Bainbridge Island contributing zero on an ongoing basis, should it even have a seat on the task force at all?

Speculation has already surfaced that the process is destined to be manipulated to possibly justify a specific political goal. Compromising the integrity of this effort simply can’t be allowed to happen. For this endeavor to truly succeed and its outcome have any credibility, the task force must be completely unbiased, non-partisan, and work in a totally transparent atmosphere, with the private sector represented in at least equal or greater numbers as government. If it isn’t, no matter what the outcome — the results will be summarily dismissed with zero credibility, and forever challenged by the business community.

We have a unique opportunity to do the right thing and plan our long-term economic future in a collaborative, responsible manner. We simply can’t allow politics to screw it up.

The long-running soap opera over the South Kitsap Community Park continues to drone on. The county says it will spend $2.5 million on the 200-acre park and forgive the park district’s $47,000 election debt if the board will dissolve itself and turn the park over to the county. The park district claims the county never made the offer in writing and accuses it of trying to negotiate in the press. It adds there are no guarantees the county will do what it promises.

In addition, some highly partisan Democratic board members have accused Republican S.K. Commissioner Jan Angel of wanting to get control of the park so she can sell it to developers — which is quite frankly, an absurd notion. In fact, the county is exploring some zoning changes as part of the 10-year comprehensive plan update that would make such a move all but impossible — forever.

It appears that the main problem stems from the fact some of the board members seemingly don’t want the park to be used as a park, but view it more as their own private nature preserve. In 2004 the park district refused to even respond to an offer from Port Orchard Rotary to revitalize the park as its Centennial Project, spurning an additional $2.5 million private commitment Rotary secured to fund the long dreamed of community center.

The newest board member, Steve Horn, has stepped up behind the scenes, acting as a moderate, common sense, voice of reason. But it’s become obvious this isn’t about the park for the majority of the board. It’s all about control, and partisan politics. Don’t think so? Why did former Park Board Chair Charlotte Garrido, who was unseated as County Commissioner by Angel and who didn’t run for re-election to the board after a single, chaotic term, still control the district’s Web site and the flow of email between board members until just recently?

The S.K. Park is a community jewel that deserves much better stewardship than it has received from its past and current boards. The county and the park district owe it to the residents of South Kitsap to put an end to this zany little drama as quickly as possible. The county needs to make the park district a bona fide written offer that directly addresses its concerns and guarantees the $2.5 million will be spent in a specific timeframe to repair, revitalize and upgrade the park. Then, give the board members a gracious way to publicly accept that offer and step aside without it appearing to be “hostile takeover.”

Perhaps then, the park will get the TLC it sorely needs and deserves, and everyone involved can finally get on with their lives, secure in the knowledge they all did the right thing for the park.