| I read with interest Wendy Miles’ article “Accessibility to business” on page 16 of your latest edition and was flabbergasted by the remarks of Mayor Quade’s concerns about how to “...better use the waterfront parking area while still providing easy access to the businesses...”
It seems our new mayor has no more a grasp on the problems of downtown businesses than the previous mayor. Politicians and anti-business locals all concede that downtown parking is a problem and usually end up remarking that people should drive less to solve the problem. They’ve had their eye on the waterfront parking lot for years and would love to get rid of it by replacing it with a park. Certainly, a park would be nice but without adequate parking, the already stressed businesses downtown would suffer a fatal blow.
Mayor Quade needs to spend a little time getting to know business owners better. Case in point are her remarks that, “...what we need downtown right now is a corner grocery store.”
There has been a “corner” grocery store, Marina Market, in the middle of Front Street for almost nine years! What’s more, I have seen the mayor greet the owners of this business — Jonathan and Andrea Rowe. The store has been so successful that they have recently doubled its size to accommodate increased consumer demands! If Mayor Quade can’t even remember what businesses are located downtown — where her office is — what hope do businesses have for a friendly ear at the mayor’s office who happen to be located outside her narrow field of view?
And a thought on the Mayor’s Mag-Lev train from Poulsbo to Bainbridge… On the surface, it sounds great but I notice there was no mention of the estimated $2 billion price tag. This is just a starting estimate. We all know that the real price will probably double if this project goes forward — and guess who will have to foot the bill for this? Homeowners and small businesses in Kitsap County. We just can’t afford it, can we?
Peter duPre
Poulsbo | 
