Some new local faces make for interesting commentary. The Kitsap Economic Development Alliance (KEDA) has hired a new executive director, Bill Stewart. Financially beleaguered Westsound Bank has a new CEO, Terry A. Peterson. And local Republicans actually recruited a candidate, Tim Matthes, for the south end commissioner’s seat.
Stewart is a good choice to lead the KEDA. An economic development professional who has been serving as senior managing director of the International Trade and Economic Development Division (ITED) of the state’s Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED), he brings more than 20 years of public, private and non-profit economic development experience to Kitsap County. This is the first time our local economic development efforts will be headed by someone with actual high-level, real-world experience.
In spite of serving as a board member and past chair of the former KEDC, it’s no secret I’ve been the most vocal critic of our local economic development efforts. The political takeover of the KEDC by the same elitist elected officials who collectively chased NASCAR away, and formed its replacement organization, KEDA, was little more than retribution for the organization doing its job. So I’ll admit not having much faith in an economic development organization run by primarily liberal electeds who have never signed the front side of a paycheck. But the private sector board members have dominated KEDA’s efforts, and substantial credit for moving forward belongs to Chris Rieland, president of Pacific Northwest Title; Elliott Gregg, CEO of Kitsap Credit Union; and Jim Carmichael, president and CEO of Kitsap Bank, for their leadership. I’d also be remiss not to mention Kathy Cocus, who served as interim director for the past two years during a time of major uncertainty.
With Stewart taking the helm, expectations are high. As usual, there was some negative commentary on the Kitsap Sun’s blog about what Stewart’s being paid. That kind of carping is symptomatic of the small thinking that has dominated our economic development efforts for far too long.
As everyone in business knows, exceptional professionals command high salaries and are expected to perform at high levels. This is the first time Kitsap has had an economic development professional of Stewart’s caliber and experience in charge. The problem in the past has been that we were too small-minded — and frankly, too cheap — to hire someone with the kind of expertise needed to move us forward.
The bottom line: You get what you pay for — and Kitsap’s past economic development efforts have the track record to prove it.
Peterson is the type of choice most industry insiders expected Westsound Bank to select — a longtime banking professional with a solid track record in community banking. He’s very personable, highly focused, and is investing a substantial amount of his own cash — up to a million dollars — into Westsound. Turning around the troubled bank will not be an easy task, but after meeting him, I’m convinced if anyone can make it happen, he’s the guy.
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The candidate local Republicans finally persuaded to run for the South Kitsap commissioner’s seat, Tim Matthes, is a pretty sharp guy who is well-informed, thoughtful and pragmatic. However, as a member of the militant Kitsap Alliance of Property Owners (KAPO) you can look for most local news reports concerning him to read something like, “County Commission Candidate and KAPO member Tim Matthes said…” Hopefully, the local media can restrain itself from that, but honestly, I don’t have much hope that it will. As happened with NASCAR, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the environmental reporter covering at least a part of Matthes’ campaign — instead of the political one. That’s too bad, because it will unfairly misdirect the debate on many of the real issues facing the county.
KAPO, for the uninformed, is a politically active property rights group with about a thousand local members. Led by Vivian Henderson, who is a fixture at most public meetings, it’s been a continual thorn in the side of the county commissioners on land use issues. The mere mention of KAPO has a tendency to infuriate many local environmental activists.
If Matthes can overcome the albatross of KAPO’s stigma and actually get his message out, it may resonate surprisingly well.
The governor’s race is beginning to heat up in a big way. Governor Christine Gregoire has been on a whirlwind tour of the state — riding around in a fully equipped luxury motorcoach. Although the coach is rented from a Seattle company, it’s licensed in Oregon (avoiding the sales tax?), which seems to me to be a major faux pas on the part of her campaign managers. The tour included a stop in Bremerton, where she met with local elected, business, and community leaders (including yours truly) to listen to our concerns, and remind us of all her accomplishments, before holding a fundraiser in another part of the building.
Meanwhile, challenger Dino Rossi has caught up to her in fundraising, surpassing 28,000 individual donors — of which, over 40 percent are new to the Rossi campaign. If I were Gregoire, that would be making me nervous.
Rossi has also unveiled a transportation plan with 71 percent of the proposed spending going towards nine major unfunded congestion relief projects. Democrats are having difficulty refuting his plan because the cost projections for eight of those projects were taken directly from DOT and RTID numbers.
In spite of Gregoire’s bravado, saying, “In November, we will win, election night, within the first 10 minutes, by a large majority,” a couple of independent polls show Rossi neck and neck with Gregoire — who has never polled over 50 percent the entire time she’s been in office.
In my view, it’s still way too close to call, but Rossi has a legitimate shot at unseating Gregoire, who in the eyes of thousands, he beat four years ago.
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