By BECKY ERICKSON
Mayor of Poulsbo

When I took office, I promised to be open and candid about city government. Some of you remember that I removed my office door on the day I moved into the old building. That was my promise as mayor, and I’ve tried to live up to that ever since.

Recently, I have received a couple of inquiries about a decision in my private life. It has nothing to do with my job, but in the spirit of openness and candor, I’ve decided to share what happened.

In summer 2014, my husband and I made a series of transactions to sell part of our farm. The first transaction was to create a new road so that our neighbor, Blue Heron Farm, would have access to their property and install a sewer connection.

The second transaction was to turn over part of Noll Road to the City of Poulsbo. As it turns out, our family owned Noll Road! It was part of the purchase of our farm, which was previously owned by my husband’s parents. Anyway, dedicating the right of way never occurred when the road was constructed decades ago, so we completed the agreement that began many, many years ago.

The third transaction was to grant a license to Quadrant Homes to construct the new gravity-fed sewer line running through our farm.

For these three transactions, my family was paid $100,000 from private developers — no public money was used, with the exception of a $361 recording fee for the new Blue Heron Road — and we lost the use of more than 10 percent of our farm. And because I was mayor when all of this happened, I worked with our family attorney and the city attorney to make sure the transactions were handled correctly.

The money that we received was reported to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission as required by law. I recused myself when the sewer line was accepted into the City of Poulsbo and the “late comer’s agreement” was approved. Our family farm was assessed $55,675 in late comer’s fees, which was levied on our farm. If we were to develop our farm, we would have to pay back to the developer more than half of the income from the three transactions.

I faced many sleepless nights through this process. Any landowner can buy or sell property at whatever the market will reasonably bear. But I was mayor; how would it look? On the other hand, if we erred on the side of appearances or perceptions and refused to sell, it would cost the citizens of Poulsbo millions.

The lay of our land was the only possible solution for a gravity sewer system. The alternative would be to run the sewer line from Lincoln Road, all along Noll Road, pumping it over the hill — and each pump station would cost thousands of dollars to power and maintain in perpetuity. Future developments would require new lift stations, and the costs would continue to rise.

With the gravity sewer line, all of this would be eliminated. We were lucky that Quadrant Homes, the developer, has the financial capacity to build such a sewer line. It was now, or probably never. It was the right thing to do for the city and the citizens. It just happened to involve my family’s farm.

Now, let’s look at the personal issues that robbed my sleep.

This farm has been in our family for generations, and we promised to never develop it. Would selling a portion of it to benefit the rest of the community mean we were breaking that promise? This was not an easy decision for us.

We did sell. The sewer line has been built. My husband said, “If we are doing this thing, we are not giving my home away for free.” It took our family nine months to agree to sell, after much soul searching.

There will be one more transaction. Our farm is on the list for more right-of-way dedication when Noll Road is improved. We will lose another half-acre. We will be compensated, this time by federal funds, established by a federal appraiser. I have no idea what we will be paid. I imagine it will be several thousands of dollars. This will occur within the next year. And our family farm will get a little bit smaller.

When I became mayor, I knew there would be early morning meetings and late-night events. I knew this would be far more than a “regular” job. I never imagined how it might entangle my family and our future generations. But that is life in a small town. We are connected. What happens here affects the person over there.

In the spirit of openness and candor — and one neighbor to another — I wanted you all to know the story.

— Becky Erickson
Mayor of Poulsbo