By Bobbie Moore

You’ve probably been following the local news since the last Community News update; here’s a recap:

State funds: We won’t be seeing a State grant this year, but with loads of support from Commissioner Steve Bauer and Rebecca Pirtle, we lobbied and testified to the Senate and House committees. We learned that we still need to prove our ability to handle the $1 million to $1.4 million we requested. Now we’re looking into partnerships with local organizations that have a track record in doing that. The manager of the State’s granting agency, Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) will be visiting to give us some pointers about how to be successful when we reapply in the fall. Stay tuned for an announcement about this May event. We’ll want a good community turnout like we had last year when we were visited by the Speaker of the House, Frank Chopp.

Federal funds: We’ve made the first cut on Representative Jay Inslee’s appropriations list. We asked for $1 million, the same as last year, but $500,000 is what we stand a good chance of getting. Thanks to Chris Endresen, Senator Maria Cantwell is also pulling hard for us. The likelihood of getting this money gets better each time we apply. Again, stay tuned. We’ll need you as community members to write letters of support for this request.

Navy Housing site: We (the Community Center Foundation) have submitted a proposal to Commissioner Bauer and the Parks Department for a low-cost and simplified plan to make the site usable by the public by July 1. There are so many factors in favor of this outcome that I think we’ll see it happen. Many thanks to Dave Wetter, Jon Sole, and Rick Lanning for their help with this effort.

Metropolitan Park District: We’re tabulating final results of the survey that’s been open for several months about desirability of an MPD for maintenance and operation of the planned intergenerational, multi-purpose community center. The results will help us determine the boundaries of the District. Then we’ll decide whether to launch a petition campaign preparatory to a ballot measure.

There’s more in the works, but keep your eyes and ears peeled. You wouldn’t want to miss anything.

Bobbie Moore is the Executive Director of the Kingston Community Center Foundation.