Despite best efforts of a faltering economy and the forces of nature, the city of Port Orchard used 2008 to grow up and out — expanding its political base and area while making efforts to improve the city brand and local reputation.

Like everywhere else in the country, retail sales were down. Several businesses closed in the area, while others struggled.

Meanwhile, the year began and ended with weather-related setbacks.

The December 2007 floods created a giant sinkhole on Bethel, which took until October to repair. And the year-end series of snowstorms crippled an area that was unaccustomed to such heavy weather.

In between, Port Orchard moved toward getting its house in order. Much of the impetus came from the newly elected mayor, Lary Coppola, who took office in January.

A sometimes polarizing figure, Coppola spent his first year redefining the job and promoting Port Orchard — with occasionally unconventional results.

Coppola has promised to continue the forward momentum in 2009. And with former South Kitsap Commissioner Jan Angel moving up to the Washington State Legislature, Port Orchard’s voice will be heard on the state level.

As a businessman, Coppola took office with the idea of how government should work and was surprised at the slower pace. He then set out to increase its efficiency, even within the often-cumbersome regulations that guide city government.

In the end, Coppola was forced to temper his vision, even as he managed to expedite some processes.

The big surprise for Coppola, other than the speed of government, was that Port Orchard’s comprehensive plan was out of compliance — something that severely restricted how the city could grow.

He is careful to not blame the previous mayor or any other employee for this oversight, but one of his first steps was to replace both the development director and public works director and create a new comp plan that opened the floodgates for growth.

Public servants aren’t in it for the money, and Coppola knew the salary ($19,000 per year) when he ran for the office. But he was also surprised by the demands the job placed on his time for a part-time salary.

He proposed a solution — to use the lodging tax to supplement his income with the caveat that his efforts to promote tourism benefit the city treasury in an amount equal to the investment.

The proposal ran counter to all of the established rules, beginning with the one about not changing compensation during a current term.

The city council, however, decided to give it a six-month trial. And by and large, the public agreed.

During a December budget meeting, 27 of 33 people testifying spoke in support. And those opposed agreed that the mayor did, in fact, deserve more than $19,000 a year.

If the idea is to turn Port Orchard into a first-class city, one path is to increase its population. And since there is nothing to attract large numbers of new residents, the logical move is to extend the city limits through annexation.

Coppola has said that he wants to annex as much land as possible and eventually extend the city limits to its Urban Growth Area.

The advantage of annexation, according to Coppola, is its ability to bring new revenue in the city while increasing the population, thereby increasing the talent pool for public office and volunteer service.

This in turn opens up the ability to receive state and federal grants, which will aid growth.

The annexation of McCormick Woods into the city of Port Orchard has received the most attention, and is on track to occur in the first half of 2009. Likewise, Coppola predicts that the Bethel Corridor — along with the Fred Meyer property — will also become part of the city this year.

These agreements will aid the transformation of Port Orchard into a town of 23,000 people by 2025.

Coppola would rather do this sooner than later, since costs are bound to increase.

For instance, the latest estimate for the completion of the Bethel Corridor is $25.5 million — in 2006 dollars.

Neither the city nor Kitsap County, which has shepherded the project so far, has access to those funds.

The Bethel Corridor project, in fact, has been in development since 1999. During this time, it has become more complicated and expensive.

The argument for annexation is that a larger Port Orchard will eventually attract more new residents and businesses. It will require the city to provide services throughout a wider area, but advocates hope the increased property tax revenue will balance these costs.

In any case, the city limit signs are likely to change both location on a yearly basis, for the foreseeable future.

Much of Port Orchard’s “class,” as it is perceived by both residents and outsiders, is the appearance of the downtown area.

The renovation of that area is a multi-step process, with several baby steps taken in 2008. There is the idea that downtown’s prevailing drawback is the lack of parking, that no one will come to that area and no business will relocate if there are no room for their cars.

With this in mind, planning began on a downtown parking structure, to be situated off of Prospect Street.

Set into the hill, it would sit under a municipal building that would contain a library, among other services.

This construction would relive other pressure points, turning the current waterfront parking lot into a park and allowing the somewhat decrepit library building to be torn down or renovated.

These plans, while ambitious, are long-term and won’t do a lot to improve the current state of downtown.

Supporters of downtown renovation plans take the “If we build it, they will come” attitude, while acknowledging that nothing will be built right away. This implies that things could get worse before they improve, and the area will sink into a state of chaos during the time that it takes to build the new facility.

In the not-too-distant future, there will most likely be a series of roundabouts along Tremont Street, which were approved this year by the city council. The circles (two, or perhaps three) are designed to decrease traffic bottlenecks by keeping the cars moving. So by the time downtown becomes an attraction, people will actually be able to drive there in a reasonable time.

While all these plans take time and patience, there is one piece of instant gratification on the horizon. In August, best-selling author and Port Orchard resident Debbie Macomber will host “Cedar Cove Days,” which is expected to attract several thousand of her fans from across the country.

Like Coppola’s new interpretation of public salaries, the Macomber event redefines familiar activities.

In this case, Macomber is using a literary festival template to celebrate popular culture. So instead of seminars about plot and theme with the author, attendees will get to have tea and visit the neighborhoods where the books were set.

So while annexation, tourism, new construction and business development is poised to take Port Orchard to the next level, entrepreneurial imagination will make a big difference.