BREMERTON – Port of Bremerton district 1 commissioner candidates Cary Bozeman and John Poppe faced off in a friendly debate at the Norm Dicks Government Center Oct. 13.

One of the two men will be elected to replace outgoing commissioner Roger Zabinski. The port has a $10.5 million budget and has 27 employees.

The League of Women Voters of Kitsap sponsored the debate. Several questions were posed to the candidates.

Bozeman is the former mayor of Bremerton and Bellevue and said he was proud of his efforts that led to the construction of the Norm Dicks Government Center and other projects.

As for the port, “I think the main priority of the port is economic development,” Bozeman said. “It’s job creation. That’s why ports were created.”

Bozeman was CEO of the Port of Bremerton for two years, from 2009-2011, but was forced to leave early due to a medical problem. He said he regretted not having a better chance to attract growing King County businesses such as Amazon or Microsoft to the Port of Bremerton.

Bozeman said Kitsap offered several benefits to such companies.

“We have affordable housing, we have a workforce that’s well-trained … we have proximity to Seattle on the ferry. So if you’ve got your corporate office in Seattle you can get your employees back and forth. And we have a quality of life here that can’t be matched in King County,” Bozeman said.

The problem, he said, was that Kitsap wasn’t on those company’s radars and said he would work to change that.

• What are your top three goals?

Poppe said the main goal should be to optimize existing infrastructure. In order to create jobs, Poppe said, there needed to be a place for companies to be located at. Pad-ready sites could allow a company to set up shop in months instead of years. Second, existing industries should be asked what they needed to stay in Kitsap and expand. Third, financing mechanisms were needed to get new industry off the ground.

Bozeman said “recruiting good paying jobs and good companies that want to expand,” was the main goal. Second, work to improve the ferry service.

“We’re basically an island community,” Bozeman said, with higher ferry fares and lower quality of service, he said. New boats and new ferry funding was needed. Third, the Port Orchard marina needed to be upgraded.

• What have you done to prepare for this position?

Poppe said the port has gone through tough times in the last few years.

“Some people call it a recession. I call it a mild depression,” Poppe said, and the port was just now recovering. The port should consider extending the runway at Bremerton National Airport by 1,000 feet. Infrastructure was the key, Poppe said.

Bozeman said the airport mostly was a home for private aircraft today, with leased hangars. In order to make more money at the airport, a longer runway was needed, but that would require study and public input, he said.

The marina business was nearly break-even, Bozeman said. Both the marina and airport should be run like businesses and both needed increases in revenue and to be less-dependent on property taxes.

Bremerton offered utilities such as sewer and water, but “the real problem is we don’t have anybody to put out there. And until we do, we can build all the infrastructure we want and it won’t help,” Bozeman said.

• What strategy can the port use to attract employers?

Bozeman said that when Boeing was looking at expanding 737 aircraft production years ago, Kitsap worked hard at getting Boeing’s attention. The effort, however, was unsuccessful and Everett was chosen. But Kitsap did succeed in making an impression. Bozeman said Kitsap should do a better job of marketing itself.

Poppe said Kitsap should ask what employers needed, what environmental and pollution challenges they had. Kitsap should market its main assets: large swathes of industrial land.

• Why is ferry funding an important issue for Bremerton?

Transportation is an economic issue, Bozeman said.

“That ferry system is our highway into … one of the most successful economic engines in the world – called Seattle, Washington, (and) King County. And the better our transportation options are, the more frequent they are, the more we’re going to be able to attract economic growth here,” Bozeman said.

Poppe said transit and parking were essential and said that when infrastructure was created to move people across Puget Sound it also increases property values and thus boosts tax revenue to sustain the system.

“Transportation is key … ferry traffic is very important,” Poppe said.

• How does the port benefit people outside Bremerton city limits?

Improved infrastructure increased the value of Kitsap properties thus benefitting property owners, Poppe said. With more high-paying jobs and with more Seattleites moving to Kitsap, property values for Seabeck residents should go up.

Bozeman agreed. If the port attracted good companies, then Kitsap would have good jobs and then everyone would benefit because the resultant higher tax revenue would fund better fire service, more police and better parks and schools.

• Should the port support the Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council?

Bozeman said he supported the KRCC.

“Not being at the table on the major regional issues of this community: transportation, housing, Puget Sound issues, ferry system … I mean, how can the largest city in this community not be at the table on regional issues? It’s mind boggling to me,” Bozeman said.

Poppe said involvement in KRCC was critical. Poppe said that at a recent meeting he was at, an executive with Alaska Airlines said, “We have profitable routes and we have strategic routes.”

“It’s important to be involved with what’s going on,” Poppe said, and to plan ahead.

• How can the port be more transparent?

Poppe said transparency was important in government, and that newsletters were a good way to communicate with the public. He said the port stumbled with transparency years ago, “but right now the port has credibility.”     Bozeman said it was incumbent for the port to “reach out to these various communities” and said community meetings were one way to be more transparent. When he was CEO of the port, “we had (meetings) in Seabeck, we had them in Port Orchard and we had them in Bremerton and they were poorly attended at that time but I suspect today they would be better-attended … we just need to outreach more,” Bozeman said.

• How can Seabeck benefit from the port?

Poppe said the port should meet with Seabeck residents and learn what their concerns were.

“Find out what’s on their mind and what makes them think that they’re left out and what is the mechanism to meet their needs,” Poppe said.

Bozeman said Seabeck residents should come up with an idea on how the port can participate on something they would value in their community, be it a boat launch or ball field, for example.

• What attributes do you have that communities would value?

Bozeman said he had a proven track record of pulling people together and getting projects done, such as the Norm Dicks Government building. He said he raised more than $400 million for downtown Bremerton projects including condominiums and the new convention center.

Some politicians talk, but “I have a pretty good record of getting things done,” Bozeman said.

Poppe cited his expertise in the construction and engineering worlds, and his familiarity with bond issues and community involvement. He touted financing his own campaign as a strength.

Bozeman did not self-finance his campaign.

“I’m proud of the fact that over 150 people have contributed to my campaign,” Bozeman said. “I think that’s a good way to show that you’re getting support from the community.”

LINK: Read more at the Kitsap County voter guide: http://www.kitsapgov.com/aud/elections/archive/15/General%20LVP%202015.pdf