We strongly supported keeping City Hall in historic downtown Poulsbo. We have, however, talked to a few residents who are unhappy with the Moe Street location. We disagree. The Moe Street location maintains the valuable property on Front and Jensen for future developments that will be on the property tax rolls — as opposed to a city building that does not pay property tax.

We want to complement Mayor Quade and the City Council on their excellent website tracking the history and progress in making our new City Hall a reality. We recommend Poulsbo residents have a look at http://www.cityofpoulsbo.com/city_hall/city_hall_updates.htm. This website has a chronology of decisions made by the City Council in locating the City Hall. Also on the website see the September progress report on the Poulsbo City Hall Project on our excellent bond rating – it was upgraded on September 12th two steps from A+ to AA by Standard & Poor’s, reflecting that the city is very well managed and has excellent financial policies in place.

With the build-out of Poulsbo Place I & II nearing completion over the next several years, buildable real estate within walking distance of downtown will become more and more valuable. Poulsbo will continue to grow as a visitor and boating destination. For example, downtown Poulsbo is an ideal location for a low-rise hotel. A hotel would not only pay property tax and sales tax, but it would draw customers to downtown restaurants and shops. Removing City Hall from these valuable real estate corridors will pay dividends to the City for the next hundred years and beyond.

We are pleased Mayor Quade and the City Council persevered and kept City Hall downtown, locating it off the high-value visitor corridors of Jensen and Front. We support Mayor Quade in the upcoming election because of her track record of thoughtful leadership and her continuing work to preserve and improve the historic downtown Poulsbo business district.

Steve and Cindy Garfein

Poulsbo