POULSBO — Although the city plans to use leftover stimulus dollars to improve more roadway on Poulsbo’s Auto Row, not everyone is celebrating the unintended bonanza, and last month their criticism drew a sharp response from Mayor Kathryn Quade.

Poulsbo residents Jan Wold and Molly Lee have provided foils to the city on more than one front, including Wold’s discovery that the city had been reporting erroneous population numbers to the state. The two have dogged the North Viking Way project and now the proposed construction on South Viking Avenue. In their charges, the two have questioned the appearance of conflict over Councilwoman Linda Berry-Maraist’s ownership of property that could benefit from the construction. Berry-Maraist has recused herself from votes and discussion associated with Viking Way.

A visit to the Puget Sound Regional Council, and complaints about the city by Wold and Lee, was the subject of a two-and-a-half page letter from Quade to the regional council on city letterhead, defending Berry-Maraist, saying it was “disheartening” to respond to Wold and Lee’s “slanderous remarks.”

Another letter from the city attorney is being drafted, Berry-Maraist said, in order to protect the city.

“It’s everybody’s reputation, not just mine,” Berry-Maraist said.