We’ve entered the second month of 2018. Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson’s third term began on Jan. 1. In her previous two terms, she proved to be a conservative and careful budget writer, worked for stronger protections for critical areas, expanded and improved public parks, restored staffing at the police department to pre-recession levels, and established active enforcement of city building codes.
More challenges are on the horizon. Here are some of the commitments Erickson made to voters during and after the campaign season. In the coming months, we’ll track the progress on these issues.
Ensure Poulsbo is not taking on too much growth: Erickson said on May 19, “We need to start working on a new sub-area planning process with the county to make sure that our city is sized the right way, so that we’re not so dense.’’ The challenge: the Edward Rose & Sons apartment community at Highway 305 and Bond Road will boost the city’s population by 10 percent. And the city is already expected to reach its population projections for 2035 by the mid-2020s.
Build a parking garage downtown: Erickson said on Oct. 9 she favors building a parking garage on the King Olav Parking Lot site, but estimated it would cost $6 million to $8 million to build in order to meet accessibility and ventilation standards How to pay for it needs to be the subject of a community discussion, she said.
Expand the housing mix: On Oct. 9, Erickson said affordable housing could be more available through the construction of affordable apartments and smaller homes that would be more in reach of first-time homebuyers. “We’ve got four apartment buildings [being built] in the next 18 months,” Erickson said.
Improve pedestrian safety: A pedestrian was struck by a car and killed Dec. 15 while walking in a marked crosswalk on Front Street and Torval Canyon Road. Another pedestrian was struck by a car and injured on Hostmark Street near Caldart Avenue two days later while crossing the street to a bus stop. We later learned that around the same time, a pedestrian was bumped by a car but not injured on Front Street in front of Martha & Mary. Erickson said on Dec. 20, “We will look at things very carefully and see if there’s anything the city can do to help improve the situation.” She pointed to improvements made on Lincoln Road, Noll Road and in the area of Poulsbo Elementary School to provide more separation between vehicles and pedestrians. She said police emphasis patrols on Front Street recently resulted in 14 traffic citations. The city also invested in a longer-lasting paint for sidewalks and street striping, which is done every spring, she said.
About the job: The mayor is elected for four years, is paid $74,678, and receives benefits provided other city employees. The mayor is the full-time chief executive officer of a municipal corporation with more than 90 employees, a budget of $31 million and an asset value of $158 million.
— The North Kitsap Herald Editorial Board consists of Terry Ward, publisher; Donna Etchey, general manager; and Richard Walker, managing editor.
