PORT TOWNSEND — In what he described as the largest town hall meeting of his legislative career, Rep. Kevin Van De Wege heard several strongly worded statements in support of adequate educational funding.

Of the approximately 150 people who filled the Port Townsend Community Center on Friday afternoon, about 30 were teachers or school administrators who attended in order to remind Van De Wege of education’s importance.

The teachers present represented one-third of the district’s total, said Grant Street Elementary counselor Jeanie Glaspell.

“I know he heard our concerns today, but it will be extremely difficult to get any additional funding through the Legislature this year,” Glaspell said.

“I think it would be criminal for us to neglect the educational system and not offer the needed instruction.”

The Sequim Democrat represents the 24th District, which covers Jefferson and Clallam counties and a portion of Grays Harbor County.

He and Rep. Steve Tharinger, a fellow Sequim Democrat, also hosted a town meeting in Sequim later Friday.

Tharinger did not attend the Port Townsend meeting because of a scheduling conflict, his office said.

Responding to a question about consolidating school districts in order to save administrative costs, Van De Wege said it was not the legislature’s role to force such actions on a local district.

“The state established school districts long ago, and each district has its own board of elected directors, which has a tremendous amount of power,” he said.

“Over the years, the state has given the districts every tool they need to combine if they want to, so if I, as a state legislator, try to force them to combine, it looks like I am taking power away from local entities.”

Parks proposal

Van De Wege said the restriction on the Legislature to not raise taxes without a two-thirds majority limits its ability to find new revenue sources.

“It is extremely difficult to get two-thirds support for anything in the current climate,” he said.

“Finding new revenue sources isn’t just about rasing taxes; it also has to do with closing a lot of the tax loopholes that the state has established over time, but changing any of that takes a two-thirds vote.”

Aside from schools, the most critical issue discussed Friday was keeping parks open, with discussion of Van De Wege’s proposal to charge a $10-day use fee for state parks.

Marilyn Muller of Port Townsend took Van De Wege to task about the bill, calling it “atrocious.”

After thanking Muller for her feedback, Van De Wege said, “There are a lot of people who are concerned about that bill, and we are looking at a lot of different options, and I’m not even sure that my bill will be able to keep parks open or raise the kind of money we need.

“At this point, I think this is the best option, and we can build in ‘free days’ so low-income people can have access to the parks.”

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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.