Sequim: Mayor irked over lack of interest from public – — – unless it’s about shopping centers

SEQUIM — In stark contrast to marathon sessions over big shopping centers during the past three weeks, the City Council managed Monday night to take care of business before an audience of four people.

The council enacted a six-year transportation plan, approved a major amendment to a planned development, and endorsed Clallam County’s quest for a sales-tax increase — all within 90 minutes.

Council members even fit in a presentation on Sequim’s legacy by historian June Robinson.

And while some on the council might have appreciated the respite from recent multi-hour sessions, Mayor Walt Schubert said that’s not how government is supposed to work.

“I’m really upset about it, especially after everything we’ve been through,” Schubert said after the meeting.

While controversial plans to allow two major retail developments into Sequim’s west side have dominated the council’s agendas since June — including 19 hours of appeals hearings and hundreds of letters submitted by citizens supporting or opposing the projects — only four people showed up at Monday’s meeting for public hearings on far-reaching actions on transportation and a mobile-home park issue.

With the exception of the applicant for the latter project, no one spoke to the council.

———-

The rest of the story appears in Tuesday’s Peninsula Daily News Clallam County edition.

More in News

Tracy Ryan, a nurse at Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend, stands in front of one of the hospital’s maternity ward rooms. (Grace Deng/Washington State Standard)
Rural maternity wards are struggling to stay afloat

State and federal lawmakers are trying to help

Jefferson County approves transportation plan

Six-year improvement outlook budgeted for more than $94M

Rainwater collection presentation canceled

The Rainwater Collection 101 presentation scheduled for 6:30 p.m.… Continue reading

Rear Admiral Charles E. Fosse, right, U.S. Coast Guard District 13 commander, was the guest speaker at the U.S. Coast Guard Station Port Angeles’ annual Veterans Day celebration on Monday. Chaplain Mike VanProyen, left, and Kelly Higgins, the commanding officer at Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles, also participated in the ceremony. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
Hundreds gather in Port Angeles to honor service members

High school band, choral groups highlight event

Former Marine Joseph Schwann of Port Townsend smiles as he receives a Quilt of Valor from Kathy Darrow, right, and another member of Quilts of Valor during the Veterans Day event at the American Legion Marvin G. Shields Memorial Post 26 in Port Townsend on Monday. Group leader Kathey Bates, left, was the emcee of the event. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Quilts of Valor

Former Marine Joseph Schwann of Port Townsend smiles as he receives a… Continue reading

Port Townsend ethics complaint dismissed

Officer examines argument on open meetings

Friends of the Library to host annual meeting

The Port Angeles Friends of the Library will conduct… Continue reading

Peninsula College to stage ‘The Thanksgiving Play’

Peninsula College will present its production of “The Thanksgiving… Continue reading

Ceramic sculpture “Flora-Fauna” by Thomas Connery.
Library to host reception for ‘Second Look’ exhibition

The North Olympic Library System will host a reception… Continue reading

Sequim City Council members finalized through their consent agenda to ban the sale of fireworks effective October 2025. They held a public hearing last month that garnered mostly support for the ban. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Sequim finalizes ban on fireworks

Ordinance change will go into effect next October

Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group
Rich Krebsbach, manager of the Highland Irrigation District, asks questions of Rhiana Barkie, Clallam County public works project coordinator. The map is one of four new options for the Dungeness Off-Channel Reservoir project. Public input is being taken through the county’s website at https://www.clallamcountywa.gov/188/Dungeness-Off-Channel-Reservoir-Project.
Sequim reservoir project draws crowd, questions

Clallam County, FEMA public comment period open through Nov. 21