PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County assessor said that although he sees some reason for hope, he doesn’t know if the housing market is about to turn around.

“There are some optimistic signs, but I really don’t know if we’ve reached the bottom or not,” Jack Westerman said in answer to a question Monday night at the first of six scheduled county outreach sessions.

“There are still a lot foreclosures in the pipeline,” Westerman said at the meeting at the Port Townsend Community Center.

“The sellers aren’t real motivated to get value for the property; their big motivation is to get it off the books,” he said.

“If you are a private party trying to compete with someone who doesn’t really care about the price they get as long as they sell it, it makes it difficult to get a price that is somewhat reasonable.

“So the housing market really isn’t going to turn around until the foreclosures start to dwindle out,” Westerman concluded.

County commissioners, elected officials and staff members are traveling to locations throughout the county to address questions about policy and issues.

About 20 people attended Monday’s meeting, with half of those county staff members.

Questions were written on cards and read aloud by county Administrator Philip Morley, who acted as moderator.

Upcoming county meetings — all of which will begin at 7 p.m. — are April 12, Quilcene Community Center; April 18, Gardiner Community Center; April 23, Tri-Area Community Center; April 26, Port Ludlow Bay Club; and May 7, Nordland Garden Center.

Redistricting

Auditor Donna Eldridge discussed redistricting, in which five precincts will be split into 11.

The redistricting plans will be presented to the commissioners by Friday.

They must make a decision about the boundaries by April 30, in time for candidate filing the week of May 14.

“If you are a precinct commissioner, we don’t know what will happen yet,” Eldridge said.

Critical areas

Responding to a question about preserving critical areas on agricultural lands, Commissioner David Sullivan said agricultural lands are exempt from restrictions.

But he added that collaboration will be necessary in the future.

“I would expect there will be more public involvement in the future about how you protect salmon and the environment while at the same time allowing agriculture to grow,” he said.

“At the same time, how do we reconcile it when agricultural operations are close to streams?

“We need to work together to develop ways to protect both core values, protecting the environment and supporting agriculture.”

Treasurer Judi Morris said her job is to collect money due to the county, make sure it is allocated in the right place and make investments when possible.

“I attempt to invest it at some kind of return, which is very challenging these days because the state pool is now giving us a whopping 0.14 percent,” she said.

“Many of you have already paid your taxes and we appreciate you getting them in early, but we do want to remind you they are due on April 30.”

Pay close attention

“We pay close attention to what people say during public hearings,” said county Commissioner John Austin.

“We all have our numbers listed in the phone book,” he said.

“We are often at the courthouse and are there to listen to whatever people say.”

Austin said he would like to see more day-to-day participation from the public, in addition to attendance at the outreach meetings.

“Every Monday morning at 9 o’clock, we have public comment,” Austin said, referring to the weekly county commissioners’ meetings at the Jefferson County Courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend.

“There are people who show up every week and give us constructive criticism, but I wish that we had a wider variety of people who come to those meetings,” Austin said.

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