In last week’s Leader, Mayor Faber presented himself as a champion of affordable housing. “I want to echo George Bush’s call for you, the community of Port Townsend, to please write to the city and otherwise participate in the Port Townsend comprehensive planning process to demand more affordable housing! Our community desperately needs affordable housing.”

I think most citizens would agree with the Mayor’s statement that we need more affordable housing. But wow. I’m confused.

During the final negotiations between the Friends of the Golf Park and the city council, (Dec. 11, 2023, council meeting) the Mayor at the last possible moment in the negotiations just before the council made a motion to approve the lease, by his own action, removed the word “affordable” from the lease document and changed it to “housing development.” He did not give the Friends a chance to respond to this change, and the Friends were then subsequently put in the awkward position of either accepting the lease as amended or walking away from the deal after months of hard work. 

Why did the Mayor do that? His actions then and now are disingenuous at best and could be seen as manipulative or devious. As a champion of affordable housing, he could have simply left the original wording in the lease that mandated any potential future housing at the Golf Park be affordable. Whether or not the golf park is the best option for “housing development” should still be open to community debate. 

I strongly urge citizens to participate in the comp plan process to protect our park and open space lands.

Sheila Westerman

Councilmember, 1990-1996

Port Townsend