Mikki Porter, a longtime Port Townsend resident and deckhand on the ferry route to Coupeville, has thrown his hat in the ring for a seat on Port Townsend’s city council. 

He said his decision to run for council came from a general dissatisfaction with politics at every level. 

“You just see a lot of things happen and you kind of wonder why there aren’t any real candidates that are for the greater good,” he said. “My conclusion was that those people generally don’t run. I think people have to start getting involved.”

Ben Thomas’s announcement that he would vacate his seat was the key contributing factor to Porter’s run. He is one of three candidates vying for the open seat. 

“That’s what got my gears turning,” he said. “I felt like it was a fair way for the community to use their voice on a blank slate.” 

Porter graduated from Chimacum High School in 2009. 

While relatively new to politics, he said he’s been watching city council meetings and keeping up with local news. 

“I’ve watched a few, but generally, I’m just kind of starting to get my foot in the door and figure everything out,” he said. 

Porter hopes to represent the working class on the city council and mentioned several issues he hopes to address if elected. 

“Road and infrastructure maintenance is another issue for me. Maintenance is neglected for too long and when it does get fixed it seems completely disorganized,” he wrote in a follow-up email. “We end up with speed bumps that shoot us 4 feet into the air.” 

He continued, expressing a desire to see more things for the youth to do in town. 

“There’s barely anything for young people to do around Port Townsend and I feel that we as a community are letting them down,” he wrote. 

As for defining the role of city council members, Porter said, “to listen to your constituents and the people of your town and do whatever you can to make decisions they support and would make their lives better.”