A petition to change Port Townsend’s city government structure is gaining traction, with the effort garnering 178 signatures as of March 18, up from 100 on March 13.

“I see a huge potential here,” said the petition’s creator Galen Goodwick. “There’s so much good here, but it’s also a city with problems, and I’m doing my part to hand the power back to the public.”

Goodwick, through the petition, proposes that the city government structure be changed from its current council-manager form to a strong mayor format.

Goodwick said he needs about 1,000 signatures to advance his petition.

Prior to the arrival of former city manager David Timmons in 1999, Port Townsend had a strong mayor form of government. Timmons was Port Townsend’s first city manager, current manager John Mauro is the second.

In a council-manager form of government, a city manager is the chief administrative officer, appointed or hired by the city council, who oversees the day-to-day operations of the city and implements council policies. In a “strong mayor” government structure, the mayor holds significant administrative authority, acting as the city’s chief executive with the power to appoint and remove officials, veto council actions, and initiate the budget process. 

“A strong mayor, elected by the people, would answer directly to voters rather than an unelected city manager hired by the council,”Goodwick said. “Somebody has to have the power to make executive decisions. I believe in democracy. The public needs to vote for the decision makers.”

According to the International City/County Management Association, (ICMA) the council-manager form of government is the fastest growing form of government in the United States. “There are compelling reasons why many of the nation’s most successful cities and towns have adopted council-manager government rather than the “strong-mayor” form,” an ICMA white paper reports. “Council-manager government encourages neighborhood input into the political process, diffuses the power of special interests, and eliminates partisan politics from municipal hiring, firing, and contracting decisions.”

Others argue that having an elected official overseeing government provides voters with greater recourse in cases where a city council fails to provide sufficient oversight with a strong city manager form of government.

Goodwick said city government, as it is currently structured, is saddled by unnecessary bureaucracy and hobbled by ‘glacial’ decision making.

He said his interest in governmental change came after he submitted a plan to city planners aimed at addressing Port Townsend’s affordable housing crisis by using dry docked boats for housing.

Goodwick said he lived in a dry docked boat last February and the experience suited him and sparked the idea of creating an affordable housing community using dry docked boats. He called it the Land Boat Housing District but his $2.15 million plan was snubbed by city staff.

“I sent a package to the city,” Goodwick said. “No one responded. I realized the city wasn’t open to innovation or ground-breaking ideas.”

Goodwick said that some people have accused him of campaigning for the strong mayor’s slot he’s hoping to create.

“I am interested in being the mayor, but I’ve got to keep things separate,” Goodwick said. His first focus was the petition and a political campaign could come later.