Jason Serinus writes (Aug. 14) that he’s “appalled at the orchestrated series of attacks on the [golf course] agreement and City Council’s plans for work force housing” on the golf course along Blaine Street. What “work force” housing?

All through the long months of controversy over the fate of the golf course, Mayor David Faber and members of the City Council insisted that we must allow “affordable” housing to be built at the golf course.

“Affordable” housing is not the same as “workforce” housing.

When the City staff and the nonprofit Friends of the Port Townsend Golf Park had finally finished negotiating the new golf course lease, the lease specified “Permanent Affordable Housing” — exactly what the mayor and City Council had said they wanted.

But when the lease was up for approval at the Dec. 11, 2023 City Council meeting, Mayor David Faber said that he wanted to change the wording in the lease from “Permanent Affordable Housing” to “Housing.” Why? Because “affordable” has a legal definition in the state of Washington. Faber is an attorney who practices real estate law and owns a property-holding company, Smart Urbanism, LLC. It’s unlikely that he didn’t know the meaning of “affordable” from the very beginning of the golf course discussion, and that’s why this feels like a bait-and-switch. (You can watch the video of this City Council meeting, and all other City Council meetings, on the City’s website.)

It’s fair to ask why there’s such a rush to let a developer build market-rate housing on publicly owned green space, endangering both the financial viability of our public golf course and the existence of our fragile camas prairie.

Kris DeWeese

Port Townsend