By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – Port Angeles City Manager Nathan West presented his annual State of the City address at this week’s Chamber luncheon.
Flanked on the dais by 3 of his department directors, West laid out the 4 main elements of the City’s Strategic Plan: Housing and Homelessness, Building up the City’s Commercial Districts, Growing the City’s Capacity (or infrastructure), and maintaining High-Performance Relationships with Community Members.
In the area of housing, West had this to say.
“Additionally, we look at the permit metrics, and we’ve seen over 460 building permits issued in 2023. We have an additional 17 building permits pending. I think it’s really important to recognize we have seen a 53% increase in the number of housing units compared to 2022. That’s a big deal, and that’s part of our number one priority.”
West also gave the City Council a lot of credit for reaching a compromise decision on Short Term Rentals.
“I think it’s so important to recognize how this community really engaged in the short term rental public engagement exercise. I want to thank all of you for taking the time to participate. I want to thank Council for spending the time to ensure we got a good compromise result. That doesn’t mean we are happy with it. It does mean we have a good compromise outcome for a community that has so many diverse views on a really difficult issue.”
Finance Director Sarina Carrizosa told the group the city was, in general, meeting its goals in terms of revenues collected in 2023, Public Works Director Mike Healey went over the coming 40 million dollars in transportation and other projects, and the partnerships the city depends on to move forward. And Police Chief Brian Smith listed what he considers his department’s biggest accomplishments of the past year, including some impressive drops in several categories of crime statistics.
(Left to right: Sarina Carrizosa, Nathan West, Mike Healy, Brian Smith. )