WASHINGTON: In the wake of the defeat of the Upper County port district proposal on the November ballot, people interested an alternative port district configurations will meet to discuss the issue next week. Prior to organizers of the Upper County port district stepping forward, there had been discussion of pursuing a countywide port district. That effort was set aside to give the Upper County proposal an opportunity to succeed. The final vote tally for the Upper Country port district was 62.3 percent no to 37.7 percent yes.
Jim Armstrong, executive director of the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce, said a range of options are up for consideration — including not pursuing any form of a port district. “We have a group that is interested but we’ve been putting off meeting until we saw the precinct information. We get that this week,” Armstrong said. The precinct information is important because the data may indicate areas in the Upper County that did support a port district. It is possible a proposed district could include the Ellensburg area and a portion of the Upper County.
The group meeting includes Armstrong, Upper County port district organizer Gary Hammons, Kittitas County Auditor Jerry Pettit (to share the precinct information), former Kittitas County commissioner Gary Berndt, local Realtor Bob Hansen and Central Washington University director of government and community relations Ann Anderson.
