Letters to the Editor

Letter to the Editor | City Council pushing a Sports Complex the city residents don’t want

You may have noticed the early warnings of an election year, yard signs. Remember the municipal code governs what, where, when and how these temporary signs can be displayed. Hope everyone is considerate of the community when cheering for their candidate.

Anyway, while it may seem too soon for such cheerleading, it is not too soon to pay attention to what is going on, case in point the Council Meeting on July 14. Among various items on the agenda the Council will be considering Resolution 1340, Adopting the City of Gig Harbor three-year strategic plan for 2025-2027.

If you’ve been paying attention then you’ve seen this document before, it includes priorities such as “Ensure sustainable future for public services and facilities” as well as “Maintain smalltown character and historic preservation while growing responsibly”. Under the former priority is an action to source funding for Sports Complex Phases 2 & 3. Under the latter is an action to complete Sports Complex Phase 1. What either of these actions has to do with our public services (the essential functions provided by governments to benefit citizens such as transportation and infrastructure) or maintaining our “smalltown character” is beyond my comprehension. But then I’ve never claimed to know what is best for the citizens of Gig Harbor.

In 2024 the council approved the adoption of the feasibility study for Phases 2&3 of the Sports Complex. At the time the estimated cost was between $20.4M and $28.4M. The consultant estimated that costs will increase 3% to 5% annually. Phases 2&3 will cost upwards of $33M by 2027.

Earlier this year, the Council approved an amended lease agreement with the YMCA for Phase1A. Originally the YMCA had agreed to pay the full cost of Phase1A, estimated at $7-$8M. However, the YMCA was unable to raise the funds to meet their contractual obligation. It seems the community did not support the project as much as some would have you believe. Our city management provided the YMCA $2M to meet its contractual obligations to the citizens of Gig Harbor. As these funds came from the HBZ the city had to show public benefit from the gift, as such the citizens of Gig Harbor will now own a parking lot and some landscaping.

These are large sums by anyone’s accounting, especially for a Council that not too long ago wanted to increase property taxes. There was also the Public Safety Sales Tax of 0.01% (which I favored), the proceeds of which we were told would help ensure our police services, including the hiring of new officers. At last count the city is still three officers shy of approved staffing levels.

What I really have difficulty comprehending is why current and former councils and mayors have pushed the sports complex in spite of data telling them that the citizens of the City of Gig Harbor do not want a sports complex. From the city’s website:

“In early 2022, the city completed an update to its Parks, Recreation & Open Space (PROS) Plan. The citywide PROS Plan establishes a road map for providing high quality, community-driven parks, trails, natural areas and recreation offerings for Gig Harbor. The PROS Plan creates a framework to allow the city to respond to new opportunities as they arise and be strategic about planned investments to the park and open space system.”

Section 5: Needs Analysis, page 24…

“Residents generally feel the City has sufficient community events, sports fields and sports courts, developed parks with playgrounds, and picnic areas & shelters. However, many residents would like to see more walking and biking trails (46% feel there are not enough) and waterfront access (53%).”

Per the results of a city survey of Gig Harbor residents, 51.5% felt the city currently has the right amount or more than enough sports fields and sports courts.

Given that we, the citizens of the City of Gig Harbor ultimately pay for these projects I strongly urge every voter to turn out and question those that wish to represent you. You’ll hear the usual party rhetoric parroting what we hear from Washington D.C. and Olympia, but our City Council and Mayor are supposed to represent the interests and needs of the citizens of Gig Harbor, the positions are meant to be non-partisan. We may or may not agree on what is happening on the state or national level, however I’ll bet a buck and a beer that ever voter in the City of Gig Harbor is concerned with Density, Traffic, Road and sidewalk maintenance, SR16, Speeding, Safety and Crime, am I missing anything?

Perhaps the Homeport project can provide some of the waterfront access desired by citizens while maintaining our smalltown character and preserving our history?

Edward Nadler

Gig Harbor