Port’s Patience Wears Thin with EDC Partnership

JEFFERSON COUNTY, WA — After three decades of collaboration, the relationship between the Port of Port Townsend and the Jefferson County Economic Development Council (EDC) is facing a moment of tension. Driven by long-standing concerns over a lack of public transparency, slow progress on job creation and questions about the fundamental governance model, port commissioners are openly debating whether to sever ties or absorb the EDC’s functions entirely.

A crisis of confidence

During the May 13 port commission meeting, tensions that have been simmering for years have hit a boiling point. Port commissioners expressed frustration, not with EDC executive director David Ballif, but with a system they feel has failed to move the needle for a community in demographic decline.

“We’re two generations behind on job creation in Jefferson County, and it’s not getting better yet,” said Port Executive Director Eron Berg, voicing a sense of urgency shared by the board. “It feels like the opportunities are slipping away.”

The core of the dispute lies in a five-party interlocal agreement that funds the EDC. Port Commissioner Pam Petranek referenced a motion from their previous meeting to give the required six-month notice to withdraw from the agreement, a move she insisted “was not a threat” but a necessary alarm bell.

“Instead of ‘let’s try it again next year,’ as we have done for 30 years . . . I don't think it is the EDC and the staff's fault,” Petranek said. “I think it has to do with the model.”

The transparency gap

Perhaps the loudest criticism revolves around the EDC’s governance structure. As a private non-profit in a public-private partnership with local government, the EDC is not subject to the Open Public Meetings Act in the same way that the Port, City or County are.

Commissioners noted that the EDC board meetings are largely closed to the public, agendas are not widely circulated and minutes are difficult to access. For a board that includes public officials, this has become an untenable disconnect.

“We’re two generations behind on job creation in Jefferson County, and it’s not getting better yet. It feels like the opportunities are slipping away.”—Port Executive Director Eron Berg

Petranek explained her concerns about how EDC minutes and meetings are not open or available to the public, contrasting the EDC with successful models in other counties. “The number one thing that we need to do . . . is we need to include our public. I think that’s been the failure. We have too many jewels in our community to exclude them.”

The “Walla Walla” alternative

As the port commission debated the future, Executive Director Eron Berg suggested a radical shift: abolish the current EDC contract and make the Port the official Associate Development Organization (ADO) for the county.

He cited the Port of Walla Walla as a successful model, where the port district directly employs the economic development staff. Proponents argue this would solve the transparency issue immediately, as all port meetings are subject to open meeting laws.

However, the transition would be expensive. Berg noted that moving EDC staff (including Director Ballif) under the port’s umbrella would significantly increase costs due to state retirement system benefits and medical coverage.

“I have landed on a belief that hiring David and his team as port employees . . . would be a better model,” Berg said. “The structure as I’ve seen it is not supporting the outcomes.”

A delicate position

For Ballif, who is approaching his one-year anniversary in the role, the conversation is uniquely awkward. He noted that the port is a funder and close partner, and Commissioner Petranek sits on the EDC board.

According to Ballif, the organization has embarked on a significant strategic pivot since his arrival in June last year, balancing traditional small business support with larger, more systemic initiatives aimed at reversing Jefferson County's troubling economic trajectory.

On the workforce front, Ballif highlighted the EDC's involvement in the North Olympic Peninsula Recompete program, a federal initiative where the EDC serves as a subcontractor under Peninsula College. This partnership has created the first dedicated workforce development program in Jefferson County.

Through this program, the EDC has trained business advisors who will provide pro bono or low-cost sessions to small and micro-enterprises in areas such as finance, marketing and operations. "We have some funds to pay for their first three sessions with a new business, so we can get them going and find matches," Ballif said.

The EDC maintains a long-standing formal partnership with the Local Investing Opportunity Network (LION), a community-based investment network invented in Jefferson County that introduces below-market-rate investors to local businesses. Ballif called LION "our most important partnership in Jefferson County."

One of the EDC’s most ambitious projects is leading a regional consortium with Clallam County to secure federal Opportunity Zone 2.0 designations. This highly competitive program offers triple tax advantages for capital gains invested in designated areas.

Jefferson County has three eligible census tracts under new, stricter criteria, and the EDC is submitting two nominations—one covering Port Townsend's downtown waterfront and Discovery Road corridor, and another spanning Brinnon and the west end. "These projects have actual business plans. They have approved regulatory approval," Ballif said. "We're putting forward evidence that we have real investor interest."

The EDC also plans to revamp its website into what Ballif described as a "front page to Jefferson County on the internet," consolidating information on infrastructure, communities and key industries to attract outside businesses and investors.

Ballif stressed the value of the EDC's structure as a private entity, which allows it to build trusted, confidential relationships with business owners and investors. "When they are talking to us, they are not talking to the government," he said. "Hopefully we can bring some advantages in terms of being more nimble, more flexible, and able to move more quickly."

Ballif pushed back on the terminology of the word transparency, while acknowledging the need for nuance. He explained that the EDC follows a standard private non-profit board model used by most counties in Washington (including King, Snohomish, and Clallam), whereas the Port is advocating for a less common “port-as-ADO” model used in Walla Walla.

The path forward

Ultimately, Commissioner Pete Hanke withdrew the motion to issue a six-month notice, citing a desire to avoid being “frivolous with taxpayer dollars” without a clear plan.

Instead, the Intergovernmental Collaborative Group (ICG)—which includes the Port, City, County, PUD and EDC—will spend the next 12 to 18 months studying the issue. The port commission has tasked itself with investigating whether adopting the “Walla Walla model” is feasible.

“The underlying dissatisfaction that I’ve heard from various elected officials has not changed,” Berg concluded. “Regardless of the model . . . we are two generations behind. I am expressing a lot of frustration.”

For now, the EDC remains intact, but with a firm deadline looming. As Commissioner Jeff Randall of the PUD noted during the meeting, rural areas across the nation are struggling. “We’re like a salmon trying to swim up a fire hydrant hose,” he said. “If we don’t work together, we lose even more.”