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INDEPENDENT PORT ORCHARD
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2011 ■ Vol. 120, No. 42 ■ www.portorchardindependent.com ■ 50¢
Support for a Y in PO ahead of reality
Boats to build Company that makes yachts will relocate operation to city’s waterfront
By KAITLIN STROHSCHEIN
By KAITLIN STROHSCHEIN
Staff Writer
A small group of Port Orchard citizens, led by Mayor Lary Coppola, is working aggressively to bring a YMCA to Port Orchard. But YMCA leaders say that the project won’t be done for several years — if at all. “We’re not making any commitments to the Port Orchard community,” said Ron McMahon, senior vice president of market and financial development for YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap counties. “We didn’t have any other plans until they came to us. We don’t know what the demand is.” The city will need to conduct a market study followed by a funding feasibility study, before the YMCA considers bringing a branch to Port Orchard, he said. “With the market study, we’d look for the interest level,” he said. “How many people would join? What kind of amenities would they want if they did join?” YMCA would try to determine the scope and size of the facility the Port Orchard residents would want, and “if you build it, will they come?” SEE YMCA, A8
Index Opinion Robert Meadows Thinking Allowed Letters Sports Obituaries Calendar Police briefs
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Staff Writer
Tim Kelly/Staff photo
Tim Matthes holds a sample of an ethics handbook that he says is needed for the City of Port Orchard. Matthes is running against incumbent Mayor Lary Coppola, right, in this fall’s election. The two men took part in a candidates forum at the monthly Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce lunch on Oct. 13.
WHO WILL IT BE? Mayor says his record warrants a second term; challenger says public often left out
South Kitsap’s economy will get a $7 million per year boost when Northcoast Yachts starts building boats on Port Orchard’s waterfront, says Steve Yadvish, the company’s owner. “We will announce the exact location when the deal closes, but make no mistake, Northcoast Yachts is committed to moving its operations to Port Orchard,” Yadvish, 55, said at a news conference Wednesday morning on the dock at Yachtfish Marine Inc., a Port Orchard waterfront business he bought in 2009. South Kitsap’s political leaders played a major role in the decision, he said. Northcoast Yachts previously manufactured boats — including highSEE BOATS, A15
Vote 2011 Port Orchard Mayor
By TIM KELLY Editor
A leader, or a cheerleader. That’s one perspective on the mayor’s race in Port Orchard, offered by the candidates themselves. Lary Coppola, the incumbent seeking a second four-year term, says the mayor’s job “is much more about management and leadership skills than about politics.” He points to improvements in the city’s finances and overall business climate, as well as a decrease in the local crime rate, during his administration. “We’ve certainly proved that you can run the city like a business, if you
mean to and know how to,” the mayor said last week, repeating one of his campaign themes during a candidates forum at the monthly Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce lunch. Since it was a chamber gathering, the main focus of questions put to Coppola and challenger Tim Matthes was on business. “I want to be a cheerleader for Port Orchard,” Matthes told the lunch crowd. “And I want to be a cheerleader for the Chamber of Commerce.” In his campaign, Matthes has tried to raise concerns about a lack of public involvement in city government decisions and the need for more openness
and transparency. Matthes, who serves on the city planning commission, also has pushed the need to create an ethics handbook for city government, and displays a hand-lettered blue booklet as an example at campaign appearances. Matthes says some people will vote for him primarily because they want to vote against Coppola, based on conversations he’s had while doorbelling. “I think a lot of the voters will vote for ‘the other guy,’ me,” he SEE MAYOR’S RACE, A12
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Tim Kelly/Staff photo
Steve Yadvish stands on the city’s waterfront Wednesday to announce that he’s relocatinig his yacht-building business to Port Orchard.