Port Orchard Independent, July 20, 2012

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Sedgwick Student wins nation cometition

It’s time to let us know who you think is the best in SK

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Both sides report feeling harassed in rift over home business.

Neighbor denies pellet gun shooting

By JUSTINE FREDERIKSEN

Staff Writer

Independent

Tensions between two Port Orchard neighbors that erupted after one attempted to open a home business last year led both women to head down to the Kitsap County Courthouse Monday and file restraining orders against each other. Shelia Cronan, 49, said she filed a restraining order against Amber Keehn after returning home from a camping trip Aug. 17 and discovering pellets had been

Port Orchard

FRIDAY, July 20, 2012 n Vol. 121, No. 29 n www.portorchardindependent.com n 50¢

shot in three of her home’s windows. Cronan, who lives on the 200 block of Flower Meadows Street in Port Orchard, said she believed the attack was part of an ongoing dispute with Keehn, whom she alleges has been running a hair salon out of her home without a business license and in defiance of a city “stop-work” order. Keehn, 30, said she filed for permission from the city of Port Orchard to operate a hair salon out of her home on the 2300 block of Flower Avenue soon after pur-

Chris-Craft Rendezvous brings the mahogany to Port Orchard Reporter

Jesse Beals/Staff Photo

By Brett Cihon

John Powers, executive director of the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance, said the makeup of this area is different from most because of the presence of the Department of Defense and Naval See Small business, A15

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KITSAP ECONOMIC CLIMATE

Brett Cihon/Staff Photo

Dale Tangeman and his partner, Karen Chikuami, stand aboard their ChrisCraft boat. The 23rd Annual Chris Craft Rendezvous took place last weekend at the Port Orchard Marina.

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Red tape. Regulations. Restrictions. All are small-business buzzwords as political campaigns address the job market, arguably voters’ greatest concern, as local and national elections approach in November. Calvin Goings, a former Pierce County Commissioner who now is an assistant associate administrator for the Small Business Administration, where President Barack Obama appointed him in 2009, told the Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce last week that the economy is moving in the right direction. Goings, a Democrat, cited 28 consecutive months of job increases as one reason behind the growth argument. But he also attributed the movement to decisions, some unpopular, made by President

Obama, including the bailout that saved Chrysler and General Motors from the “real prospect of liquidation.” Though many derided that decision, Goings noted that GM has repaid its loan and returned as the world’s No. 1 automobile manufacturer. That is outside of the small-business realm, but Goings said it is an example of the progress that is occurring to improve the economy. The administration proposal to further improve the climate for small businesses, which generally is defined as less than 500 employees, and allow certain small businesses to forgo capital-gains taxes. Another benefit with the assistance of the SBA, helps companies recognize that 96 percent of the world’s population lives outside of the United States. Goings said the SBA assisted 5,500 small businesses

▼ Matthes, Garrido advance in SK commissioner race; Dalton, Danielson in judicial contest.

Senior Reporter

By CHARLIE BERMANT

By CHRIS CHANCELLOR

make their first exports. “Small business is the backbone of this administration,” he said. “Supporting small business has been a hallmark of this administration.” In 2011, the SBA supported more than $30 billion in lending to more than 60,000 small businesses. He said less than 7 percent of those loans in Washington state fail. Goings said there are 1,300 Small Business Development centers nationally to assist “an entrepreneur writing their first business plan” to obtaining a loan. The nearest is the Washington State UniversityBremerton Small Business Development Center.

CHARLOTTE GARRIDO

BRUCE DANIELSON

Economists say Kitsap County is faring better than most, unemployment cut in half

TIM MATTHES

JEANETTE DALTON

Small business remains biggest ‘jobs’ talking point as elections near

Staff Writer

Expectations were turned on their head in two Kitsap County political contests during Tuesday night’s primary election, as the perceived front-runners came in third and were disqualified in their respective races. Republican Tim Matthes drew the most votes in the South Kitsap commissioner’s race, followed by Democrat Charlotte Garrido. Monty Mahan, who was the first to declare for the seat and earned the endorsement of local mayors, came in third (See related story, page A3).

SEE UPSETS, PAGE A2

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Custodians won’t be replaced, $1.72 million will be taken from reserve fund.

By CHRIS CHANCELLOR

Staff Writer

and pension rates along with inflation as issues. In addition to the money saved on custodians, Patton said the district will dip into its reserve fund for $1.72 million. She said that’s not all bad because the district saved more than it anticipated in its last fiscal year, which ends Aug. 31. Patton said they also will save through not filling other vacant positions in the district, and through cutting expenses on supplies. The board unanimously adopted the budget. Patton warned in previous meetings that the “hard decisions” likely won’t end

SEE SCHOOL, PAGE A2

activities she reported as stemming from Keehn’s attempts to operate a business out of her home. Weaver said following an April 11 hearing with the city’s Hearing Examiner, certain conditions were placed on Keehn’s permit to mitigate Cronan’s concerns before she would be allowed to operate her business. “(Keehn) has addressed all but one of those conditions, with the last being the letter from the (Kitsap County) Health Department,” Weaver said, explaining that Keehn’s current sewer facilities are

SEE NEIGHBORS, PAGE A2

See Chris-craft, A7

The South Kitsap School District is a little closer to closing its $2.9 million deficit for the upcoming school year. Terri Patton, assistant superintendent for business and support services, said at Wednesday’s school board meeting that the district won’t replace five full-time custodians who left the district after the last school year. She said that will save the district $250,000. Patton said the deficit stems from unforeseen circumstances when the district presented its last levy to voters in 2004. She cited escalating teacher salaries

Dale Tangeman stood atop his 66-year-old ChrisCraft sedan moored at the Port Orchard Marina. Wiping down part of the 36-foot boat’s mahogany stern, he apologized for a non-existent mess. “It’s in decent condition,” he said. “But it’s certainly not prime.” To the average visitor strolling the marina during the 23rd Annual Chris-Craft Rendezvous last week, Tangeman’s classic Chris-Craft, and the more than 80 visiting boats moored in the marina’s guest dock, looked far better than prime. Ranging from 16 feet to nearly 100 feet, the classic style Chris-Craft boats spent the weekend being admired by visitors who took in the sleek lines, classic mahogany and antique helms. The gathering of Chris-Craft boats at the marina drew comparisons of a mid-century yacht party. And Tangeman, with his white wiping towel and bowl of nectarines for visitors who stopped to admire his boat, drew comparisons of a mid-century yacht chasing it last spring. City Development Director James Weaver confirmed that Keehn received a conditional-use permit to operate a onechair hair salon out of her home, which he described as “pretty innocuous” and something that doesn’t typically reach “the level of intensive use,” as far as impacts on the neighborhood are concerned. However, since November of 2007, Cronan has filed multiple complaints with the city regarding traffic, noise and other

SOUTH KITSAP’S SOURCE FOR LOCAL NEWS AND INFORMATION SINCE 1890

Cody Wright from Milford, Utah, got a mouth full of mud and a zero score after falling off Strawberry Delight in the Saddle Bronc Riding competition Wednesday night at the Kitsap County Stampede. The fair runs through Sunday.

Inside

A Section Editorial Robert Meadows Scene & Heard Sports Legal Notices Mary Colborn Obituaries

Inserts: Fred Meyer, RiteAid, Office Depot, Best Buy, Staples, Wal-Mart, Valassis

Printed with recycled paper and environmentally friendly soybean oil-based ink.

Big-League Experience

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County moves to save millions in health care costs By KEVAN MOORE Senior Reporter

Kitsap County is moving forward with plans to reign in the ever surging cost of employee health care and is looking to save millions of dollars. Commissioners Robert Gelder and Charlotte Garido approved a pair of measures this week that will audit county employees’ dependents to ensure they are actually eligible for coverage and move the county to a self insurance program. The $21,000 eligibility audit could save as much as $200,000 and the move to self insurance could save $1 million in 2013 and as much as $12.5 million by 2018. Commissioner Josh Brown did not vote on the measures as he was out of town this week for the annual National

South Kitsap’s Source for News & Information Since 1890

Association of Counties meeting in Pittsburgh. Gelder said that the moves are an attempt to “go down a path to bend the cost curve down for the county.” When asked why the county hadn’t done it sooner, Gelder said that it wasn’t a conversation the board was even having when he joined the panel. It is, though, someSee Health Care, A7

Inside this edition Candidates.................A2 Opinion.....................A6 Obits...........................A9 Sports.......................A11


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