Patriot Bremerton
FRIDAY, JULY 26, 2013 | Vol. 16, No. 25 www.bremertonpatriot.com | 50¢
into the deep
Whale On Kitsap’s best It’s time for beaches Whaling Days in Silverdale. Details inside Kitsap Week
KITSAPweek J u l y 2 6 - A u g . 1, 2 013
LIFE AND CULTURE
In this edition Cover story ................... 2-3 Calendar ....................... 4-5 Classifieds................... 6-10 Classic Mustangs ........... 11
Head to these local hotspots for fun in the sun — page 3 A whale of a party in Silverdale this week BY LESLIE KELLY lkelly@soundpublishing.com
I
t’s part carnival and part street fair. And it’s loads of fun.
That’s the way organizers describe the 41st annual Whaling Days celebration that takes place this weekend in Old Town Silverdale.
More than 20,000 visitors are expected to attend the threeday event. Whaling Days offers visitors the opportunity to ride carnival rides, browse arts and crafts vendors, take in some great festival food, and enjoy all this in the summer sunshine on the shores of Dyes Inlet.
Carla Larson, president of Whaling Days 2013, said the festival had humble beginnings.
“A group of community people were sitting around
See WHALE, Page 2
Unicyclists show their skills during the Whaling Days Parade in 2012. File photo
Do the Tour de Kitsap There is still time to register!
Sunday, July 28th ~ starts at 7am
Path goes through, Bremerton, Silverdale, Poulsbo, Hansville, Brownsville, and Port Gamble More info: westsoundcycling.com/tourdekitsap2013
VisitKitsap.com
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Mayor, challenger face off in first debate of the race
Issues forum in East Bremerton. Lent, a former county The candicom m i s sioner dates in what elected to her many confirst term as sider to be mayor in 2008, B r e m e r t o n’s said her goals marquee politifor the city cal race this include growing year faced off every neighborfor the first hood and not Patty Lent time in an early just focusing morning debate on downtown Tuesday. beautif ication. Bremerton She also said Mayor Patty that she is lookLent and chaling forward to lenger Todd working with Best fielded seven city couna long list of Todd Best cilors instead of residents’ quesnine, following tions during the voter approval Bremerton Chamber of See DEBATE, A17 Commerce’s Eggs and By KEVAN MOORE
kmoore@soundpublishing
Kevan Moore/staff photo
Early morning commuters on the 6 a.m. sailing Tuesday from Seattle, many of them shipyard workers, got a little extra shut-eye as the ferry had to wait about 30 minutes for the USS Seawolf (SSN 21) as it made its way out of Sinclair Inlet with an escort in heavy fog.
Bremerton PD gets audit results By KEVAN MOORE kmoore@soundpublishing.com
Less than six months into the job and Bremerton Police Chief Steve Strachan continues to receive accolades from throughout the community. That trend showed no sign of abating during last week’s city council meeting when Strachan presented the results of an extensive audit he initiated shortly after taking office. Conducted by a group of professional peers from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC), the audit is known as a Loaned Executive Management Assistance Program (LEMAP).
“The reason we do this is to be very transparent and forthright — not only with the mayor and the council, but for the residents of Bremerton as far as what your police department is doing,” Strachan said. Strachan said that getting the audit done so soon after taking office was the right thing to do at the right time amidst a transition of leadership. He also said that the audit confirmed some of his earliest impressions. “This is a strong department,” he said. “I formed that opinion very soon after I got here about five months ago. I use the phrase, ‘We have good bones.’ We do. We have good people, good infrastructure and some really good systems. We
Port CEO to retire this year
and it’s time,” he said. Thomson has been a top ranking official at The Port of Bremerton the Port of Bremerton will soon be looking for for 14 years. He came to a new CEO. the port in August 1999 The current as real estate Chief Executive manager and Officer Tim then was named T h o m s o n the chief operaannounced tions officer. He Tuesday that he was promotwill retire at the ed to CEO in end of the year. January 2012. “The rumor’s Tim Thomson His current salout there, and I ary is $120,000 want to confirm and he has been credthat I do plan to retire,” ited with making the Thomson said. “I’ve port operations more made the decision and professional. the sole reason is that The port owns I want to spend more t he Bremer ton time with my family.” International Airport, Thomson said he has the industrial park at parents in their 80s and the airport and marinas 90s and grandchildren in Bremerton and Port and he wants to be able Orchard. to travel to see them. “I’ll be 65 next year See PORT, A17 By Leslie Kelly
lkelly@soundpublishing.com
Courtesy Photo
Chief Steve Strachan commissioned the extensive audit. have people doing the right things. The men and women of the Bremerton Police Department are making good decisions.” The audit, though, did produce some recom-
mendations, many of which came as no surprise to Strachan or other observers. The key findings are that the police See AUDIT, A17