Coppola’s leadership has kept the city solvent

Published 1:31 pm Monday, June 20, 2011

By KRIS TOMKINS
For the Independent

As treasurer for the city of Port Orchard for 28-plus years before my retirement, I read with interest mayoral candidate Tim Matthes’ comments on the city’s finances.

To say “Port Orchard is in great shape financially compared to a lot of other small towns around the state, but that isn’t because of anything we’ve done in the past four years,” is not true.

Yes, the city has a long history of being financially responsible, and Mayor Lary Coppola has carried on this philosophy.

When Coppola took office, the city was struggling to meet payroll due to the economy and some spending that had taken place under the previous mayor.

As a businessman, once the mayor understood the situation, he didn’t hesitate to take immediate action.

He implemented a hiring freeze, made department heads justify expenditures and renegotiated contracts with vendors.

The mayor facilitated the annexation of McCormick Woods and the Sedgwick Road retail area, which generated enough new revenue to not only save 14 jobs but allowed the city to begin replenishing its reserves at a time when sales tax revenues were declining rapidly.

This action also supported his commitment to provide citizens with a high level of service.

His leadership in withdrawing the city from the revenue sharing agreement with the county will save city taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in the years ahead.

Port Orchard’s City Hall was built using the best funding vehicle available at the time, which was a loan from the Department of Agriculture.

When interest rates dropped, that loan was refinanced with general-obligation bonds.

The most prudent funding sources must be examined when large projects are discussed. Partnerships with other agencies have also worked well in the past on projects such as the Tremont Bypass Bridge and the Joint Wastewater Treatment Facility.

I served under five mayors in my 37-plus years with the city. Lary Coppola has run the city in the past three and a half years demonstrating a very progressive and forward style of leadership.

He certainly wanted to continue with fiscal responsibility when he hired my replacement, who has served as a county treasurer and assistant state treasurer.

Although he has his political detractors, as a city employee who reported directly to him, I found Coppola to be refreshingly direct, fair, honest, respectful, highly innovative and hard-working.

From someone who worked with him in the financial trenches, I can tell you that Port Orchard is lucky to have such a strong leader at the helm.

I strongly urge you to re-elect him.

Kris Tompkins is Port Orchard’s former city treasurer.