Has anybody been paying attention to what is happening to the Port of Kingston for the past year or so? Embarrassingly, I have not been doing a good job of this, and other community citizens and boaters seem to be oblivious or ignoring the situation.

I am talking about the huge siege of senseless public records requests and related lawsuits that are trying to bankrupt the Port of Kingston. These actions are stripping local taxpayers of hundreds of thousands of dollars and the port staff’s valuable time and resources.

In 2013, the port dealt with about a half-dozen public records requests and those were a legitimate number. In 2014, that number skyrocketed to 98 public records requests. So far in 2015, the port has been forced to respond to over 136 public records requests, and the onslaught is continuing.

One single request can cost port staff several hours, or several days, because of the multitude of ridiculous facts being sought out in a single request. If you doubt this, please check them out on the Port of Kingston website (portofkingston.org). Clearly, these are all hostile legal actions detracting our port’s attention from their real business of running a port district and marina and taking care of our community.

This ongoing and senseless barrage of public records requests and related lawsuits are being leveraged by a small group of malcontents in Kingston apparently obsessed and nothing else better to do.  These relative newcomers to Kingston seem to be intent on bringing down the port commissioners, bankrupting our port, and splitting up the community.

At the last port meeting (Sept. 22), the port approved a new annual budget which included $107,000 for legal expenses, plus they discussed a proposal for one new employee solely dedicated to deal with this constant legal barrage.  Five years ago, the port’s legal expenses were around $1,000 per month, and now the port is spending almost $10,000 per month to deal with this absurdity.

I attend several regional boating events during the year and boaters constantly tell me the Port of Kingston is one of the best boating destinations in the whole Puget Sound. Boaters bring thousands of dollars to our community and love it. I remember not long ago when our port was a gravel parking lot with rickety docks and metal buildings.  Our port commissioners in recent years have transformed the port to one of the finest boating destinations in all of Puget Sound.

Every port decision has not been perfect along the way, but every decision has been made with the best interests of the community and region in mind. We owe our current and past commissioners accolades for the great jobs they have done in the recent years.  These recent attacks on them are not deserved nor welcomed in our community, in our opinion.

I will not stand by and idly accept this hostile and litigious attack on our port.  These malcontents have been needlessly costing local taxpayers and marina tenants a small fortune. It is our local money being poured down the drain. It is time for the port and its citizens to stand up and find a way to stop the bleeding.

David and Janice Kutz
Kingston business owners and port tenants