City cuts donation to Boys & Girls Club

Pledge of $250,000 would be same as city gave to YMCA

Paige Richmond

of the Gateway

After four years of discussions and two months of negotiations, the City of Gig Harbor reached a decision to pledge $250,000 to the Gig Harbor Boys & Girls Club, a half-million less than planned.

The donation had been in jeopardy since April, when the Gig Harbor City Council and Boys & Girls Clubs of Puget Sound could not reach an agreement on how to staff a proposed 2,000-square-foot senior center inside the new facility. Another major question was for how long the city could have access to the space.

Many council members said the senior center was the lynch pin of the deal.

Last month, the city and the organization seemed close to an agreement. Although the staffing issue had not been sorted out, the Boys & Girls Club seemed willing to allow the city to have the senior center in perpetuity, rather than the five-year lease that was originally proposed.

All that had changed by the city council’s retreat last Friday.

“A couple of council members have lately come to the conclusion that (the Boys & Girls Club) might not be the best place for a senior center,” city administrator Rob Karlinsey said, adding that the council suggested building the center downtown instead.

With no senior center, city officials said there was no reason to pledge $750,000 — the highest contribution the city had pledged to give a private organization.

The amount was reduced to $250,000, on par with last year’s donation to the Gig Harbor Family YMCA.

Karlinsey informed the Boys & Girls Club of the decision on Monday. The organization’s CEO, Rick Guild, did not return a phone call Monday seeking comment.

The sole remaining supporter on the city council was Derek Young, who believes that the youth services the Boys & Girls Club will provide makes the larger pledge “a steal of a deal.”

Young also said it’s too late for the council to begin questioning their commitment to the project.

“These are not questions you ask when you’re negotiating the final contract, but things we should have been talking about all along,” he said.

Council member Steve Ekberg said the council was asking questions all along — but they weren’t being answered by the Boys & Girls Club.

Early in negotiations, Ekberg requested a feasibility study from the organization, demonstrating projected use of the facility by residents within city limits. He only received a comparable study for Lakewood — a city with 10 times the population of Gig Harbor.

“It just didn’t make economic sense to me,” Ekberg said.

No definite action has been taken regarding the donation, and it likely won’t be until after the club is built, since the city is not required to give the donation until then.

The plan was not discussed at Monday’s council meeting, aside from a public comment by former Mayor Gretchen Wilbert — the driving force behind the pledge several years ago — who urged the council to reconsider.

Wilbert said there is nowhere else in the city for a senior center.

Members of Altrusa International of Gig Harbor also attended the meeting, hoping the council would discuss the issue.

Altrusa has raised $50,000 for the Gig Harbor facility, based on the assumption that a senior center would exist there.

Not having a senior center, Altrusa member Nancy Hohenstein said, could affect fundraising efforts.

“It changes a lot,” she said.

Reach Reporter and Columnist Paige Richmond at 253-853-9243 or by e-mail at paige.richmond@gateline.com.