Tuesday, October 6, 2026

Advocacy Committee News

A Quick Update on How to Reach Our

Advocacy Committee Chair

I've recently joined Cross Sound Law Group in Poulsbo, so my contact information has changed. If you have questions about the Advocacy Committee, ideas for upcoming issues, or input on policy priorities affecting Kitsap businesses, I'd love to hear from you at my new email: alysa@crosssoundlaw.com. Please update your contacts, and thank you for your continued engagement with the Advocacy Committee!

-Alysa Grimes, Chair, GKC Advocacy Committee

Take Our Survey: What Scares You About

the 2027 Legislative Session?

The 2027 legislative session is creeping up on Kitsap County, and the GKC Advocacy Committee wants to know: what's keeping you up at night? Before lawmakers gavel in, help us identify the policies, proposals, and trends that pose the biggest threats to your business. Your responses will directly shape our legislative priorities, testimony, and conversations with elected officials this coming session. This survey takes about 5 minutes, and there are no wrong answers!

September Eggs & Issues

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our two Eggs & Issues candidate forums in September. These forums provide voters, business leaders, and community members with an opportunity to hear directly from candidates and learn more about their perspectives on the issues shaping our region. We are excited to continue Eggs & Issues into October with four upcoming forums and encourage community members to attend, ask questions, and stay engaged ahead of the election.

October Eggs & Issues:

Meet the Candidates

Join the GKC Advocacy Committee this October for the second part of our Eggs & Issues series! Eggs & Issues features candidate forums with a moderated discussion on commerce issues affecting Kitsap businesses. All events run from 8:00 a.m. at the Cloverleaf Sports Bar & Grill, with breakfast available for purchase.

• October 6 — State House candidates, 35th Legislative District
• October 13 — State Senate candidates, 26th & 35th Districts
• October 20 — Kitsap County Sherriff & Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney
• October 27 — Kitsap County Commissioner (District 3) & Kitsap County Assessor

These forums are a great opportunity to hear directly from candidates on the issues that matter most to our business community and to make your voice heard. We hope to see you there.

Special Election Briefing:

Candidates Debate Vision and Fiscal Realities for Kitsap County Sheriff

On September 14, candidates for Kitsap County Sheriff, current Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office Chief of Patrol and Detectives Brandon Myers and former Navy officer and current King County Sheriff’s deputy Rick Kuss, took the stage at Whiskey Gulch in Port Orchard for a candidate forum hosted by the Libertarian Party of Kitsap.

Moderated by Rob McGee, the debate examined the operational and fiscal realities of the Sheriff's Office. For Kitsap's business community, the discussion held direct relevance: local employers, commercial property owners, and retailers continually cite retail theft, property damage, emergency response delays, and tax competitiveness as top advocacy concerns. 

What Local Businesses Need to Know

1. The County Budget Deficit: Sales Tax vs. Internal Cost Controls

Kitsap County faces a projected $9.8 million budget shortfall heading into 2027. With law and justice consuming roughly 70 percent of the county general fund, local businesses face potential downstream impacts whether through county sales tax adjustments or reduced police patrols:

• Brandon Myers cautioned that KCSO is already stretched thin with only 122 commissioned personnel, ranking Kitsap 51st in Washington for law enforcement staffing per capita. Myers stated that further cuts would jeopardize basic 911 response. To avoid laying off personnel, he advocated for transparent, honest discussions with the community about establishing a stable, dedicated revenue stream for law and justice, noting that surrounding counties have utilized voter-approved or council-approved sales tax measures to sustain operations.
• Rick Kuss expressed firm opposition to raising taxes, warning that tax increases damage public trust and burden residents and businesses. He argued the Sheriff's Office must scrutinize internal spending before asking for additional taxpayer dollars. Specifically, Kuss pointed out that KCSO spent $1.9 million on deputy overtime in 2025 (equivalent to roughly 11.5 full-time deputies) and called for streamlining the civil service hiring pipeline and converting high-salary administrative positions into collateral duties.

2. Commercial Property Rights, Trespassing, and Retail Theft

As business districts navigate vagrancy, broken windows, and retail shrinkage, both candidates addressed the boundary where homelessness intersects with commercial crime:

• Kuss emphasized that criminal conduct must be treated identically regardless of whether the offender is housed or unhoused. While supporting charitable caretaking initiatives like the BlueBridge Alliance to connect people with emergency services, Kuss maintained that trespassing and property damage on private business property demand prompt, decisive enforcement to protect local shop owners.
• Myers highlighted the work of KCSO's Community Resource Deputies, who collaborate with the county's REAL and HEART teams to transition unhoused individuals into housing and shelter, helping reduce the unsheltered count. While advocating for officer discretion when handling survival situations, Myers affirmed his belief in the broken windows theory: holding small property offenses accountable prevents broader commercial deterioration.

3. Re-establishing the WestNET Task Force to Target Drug Networks

Commercial burglary and organized retail crime are heavily driven by synthetic opioid distribution. The candidates outlined divergent paths to revive a dedicated regional narcotics task force:

• Kuss pledged that re-establishing a regional task force is a mandatory benchmark of his campaign, promising not to run for re-election if it is not operational within four years. He proposed modeling the unit after Thurston County, leveraging federal Byrne/HIDTA grants and civil asset forfeiture funds alongside federal partners (ATF and Homeland Security Investigations) to minimize local county costs.
• Myers agreed that Kitsap urgently needs a drug task force, but emphasized operational realism. Having worked undercover and in narcotics, Myers stated an effective unit requires at least 8 to 10 dedicated investigators. He reminded attendees that WestNET dissolved when municipal and state agencies pulled their detectives due to their own staffing deficits, warning that a task force cannot be sustained on unpredictable asset seizures alone without committed partner funding.

4. Parking Lot Surveillance and Private ALPR Technology

With retailers increasingly deploying Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) cameras to deter organized retail theft rings, candidates discussed surveillance data and privacy protections under Washington's SB 6002:

• Myers noted that while KCSO lacks the funding to build its own countywide camera network, private and regional plate readers have proven invaluable in solving major crimes. He advised that law enforcement should obtain proper judicial search warrants when pulling data from commercial or third-party camera systems.
• Kuss highlighted strong Fourth Amendment and state constitutional privacy concerns regarding bulk data tracking. He pledged not to implement warrantless public surveillance camera systems, cautioning that unchecked data aggregation could jeopardize criminal prosecutions in court.

What's Next for Voters

Ballots for the November 3rd General Election will be mailed to registered Kitsap County voters in mid-October. We encourage our Chamber members, business owners, and employees to review the full debate recording to evaluate how each candidate's approach to fiscal discipline, workforce recruitment, and criminal enforcement aligns with the needs of our local economy.

Your Business, Your Voice:

A Roundtable on Regulation & Capital

Last month, the Chamber teamed up with Matchstick Lab to host Your Business, Your Voice at Vibe Coworks in Poulsbo, WA. This roundtable discussion brought together Kitsap business owners and entrepreneurs to talk candidly about what's making it harder to run a business here.

The burdens of heavy regulation came up early and often, with attendees describing the challenge of navigating overlapping state, county, and city regulations that often send mixed signals or duplicate requirements. Rising rent and operating costs were another shared frustration, compounded by a tax landscape that many felt works against small businesses. For example, there are a range of B&O taxes that seem disconnected from a business’s actual ability to pay, and there are county personal property tax obligations that add up fast for equipment-heavy businesses. Minimum wage requirements also drew discussion, particularly their compounding effect alongside these other cost pressures.

A second major theme was access to capital. Business owners, whether just starting out or years into operation, described a real gap in available funding options to launch, sustain, or grow in Kitsap.

These conversations are exactly the kind of on-the-ground input that shapes the Advocacy Committee's work. Thanks to Matchstick Lab for co-hosting, and to everyone who showed up to share their experience. Look for these themes to inform the Chamber’s advocacy work and legislative priorities.

Local Government Updates

The following are scheduled meetings for local government bodies across Kitsap County in October 2026. Attending these meetings is one of the most direct ways to engage with local decision-makers and advocate on behalf of Kitsap businesses.

Kitsap County

Kitsap County Board of Commissioners

County Administration Building

619 Division Street

Port Orchard, WA 98366

Zoom Link via Meeting

Agenda: https://agendasuite.org/iip/kitsap

Regular Business Meetings (Commissioner Chambers)

October 12, 2026 @ 5:30 p.m.

October 26, 2026 @ 10:00 a.m.

AM Work Session (Port Blakely Conference Room)

October 14, 2026 @ 9:00 a.m.

October 19, 2026 @ 9:00 a.m.

October 21, 2026 @ 9:00 a.m.

October 26, 2026 @ 9:00 a.m.

October 28, 2026 @ 9:00 a.m.

PM Work Session (Port Blakely Conference Room)

October 12, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.

October 19, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.

October 26, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.

October 28, 2026 @ 2:00 p.m.

More information about Kitsap County Board of Commissioners:

https://www.kitsap.gov/BOC_p/Pages/default.aspx

Office (360) 479-3579 | 705 Pacific Avenue in Downtown Bremerton

Silverdale Office (360) 692-6800 | Kitsap Mall

PO Box 1218 Silverdale WA 98383

If you need assistance, please contact us directly.