About us:
The Village Green Foundation has been registered as a 501(c)(3) corporation since 2007.
The Village Green Foundation's name prior to 2009 was the Kingston Community Center Foundation, which in turn took the place of the Kingston Community Center, the group that operated the present community center building until 1999.
Board members for 2011-2012 are:
Mary McClure, President: Principal of McClure Consulting Company, and President of the Kingston Farmers' Market.
Dave Wetter, Vice-President: Retired United Parcel Service Vice-President of Plant Engineering, Dave is Past President of Greater Kingston Kiwanis and active with the Kingston Stakeholders as well as Vice-President of the Downtown Kingston Association. He serves on a quality improvement committee for the County’s Department of Community Development and is thoroughly acquainted with local construction and permitting requirements as well as general construction engineering principles. He recently oversaw the reclamation of the military housing site, and delivered on a commitment to spend less than $75,000 doing it, because he was able to coordinate the efforts of over 80 volunteers. Dave is a 10-year Kingston resident.
Katherine Klint, Treasurer: Owner, West Sound Bookkeeping, 8 years. Katherine has experience keeping accounting records for many businesses in north Kitsap, including several non-profit corporations. She’s a 9-year Kingston resident.
Kay Peiguss, Secretary: Active in the Kingston Friends of the Library and the Kingston Chamber of Commerce, Kay is a retired English as a Second Language teacher who has also been active in the Kingston High School booster club. Kay’s zeal for the library and the park are a vital resource for the project. She is a 7-year Kingston resident.
At-Large Members:
Jo Ann Cratty: 21-year King County Sheriff, and 18-year Kingston resident. Jo Ann is President of Kingston’s Super Seniors, and longstanding volunteer organizer of the Chuckwagon subsidized senior lunch program. Jo Ann was closely associated with the Kingston Community Center in the years that they managed the existing community center.
Don Hutchins: Don retired to Kingston in 2009 after two distinguished careers: First, in facilities engineering with the US Navy in the US as well as overseas, and then as a NATO employee responsible for directing a very large public project designing a new NATO headquarters building in Brussels, Belgium.
Nancy Martin: Trustee, Past President and Co-Founder of Martingale Company, a publishing company. Because of her 32-year association with Martingale, Nancy has extensive business experience that is invaluable to the Board and the project. Her involvement with the Kingston Chamber of Commerce and Kingston Stakeholders are a vital link to the other developments taking place in Kingston. She’s a 12-year resident of the Kingston area.
Bobbie Moore: Bobbie served as Foundation Board President from 2004-2008, then as Executive Director, 2008-2010, and is one of 5 commissioners of the newly-formed Metropolitan Park District. Bobbie's role on the Board is to provide liaison between the Foundation and the Village Green MPD. Bobbie is a Certified Management Accountant who used to work in corporate financial management and has advanced degrees in adult education and workplace training. She's a 21-year Kingston resident.
Dick Osborn: Dick is 2011-2012 President of Greater Kingston Kiwanis Club and is Professor Emeritus, Wayne State University, having been 25-year Professor of Management there.
Jon Sole: Former commercial construction contractor, and active in the Kingston-North Kitsap Rotary, Jon brings intimate knowledge of construction issues that we’ll be facing increasingly. He’s an 8-year Kingston resident.
Tomi Whalen: Presently Branch Manager of both the Kingston and Little Boston branches of Kitsap Regional Library, Tomi brings experience in raising funds for the new library built at Little Boston as part of the Port Gamble S'Klallam House of Knowledge project. Tomi has lived in Kingston since childhood.
Funding plan:
Capital (construction) funds:
It is our understanding that every possible source of funding will be needed to construct the building. The total amount needed to construct the building is approximately $5 million.
The Village Green Foundation is committed to a plan for sustaining the building, including running recreational and educational programs in the building. Because County funds for even existing facilities are being reduced, and Kingston has no taxing authority, we pursued formation of a Metropolitan Park District as the best possible source of operating funds.
We believe that there are sources of capital funds, but sources of operating revenue are hard to find. If we were to rely on rents and user fees to operate the building and its programs, those rates would be much higher than local averages. We felt obligated to locate an alternative to supplement revenue from rents and user fees to be able to make the building sustainable long-term.
The Board is aware that there are funders who will not consider a capital grant unless there’s a viable plan for maintenance and operation of the planned facility. We saw the MPD as essential to the capital funding plan. Washington changed its law in 2002 to broaden the availability of MPDs so that even unincorporated entities like Kingston could form them. The MPD’s powers include raising capital funds, but though we have identified other sources for capital funds - grants, appropriations, donations - operating funds are another matter.
The MPD was passed on August 17, 2010. Because of statutory calendar requirements, the MPD tax won't be seen on property tax bills until 2012. MPD details can be seen elsewhere on this site and at www.myvillagegreen.org.