To begin, this is not a negative criticism of the mayor, the Federal Way City Council or any city employees. It is simply my thoughts and ideas to make Federal Way a great place to live and work.

I have been watching the unfolding of the PAEC (Performing Arts and Event Center) formerly referred to as the PACC (Performing Arts and Convention Center) wondering exactly how it is going to attract the audience it needs to pay for staff, maintenance, building improvements and the eventual retrofit that accompanies these types of venues.

I will admit that I was an early advocate and promoter of the facility. I was very let down when the decision to not put it to a public vote took place and instead the residents of Federal Way were handed the decision by a Blue Ribbon Panel that it was a go.

If I recall correctly, residents were informed that there would be no tax dollars to support the ultimate building and operation of the building now referred to as the PAEC. I thought it was ambitious to make such a comment in that anything the city does is funded by tax dollars that emanate from many sources, i.e., property taxes, excise taxes, loans that need repayment, grants from the county/state/federal level that have stipulations on how the money is to be used.

For example, it’s my memory the city obtained a $5 million grant from the state to purchase the former Toys R Us building, but the money was to be given back if development wasn’t started in a prescribed period. Hence, we witnessed the ambitious and quick building of the PAEC.

But now fast forward to today and it appears, in my opinion, that there are financial difficulties with the overall project. A recent article reported that the PAEC director was let go and was replaced by the public works director. To me, that’s a signal that there are problems and personnel cuts are happening.

In the recent past, I had a student reporter ask me in an email what my thoughts were about the solvency of the City of Federal Way. I asked the individual to meet with me in person rather than responding in an email. That never happened, and I never heard from the individual again.

However, I do have some thoughts and I will share them here with you.

As far as the PAEC is concerned, I think it should either be sold to an entertainment company that is steeped in running entertainment events or at the minimum put out for a Request for Information (RFI) or Request for Quote (RFQ) for management of the facility. Of course, either way, a decision like that would take the facility off the city’s books of management, maintenance, etc., of the asset. It is a good way to vet potential purchasers and/or management applicants. I deal with this type of request in my line of work all the time.

The City of Federal Way finds itself conducting business when government isn’t necessarily geared up for running profitable businesses. That’s really not the job of government, “to make a profit.” The role of government is to protect us, provide services that individually we cannot afford, and to ensure our community is healthy and thriving through meaningful laws and regulations.

Here’s another example of the city doing business: Dumas Bay Centre, which is the home to the Centerstage Theatre group that is quite active with productions. In talking with so many residents of Federal Way about what to do with this gem of a property, it became clear that it should be, again, either sold or placed into another RFQ for management.

In the meantime, however, I would strongly suggest to renew the management contract with Centerstage.

If I could be so bold to offer a suggestion to city leadership, I would pursue McMenamins, which is a highly successfully business group that has renovated former schools and other buildings into profitable community assets that provide hotel accommodations with clever restaurants, some with their own breweries, and providing family entertainment opportunities like movie nights as well as theater productions.

McMenamins would be a great offering for the City of Federal Way with their reputation and name recognition. In fact, we will be staying at one in the coming weeks. I recommend everyone to check out the McMenamins Edgefield property in Troutdale, Oregon. We recently stayed there and it is a magnet for all types of fun activities: wine tasting, beer tasting, interesting restaurants, picnic grounds, a movie theater and overnight lodging.

With all that said, it’s clear that the city should consider switching from wanting to be a business owner to becoming a manager of city property that leases that property out to the experts who know what they do and do it well.

If smart management practices were deployed, we wouldn’t need new tax schemes to generate more dollars for cops, public safety concerns, or our wonderful parks.

I know the members of the Federal Way City Council personally, although I don’t think any of them have been to our home for dinner. I would certainly be very pleased to have any one of them grace my dinner table and engage in what “could be” in handling our residents’ financial contributions to make Federal Way a better place to live.”

In closing, I will be hosting a Federal Way taxpayer round table at a location and date yet to be decided and when arrangements are made I will notify the Mirror with the pertinent meeting information. The hope is the round table will at some point provide some innovative ideas on helping our city financially through this difficult time.

Roger Flygare, Federal Way