track's general manager, in 2002. Future expansion ISC and NASCAR have both made public their desire to have a presence in areas it sees as having the potential for growth, most notably the Pacific Northwest and New York City. Pacific Northwest Marysville In 2003, ISC began scouting sites in Washington and Oregon for a new track to attract fans from around the Pacific Northwest, eventually settling on a site near Marysville, Washington in Snohomish County, Washington north of Seattle. Although the plan was met with some resistance from residents – particularly those living near the site for the planned speedway – local business owners and other residents were in favor of the plan, believing that the track would be good for the area's economy and would create jobs. Unlike ISC's later proposal in New York, the Marysville proposal would be supported by public funds raised through taxes, in much the same way as other sports venues in the area (KeyArena, Safeco Field, CenturyLink Field). The track would have been publicly owned and leased to ISC. In November 2004, local officials and ISC announced that they could not go through with the deal, saying that the costs for that particular site would be too high. Bremerton, Washington After the deal in Marysville fell through, ISC courted another site, this time south of Bremerton National Airport in Bremerton, Washington just across Puget Sound from Seattle. Although like the Marysville proposal the proposal in Bremerton was to be partially funded with public money, the money will not come directly from taxes but instead from bonds funded by taxes, in a scheme similar to the one used to fund Kansas Speedway. Also like the Marysville proposal, the Bremerton track would be publicly owned and leased to ISC for three races per year. ISC's current proposal was met with a lukewarm response from area lawmakers and citizens, but the company has promised to present an improved offer for early 2007. In March 2007, Washington state representative Larry Seaquist caused a minor controversy when he was quoted as saying, "These people are not the kind of people you would want living next door to you. They'd be the ones with the junky cars in the front yard and would try to slip around the law." The quote was assumed to be an attack on NASCAR fans but Seaquist later claimed that it was directed at ISC.