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LETTERS FROM 5 It has been proposed that three council members will be better than the present six members. There is no evidence to support this proposal. It is nonsense to have one council member from Lopez Island, one from Orcas Island and one from San Juan Island when the population of these three islands is not equal. The answer is the best-qualified six people are selected to be council members. This is the responsibility of the voters of each district. Council members should not be responsible for daily management of general functions of the county. A professional county manager who is responsible to the council should supervise these activities. This method provides improved accountability and performance.
www.ISLANDSSOUNDER.com
Vote no on proposition one and two. Tom Ritter Orcas Island From 2004 to 2011, I served as your county engineer working under both the county commissioner board and the current charter-based county council forms of government. Based on this experience, it is my opinion the county council together with a professional county administrator following the charter best serves our needs. Look at the results: Workplace stability so work can get done without political interference or threats. Several long overdue management plans and road projects were completed: Rosario Master Plan, Deer Harbor Hamlet Plan, Orcas Village Plan, Lopez Village Growth Area Plan, the Fisherman Bay Road project, the Buck Bay Bridge on Orcas, and the Roche
Council Members: Richard Fralick Patty Miller Rich Peterson Council Candidates Rick Hughes Scott Lancaster Orcas Island Voters Tony Ghazel Mike Stolmeier Harvey and Liane Olsan Jim and Kathy Youngren Rollie Sauer Lee and Mike Brown Tom and Karen Ritter Helen Bee Gene and Judy Flath Phil and Marta Branch Jim and Bev Ohlman Barbara Bedell Richard Evans Meg and Joe Massey Art Lange Alison Shaw Bill and Kathleen Tudor Chuck and Marguerite Greening Barbara Courtney John and Annette Mazzarella Rolf and Ruth Needleman Mike Malaspina Carol Lee Terry Mullan
Harbor dock and float for outer islanders, just to name a few. The part-time county council accomplished more work than the full-time board of county commissioners could ever get done in the same time frame. Isn’t getting work done what we pay our legislators to do? Why would we want to go back to the past? This progress was possible because of the two time-tested principles in the charter: equal representation based on population and separation of powers. If approved, Propositions 1 and 2 will eliminate these principles by amendment. Proposition 1 would take us back to the threemember BOCC where the district with one-sixth the population would have three times the power as San Juan and one and one-half times the power as Orcas. Is this equal representation based on population? Under the charter’s sepa-
ration of powers section, the professional county administrator carries out the daily operation of the county under policies, ordinances, and resolutions passed by the county council. Do we really want to go back to the past when the threemember BOCC would give conflicting orders to staff resulting in dysfunction, turnover, and poor productivity? Let’s keep politics out of the daily operations so the county’s work can get done. The choice couldn’t be clearer. Don’t be fooled. Those folks supporting the propositions are: those who wielded power in the past and miss it, those who desire power and have been denied, and those who now think they have it. Keep the key charter principles and give the charter time to work. Please vote to reject Propositions 1 and 2. John Van Lund San Juan
Wally, Mebs and Lisa Gilliam Roger and Jean Okuniewicz Elizabeth Barth Scott and Judy Whiting Jack Conant B.B. Hamilton, Jr. William Anders Walter Corbin Chuck & Eska Wilson
REJECT
PROPOSITIONS
1&2
Charter Review Cherry and Joe Malus Peggy Hoyle Ray Chavez Maggie Schuler Dick and Ann Griot John Gorton James Scheib Leonard and Sue Wood
Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012 • The Islands’ Sounder
Vote no on the Charter Review Commission recommendations. There is no monetary savings in going from six part-time council members being paid more than $20,000 a year to three “full-time” council members being paid more than $60,000 a year. There will still be an “administrator,” only the name will change to “manager.” Changing the name of that position, and doing away with the separation of powers, gives way too much power to a “Good Old Boys” council, and doing away with the current one vote/one person process would end up with unequal representation which could be legally challenged. Frank M Penwell Friday Harbor Over the past three years we have spent hours observing council meetings and we are as frustrated as others by the members’ inability to
take decisive action on local issues that impact us all. We have asked ourselves, “Is it the Home Rule Charter or the people involved?” Our conclusion is “the problem” is a holdover of the ways of the previous three commissioners and refusal to relinquish power to the new administrator. Consequently, they never implemented the structure or the intent of the HRC. To add to this, our first administrator (hired by Senator Ranker and Councilmen Lichter and Myhr) was weak and ineffective. This was not a fair test of the intent of the Home Rule Charter. Moreover, the council has never let go of the former commissioners’ propensity to micro-manage. We are not in favor of electing candidates countywide. While it would be the intent of the three to
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Steve and Jean Henigson Tom and Leslie Murdock Bill and Maureen Burlew Bob Lundeen Ed and Kristin Wilson Nancy Johansen Kathryn Bowes Charles and Valerie Binford Adam and Sara Farish Teri Williams George Post Martin Taylor Clarissa and Steve Liening Irmgard Conley Fred Klein Pamela Evans Charles Toxey & Jill Johnson David Kobrin and Diane Berreth James Wolf Martha Farish Joe Cohen Nanae Fralick Midge Kraetzer Adina Cunningham Jeff and Bonnie Bossler Robin Kucklick Amanda Sparks Gene and Tish Knapp Diane Jarecki Richard and Velma Doty Rick and Jeannie Doty Juliana and Carl Capdeville
For more information, please go to: www.votenocharterreview1and2.com Paid for by Vote No Charter Review 1 and 2 Committee, Orcas