Wednesday, April 23, 2014 • The Islands’ Sounder
LETTERS FROM 4 they are eaten by predators. Other threats are late winter storms, drought, and the ubiquitous year-round house sparrow, which pushes out the swallows and claims their nests. Things you can do to encourage swallow populations: 1.) Build swallow ledges, or tack cardboard to your decking and exterior wall under the nest, then toss the cardboard with the droppings after the nestlings have fledged. 2.) Stop using upward facing, exposed, high-beam or spotlights. All light sources should be covered, downward facing, mounted as low as possible with the lowest wattage and lumen light bulbs possible. Sadie Bailey Eastsound
New exhibit at the American Legion We are preparing an exhibit to be displayed at the American Legion, 793 Crescent Beach Rd., Eastsound, for Memorial Day week open to the public May 24, 25 and 26. We are honored to have this opportunity to show our gratitude to those who have given their lives for our freedom and those veterans who served during the war years (WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Spanish American War of 1898). If you have mementos (uniform, medals, photos, certificates, etc.) you would like to share during Memorial Day week to honor their service, please call 376-5413. The American Legion will be open to the public over the weekend and by special arrangement during the prior week if desired. We look forward to honoring our service men and women by sharing these mementos from Orcas Island veterans and their family members. If you’d like to participate, we will be proud and honored to have you do so. Call 376-5413 for more information. Diane Baxter Secretary American Legion Auxiliary
Response to Larsen’s column It is certainly appreciated that any representative of a body politic visit and write about a community, as in the April 9 Sounder. The environmental efforts that are made by our
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elected officials are surely welcomed by the San Juan Island community. However, should that same area be cloaked with coal ash, airborne nitrous oxide, sulfuric acid clouds and CO2 what matter its monument status if that same representative is pushing for that to happen. Unlike the monument legislation that he has chosen to visit our archipelago, few if any lobbying dollars were necessary for that effort. However, his stand on coal exportation is littered with industry and union contributions to expound and support such environmentally damaging acts. Money, and I might say a certain corruptness of moral fortitude, is unfortunately the name of the representation and reelection game being played by many elected officials. I hope you choose your candidate not on what they say but what they do. Does Rick Larsen oppose or support the environmental damage that the exportation annually of 51 million tons of coal from Cherry Point will do to our community and the entire West Coast of America? Walter Corbin Olga
Nunez is a hero As a former volunteer Firefighter and EMT with Orcas Island Fire and Rescue for the last decade, I would like to recommend and respectfully request that our community and Orcas Island Fire Department please consider giving my friend Ben Nuñez Marquez a “Public Service Award” for his outstanding and exemplary service of his selfless act, attempting to save a life in 2008. His “patient” was his 80-year-old neighbor who had suffered a stroke and was fearful of flying. With no family to assist her she trusted Ben to take her to the hospital. Mr. Nuñez’s service to our community and acting as a good samaritan, with no consideration for his own welfare and livelihood, should have been received with commendation, not
condemnation. Though he was stopped at the Customs Border Patrol checkpoint in Anacortes where he was eventually detained, he did not lie, he did not run, he did not try to hide the truth: he stayed with her and discussed with CBP how to get this woman to the hospital prior to his being detained. In my opinion this man is a true hero. Instead of accolades for his good deed, he was arrested, detained, and left to sleep on a concrete floor in a holding cell in the ICE facility in Tukwila. He has never had a DUI, been involved in a domestic abuse dispute, or physically harmed another human being. As a result of his decision to assist a person in need, his life has been nearly derailed and his future uncertain. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson stated on January 24, 2014: “An earned path to citizenship for those currently present in this country is a matter of, in my view, homeland security to encourage people to come out from the shadows.” Ben Nuñez stepped out of the shadows that day by assisting someone with a life threatening situation. He is someone who exemplifies the qualities of a good neighbor or an astute first responder. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of a public service award than our friend “Nunez.” Julie Remington Orcas Island
(Saturday Pharmacy 10:00 am – 4 pm No Sunday Pharmacy Service)
376-2230
San Juan County news County manager given 7 percent pay raise; health director steps down
The first-year performance of San Juan County Manager Mike Thomas, shown above, has evidently been top-notch. So much so that the San Juan County Council on March 10 unanimously approved giving the firstyear county manager a 7 percent pay raise, three percent of which is retroactive to Jan. 1. The former Enumclaw city administrator was hired a year ago in May and began his tenure at the top of the county administrative department in late June. The new compensation package totals $134,820 and will become effective June 24, the first anniversary of Thomas' first day on the job. He was hired a year ago at a salary of $120,000, plus 5 percent in deferred compensation. Thomas joined the county following a threeyear tenure as Enumclaw's top administrator. He had
previously been director of the city's Department of Community and Economic Development, for five years. A graduate of University of Washington, he has a master's degree in public administration from Seattle University, and is married, and the father of two children. The duties of the county manager include assisting the new three-person county council in overseeing the functions of local government and those departments not managed by another elected county official, such as the sheriff, auditor or prosecuting attorney. The position was created as part of the restructuring of county government under amendments endorsed by the Charter Review Commission and approved by voters in November 2012. Those amendments reduced the county council from six part-time legislators to three full-time elected positions with both legislative and executive duties, and eliminated the position of county administrator, formerly held by Bob
Jean and Pete Rose. Meanwhile, the council on April 15 recognized Health and Community Services Director John Manning on his retirement on April 25, after 20 years of service within county ranks. An after-work "goodbye party" for Manning is scheduled on Thursday, April 24, at the Grange.
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OPALCO’s 77th Annual Meeting
Saturday, May 3rd 2014 For more information: www.opalco.com