Record South Whidbey
SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2012 | Vol. 88, No. 32 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
INSIDE: Farmers markets begin, Island Life, A10
Home at last
Justin Burnett/The Record
A complaint was aimed at Langley Mayor Larry Kwarsick regarding his time as city planner.
Jim Larsen / The Record
Brian O’Conner keeps Ellie from helping as Wayne Anderson, right, finishes installing Lucy Whitney’s alligator, located across the street from Freeland Park. Judging by the reaction of curious people who stopped by to watch, it could become a tourist attraction.
Another roadside attraction By JIM LARSEN Record editor
Lucy Whitney was out buying groceries, so she didn’t see the gawkers drive by as relatives installed her alligator. Alligators might look out of place in Freeland, but on Shoreview Drive across from Freeland Park, this one looks right at home. It’s situated at the edge of a watery drainage ditch where the grass will grow tall this spring, and it looks out across the road to the blue waters of Holmes Harbor. It’s a decent imitation of Florida, particularly on this sunny Saturday. Several male family members and a dog named Ellie were busy cementing the alligator in place. Two years ago, culprits couldn’t resist the temptation of making off with the life-sized alligator some eight feet in length. Care had been taken to protect the alligator with a coffee-can sized hunk of concrete buried in the ground
and a chain linked to the alligator. Unfortunately, the thieves didn’t try tugging at the alligator, they just clipped the chain. What happened next is a matter of speculation, but Whitney found her alligator abandoned alongside the roadway only two blocks away. Perhaps it fell out the back of a speeding pickup, or maybe the thieves didn’t want the notoriety of facing gator theft charges in Island County District Court and simply abandoned it. Whitney took her alligator home and placed it in her storage building where it sat for over a year, until Brian O’Connor opened the door and saw the alligator staring at him. He contacted a couple of other relatives from the mainland and they went to work. O’Connor doesn’t live here either, but he knows a lot of people through helping them park at the annual Celebrate America fireworks show. “I park handicapped people on the Fourth of July,” he said proudly. They get a close-up view of the show, while
others walk many blocks downhill to the park, and then uphill when the show’s over. Wayne Anderson headed the alligator reinstallation project, sipping on a light Bud in a blue bottle as he took a break to talk about it. “It was in and someone tried to steal it,” he said, shaking his head. People had been stopping by all day, offering their support for the project. “They have been tremendous,” he said. “Groups of eight or 12 stop by.” He’s not sure exactly where Whitney got her gator, but knows it was “at some craft fair.” This time, Anderson was determined to make the alligator secure. He and O’Connor and another relative named Roger Flint poured a heavy pad of concrete level with the ground, placed the alligator on top and went about securing it. “I got bolts on all four legs in the concrete,” Anderson said as he looked admiringly at his work. see alligator, page a6
Whistleblower complaint aimed at Langley mayor BY JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter
Just four months into the job and another major controversy has landed on freshman Langley Mayor Larry Kwarsick’s doorstep. Having only just come up for air after the brouhaha over his recent and sudden removal of a truck loading zone on Second Street, Kwarsick is now the subject of a whistleblower complaint related to his time as city planner. The issue will be discussed in executive session beginning at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 23, at City Hall. A special notice posted on the city’s website Thursday listed the reason for the secret meeting as a personnel matter. However, Hal Seligson, a city councilman and mayor pro-tem, confirmed the subject matter centers on a whistleblower complaint. He declined to go into further detail, saying only that the complaint was received and that the coun-
cil acted quickly to give the employee an opportunity to go over their issues without any threat of retaliation. When asked whether the public should be concerned, he said it’s still too early to tell and that one of the purposes of the meeting is to learn more information. “I think we need to gather all the facts before we make an assessment,” Seligson said. While the councilman remained tightlipped about the nature of the issue, sources have confirmed that a memo was sent to council members that details the complaint and Kwarsick’s involvement. While the exact accusations are still unclear, the matter reportedly relates to Kwarsick’s time as director of Community Planning and decisions made concerning his stepdaughter’s home. Kwarsick was not able to be reached in time for this story despite messages being left on his cell phone and at his office at City Hall.