Sounder The Islands’
REAL ES San TETATE MAY 2012
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Serving Orcas, Lopez and San Juan County
WEDNESDAY, May 9, 2012 n VOL. 45, NO. 19 n 75¢
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Hughes to run for council
Molly Roberts and Ann Lister share their story just in time for Mother’s Day Editor/Publisher
She may be a grown woman, but Ann Lister still likes to sit on her mother’s lap. “My first love and my first relationship was with my mom,” Lister said. It’s a bond that she and her mother, Molly Roberts, still share. Even though Lister is now raising her own family with husband Ian, she knows her mom is just a phone call away. After giving birth to two boys, Roberts and her husband Lynn were convinced their third child would be a boy. She brought blue blankets and clothes to the hospital, but experienced quite the surprise when little baby Ann arrived. “I just held her for the longest time and we stared at each other,” Molly said. Ann grew up on Orcas with two older brothers, Paul and Mathew. She and her mom were very close and would have long “chats.” When Ann went to college at Bard, she realized that some women did not have such healthy relationships with their mothers. Ann met Ian when she was 17
and he was 23 – and they’ve been together ever since. Ian is also the baby of his family. Their kids are Rowan, 13, Ewan, 10, and Flora, nine. “I always said I would never duplicate my family’s birth order and the genders – but I did exactly that,” laughs Ann. “I am raising a different version of the same children my mother raised ... my kids are so different from me – and I love it.” From her mom, Ann says she learned to get to know her children as individuals. With multiple kids, she said it’s important to have a different relationship with each one but also keep it fair and equal. Molly says Ann’s parenting is a little less structured than her approach. “She and Ian spend more time with the kids, they take them on trips on the weekends,” Molly said. “It’s more chaotic … but also exciting and interesting.” Ann credits her husband for contributing a different energy to their familial unit. “Ian has shaped me as a mother by being a great husband and a great dad,” she said. “He also brings a whole other family cul-
by CALI BAGBY Staff reporter
think: ‘God, how did my mom do all that?’ She was so patient.” In 2008 at age 39, Ann was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was an experience that Molly went through when she was 44. “It was so great to have my mom who went through the
When Rick Hughes announced his intention to run for county council, Richard Fralick decided to take his name out of the race. Fralick called Hughes an eminently qualified candidate in a released statement praising his merits. “It was very gracious,” said Hughes of Fralick’s comments. “I respect him a great deal and it was a surprise that I very much appreciate.” Hughes, president of Ray’s Pharmacy, is running for county council position district four (Orcas West) in the upcoming November election, which Fralick has held for the last four years. He said he is taking on the challenge because as an operator of a small business in Eastsound and a former Fortune 100 executive, he has seen what it takes to run an organization efficiently. He also wants to help people work together. “Our community is at a crossroads, with many tough decisions
See MOTHERS, Page 6
See COUNCIL, Page 6
Colleen Smith Armstrong/Staff Photo
Ann Lister with her mom Molly Roberts. Ann and her husband Ian are currently raising their family of three on Orcas Island. ture to the table.” Ann, who is a bookkeeper, comes from a long line of working mothers. Molly was a teacher as was her mother; she’s currently a hospice nurse, and also works part-time at Four Winds Camp. “I think a lot about how I wasn’t aware of all the things my mom did,” Ann said. “Now I
Rose resigns as county administrator by Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
The tenure of San Juan County’s first fulltime administrator is near its end. After nearly six years of coaching council members, building budgets and managing county government’s day-to-day operations, Donald “Pete” Rose is headed back to familiar territory: the Seattle area, as city manager of King’s County Lake Forest Park. Rose, who last week announced his resignation, effective June 8, said he will carry a more complete, versatile set of instruments in his
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Motherly love
by COLLEEN SMITH ARMSTRONG
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MAY 2012
Cali Bagby/Staff Photo
San Juan County Administrator Pete Rose.
professional “tool box” when he leaves San Juan County for a new assignment in a 20-plus year career in public administration. Managing the county departments while balancing the
sometimes competing interests of six council members and eight independently elected officials has forced him to sharpen his skills in the “art of persuasion,” he said. “My time with San Juan County has been a continuos learning experience,” Rose said. “I appreciate the opportunity given to me to serve the county council and the people of San Juan County. I hope that I have left this organization a better place.” Rose, who joined San Juan County in 2006 following an eight-year stint as administrator of Woodinville, was selected from 50 applicants vying for the chief administrative post of Lake Forest Park, situated on the shore of Seattle’s Lake Washington and bordered by the cities of Kenmore and Shoreline. Lake Forest Park, at three-and-a-half square miles, is home to 12,500 residents. Led by a newly elected mayor, who took office Jan. 1, the executive branch consists of eight separate governmental departments, 54 full-time employees and an annual operating budget of $7.3 million.
See ROSE, Page 6
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