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WEDNESDAY, October 3, 2012 n VOL. 45, NO. 40 n 75¢
Two islanders go head to head in county council race Rick Hughes and Scott Lancaster are running for San Juan County Council position #4, Orcas West
Rick Hughes, Q&A Biography Rick Hughes and his wife Marlace manage Ray’s Pharmacy. He also runs a property management group; serves as treasurer of the Orcas Island Farmers’ Market Association, is a board member of Eastsound Planning and Review Committee; volunteers as little league coach; and serves as the PTSA co-president. Prior to moving to Orcas, Hughes was an executive with ESPN. His family has been on Orcas since 1944 and Marlace
is a fourth generation Orcas Island resident. Sounder: Why are you running for this position? RH: As an operator of a small business in Eastsound, I have seen what it takes to run an organization in an efficient manner. As a concerned citizen, I have seen how people can work together to solve problems like a county-wide drug take-back program or garbage cans in Eastsound. Everyone can make a difference. My pledge to the community is to operate a fair, honest and transparent government, to work for better communications and interaction between county employees and the public, and to have county government serve as an aid to the public. In short, to give the government back to the community. How do you plan to juggle this position with your full-time business? If elected, this position will be a full-time position for me. My primary responsibilities will be shifted to other people in the organization and we will hire a new staffer.
See HUGHES, Page 6
Scott Lancaster, Q&A Biography Scott Lancaster and his wife of 25 years Therese own and manage Ace Hardware in Eastsound. They have lived on Orcas since 1992 and raised two children on the island. Lancaster has been on the Orcas School Board for seven years. His term expires in November 2013, but if he wins the council election, he will resign. He has also been a Kiwanis member for 35 years and on the San Juan Builders
Association for eight years. Sounder: Why are you running for this position? SL: I have worked in, for or owned a small business my whole life. In my 20 years living on Orcas Island, I have owned Ace Hardware and been the vice president/general manager of Island Hardware and Supply. I have been a member and president of the San Juan Builders association. I have served for seven years on the Orcas School Board, been a 20-year member of Kiwanis, very involved with my family in 4-H and coaching the kids’ sports. All of this has prepared me for the challenges of the county council and given me the perspective of how their actions affect the citizens of this county. I believe that I have developed a unique skill set that will help me in solving the challenges of the budget, land use, solid waste, building department and the hiring/management of an effective county administrator. I’m prepared to serve all the citizens of San Juan County!
Council: still no decision on solid waste by MEREDITH M. GRIFFITH Sounder contributor
Precious time may end up being a key factor as the San Juan County Council decides who will run Orcas Island’s solid waste program in 2013. Islanders urged caution at a Sept. 25 council meeting. “I think we’re making a huge mistake,” attendee Sadie Bailey told the council. “Please slow down; please stop, think and listen.” The council could grant operation of the Orcas transfer station to Cimarron Trucking, a mainland-based, for-profit corporation offering recycling sorting and trash disposal, or to local nonprofit Orcas Recycling Services, which proposes to develop composting, reuse, hazardous waste disposal and other waste reduction programs. The county’s current landfill disposal contract with Waste Management expires Dec. 31. “We do not have a plan to continue on past the first of the year,”
said Council Member Richard Fralick. “That’s huge.” He cited the solid waste department’s $1 million-plus debt, the need for capital improvements, winter revenue decreases, and the county’s past failure to operate a “sustainable solid waste business” as compelling reasons for the county to step down as soon as possible. The council recently asked county staff to investigate the feasibility of two contracts: Cimarron Trucking would operate the tipping floor and continue landfill disposal. ORS would handle selfhauled garbage, recycling, and waste reduction services. Unfortunately, “a business that’s just recycling and self-haul just doesn’t pencil out,” ORS Board President Pete Moe told the Sounder. By ORS calculations, such a program would in the red annually. In contrast, ORS says inclusion of the tipping floor would yield a net annual revenue of $70-
90,000 to fund waste reduction ly by replacing Cimarron with an programs, $214,000 in needed Orcas-based trucking company to capital improvements, and emer- transport waste to the mainland. gency reserves. “We see Cimarron as a short“Please support us in changing term operator at this point, and the directive so we can … create ORS as a long-term operator,” said something supcounty Utility ported by numManager Ed “A business that’s just Hale. bers,” ORS Board Member Jared council recycling and self-haul hasTheexpressed Lovejoy told the doesn’t pencil out.” council. concerns that “If it’s not eco— ORS President Pete Moe ORS lacks finannomically viable cial backing and to split the conexperience. In tract, the council will reconsider response, ORS has secured solid the motion and come up with an waste professional Dave Polis alternative proposal,” Fralick later as project manager, and added told the Sounder. a local CPA and legal counsel. Obstacles to local control Islanders have pledged $50,000 Both bidders have definite cash and $200,000 in loans for attractions: Cimarron is ready backing. (Cimarron documents with strong financial reserves, show a Sept. 2011 working capiyears of waste trucking experi- tal of roughly $420,000 and over ence, and a mainland landfill con- $350,000 in stockholders’ equity.) tract. ORS says it could keep on If the council determines ORS’ island the tipping floor revenue financial backing is satisfactory, its and $170,000 yearly in jobs, and another $125,000 to 150,000 yearSee WASTE, Page 5
See LANCASTER, Page 6
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