News-Times Whidbey
INSIDE: Young author blows minds. A10
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2012 | Vol. 113, No. 89 | www.whidbeynewstimes.com | 75¢
Johnson, Bailey ahead in count
Nathan Whalen/ Whidbey News-Times
Island Transit executive director Martha Rose and project coordinator Pete Schrum tour the construction site.
By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
Transit seeks 2013 project completion Giant mounds to be used for landscaping By NATHAN WHALEN Staff reporter
The attention-catching mounds of dirt at Island Transit headquarters south of Coupeville will eventually
come down. Those large mounds will be eventually knocked down and used for new landscaping around the agency’s new headquarters off Highway 20. “We’re going to re-use it,” Martha Rose, Island Transit’s executive director said about the mounds of dirt that is soil from the construction site. The mounds are covered to pre-
vent unwanted weeds from sprouting. They will be used for berms and that will help shield the administrative building, maintenance building, large parking lot and fueling center from motorists driving on the highway. Island Transit’s headquarters is located within the confines of Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve. Rose said Island Transit staff worked closely with
the National Park Service to come up with a suitable design. The buildings were designed to look like large barns and the campus has been designed with a theme that Rose describes as a “melodic fog.” The plans for the new Island Transit headquarters were approved by the county’s Historic Review Committee, Rose said. See TRANSIT, A4
Public access still unclear in shoreline plan By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter
opments to incorporate public beach accesses, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. “We need those areas for public access. Period,” said Steve Erickson, legal coordinator for the Whidbey Environmental Action Network. “I don’t think it should be discretionary at all.” On the other side of
the fence, property rights advocates such as Jeff Lauderdale, a Coupeville resident and commissioner candidate, maintained that regulations which force people to hand over private land to the public is nothing short of a government “taking.” Instead, efforts should See SHORELINE, A4
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The first of two scheduled public hearings concerning a long-range shoreline planning document update for Island County was held in Coupeville this week, but how public beach access will be addressed remains unclear. It’s been one of the most talked about issues since
drafting the shoreline master program update began in 2010 — a process required by the state every eight years — and it continued to be a point of disagreement for the public during Monday’s meeting with the Island County Commissioners. On one side, proponents lobbied for stiffer rules that would require future devel-
It appears that the partisan balance of the Board of Island County Board of Commissioners will shift with one of two Democratic commissioners losing in the Nov. 6 election, according to initial ballot results. Jill Johnson, a Republican, is ahead of Democratic Commissioner Angie Homola by 2 percent of the vote for the District 2 position, which represents the Oak Harbor area. She has 17,095 ballots cast in her favor, or 51 percent, while Homola has 16,400 votes, at 49 percent. “It was a clear message and I am really excited to represent the voters of District 2 and all the citizens of Island County,” Johnson said Tuesday night. “There was no indecision in this vote at all.” Incumbent Commissioner Helen Price Johnson, a Democrat, has a lead over Republican challenger Jeff Lauderdale for the District 1 position, which covers South and Central Whidbey. Price Johnson has 17,420 votes, or 52 percent, while Lauderdale has 16,019 at 48 percent. “I do think the race will narrow but it looks like my lead will hold,” Price Johnson said. In the hotly contested race for the District 10 state senate seat, Democrat Mary Margaret Haugen, the longtime senator, is losing to Republican challenger Barbara Bailey in Island County results. Bailey has 17,733 votes, or 52 percent, while Haugen has 16,437 votes, or 48 percent. In the two races for District 10 state representative, the
Republican candidates are winning the Island County vote. Incumbent Rep. Norma Smith is far ahead of Democratic challenger Aaron Simpson. Smith has 20,383 votes, or 61 percent, while Simpson has 13,053 or 39 percent. For the other seat, Republican candidate Dave Hayes has 16,809, or 51 percent, and Democrat Tom Riggs garnered 16,241 or 49 percent. The votes for the entire district weren’t available by press time. On South Whidbey, the South Whidbey Fire/EMS Levy Lift proposition is easily passing with nearly 59 percent of the vote. In the major state initiatives, Island County voters mirrored statewide results in casting ballots in favor of legalizing marijuana, approving same-sex marriage and approving charter schools. Island County voters also favored Republican candidate Rob McKenna over Democrat Jay Inslee for governor. McKenna earned 53 percent of Island County votes, while statewide he’s losing with just 48 percent. U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, a Democrat, and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell are both ahead. President Barack Obama won in Island County, with nearly 51 percent of the vote as compared to Mitt Romney’s 47 percent.