SPIRIT OF GIVING Orcas provides some special cheer Page 11
SPORTS PREVIEW Vikings winter sports Page 10
SOUNDER THE ISLANDS’
PEOPLE | News about community members. [2] LETTERS | Commentary from islanders. [4] REAL ESTATE SPECIAL | Monthly special section is inside this edition
Serving Orcas, Lopez and San Juan County
www.islandssounder.com
WEDNESDAY, December 12, 2012 VOL. 45, NO. 50 75¢
Making history Same-sex couples across the state applied for marriage licenses last week by SOUNDER & JOURNAL STAFF
With hands clasped tightly and hearts full of joy, Ron Hall and Robert Herrmann walked up the courthouse steps ready to fill out a marriage license. “This is affirming. I feel like a full citizen now,” Herrmann said. “Straight people don’t have the experience of being called names and ridiculed.” Herrmann, who lives on Lopez, has been with his partner Ron Hall for 16 years. They made their relationship official last Thursday by being one of five same-sex couples to receive a marriage license at the San Juan County Auditor’s Office in Friday Harbor. Voter-approved Referendum 74 formally took effect around the state on Dec. 6. The measure allows gay couples to marry and preserves domestic partnerships for seniors and the right of religious organizations to refuse to perform or recognize any marriage ceremony. The marriage
license costs $60 and is good for 60 days. A couple that wishes to remain anonymous received the first license in San Juan County and was followed by Anne Hietbrink and Beth Shirk of Lopez, Karen Kuster and Susan Moon of San Juan and Herrmann and Hall. Governor Christine Gregoire signed the marriage bill last February. That bill prompted Referendum 74, which 53.7 percent of Washington voters approved while 46.3 percent rejected it in last month’s election. In San Juan County, the measure was overwhelmingly approved: 70 percent to 30 percent. Washington joins these states in legalizing same-sex marriage: Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. Hall and Herrman exchanged vows in San Juan County Superior Court this past Monday, with Judge Don Eaton officiating.
Scott Rasmussen/staff photo
Ron Hall (left) and Robert Herrmann were one of five local couples who applied for marriage license on Dec. 6. Hermann, 59, said he firmly believed – at one time – that he would never live to see the day. “Not ever, never in our lifetimes,” he said. Still, he noted cultural attitudes have shifted dramatically and in a positive direction toward gay people and their relationships in particular over the last few decades. “It’s really a non-issue with most
of the people we know anymore,” he said. Although it left devastation in its wake, Hall points to the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and ‘90s as a milestone that helped to humanize gay people in the eyes of many and to also stir empathy and understanding among the larger population. People are more inclined now to focus more
Critical Areas Ordinance is set in stone by STEVE WEHRLY Journal reporter
The San Juan County Council on Dec. 3 puts its stamp of approval on revisions to the final four sections of the Critical Areas Ordinance. In a 5-1 decision, with Councilman Rich Peterson, North San Juan, opposed, the council approved an update of the CAO sections involving wetlands, fish and wildlife habitat and the “general” provisions that apply to all critical areas. The council approved revisions without dissent to the CAO sections that apply to geologically hazardous and frequently floods areas. A fifth ordinance dealing with critical aquifer recharge areas was passed in 2008.
Although opposed to three of four CAO sections, Peterson was not entirely dissatisfied with the result. “This ordinance is far better than I thought it would ever get, and I think we’ve done a good job on behalf of the citizens in bringing it this far,” he said. San Juan County’s CAO was mandated to be updated in 2006, in accordance with the Washington state Growth Management Act and through the use of “best available science” and with an attempt at “no net-loss of functions and values” of critical areas. Over six years, three successive councils faced criticism from property rights and environmental advocates as they worked through ordinances addressing geologically hazardous and frequently flooded areas, wetlands, fish and wildlife conservation
areas and general regulatory and definitional provisions applicable to all areas. The revision has caused controversy in the community. Critics have called the CAO heavyhanded, immensely expensive, or bound to drive out the county’s middle and lower class – while others wondered if the measures may be too little, too late for threatened species. On Dec. 3, the council spent more than seven hours considering 34 amendments, passing all but two. Recognizing that the ordinances were the result of extensive compromise, council members expressed satisfaction, in general, with the results. Councilwoman Lovel Pratt commented on the “hard work and many compromises” that
SEE CAO, PAGE 6
on similarities than differences, he said. “When they’re able to put a face to it,” he said, “then it becomes a part of regular society, rather than something secret, or something dark.”
Sounder deadlines Display advertising: Friday at noon Classified advertising: Monday at noon Legal advertising: Thursday at noon Press releases, Letters: Friday at 3 p.m.
How to reach us Office: 376-4500 Fax: 376-4501 Advertising: advertising@ islandssounder.com Classified: 1-800-388-2527, classifieds@ soundpublishing.com Editor: editor@ islandssounder.com