INSIDE: Whidbey Weddings
Record South Whidbey
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2013 | Vol. 89, No. 9 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
Curbside School backers lay low ahead of levy vote recycling may be dumped By BEN WATANABE Staff reporter
Johnson: Law enforcement remains top priority By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter Curbside recycling on Whidbey Island may get scrapped before ever having the chance to get started. On Monday, the Island County commissioners agreed to revisit last month’s landmark decision to require Island Disposal, the county’s licensed garbage hauler, to roll out a curbside program for customers in Langley and rural parts of Whidbey Island sometime this year. The decision was made in late December, following a discussion that spanned more than five years, during the last days of former Commissioner Angie Homola’s term. She and fellow Democrat Commissioner Helen Price Johnson approved the program in a 2-0 vote. Republican Commissioner Kelly Emerson abstained at the time, but apparently wasn’t done with the issue. She brought it up again Monday, saying the matter may have been settled by a former majority but that she is still getting public comment from people who are against the program. “There is a lot of concern out there,” she said, citing the cost of the program. Her suggestion to revisit the issue at one of the board’s upcoming work sessions was quickly supported by Republican Commissioner Jill Johnson, who unseated Homola in the 2012 November election. Johnson didn’t explain her reasoning at the time but said in a later interview that the See Recycling, A6
Counting on parents, teachers and the school board, South Whidbey’s levy committee has laid low this election. Ballots were mailed last week. Now the fate of $5.9 million annually for the next few years rests largely on a word-of-mouth campaign before the Feb. 12 vote deadline. “It seems like we’re lying low, I just don’t think there’s anybody who’s raising an objection to it,” said Dean Hatt, co-chair of the levy committee. Added Hatt: “The strategy has always been the students, parents, grandparents, the friends and families understand the importance of the yes vote for the school district.” At stake is 39 percent of the district’s $15 million budget. The school board is seeking a sixyear extension of its maintenance and operations levy, which brings in $3.9 million every year. A second levy request is for capital/technology, mostly earmarked for repairs and upgrades to the district’s aging facilities. Steve Scoles, chairman of the school board, said in an earlier Record story that the capital/ tech levy increase was necessary because voters rejected a bond measure sought in 2010. That bond’s failure to gain 60 percent approval marked an end to a long streak of voter support for South Whidbey schools. “They just run the rabbit,” said Dennis Hunter, the levy committee’s other co-chair. “People are just so supportive of schools here.” Securing a majority yes vote, however, has been
Ben Watanabe / The Record
Dean Hatt greets commuters along Highway 525 in Freeland on Monday. Voters received their mail-in ballots last week, which must be returned Feb. 12. relegated to $273.50 worth of yellow “Vote yes schools” signs and a three-quarter page advertisement in the Record. Some of the larger signs
were posted at high-traffic areas like Whidbey
Waterline work draws praise, concerns
By BEN WATANABE Staff reporter
Some business leaders in Langley were thankful for early notice of work on First Street. Challis Stringer, Langley’s public works director, sent out staff to inform businesses on First Street of the coming waterline work. Water will be unavailable during “a short time period” while the service is transferred from the old line to the new line. Construction work, reduced street lanes and isolated sidewalk closures were other issues that Public Works addressed in its communication with businesses. The door-to-door notices caught the attention of Bob Thurmond, a
Ben Watanabe / The Record
Planters like these on First Street, along with other vegetation, are a concern for Langley business owners. They want to keep the city’s parks green and presentable for tourists, and lobbied Langley City Council for a water right at the Boy and Dog Park. business owner in Langley. “It’s spectacular that someone from the city would come do that at least one day ahead of time,” he told the council during its meeting Jan. 22. Even so, city council members
were still uncertain how they would water the city’s downtown parks, like Boy and Dog Park. The issue was raised at its Jan. 7 meeting, in which adding a water right to the park for a hose bib was proposed. Watering the planters and other
See Schools, A6
vegetation would be easier if a hose could be added to the park. “I think it’s just really important to think of our future and our future needs,” said Councilwoman Rene Neff. The cost would be a $10,000 transfer from the city’s general fund to its water fund, plus utilities costs. “What we wound up with was the city paying $10,000 for a hose bib, which seemed excessive,” said Councilman Hal Seligson, the city’s mayor pro-tem in the absence of a mayor. Langley is searching for a mayor after Larry Kwarsick resigned following a plea agreement with Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks for falsifying a city document. There were also concerns about finishing the project in time for Langley’s Mystery Weekend in late February. The murder-mystery is a large tourist draw, and this year’s “Gone With The Tide” mystery is scheduled for Feb. 23 and 24. Waterline work is expected to last See Waterline, A6