The
INSIDE Sheriff’s Log
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Mystery of the blackmouth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4 George Willis photo
School fundraiser
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VOLUME 36, NUMBER 8 • February 19, 2013
Forlenza falls in District 1, Byers prevails and Hughes eclipses Ayers in District 2 elections November election, collected 1,821 of the 5,692 District 1 primary votes, or 32 percent of ballots cast, leaving Friday Harbor businessman and council incumbent Marc Forlenza, at 19.5 percent, as odd-man-out in the three-way primary. As the top two votegetters, Jarman and Pratt will advance to the April 23 general election. “I feel I had a pretty good showing countywide,” Pratt said. “It really is a county-
By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
With a convincing victory in the Feb. 12 primary, former Councilwoman Lovel Pratt emerged as front-runner in the race for the District 1 county council position, outpacing council incumbent Bob Jarman, who finished second in the three-way contest, by 937 votes. Jarman, who unseated Pratt three months ago in the
Lopez Voters Thank you for supporting Lopez Fire and EMS Paid for by YES Lopez
Lopez Artist Guild Art Show The Lopez Artists’ Guild presents New Work by Sylvia Chesley Smith at the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts. Opening reception for the artist is Friday, February 22, from 5-7 p.m. at the center. The exhibit runs through April 16.
in the
2013
This special section of The Journal, The Sounder, & The Weekly will be distributed to over 7500 readers throughout San Juan County and also online in our Green Editions!
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wide campaign and I’m going to continue to do that.” Voter turnout totaled 52 percent for the countywide primary, with 50 ballots remaining to be counted, according to county election officials. Jarman, who trailed Pratt in nearly all of the 19 county voting precincts, knows there’s ground to make up in order to claim the reconfigured council post in April’s general election. Jarman campaign manager, wife Susan Jarman, said that the candidate, who two weeks ago had a heart valve replaced at Bellingham’s St. Joseph’s Hospital, expects to spend this week on the telephone, raising money and expanding the campaign, “especially on
Lopez, Shaw and Orcas.” “He’s happy with the results and looking forward to campaigning,” Susan Jarman said. “We will focus on mainstream islanders, middle-of-the-road voters.” The local electoral landscape is drastically different than it was just three months ago. The Feb. 12 primary election follows on the heels of November’s voter-approved changes to the county charter, which reduced the size of the county council from six elected officials to three, redrew the council legislative districts from six to three as well, and instituted countywide elections for each of the three newly created council posts. In addition, changes to the charter turned those
Contributed photos
From left to right: Candidates for county council Lisa Byers, Rick Hughes, Lovel Pratt and Bob Jarman. three council offices into fulltime positions, with responsibility for both county legislative duties and its day-to-day management. The three full-time council members will earn $75,000 a year, plus benefits. In the District 2 primary, which, like the District 1 race, also featured three candidates competing for two slots in the April election, affordable housing advocate Lisa Byers advanced easily into the next round, garnering 47 percent of ballots cast in the primary. Byers, director of Orcas Island-based Of People and Land, or OPAL, a permanent-
ly affordable housing group, and a first-time candidate for political office as well, drew 2,772 of the 5,850 ballots cast, outpacing her two opponents, Greg Ayers and Rick Hughes, by slightly more than 1,000 votes apiece. Byers believes local government has a role to play in promoting economic activity and, consequently, she said she has a “personal interest” in ensuring that government operates as efficiently, effectively and as equitably as possible. Elected to the council in November, as part of the See elections, page 6
Fire District 4 tax levy has passed Lopez Island Fire District 4 Commissioners authorized a Levy Lid Lift Request earlier this month. On Feb. 12, the levy was approved by 77.79 percent of voters. In November, San Juan County Fire Protection District 4 Commissioners approved Resolution Number 2012-07 to increase its regular property tax levy to 83 cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation. “This is an expensive business, but we are conservative and we manage your money the best that we know how,” said Fire Chief Jim Ghiglione at a meeting with the Lopez community in January. The district provides emergency medical, rescue and fire protection services to Lopez Island. This proposition was passed by the commission to fund its 10-year strategic plan. The increased revenue will fund a third paramedic position, replace a 1994 ambulance and a 1976 water tender, add one brush firefighting vehicle and one paramedic response vehicle and update and replace training equipment and personal protective equipment. The revenue will also go toward maintaining and improving facilities with small remodeling projects. It will also help the district to seek grant opportunities to fund a small train-
ing facility for firefighter and emergency medical personnel. The commissioners’ last resolution to the voters to increase their property taxes was in 2004 – nine years between requests for additional funding for the fire district. The district will now be able collect $.83 per $,1,000 of assessed valuation in 2014. In subsequent years, absent further voter approval, the district would be limited to a 1 percent increase in property tax collections initially based on the amount levied for collection in 2014, subject to the $1 per $1,000 of assessed value maximum. The district’s board of commissioners said that establishing the levy rate at $.83 per $1,000 is necessary to maintain an effective level of services, fire fighter and emergency medical staffing, equipment and facilities in light of rising costs. The maximum tax per $100,000 assessed valuation will not exceed $83 each year or approximately $6.92 per month for fire protection and emergency medical services. For further information on the Levy Lid Lift or to request a copy of the Lopez Island Fire & EMS 2012-2022 Strategic Plan, contact Fire Chief Jim Ghiglione at 468-2991 or email him at jghiglione@lopezfire.com.