Local
Coach Ledford at the helm: Take Two page 15
Island Scene
Editorial
Easter arrives early; ‘Eggstatic’ events in store
A feel-good event and leftovers too; Don’t miss ‘Dining for Scholars’, Thursday, all day
page 11
page 7
Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, March 27, 2013 Vol. 106 Issue 13
of the San Juan Islands
www.sanjuanjournal.com
An acclaim that’s truly monumental
BLM lands become National Monument with stroke of a pen By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter
Left to right: District 2 County Council candidates Rick Hughes, Lisa Byers.
Contributed photos
Council Candidates Q&A Dist. 2 By Sounder Staff
This is part two of a three-part series of Q&A segments with county council candidates running in the April 23 election. The revamped three-person council, and the upcoming elections, are the result of revisions to the county charter proposed in 2012 by the Charter Revision Commission and approved by the voters in November. The revisions returned the council to three members elected countywide from “residency districts” comprising San Juan, Orcas and Lopez and their respective nearby smaller islands. Lisa Byers and Rick Hughes are running for the Orcas Island District 2 position. Byers is the director of OPAL Community Land Trust on Orcas. In November, Hughes was elected to councilman position 4, Orcas West. He is also the owner of Ray’s Pharmacy in Eastsound.
Lisa Byers
Sounder: What do you bring to the table that is different from the other candidates and why did you decide to run?
LB: My career has been to serve my community through public service. I have successfully managed a complex nonprofit business that develops real estate for affordable housing. I have used a combination of private and public funds to achieve a public purpose, and I have worked with volunteers as well as paid staff to get the job done. This is similar to the county in many ways. Much of the county council’s work relates to adopting regulations related to land use. I have obtained five land-use permits for sub-dividing properties, and overseen projects that required more than 100 building permits. I understand the frustrations of the permitting process, and I have the experience to help make it better. I have many skills that are the right match for the county council. I have been a frugal manager of budgets – maintaining an organization with less than 6 percent in administration and fundraising expenses during good times and bad. I am a creative and thoughtful decision-maker – gathering the information necessary to make
investments and take calculated risks that have succeeded time and again. And I am a leader who gets the job done – I have repeatedly been elected to serve as the chairwoman or president of volunteer organizations. Sounder: How do you plan to balance the county budget? Do you support renewal of Prop. 1, the voterapproved property tax increase that expires at the end of 2015? LB: It is too soon to make a determination about the renewal of the Proposition 1 property tax increase that was approved in Nov. 2009 by 57 percent of the voters for the period from Jan. 2010 – Dec. 2015. The services supported by that tax increase are important. The tax funds a portion of senior services, the fair, county parks, extension programs, public health, the sheriff and the prosecutor’s office. However, the tax increase was necessary, in part, because of a loss of revenues from other areas. As the economy recovers, it is posSee Q & A, Page 4
Lopez islanders Asha Lela and Tom Reeve joined Sen. Maria Cantwell at the White House on Monday, March 25, to witness President Obama’s designation of a National Monument in the San Juan Islands. Reeve and Lela, both longtime conservationists and environmentalists, were two of many islanders who since 1989 have sought formal protection of many locations in San Juan County. Sally Reeve, also active in the group, told the Journal, “We all worked so hard for this and we’re all happy that the President took this very positive step for our region.” Second Congressional District Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Everett) and U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Seattle) announced March 21 that more than 1,000 acres on dozens of the San Juan islands would be designated as National Conservation Lands by President Obama. Both legislators lauded the efforts of San Juan County residents to convince the President to protect land on San Juan, Lopez, Orcas and nearly seventy smaller islands, reefs and rocks - including lighthouses on Patos, Stuart and San Juan islands. “San Juan islanders have been shouting from the rooftops for years: protect these lands. Well, the President heard our message loud and clear,” Larsen said. The Reeves and a dozen other islanders formed and led Islanders for the San Juan Islands National
2011 Special Award; Second Place: General Excellence from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
Contributed photo / Tom Reeve
Patos Island lighthouse.
Monument to advocate for the project, and several of them in 2012 accompanied San Juan County Councilman Jamie Stevens to Washington, DC, to advance the cause. Supporters urged the President to designate the lands as a National Monument after legislation introduced earlier by Cantwell and Larsen, which would have created similar protection as a National Conservation Area, stalled in Congress. See Monument, Page 3
Home & Garden The Journal’s special Home & Garden section publishes April 17; sales deadline, April 2.