INSIDE Man setting sail to make history A8
RECORD SOUTH WHIDBEY
SAturdAy, JuLy 13, 2013 | Vol. 89, no. 56 | www.Southwhidbeyrecord.com | 75¢
Emerson voted out as county board’s chair By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter
fire and began knocking the flames down. Firefighters beat the flames within 20 minutes using 10,000 gallons of water. Assistant Chief Paul Busch said the crew spent another 40 minutes of “mop up” duty including soaking the burn area to kill any embers hiding in stumps, roots or the grass. The fire happened about 200 feet away from
Island County Commissioner Kelly Emerson is no longer chairwoman of the board. Carrying through with threats made last week, commissioners Helen Price Johnson and Jill Johnson voted to revoke Emerson’s status as chairperson during the final minutes of Wednesday’s work session. “I feel the chair has once again decided to just make her own decision and put out another special session notice,” Price Johnson said. “I don’t believe this is in the best interest of the county, to be on edge wondering what the next thing the chair will be doing.” Price Johnson moved to reconsider chairwomanship of the board and received a second from Johnson. “I am sad,” Johnson said. “We can argue the nuances of what was said and what wasn’t said for this special session, but the direction from this board was clear.” Emerson called the decision “ludicrous.” And in a later interview, she charged her fellow commissioners with fabricating an issue to justify rescinding her position as leader of the board. “I absolutely believe this was made up just to remove me as chair,” Emerson said. On Tuesday, Emerson approved a special session notice that announced the planned attendance of at least two board members at a community meeting Wednesday evening in Freeland. The notice was signed and approved by Emerson, a District 1 Republican. It
SEE FIRE, A6
SEE CHAIR, A6
Ben Watanabe / The Record
Herschel Rostov soaks the charred ground and burned logs at Ray Gabelein Jr.’s property on Bayview Road the morning of July 11.
burn ignites bayview property By BEN WATANABE Staff reporter Four days ago, a pile of wood and brush was set fire on Ray Gabelein Jr.’s property off Bayview Road near the cemetery. Thursday morning, that burn pile sent embers to a nearby pile of creosote-soaked logs that caught fire and ignited a quarteracre of grass, logs, stumps and shrubs. A thick cloud of smoke was visible and could be
smelled at the nearby intersection with State Highway 525. “Embers have been known to stay hot for 10 days,” said H.L. “Rusty” Palmer, fire chief of South Whidbey Fire/EMS. No one was injured by the fire, and no building damage was reported. A total of 16 South Whidbey Fire/EMS personnel responded to the call, originally reported as a structure fire. When Deputy Chief Jon Beck arrived, he reclassified the
South Whidbey residents weigh in on proposed law and justice levy By CELESTE ERICKSON Staff Reporter South Whidbey residents certainly want to see more support for the sheriff, but questioned the proposed $2.6 million from property taxes. Residents contributed ideas for the proposed levy from the Island County Law and Justice Council Wednesday night. Commissioner Helen Price Johnson and Sheriff Mark Brown sought feedback
whether or not this levy should be put on the ballot and if so, what it should look like. About 30 people attended including Commissioner Kelly Emerson. The current proposal asks Island County Board of Commissioners to approve an additional property tax levy to put on the November ballot. The proposed ballot requests $0.21 per $1,000 of the assessed property value, or $52.50 for a $250,000 home to raise the $2.6 million.
Of the $2.6 million request, the sheriff’s office accounts for $2.4 million. Brown said he wanted to gauge what level of service the community wanted from his office. The proposal points out there were cuts of 15 law and justice positions since 2008 while the department still operates the same hours for the sheriff’s patrol and corrections services. The cuts impacted response times for medical first responders and firefighters and removed positions and
proactive operations. “Somehow my agency needs to grow,” Brown said, adding he would like to see two deputies per shift for all three precincts. He explained any less than two creates a long time for deputies respond to other back up calls. Community members voiced their concern over budgeting the amount over the five-year span. Some were concerned unused money used would be redirected to
other programs. “I’m not going to ask for more than I need,” Brown said. Others questioned the leave liability for deputies costing the county. Brown said the leave liability was one of the issues he is working on. Price Johnson later said that the issue was an organizational wide problem. SEE MEETING, A6