Island Scene
Theatre celebrates 25th anniversary with blast from the past
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Guest Column
page 23
page 7
Don’t be misled; campaigns cloud real issues in the search of facts for decision on I-522
Special report: Fight of a lifetime
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Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, October 23, 2013 Vol. 106 Issue 43
of the San Juan Islands
www.sanjuanjournal.com
Q & A: council candidates reply
Got spirit? Yes, they do
Ghatan, Shildneck square off in November By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter Journal photo /Scott Rasmussen
Friday Harbor High School juniors, Class of 2015, took top honors at the 2013 annual Homecoming Parade, winning Best Use of Purple & Gold, Best Enthusiasm and Best Overall.
Council weighs pot law Proposal would limit retail sales to small strip along Mullis St. By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter
The usual brief and methodical Friday Harbor Town Council meetings were replaced Oct. 17 by a fast-paced day working on a full agenda and visiting with a contingent of County Council members at a joint session. After excusing another absence by town Councilman Felix Menjivar (his eighth straight since the primary election), the council
jumped into the two-page agenda at the usual noon and 5:30 p.m. meetings. The agenda was jammed with two ordinances, three resolutions, the 2014 town budget, the lodging tax grant recommendations, a joint meeting with the San Juan County Council, a thank you from Lynn Danaher for the council’s support of the “highly successful” first annual Friday Harbor Film Festival, and a public hearing on where a marijuana store could be located in the town. The marijuana zoning ordinance, part of the late afternoon council session, attracted the most public interest, especially when town planning chief Mike Bertrand said a marijuana retail
store would probably be limited to a strip along Mullis Street, from the Technology Building to Browne’s Home Center. The council expects to pass the ordinance in the coming few weeks so that interested pot entrepreneurs can apply for the coveted license for San Juan Island. Orcas and Lopez islands are also slated to be licensed for one store each under regulations implementing initiative 502, the voter-approved measure which legalized recreational use of marijuana for adults in Washington state. The first agenda item of the day, however, was an ordinance amending the 2002 Town of Friday Harbor Comprehensive See Law, Page 4
Town council candidates Matt Shildneck and Farhad Ghatan answer five questions from the Journal. Winner of the Nov. 4 election will replace Felix Menjivar on the council. Council members receive $400 per month plus $50 for each council meeting attended. The fiveperson council, elected at-large to four-year terms, approves the town’s annual budget, are ex-officio members of town advisory committees, represent the town at official functions and meetings and enact ordinances, which become part of the municipal code.
Town council candidate: Matt Shildneck
Journal: Why do you want to serve on the town council? Shildneck: I decided to run for this seat because I didn’t want to see the incumbent run unopposed, and I felt that I could do a better job. I am a current member of the Historic Preservation Review Board and Planning Commission. I love this town and island, this place has been my home for
2011 Special Award; Second Place: General Excellence from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
30-plus years, my daughters are sixth-generation islanders, and I want to do my part to help keep this place special for them and their children. As an electrician I have worked with town employees See reply, Page 4
Celebrating the contributions business women have made on San Juan Island Published by the Journal of the San Juan Islands A percentage of proceeds from this supplement will be donated to Soroptimist International of Friday Harbor (SIFRI) for the Cancer Treatment Transportation Project in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Jackie Hamilton at the helm of Island Air By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
I
t’s mid-morning in mid-autumn and the skies over Friday Harbor are crystal clear. But out in the distance a thick bank of clouds stretches low across the horizon and the phones lines are abuzz in the headquarters of Island Air. The low ceiling has grounded flights elsewhere in the islands and people who had hoped for a quick hop from here to there are calling Island Air to see if Jackie Hamilton might be able to step in and get them to where they want to go. It’s not how Hamilton, owner, president and director of operations of Island Air, expected to start off the day, but that’s pretty much par for the course. “The schedule you have when you show up in the morning is almost always completely different from what it turns out to be when you leave for the day,” says Hamilton, who started the San Juan Island-based chartered air carrier from scratch 21 years ago. “You have to be adaptable.” An ability to adapt has helped Hamilton to turn a fledgling business into a solid and successful aviation company over the past two decades. She’s learned a few other helpful hints along the way. Like it helps if your endeavor involves something you truly love. But don’t expect that that will make it any easier, so be prepared to give it all you got.
“If you’re looking to give it a minimum amount of effort or a minimum amount of work, it won’t fly,” she said. You might say that Jackie Hamilton was born to fly. The daughter of a commercial airline pilot, she got bit early by the flight bug, See SKY, Page 14
Women in Business A 12-page pullout section with profiles, features, and advice.