Record South Whidbey
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SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2014 | Vol. 90, No. 20 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
Proposed fair PDA: how it works, what it is
Swanson reigns supreme
Fair management would be independent from county
By MEGAN HANSEN Whidbey News Group
nothing in between. The incident resulted in Doug Coutts, executive director of the parks district, calling the Island County Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 27. Swanson was issued a trespassing citation which came with a one-year ban from the parks properties. Had the ban been upheld, Swanson would have been forbidden from coaching soccer which he has done for the past eight years. It also may have meant he would not have been able to watch his high school-age son play. About 30 people crowded the district’s meeting room, with a handful of South Whidbey High School soccer players lining the back wall. Ten people spoke in support
The fate of one of Whidbey Island’s long-standing festivals is up in the air. Whidbey Island Area Fair’s date change to the end of July conflicts with Greenbank Farm’s annual Loganberry Festival and prompted Greenbank Farm and Port of Coupeville officials to cancel this year’s event. “We’ve suspended Loganberry because the world has changed around us,” said Greenbank Farm Executive Director Judy Feldman. “We’re simply responding to a change. This is a sad day for us.” The conflicts from the fair’s date change were various, Feldman said. It wasn’t one exact thing that caused the cancellation. A big factor was both events showcased 4-H groups; the members would have to choose between events. Other considerations were vendors, sponsors and volunteer time. “This will be a chance for us to find out how important the festival is to people,” Feldman said. Before making the decision to suspend the event, Feldman said farm and port officials looked at every possibility, including moving the date, but could not find one that would work. Greenbank Farm is run by a management group, and the contract for that group is coming up for review next year. Feldman said while the festival is suspended this year, she’s not sure what the future
SEE SWANSON, A12
SEE FESTIVAL, A20
By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record The Island Event Center Development Authority, the proposed name for the agency that would own and operate the Island County Fairgrounds, would have near autonomy from the county. As part of the proposal to overhaul the fairgrounds in Langley over four phases and 10 years, Island County would create a public development authority, a quasipublic agency tasked with managing the property and its facilities. Island County would transfer ownership of the 12.8 acre fairgrounds to the authority, effectively removing public ownership, according to members of the steering committee that developed the proposal. Some notable public development authorities include the Pike Place Market in Seattle and the Woodland Park Zoo, both of which were once city-run spaces. “They’re a good vehicle to use when you’ve got a good public asset,” said Paul Schell, a member of the steering committee and owner of the Inn at Langley. Schell was also the mayor of Seattle from 1998 to 2001 and worked with prominent public development authorities. “The county is not in the business of running fairs,” SEE FAIR, A20
Loganberry Festival scrubbed due to conflicting fair dates
Ben Watanabe / The Record
Terry Swanson pleads his case to the South Whidbey Parks & Recreation District commissioners Thursday night. He was issued a one-year ban for trespassing after parks staff said he refused to relocate and ignored their request to stay within a designated area. Swanson said the area was too small and it made more sense to rotate field use.
Parks board reinstates soccer coach’s privileges By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record Calling it regrettable and a misunderstanding, the South Whidbey Parks & Recreation District commissioners unanimously voted Thursday night to lift a one-year parks ban on Terry Swanson. The parks district banned Swanson after he refused to relocate an informal training session in late February to another field at the Sports Complex. It was quite a scene at the typically quiet parks office as the public hearing quickly turned into a battle between a perceived restriction to park access by soccer players, parents and coaches. Before the vote was cast, Swanson walked out saying they were going to vote how they’d vote, but he wanted them to give him a full one-year ban or lift it —