Record South Whidbey
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Green guide 2014 See...A11
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2014 | Vol. 90, No. 29 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
Hospital board to consider property sale
Langley to vet ethics board at workshop today By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record
By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record
Langley will take another look at its ethics policy implementation Wednesday. The city council, mayor and some members of the original ethics commission plan to specifically address the removal of a standing ethics board. Commission members said they wanted one and encouraged the city to form it. But once it was amended to be part of the city’s governmental structure, such as the Planning Advisory Board, the ethics commission members said that defeated the purpose and told the city to not form one at all. Mayor Fred McCarthy said his recommendation to the city council to strike out the formation of an ethics board was based partly on a misunderstanding and partly because of a difference of opinion. On Monday, however, McCarthy said he planned to go into the 10 a.m. to noon April 9 workshop with an open mind. “There isn’t a simple answer,” he said. “I want to hear what they have to say with a very open mind.” “I just don’t know what the outcome will be,” he later added. “I can operate with an ethics board, or without an ethics board.” A conversation in January — the month when the amendment was proposed — with a representative from the police guild raised several questions for the mayor, he said. There were concerns over confidentiality, the scope and authority of the ethics board and if its members had to pass a background check, he said.
unsuccessfully for someone to step up and join the board. But there are other, more pressing vacancies to address on the board that oversees LangleyWoodmen Cemetery. A top priority is finding a new board chairperson after Marilyn Strong resigned. She served the city’s all-volunteer cemetery board for the past seven
A proposal to sell a 4.5acre Bayview property purchased in 2007 for nearly $2 million would likely result in a financial loss for Whidbey General Hospital, a commissioner said Thursday. According to Anne Tarrant, president of the board, the sale of the property is not a foregone conclusion as the commissioners have yet to make a decision, but she acknowledged that if the board does proceed it would be a hit to hospital coffers. Island County property records list the value of the land at $618,000 at the time of the sale — a $1.36 million difference from the purchase price — and at $595,890 in 2013. Tarrant believes a private appraisal will exceed the county’s estimate, but will not be enough to recover the hospital’s initial investment. “I anticipate it [the property] will not sell for $1.9 million,” she said. “But what that number will ultimately be I’m not certain, should we decide to sell.” The board has scheduled a public hearing at 9 a.m. Monday, April 14, to consider selling the undeveloped property in Bayview, which is located across Highway 525 from The Goose Grocery. Purchased in 2007 from Verlane Gabelein, it was slated as the future site of a new South Whidbey hospital clinic, which was to replace the South Whidbey Rural Health Clinic in Clinton. The hospital also bought in 2007 a $380,000 parcel from Goosefoot that abuts
SEE CEMETERY, A20
SEE HOSPITAL, A20
SEE ETHICS, A20
Jessie Stensland / The Record
Margie Porter, director of Citizens Against Domestic and Sexual Abuse, poses for a photo. She is retiring.
CADA’ s director says adieu ‘She’ s done more in the support of women in this community than anyone else I know.’ — Detective Sgt. Teri Gardner, Oak Harbor police By JESSIE STENSLAND South Whidbey Record Margie Porter sees a side of the Whidbey Island community that is hidden from most residents. As the executive director of Citizens Against Domestic and Sexual Abuse, she’s seen thousands of victims of violence come through the doors. She’s helped women, children and a growing number of men and senior citizens; last year alone, the agency provided services to 1,084 clients. She’s worked with women fleeing abusers who are so dangerous that the victims have to be hidden away in other
counties. She’s aided children who have suffered horrific abuse and neglect. She’s been witness to heart-breaking cycles of abuse, but has also seen people piece their lives back together. Porter will soon be passing the baton to a new director, but her mark on the agency she’s headed for a decade is indelible. “This agency is in a good place,” she said, “and it’s a good time to step down and let some fresh blood come in.” The board of directors have offered the director job to SEE CADA, A14
Langley Cemetery Board vacancies vex officials By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record
Ben Watanabe / The Record
The Langley Cemetery Board is struggling for members.
Langley’s search to fill a vacant seat on the cemetery board seems to have lost all its life. For the past two years, one seat on the seven-member Langley Cemetery Board has gone unfilled. In past city council meetings, City Councilwoman Rene Neff — a cemetery board member for the past eight years — has pleaded