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SATURDAY, JULY 26, 2014 | Vol. 90, No. 60 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
Shoddy accounting results in transit staff cuts, service reduction ‘I take full responsibility for this situation’ — Martha Rose By JESSIE STENSLAND South Whidbey Record A total of 24 employees will be laid off, Saturday bus service is being cancelled and five routes will be eliminated or changed due to financial problems uncovered at Island Transit. Martha Rose, director of Island Transit, fired Financial Manager Barbara Savary in May after she disclosed that the agency didn’t have the money to pay $135,000 in bills. Rose said she was dumbfounded to discover that Savary hadn’t been running the monthly cash flow analysis for years. She said the simple, internal report is not only a vital part of the job, but would have alerted the agency to cash flow concerns long ago. Island Transit is an independent agency overseen by a board of directors. It offers fare-free transit and is funded by a nine-tenths of 1 percent sales tax and grants. The operating budget for this year is $12.2 million. Unbeknownst to her, Rose said, Savary was dipping into investments as expenses outpaced revenues for years on end. Rose said she found unpaid bills in Savary’s desk after she was gone. “We are implementing swift, decisive changes in service to fix the problem,” Rose said. “We expect to come out of the SEE TRANSIT, A24
Justin Burnett / The Record
A beaver lodge sits at the southern edge of Miller Lake, about 30 yards from a beaver dam. Lake levels are on the rise, and along with other impacts, are raising concern among South Whidbey residents.
Whidbey’s beaver population Residents chew on problem, seek county help By JANIS REID South Whidbey Record Some residents believe the county could be doing more about the island’s beaver problem, but the solutions are not always clear cut. “It’s always been an issue and no one really addresses it,” said Karen Krug, owner of the Spoiled Dog Winery farm near Maxwelton Creek. At a recent public hearing on the county’s Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas update, Krug suggested to county commissioners that they make it an obligation for people to manage the beavers on their property. The county’s lack of enforcement on beaver control creates a risk for the people downstream if a dam breaches, and for those upstream as areas flood and overtake valuable farmland, Krug said. Some cases are extreme, such as that of Long Family Farm on Ewing Road, which is located within the Maxwelton valley. Beavers are believed partially responsible for the flooding of more than 40 acres of summer pasture. “We’ve been farming it for 100 years, and it’s always been bone dry,” farmer owner Leland Long said. The flooding may also be the result of unmaintained drainage SEE BEAVERS, A16
Justin Burnett / The Record
Leland Long, of Long Family Farm in Maxwelton, has lost about 40 acres of summer pasture land due to what he believes are the result of beavers. Deterioration of drainage ditches that long helped keep the area dry may also be contributing to the problem. County officials are now considering ways of addressing beaver-created problems.