Record South Whidbey
INSIDE
Día de los Muertos See...A10
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2014 | Vol. 90, No. 85 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
Former transit chief gave herself raises, audit revealed
Regional education chief to help in director selection
By JESSIE STENSLAND South Whidbey Record Reports by the Washington State Auditor’s Office lays the blame for financial problems at Island Transit squarely at the feet of the five-member board. But the real bombshell concerns Martha Rose, the former director, who took vacation without deducting it from her vacation balance, but will receive $116,000 in a severance package that included $88,000 for her unused vacation balance. A team from the Washington State Auditor’s Office announced three official findings in the exit conference Friday morning largely attributable to lack of oversight. No misappropriation of public funds were identified, they emphasized. The cause of the current financial crisis, which led to service cuts and layoffs of 21 workers, was poor monitoring of finances by the board, one report states. The audits also identified $100,000 in questionable costs associated with a federal grant — including the construction of gazebos — which could have financial consequences. “Noncompliance with the grant requirements may require the transit authority to return all or a portion of this money to the grantor,” Audit Supervisor Jenny Lofton said. Rose received regular raises without board approval; her performance hasn’t been reviewed since 1996; she took leave without deducting it from her leave or vacation balance; and she claimed to go on two-week conferences SEE ISLAND TRANSIT, A20
By KATE DANIEL South Whidbey Record
said the amount she raised was no accident, but the result of steps she took months ago as a political newcomer who was about to start down the trail of her first campaign for public office. “I actually went to some classes, learning how much to budget and
Unable to reach a decision themselves, South Whidbey School Board directors are now looking to the region’s top education official for help in selecting a new member. Jerry Jenkins, superintendent of Education Service District 189, an area encompassing 35 public school districts and several private schools in Island, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom counties, will attend a board meeting early next month and interview Freeland residents Jordan Nelson and Julie Hadden, both of whom are vying for the interim school director position vacated by Fred O’Neal earlier this year. The decision to bring in outside help was due to a stalemate among directors during a board meeting on Wednesday to select O’Neal’s replacement. Both candidates were interviewed in public, beginning with Nelson, a 20-year employee of Washington State Ferries and president of the South Whidbey Youth Football League. Nelson noted that his wife is the niece of current board member Damian Greene, a fact board members and the superintendent had been made aware of prior to the interview. Nelson acknowledged that he has had no prior experience in education but noted that, as a youth sport coach and parent of two current
SEE CONTRIBUTIONS, A11
SEE SCHOOLS, A9
Ben Watanabe / The Record
Tom Trimbath takes a whiff of weed at Whidbey Island Cannabis Company on the recreational marijuana store’s first day of operation Friday.
Marijuana at last Whidbey’s first retail pot store finally opens By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record
hidbey Island’s first legal sale of recreational marijuana occurred Friday. Tom Trimbath, a South Whidbey blogger, was the third paying customer at Whidbey Island Cannabis Company, which opened at about 11 a.m. His wait was a long one, as he was initially at the store in July when news first broke that the shop received one of the first licenses issued in Washington. Local permitting headaches delayed the opening three months, and Trimbath was back Friday, camera around his neck to shoot pictures for his blog, and money in his pocket to make a purchase which he planned to use in cooking. “It will be an interesting experiment,” said Trimbath
after sniffing the two strains available: blackberry Kush and purple Afgani. Whidbey Island Cannabis Company owner Maureen Cooke received her occupancy permit from Island County minutes before the 11 a.m. grand opening Oct. 24. She expected the first day to be “a zoo.” “I can breathe now,” said Cooke, Cooke after the first few transactions — all in cash. As a few people lingered outside the frosted doors before 11 a.m., Cooke asked her employees if they were SEE POT STORE, A11
Candidate contributions, expenses revealed By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record If money makes a difference in races for political office, then it appears Island County District 3 Commissioner candidate Karla Jacks will have a hefty advantage over challenger Rick Hannold in next month’s general election. According to the Washington
Public Disclosure Commission, the state agency that monitors campaign contributions and expenditures, Jacks, a Camano Island Democrat, has amassed a war chest of nearly $39,000. That stacks up to just $2,500 raised by Hannold, a North Whidbey Republican. In an interview with the South Whidbey Record Thursday, Jacks