Record South Whidbey
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015 | Vol. 91, No. 7 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
Hospital eyes three for CEO, plans for February decision By MICHELLE BEAHM Whidbey News Group Whidbey General Hospital commissioners decided this week to delay the selection of a new CEO. The board discussed the qualifications of the three finalists behind closed doors during a special meeting Friday morning but then decided to put off a decision until next month. Anne Tarrant, the board president, will continue working with an executive search firm to review the information about the candidates. The three candidates are Geri Forbes, the current CEO
of Doctor’s Memorial Hospital in Florida; Michael Ellis, the CEO at Big Bend Regional Hospital in Alpine, Texas; and Eric Jensen, Forbes the CEO of Valley General Hospital in Monroe, Wash. So far, the only chance for input the community has had in the five-
month process of finding a new CEO were invite-only luncheons hosted over the past couple of weeks; the names of the cand i d a t e s Ellis weren’t released before the events. The board invited representatives from the chambers of commerce, the mayors and officials from such
community organizations as the Good Cheer Food Bank and the Rotary clubs. The current CEO of Whidbey General H o s p i t a l , Jensen T o m Tomasino, put in his notice in the summer of 2014, with a planned exit in October 2015. The extended notice gave the board time to
do a comprehensive search for his replacement, with the help of Kate Kingsley of KL Kingsley Executive Search. It will also give the chosen candidate time to train with Tomasino to get to know the hospital and the communities on Whidbey Island, according to board members. Tomasino has been criticized by the county prosecutor and others for his handling of an investigation into an administrator accused of assaulting a patient and his lack of public transparency. He earned SEE CANDIDATES, A13
Freeland car crash slows traffic, bruises drivers By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record
Ben Watanabe / The Record
First responders from South Whidbey Fire/EMS and Whidbey General Hospital EMS check on Charlie Ray of Greenbank after a car crash on Highway 525 in Freeland on Friday afternoon.
The drivers of a near head-to-head two-car crash in Freeland on Friday both escaped serious injury. Just before noon Jan. 23, Freeland resident Crystal Baker’s Dodge sedan was hit as she was driving north on Highway 525. Eric Ray of Greenbank, driving a Mazda Protege, was southbound on the state route and turned left in front of her toward Harbor Avenue, crashing into the oncoming Dodge. “He didn’t see her and he turned,” said Washington State Patrol Trooper Dave Martin. The impact sent the red sedan into the rocky ditch near Whidbey Island Bank. The white Mazda spun around and stopped
on the highway diagonally across the northbound lane and part of the left turn lane. Baker was transported by ambulance to a hospital for some reported soreness while Ray was taken to his nearby doctor’s office, also by ambulance — both were Whidbey General Hospital vehicles. Martin issued Ray a citation for failing to yield to oncoming traffic, which carries a $175 fine. “Whenever you’re crossing the lane, you have to yield to oncoming traffic,” said Island County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Evan Tingstad, who also responded to the crash. Traffic through the busy intersection in Freeland was diverted as the state patrol SEE CRASH, A7
Langley hits the brakes on funicular plans, goes back to drawing board By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record Langley is scrapping long-held ideas about moving people from the waterfront to the city’s commercial areas. After years of planning for a funicular and, just this past summer, a bridge and elevator, the city council announced at its meeting Tuesday that it was back to the preliminary phase. Mayor Fred McCarthy laid out seven options he envisioned: an elevator, an escalator, a funicular, a trolley on tracks, a trolley
on wheels with an ADA lift, more electric golf carts or nothing at all. “All these options are still on the table,” McCarthy said. “We’re in no hurry,” Councilman Thomas Gill said. “We’ve had this money for 10 years and we’re gonna have it until we give it back.” Gill was referring to $500,000 in grant money from the Island County Council of Governments, and its security was not always so certain. Designated for city use for years, Langley’s former planner had commented in public meetings that he thought the Council
of Governments wanted to see something happen with the money sooner rather than later. Council members’ comments this week marked a major shift from the momentum that was gained last year. In July, a bridge and elevator was proposed by Paul and Pam Schell, who would give an easement on their property for the elevator tower to land and people to walk from the bluff out to Wharf Street and the marina. Public outcry grew after renderings of what the bridge and elevator may look were published by the city’s planning department and later by The Record.
Councilwoman Robin Black, who was appointed to fill a vacancy in May 2014, said the city wants to look at all of its options. “We’re open and want to listen to the feedback,” she said. The funicular project was revived after the bridge was largely rebuked in city meetings. But the funicular, a pod that would move up the bluff on a track, has been on the city’s capital project list for years as a means to move SEE FUNICULAR, A7