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Calling all boats that float See...A10
SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015 | Vol. 91, No. 58 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
Mayoral candidates look to improve commerce, resident inclusion By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record Langley is less than two weeks away from its first mayoral primary in years. The candidates — Tim Callison, Sharon Emerson, and Thomas Gill — each tout vastly different experiences and backgrounds with differing visions of how to move Langley forward and to what future. One of the three will replace Mayor Fred McCarthy, who chose not to seek re-election this November.
T h e mayor’s seat carries a fouryear term, and pays $55,000, not including benefits. Only the Callison top two candidates will progress to the general election, Nov. 3. Here are the candidates and their positions, in alphabetical order.
T i m Callison Callison said he was compelled by friends, neighbors and business owners to enter Emerson the race for Langley mayor. His first foray into public service was applying alongside his wife to fill a vacated city council position.
His wife was selected for the spot, but he’s stayed engaged in city business at council meetings and other Gill civic functions since then. As a full-time mayor, Callison said he would bring his decades of corporate executive leadership to
City Hall. His time as a manufacturing marketing executive taught him, he said, to listen well, understand a group’s vision and future issues. “I’m not a natural with civic politics, but I’m familiar with it in the corporate world,” he said. What Callison described as a surprisingly virulent tone in Langley’s public discourse was one of the main reasons he decided to run for the city’s top seat. SEE MAYOR’S RACE, A3
Three vie for WGH commissioner seat By DEBRA VAUGHN Whidbey News Group Voters have three starkly different candidates to choose from in the race for Hospital District Commission position two. Vocal critic Rob Born and former healthcare worker Rita Drum are vying for the seat occupied by incumbent Georgia Gardner, a certified public accountant. Whidbey General Hospital faces numerous challenges, including a $50 million hospital expansion, rapid changes in health care, a public perception the hospital isn’t transparent and a string of complaints by the nurse’s union. Whidbey News Group staff sat down with the three candidates this week.
Commissioner Helen Price Johnson said. The meeting was organized by Island County Community Planning and Development leaders. The department is working to update the comprehensive plan, which includes work
ROB BORN, a retired attorney, started an investigative blog because the more he learned about the hospital, the more he saw “scandal after scandal.” His beef isn’t with patient care, but with the past administration, which he described as “dysfunctional and then some.” He’s hopeful new CEO Geri Forbes can heal “the hangover” from past leadership. He showed up for his interview in a blue hospital scrub shirt with “Rob Born for Hospital Board” printed on the front. Born is concerned most with the retention of hospital staff. He said it’s time to stop playing politics and create an environment in which employees don’t feel they’ll lose their jobs if they disagree. He also said EMTs, who he claims can make upward of six figures with overtime, are paid too much. “The pay structure is skewed,” he said. “We’re overpaying some people at the top and underpaying some at the bottom.” The hospital needs to improve its reputation and patient satisfaction, and getting the hospital accredited is a way to do so, he said. If elected, Born also intends to visit the hospital weekly and talk with patients. Another plan is, as he puts it, to “quit self-inflicted wounds” by obeying all laws and regulations. As an example, he noted the hospital got dinged recently for not sending its financial information to the state auditor’s office. “It’s easy enough to do,” he said. “The Whidbey Cemetery District does it.”
SEE FREELAND, A19
SEE HOSPITAL RACE, A20
Justin Burnett / The Record
Amanda Almgren, a long-range planner with Island County Planning and Community Development, leads a focus group during a meeting in Freeland Wednesday. The meeting was held to gather public input on new development rules.
Freeland ponders future at planning meeting By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record
Developing rules to guide growth in Freeland was the topic of a public meeting Tuesday, and it did just what it was supposed to — draw a healthy cross section of people with varying views and visions. Area residents, non-area residents,
elected officials, no-growthers, advocates for responsible growth, commercial interests and more were among the many voices present. In all, more than 50 people attended the afternoon meeting held at Whidbey Water Services. Organizers were pleased. “It’s a great turnout,” Island County