On a Monday morning one year ago, close to 300 Orcas citizens met with the County Council in an overwhelming show of support for the Exchange and a solid waste policy that stressed the importance of waste reduction.

Since then the council has closed two transfer stations, reduced the hours of service, raised the tipping fees and introduced fees for recycling all in an attempt to make up for 28 years of a failed financing policy that relies solely on user fees.

Now, after selling off or otherwise losing control of our local waste infrastructure, they are focusing on a privatization scheme that will all but eliminate self hauling for most of the county and make us even more dependent on long-haul disposal of our waste materials to distant landfills.

If you watch their deliberations on waste policy, it is clear that the council is groping for a solution to a chronic and worsening situation. On one hand they are seeing a continuing flow of red ink from the existing program. On the other hand there is the accumulated evidence of public support for self haul, expanded reduction programs like the Exchange and composting in the form of mass meetings, petitions, SWAC recommendations, public surveys and the Solid Waste Management Plan.

The obvious problem is how can the council satisfy the public’s desire for a more sustainable, locally beneficial policy and pay for that level of service? The answer is they can’t without some sort of community financial support in addition to user fees. The answer is to ask the community if they are willing to finance the programs they say they want. The answer is to explore those programs as thoroughly as a “haul it all to the mainland” privatization scheme and present both options to the public on a ballot. We have had three ballot opportunities in the past year – none have included this issue.

The council is reluctant to depend on the public to solve their – our – dilemma, afraid we won’t support our values with funds. Maybe we won’t, but in a democracy the public deserves the right to decide its future.

There is a public solid waste planning meeting at the Orcas Senior Center on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 3:30 p.m. I urge you to attend.

George Post

Olga