Council candidates hear from the community

Editor’s note: The League of Women Voters hosted a series of candidate forums last week on Orcas, Lopez and San Juan Island. They were moderated by Steve Bowden and Necia Quast. The events were live-streamed on www.cnl2.com, where there are recordings available. Due to space constraints, your island newspapers chose to report on one of the three meetings.

The candidates running for County Council spoke about critical island issues during the League of Women Voters’ candidate forum on Orcas.

Kari McVeigh and Stephanie O’Day of San Juan are running against each other in District 1 and Rick Hughes and Justin Paulsen of Orcas are facing off in District 2. All San Juan County residents vote on the positions.

Each candidate provided opening statements, answered preselected audience questions and finished with closing statements.

Paulsen spoke about his two decades on Orcas running his construction business and raising a family. He’s also the chair of the Ferry Advisory Committee.

“I want our younger generations and our working class to get grounded here,” he said, calling for a shared vision for the county, which has experienced unprecedented growth over the past four years.

Hughes is a third-generation islander. He and his wife have run Ray’s Pharmacy and Island Life for 20 years. Hughes noted he has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood; Washington Conservation Action; Reps. Alex Ramel and Debra Lekanoff; Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz; Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs; and Senator Liz Lovelett, all of whom he worked with as a County Council member from 2013 to 2020.

“I am very proud and very honored to be endorsed by Planned Parenthood of Washington and Northern Idaho,” he said. “It wasn’t just a ‘send out an application’; I went through a long interview process with them. My wife and I have made Ray’s one of the most forward, pro-choice pharmacies in the state of Washington. We are super proud of that work,” Hughes said. “I am here because I love this community more than anything — besides my wife and son.”

O’Day has lived on San Juan Island since 1991, practicing as a land use and real estate attorney. She’s served clients on all the islands and has been “entrenched” in the county’s departments, particularly with the permitting process.

“I agree with both of you gentlemen [Hughes and Paulsen] that we need to do everything we can in the coming years to protect the island way of life,” O’Day said.

McVeigh has spent 36 years as an administrator in public education. She’s lived on San Juan Island for the past 8 years and is currently superintendent of the Shaw Island School District, the smallest district she’s ever overseen.

“I am running because we need to have a County Council that understands how to balance budgets based on shared values and beliefs,” McVeigh said.

She also listed increasing affordable housing, transparent problem-solving and balancing development with conservation as additional goals if elected.

The first audience question asked what the limits to growth are in the county and how they would be implemented in code.

Hughes said the ferries are an effective regulator of tourism and relocation, and the best way to tackle the issue is with regenerative growth and making fact-based decisions stemming from water capability and power capacity. He said OPALCO has been projecting rolling blackouts over the next decade.

“San Juan County is the canary in the mine for Washington state,” Hughes said.

Paulsen called for equitable growth that accounts for all income levels and stressed the importance of renewable energy.

“Growth is easy if you come here with enough money,” he said.

McVeigh and O’Day echoed the need for analyzing resource capacity. O’Day suggested tidal power was another viable option and that there are already a “plethora of regulations for growth.”

Another audience question asked the candidates how they would restore County services and staffing in the face of current budget limitations.

McVeigh said budgets are “one of her favorite topics” and she’s balanced a $100 million budget.

“You have to inspect what you expect,” she said.

O’Day described the county budget as “out of control” for the population it serves and should be looked at as a business.

“The answer to the budget crisis is not more levies,” she said.

Paulsen said his main focus will be maintaining basic services and that there should be an analysis of costs and impacts.

“There are some things we might not be able to restore,” he said, adding that if a program is of value to the community, it may need to be funded by nonprofits.

Hughes said he would hold community conversations on each island to hear what is most important to residents, which he did during his first year in office. He also clarified that the budget concerns are for the County’s $140 million general fund, 4o-50 % of which is reserve funds — meaning it is not spent. He noted that the Land Bank, rainy day and affordable housing funds all have “a lot of money” in them. While he was on the Council, Hughes said the budget received an AA credit rating, was less than $9 million in debt and built up the rainy day fund.

“We did a really good job, and the interesting thing is that in the last three and a half years, the county manager’s budget has gone up $1 million. … That’s insane,” he said.

The third audience queried ways to transition to a more diverse economy that is less dependent on tourism.

Paulsen noted the importance of the construction industry, particularly combined with renewable energy as well as remote working and training young people in the trades, an effort that is spearheaded by the Economic Development Council.

Hughes said he “doesn’t necessarily think the economy needs to grow” and urged a focus on the middle class. He also spoke to the importance of small-scale manufacturing (citing Island Hoppin’ Brewery and Girl Meets Dirt as examples), renewable energy, construction development and high-speed internet. Hughes said he helped create the joint-use wireless ordinance that the county adopted in 2014, enabling the broader development of wireless infrastructure.

O’Day noted that tourism and construction drive the economy and that there needs to be “more balanced regulation to support construction,” affordable child care so more residents can work and support for agri-tourism.

McVeigh said the economy “is a tapestry, and if you pull one string, it can all fall apart,” and that the County needs to ensure the “tourism we have is the tourism we want.” She also voiced support for agri-tourism and EDC trade initiatives.

On the topic of integrating immigrants into the community, Hughes spoke about both the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Resolution and immigration policy that passed while he was in office during the time of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stops at the Anacortes ferry terminal.

“Whoever lives here is a community member,” he said.

Paulsen said the topic is personal as his grandson is 50 percent Salvadorian, and his son-in-law’s family has refugee status. He applauded the work of San Juan County and is grateful the Sheriff’s Office is not interested in enforcing federal immigration laws. He is currently writing a DEI policy for the Parks and Recreation district, where he is a commissioner. He said it is the first junior taxing district in the county to do so.

McVeigh said, “Diversity is our greatest strength and that means inclusion.”

O’Day said, “I love the Hispanic community. … 8.1 percent of our community is Hispanic.”

When asked if the candidates support the renewal of the Land Bank tax, Hughes, McVeigh and Paulsen all “unequivocally” support it, citing the preservation of natural beauty and financial contributions to affordable housing as reasons. O’Day said she approves of the Land Bank, but it needs to be modified to include more leases for farmers and possibly the transfer of development rights.

In closing, McVeigh said, “I have great hope we can secure the islands’ future.”

Paulsen said, “The people who have endorsed me are your neighbors.”

O’Day said she is a “hardworking member of the community for three decades” who will bring balance.

Hughes spoke of his eight years in government, 20 years running a local business, 20 years in the private sector and 40 years as a volunteer in various capacities.