Biography
Scott Lancaster and his wife of 25 years Therese own and manage Ace Hardware in Eastsound. They have lived on Orcas since 1992 and raised two children on the island. Lancaster has been on the Orcas School Board for seven years. His term expires in November 2013, but if he wins the council election, he will resign. He has also been a Kiwanis member for 35 years and on the San Juan Builders Association for eight years.
Sounder: Why are you running for this position?
SL: I have worked in, for or owned a small business my whole life.
In my 20 years living on Orcas Island, I have owned Ace Hardware and been the vice president/general manager of Island Hardware and Supply. I have been a member and president of the San Juan Builders association. I have served for seven years on the Orcas School Board, been a 20-year member of Kiwanis, very involved with my family in 4-H and coaching the kids’ sports. All of this has prepared me for the challenges of the county council and given me the perspective of how their actions affect the citizens of this county.
I believe that I have developed a unique skill set that will help me in solving the challenges of the budget, land use, solid waste, building department and the hiring/management of an effective county administrator. I’m prepared to serve all the citizens of San Juan County!
Sounder: How do you plan to juggle this position with your full-time business?
SL: I’m very fortunate that my wife, Therese, is also the owner of Orcas Island Ace Hardware and has worked at the store since day one. She is more than capable of managing the business while I’m fulfilling my council commitments and responsibilities. We are also fortunate to have a great staff that will also help us. As past and current council/commissioners have told me, you just get into a routine that works for both jobs. We have had my seven years on the school board to practice this and we have made it work.
Sounder: What are the greatest concerns currently facing the county?
SL: Jobs, the budget, Critical Areas Ordinance and Shoreline Master Plan and implementing the solid waste plan are my greatest current concerns.
Sounder: What are your solutions to these problems?
SL: Jobs, the budget and the CAO are all intertwined. For the past 20 years, the construction industry has been the driving force of a healthy county budget, jobs and our middle class. We have to have sensible and reasonable planning rules that encourage more in the future. We need a culture change in the building/planning department from one that is adversarial to one that is advocacy. The cure for these problems is not to shut down building and growth but to have reasonable development expectations. I’m very concerned that if ALL parties are not given a voice in the CAO/SMP regulations, we will find ourselves spending money from the budget, that we don’t have, defending a bad plan. I believe my record shows that I have been able to get people of not of like minds together and find solutions, and I can and will do that at the county council.
I will support local control of our solid waste facilities similar to what has happened on Lopez. The potential for local jobs is great. We need to recycle and reuse as much as possible and the exchange and its board are the best ones to do this in the future.
Sounder: What are the strengths and weaknesses of our current government?
SL:The separation of powers, the representation of “one person one vote” from six equal population districts, ability to have committees of more than one, the referendum process and having a skilled professional county administrator running a $40 million enterprise are at the top of the list of strengths.
I would prefer that there were an odd number of members (five or seven) there should be another charter review in five years not 10, the council should be involved in the hiring and review of all nonelected department heads, these are weaknesses that can be fixed.
Editor’s note: Richard Fralick, council position #4, is not running for re-election.
