An election forum hosted by the League of Women Voters on Oct. 5 gave candidates and interested parties a chance to air campaign intentions and assess pros and cons of various measures on the November ballot.
Port of Orcas Commissioner 2
Gary Abood and Dwight Guss are both running for the position of Port of Orcas Commissioner 2.
“I’d like to see a little more ‘putt-putt aviation’ and a little less expansion,” Abood said. He said he favors “more traditional management” of the port, opposing any involvement with trash or the county dock. Abood said with the port’s current savings account of $500,000, he doesn’t see any reason to continue taxation at current rates.
Guss’s statement cited his eight years of regular port meeting attendance, understanding of the community and experience as a mercy pilot, and said his goal is maintenance of a safe airport.
Port of Orcas Commissioner 3
Sheldon Gregory and incumbent Al Edwards are running for the position of Port of Orcas commissioner 3. Edwards’ statement cited his extensive flying experience of 15,000 hours that began in 1952, and said he opposes “Through the Fence” fees required by the FAA.
Gregory cited his experience in corporate financial oversight and recent part-time work at the airport, and said he can be objective as he is neither a pilot nor an airport neighbor. He also said the port could need to secure future sources of funding if current FAA funding levels drop.
Eastsound Sewer and Water District Commissioner 5
Incumbent Rollie Sauer faces challenger Roger Adams for the position of Eastsound Sewer and Water District Commissioner 5.
“I’m running because I tried to initiate change from the outside, and I was ignored,” said Adams, an OPAL resident who has resisted the district’s decision to require all the homeowners in his development to connect to the sewer. He cited a degree in technology and said he wants to improve septic treatment beyond “dumping” effluent into Puget Sound, mentioning wetlands as a possible solution.
Sauer said advanced septic treatment technology is “very expensive” but that he would work toward reducing harmful entities in wastewater effluent discharged to North Beach waters. In order to improve technology, added Sauer, “We are going to have to expand” to more property. He said the district just won a state award for its excellent quality of effluent, saying, “we are now way beyond current requirements.” Adams replied that current requirements don’t measure pharmaceuticals, and are “way behind where we should be.”
Proposition 1: San Juan County Land Bank excise tax renewal
Harvey Himelfarb spoke in favor of Proposition 1, the Land Bank excise tax renewal, and Ron Whalen spoke in opposition.
“We are now at 30 to 50 percent of buildout,” said Himelfarb. “Imagine what it will look like at 100 percent buildout” if the county stops setting aside land. He said of Orcas Island’s 77 miles of shoreline, only one mile is public access, and said the land bank would continue to add shoreline lands for public use, stopping when residents decide the land bank has preserved enough.
Whalen said that 3,580 acres of land in San Juan County are already exempted from taxes, putting the burden on the other property owners to shoulder the total taxes needed.
“As we reduce more from the tax rolls, somebody’s gotta pick it up,” said Whalen. Himelfarb said the additional cost to other taxpayers as a result of the land bank’s prior 21 years of purchases is about two dollars per $100,000 in assessed value, or $10 for a $500,000 property.
San Juan County Assessor Charles Zalmanek could not confirm the numbers, saying an accurate calculation would be extremely complex, taking at least a week. He said the land bank owns 3,198 acres outright.
Read more about this issue here.
Proposition 2: San Juan County solid waste parcel fee
George Post spoke in favor of Proposition 2, the solid waste parcel fee; Frank Stratton spoke in opposition.
Post said the parcel fee is an opportunity for the county to change from its current volume-based system and start focusing on waste reduction instead.
“If properly managed, solid waste could bring in $375,000 per year” beyond operating expenses,” said Stratton, who has taught solid waste management at the university level in the past. He said the parcel fee charges each single family homeowner $100 regardless of the number of occupants, saying, “pay as you throw” is the only fair way to charge.
“You’re being asked to pay taxes for the next 15 years to provide money the county does not need if solid waste were managed properly,” said Stratton.
Under Plan B, said Post, “San Juan Sanitation would be the only people left to take anything anywhere,” adding, “You may lose the Exchange in that situation.”
More in-depth coverage of this issue is online here.
Resolution No. 2011-09: one-year, $900,000 capital levy for Orcas Schools repairs
Orcas Schools superintendent Barbara Kline spoke on behalf of Resolution No. 2011-09, a one-year $900,000 capital levy to pay back debt incurred for repairs to the 1949 elementary school’s heating and plumbing systems. The rate is 28 cents per $1,000 in assessed value, or $140 for a property valued at $500,000.
Kline said the school board incurred the debt in order to take advantage of a use-it-or-lose-it $900,000 matching grant that required repairs to be done by spring 2012, before the school could pass a $900,000 levy measure. Instead, the retroactive funding measure would repay the debt borrowed in order to accept the grant and make the repairs over the past summer.
“We now have clean water; we have warm classrooms; we have toilets that flush,” said Kline. “The project came in on time and under budget.” She said it seemed better to ask voters for $900,000 to repay the loan now, than to ask voters for $2 million to foot the repair bill next year, without the aid of the grant.
A statement against the measure written by Chris Butler and Mel Shapiro read, “It is time to cut up the credit cards; keep the budget under control. Reject project slush funds. Stop irresponsible borrowing. Vote ‘no’ on the capital project levy.”
San Juan County Charter Review Commissioners
Running for the four District 4 charter review commissioner positions are Ed Sutton, William (Bill) Appel, Robert (Bob) Gamble and Ralph Gutschmidt.
Competing for three District 5 charter review commissioner positions are Leonard Wood, Moana Kutsche, Linda Tretheway and Stephen Garrison.
Uncontested candidates
Uncontested candidates on the ballot are Janet Brownell and Jim Sullivan for the Orcas Island School District board of commissioners, Barbara Bedell for the Orcas Island Fire and Rescue board, Brian Ehrmantraut for the Port of Orcas board, Vicki Vandermay and Martha Farish for the Orcas Park and Rec District board, and Dave Lowry for the Eastsound Sewer and Water District board.
Data to vote by
Ballots will be mailed on Oct. 21, and must be post-marked by Nov. 8 in order to be counted. Mail-in registration changes must be made by Oct. 10; in-person registration deadline is Oct. 31.
Drop-box locations are available online at: http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/sanjuan/Pages/default.aspx. For more information, contact the San Juan Elections Office at 378-3357, at 55 Second St., Suite A or PO Box 638, Friday Harbor, WA 98250, or visit elections@sanjuanco.com.
