Twelve years ago, whenever salmon was on the family dinner menu, I would go out fishing and within a few hours, dinner would be in the boat. I heard many stories about how fishing used to be, before my time, when you could catch dinner in about 10 minutes.
Community Leadership engages citizens in a learning community, working together from January until May, weaving Whole Systems and experiential learning with opportunities to interface with county leaders to explore areas of governance, economics, environment, health/education and art/history and culture.
The Gateway Pacific Terminal will provide short term construction jobs and several hundred operational jobs, but these gains should be evaluated against long-term economic impacts on local, regional and global economic health.
From 2004 to 2011, I served as your county engineer working under both the county commissioner and the current charter-based county council forms of government. Based on this experience, it is my opinion the county council together with a professional county administrator following the charter best serves our needs.
I will be closely following the results of the Initiative 502 concerning marijuana laws. I urge everyone in the county to study that measure and vote. Even if the measure conflicts with federal law, I will use the results to revise my policies regarding the prosecution of marijuana offenses.
I would like to encourage my fellow Lopezians to vote YES for the Lopez Solid Waste Levy, Lopez Proposition No. 1.
On Nov. 6 Lopez residents have a great opportunity as a community to take full responsibility for the solid waste we generate. While evaluating the options for solid waste disposal and recycling in my role with the Port of Lopez, I listened to the desires of many community members.
I am very pleased that San Juan County was granted a scoping hearing for the Gateway Pacific Terminal – the proposed coal export facility outside of Bellingham at Cherry Point. The hearing will be held in Friday Harbor on Saturday, Nov. 3 at Friday Harbor High School (45 Blair Avenue) from 12 – 3 p.m.
I have served on the San Juan County Council for almost four years. Much of this time your county council has dealt with the problems of the past.
A passionate defense for an unrevised charter might make sense if San Juan County residents are satisfied that government has improved in the ways we hoped it would when we voted to make a change six years ago.
I’m writing to express my concern about the Gateway Pacific Terminal proposed for north of Bellingham by Peabody Energy (Peabody Coal) and Seattle-based SSA Marine.
“Save Our Charter” is sure catchy—and rhetorical. It is intended to convince people unsure of the issues that voting yes is a return to the old commission form of government. I don’t buy it. I plan to vote yes for the charter amendments and here’s why.
The suggested changes to the charter provide one thing for each and every citizen of this county—empowerment, and I support all three recommendations. When I was a commissioner, I noticed that few people at the State level took our part-time council member counterparts seriously.
