Island County Dog Days 2013!

Navy Friendly Transit?

As a member of the Transit Board, I'm pleased that the chair liked my idea to have the Navy come give us a presentation on how we could make Island Transit more "Navy friendly."

We may see a spike in sales tax revenue if we can find a way to get sailors into town easier. Who knows?

They make it work in Kitsap County and it benefits the community there. I hope our Transit Board is willing to give it a try here on Whidbey.

District 3
Monthly Community Meetings start in August

2nd Fridays on Camano!
Come on down to the Diamond Knot at 10am and we can chat over a cup of Joe.

3rd Thursdays at the Chief's Club!
Join me for lunch, or just have drinks at the CPO club by noon.

Quote Corner

"I have not yet begun to fight!"

Captain John Paul Jones responds to being asked about surrendering
his ship, the
USS Bonhomme Richard. 1779

Greetings!

My wish is that you are enjoying your summer to the fullest.

There is so much to do around here this time of year. It can be difficult to prioritize. Whatever activities you choose, remember to stretch first and have lots of fun!

Levy Lid Lift out for vote

The law and justice community/council has convinced us of their need to ask the people to increase the property taxes funding the current expense budget which pays for most of the law and justice activity.

The bulk of the increase would go to the Sheriff for more deputies. The levy amount has been stepped down to reflect an amount that should allow him to regain those numbers of deputies he had in 2008 before the economy tanked. He had originally requested enough to enlarge his force beyond those prior numbers to a level of service he felt more appropriate.

A sunset clause (set to keep it away from election years) was put in place. However, as stated at most of the meetings, it is highly unlikely we will see other revenue sources (sales tax & interest) recover to 2008 levels in the unforeseen future. What that means is while the opportunity to eliminate or reduce the increased levy is present, the likelihood that it will happen is not good.

This concerns me because we are still far from recovery. Some folks have been out of work for years, their unemployment is gone, no insurance. Others on fixed incomes will soon not be able to keep up with inflation.

I would have felt better about this levy had we offered up the conservation futures for a vote and scrubbed the budget for all opportunities. (L&J is currently about 54% of our current expense fund, most counties it's in the 70%'s.)

The Auditor's office has assured me they will hold the commissioners to using the funds as the voters expect. However this is a current expense fund expansion, a fund which the commissioners control, so you'll need to watch your commissioners closely.

Who's on first?

Well, not me anymore, because I had the gall to think independently of a majority of the board once too often.

Yes, I was "put on notice" by newly elected Jill Johnson that she would "remove her vote for me as chair" if I did not start following the wishes of the majority of the board.

Apparently being duly elected by the voters of Island County does not in itself obligate you to the duty of presiding over the commission when it is your turn. No, it seems now-a-days you need to be able to show a majority of the board you can engage in "group think" or "consensus".

Well, why not just have a dictator then? Who needs alternative ideas when we can all just walk together in lock-step?

(The unfortunate thing is this explosive, abusive behavior is beginning to show itself all too regularly at the county campus. This is what makes the conferences I attend, with work-sessions on things like civility, so very valuable. I am becoming concerned for the staff and am working on devising ways to protect them from abuse that may come their way.)

Back to why the chairmanship was taken from me. There were a number of whisperings, "we need a new chair" during work-sessions when I would show dissent. But it escalated when I was going to attend a public meeting in the North Whidbey portion of my district that the Sheriff was organizing about the law and justice levy.

Attending a public meeting, (especially in their own district) is the right of any individual commissioner and a majority of the board has no authority to form consensus and disallow it. That is just what my colleagues claim they did and felt was reason worthy of denying my district supporters their right of chair.

It was suggested to me by a colleague from another county (a functional one) that I reach out to the Attorney General's Office for clarification on commissioner authority, restrictions on special sessions and authority to remove an elected chair.

A message for you.

I want all of you who read this and anyone else who is interested to know that my goal is to serve you, your interests and your concerns as your Island County Commissioner. That has not changed because I am no longer Commission Chair.

Starting next month I plan to have community meetings so I can hear more from you. In the meantime be sure to contact me if you need my help or you have suggestions. Remember, each of our three Commissioners continue to have just one vote each!

It is an honor to serve you.

Sincerely,

Kelly Emerson

Island County Commissioner - District 3