As mayor of Friday Harbor, I endorse candidate Howie Rosenfeld for re-election to the San Juan County Council.

Yes, Howie is my husband, but more importantly he gets it about us town folk. He has an inspiring passion for our town. He has successfully run a small business in Friday Harbor for nearly 25 years. He fights for decent ferry service. He fights to protect our fragile environment since he knows it keeps our home beautiful and our economy stable. Howie has fought to protect this town as its fire chief and as a town council member. Howie has got the breadth of experience and the love for our town needed to effectively represent our interests at the council table.

Howie also gets that this current election season should not be a single-issue campaign. Howie’s opponent has been campaigning on the county’s Critical Areas Ordinance as his primary, maybe his only, issue. But the CAO is simply not a critical issue for town residents.

Town residents are faced with way more pressing concerns than how the CAO will affect county residents.  Concerns like ferry service, solid waste, cooperation on the water transmission line and a county connector road to support affordable housing and ease traffic on town streets. These are issues about which Howie clearly and routinely demonstrates his deep understanding and ardent activism.

In addition, at a recent candidate meet ‘n’ greet for Howie sponsored by the Democratic Party, Howie’s opponent demonstrated that he did not grasp the most basic facts about the town such as the location of its physical boundaries. As mayor, that worries me — it should worry you, too.

I am proud of the hard work Howie puts into county-centric issues such as the CAO. But I am even more proud of how hard he works to ensure his town constituents are effectively represented.

As mayor of Friday Harbor, as a town citizen, and as Howie’s wife, I can state unequivocally that Howie is who we town residents need to represent us at the county council table.

Carrie Lacher, Friday Harbor