Given the possible outcomes of the Nov. 4 elections, locally and nationally, it is indisputable that we will be in need of people in government with a sense of levity, of irony.

It is equally indisputable that, locally, Gordy Petersen is that person.

Please vote Gordy for County Council, San Juan South.

I am also writing in support of the election of Fay Chaffee to the San Juan County Council, Friday Harbor.

Having been involved in assisting the private sector with permit applications for over the past decade and a half, I have come into frequent contact with Ms. Chaffee in her capacity as permit coordinator with the San Juan County Permit Center (now Community Development and Planning).

While requiring that applications meet the standards of the land-use codes, I have always found Ms. Chaffee to be solid in her understanding of the parameters of her job, and flexible to non-rote means of accomplishing it. When assessing a site for proposed development, she has often been able to assist the applicant in developing the project in ways that not only satisfy code requirements, but result in a more aesthetically pleasing and environmentally sensitive result than mere strict code enforcement would provide.

Fay Chaffee’s experience with regulatory mandates, and the often idiosyncratic language in which they are proposed, will make her a valuable asset to the County Council.

Perhaps if we had had someone of her experience in place, the county would not be in the process of trying to extricate itself from stormwater policies, which it adopted and has been trying to implement for the past 15-plus years, that were designed for the King County urban area.

Please elect Fay Chaffee, San Juan County Council, Friday Harbor.

Donna P. (Pauli) Gavora
Friday Harbor