by Jeff Noedel, Journal contributor
In a midday meeting Tuesday, Sept. 17, at Brickworks, Gov, Jay Inslee delighted two dozen attendees by announcing he has ordered $1.5 million in state emergency funds to help the San Juans cope with canceled sailings in the Washington State Ferry system.
On July 22, San Juan County Council Chair Jane Fuller made a big gamble by circumventing WSF leadership and our state legislators and going straight to the Governor with a request for emergency funds.
In the ensuing weeks, the County crafted a request for nearly $1 million to augment and expand private water taxi and small barge services here that spring into action when the inter-island service stumbles.
But by August 21, things looked bleak. The Governor’s Office conveyed to San Juan County leaders that the proposal was not approved. However, the Governor immediately scheduled a trip to Friday Harbor for the following Saturday. In that closed-door meeting, Inslee told the group there was still hope. He said the problem was in how the request was structured. He implied there was a way it could be done but made no promises.
Things got quiet again until Fuller received a call from the Governor’s Office last Thursday. Inslee was coming back, and this time the meeting could be public.
Last Tuesday, Fuller’s big gamble paid off. Inslee came to Friday Harbor with a decision to grant emergency funding in an amount equal to 1-1/2 times the County’s original request.
Building up to the announcement, Inslee told the cross-section of community leaders and media what most already knew: approximately 20 percent of San Juans inter-island trips were canceled in the past five months.
One million dollars will support privately run water taxi, charter, and small barge services when Washington State Ferries cancels service here. The $1 million is coming from an emergency budget maintained by the State Commerce Department.
The use of those funds may contour closely to the proposal the Council delivered to the Governor in early August — crafted this summer by Fuller, and WSF Ferry Advisory Committee Chair Justin Paulsen.
What’s the other $500,000 for?
Additionally, $500,000 will come directly from a budget for emergencies run by the Governor’s Office. That money will fund the extension of inter-island service on weekends throughout the winter. Historically, inter-island service does not run on weekends in the winter. But Inslee — joined by Assistant Secretary for WSF Steve Nevey — explained that extending inter-island service on weekends through the winter will make it a more attractive route for WSF workers, making “the third shift” more attractive. Inslee and Nevey said they believe extending the third shift across the year may lead to more WSF employees who live in the San Juans, which would theoretically reduce cancelations due to crewing.
In total, the $1.5 million emergency funds are $500,000 more than the County proposed this summer. Extending the weekend inter-island service through the winter seemed to catch everyone by surprise, and it was warmly received.
The local audience broke into applause twice during the meeting, and there was a lot of hugging afterward. Local boat captain Tom Bridge was seen hugging Council Chair Fuller after the meeting.
Over the past 13 months, Bridge — a Coast Guard licensed Captain and owner of Island Water Taxi and Rupali Barge — has provided more than 750 passenger trips between islands in his small boat when WSF inter-island service goes down. He charged most passengers $40 per trip; some tourists were charged $60. Toward the end of the meeting, Bridge told the group including the Governor that he had received a phone message asking for a ride at 5:30 p.m. today.
After the meeting, Inslee told SanJuans.Today (formerly known as CNL2), “We figured out a way to do it.” He said it was easier to justify toward the end of the State’s biennial session as some budgets still have balances. He said people in the San Juans have been “totally frustrated, but are also very understanding.”
In a news release distributed after the meeting, the Governor’s office stated, “The funding is available immediately and WSF anticipates the funding will support the supplemental services through next Spring. Continuation will depend on legislators supporting new funding during the 2025 legislative session.”
Research conducted by Community Water Taxi earlier this year found that local residents are comfortable paying $10 per trip, suggesting that a subsidy of at least $30 per trip is needed to keep the cost of the trips from being a burden.
If the $1 million is all spent by the Spring, it won’t just be on that subsidy. A $30 per trip subsidy would pay for 33,334 inter-island trips. Bridge has said he could have served more trips than the 750 over the past year. But not 32,000 more.
The $1 million could last much longer, or it could be spent on additional services. That will be decided at the County Council level.
After last Tuesday’s meeting, one San Juan County Council representative told this reporter, off the record, that the County has no appetite for owning and operating a boat itself. And several County leaders have told this reporter they are already receiving multiple calls from owners of larger passenger boats. They are interesting in bidding to provide charter, water taxi, or small barge services, now that there a significant pot of money is flowing into the County treasury.
