As a community member, potential neighbor to the Beaverton Valley Road site, and avid SWAC meeting attender for over three years, I am writing this in response to the latest SWAC meeting — the last meeting before the SWAC recommendation goes out to the County Council for the proposed site of the new transfer station to be built at the Beaverton Valley property. Please educate yourselves to a seldom-printed portion of the history and background of this project by reading my response below.
An arctic storm brought a big freeze to the islands. Our school district faces a $717,000 deficit. Our community and state are caught in the national recession. Businesses are struggling to hold on as islanders tighten their purse strings. It’s easy to be grumpy, what with having to navigate icy roads while worrying about the economy and that IRA and/or 401K. But a neighbor said something to me the other day that set me on a path of realizing just how fortunate we are.
Scientists call it “non-point pollution,” meaning it emanates from sources that aren’t specific or readily identifiable. Oil leaks from automobiles and chemical treatments on lawns are two good examples, swept as they are by rainwater through ditches and storm drains and into the waters of Puget Sound. Another example: the septic systems of shoreline homes, which over time send untreated waste oozing out to contaminate our waterways.
Undoubtedly, the financial situation that the 2009 state Legislature deals with when in goes into session in January will be far more difficult than when those legislators announced their candidacies for office in spring and summer 2008. With the state in a recession, Gov. Christine Gregoire is looking at cutting several billion dollars out of the state budget. The budget deficit could reach $6 billion, some reports stated last week. Education must be a priority, not just for the Legislature but for all of us.
Crumb rubber is messy. It smells. It’s impossible to drive a wheelchair through it to get to the playground equipment. On those points, everyone agrees. And both sides on the issue — parents who want crumb rubber replaced, and the school district which can’t afford to replace it — need to take a breath and realize the lessons here.
Proponents laid out some good reasons Nov. 20 for the town to annex the Buck property. The most compelling argument came from those who said that, without affordable housing, they may have to move off the island. Town residents also gave a compelling argument against annexation — not against affordable housing, but annexation — saying that the cost of adding a proposed 240-home community to the town’s water and sewer systems would boost utility rates to even more unaffordable levels.
Since 1993, the State of Washington has fallen from 11th in the nation for per-student funding to 44th in the nation today. Several recent studies have found that the current shortfall of basic education funding is about $2.4 billion annually.
This annexation, and its companion as proposed by the county, is long overdue. In evaluating this proposal, it is necessary to review closely both the staff report by Mr. Bertrand and an earlier report by county Planning Director Ron Henrickson dated Aug 24, 2007. The latter report projects San Juan Island population growth, as mandated by GMA, that can only be accommodated in the Town of Friday Harbor.
The real issue is, how much is the annexation of free land going to cost the residents of Friday Harbor? Annexation does not make sense. I hope the Town of Friday Harbor seriously considers its actions. Unfortunately, the word I hear on the street, talking to locals and local businesses, is that the deal is already done. I sincerely hope not.
Let’s take a good look at what we can get locally before buying gifts elsewhere. Maybe we should have a “Blue Heron” poster and badges made, like in the 1930s, to show we believe that prosperity, as well as charity, starts at home.
Anticipate revenue to come in lower than expected and budget accordingly. If revenue comes in higher and you have money left over at the end of the year, put that in reserve for future major expenses. Sounds like a good policy for all local governments, not just in lean times but all times.
It seems like only yesterday when I was a kid in Omaha working at the Omaha theater as an usher for the first time and Jimmy Hall, a star halfback on our football team, came in with his mother. I greeted him warmly and the doorman came over when they started forward. “Kindly take the stairway to your right, please,” he said gently. They nodded and started upstairs. The doorman turned to me and said: “Don’t ever forget those words when Negroes come in.”
Tragically, as with many marine species these days, the Western stock is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act and our Eastern stock’s official status is threatened. Steady decline in the populations of these amazingly powerful creatures, who have flourished in these waters for centuries, has been attributed to over fishing and the decimation of habitats that support their food supply. This just happens to parallel with an increase in the population and activities of a two-legged environmental predator who has moved into the region over the last 100 years.
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