Council Woman-to-be Meets Orcas Public

Patty Miller entertains public debate as she conetmplates representing Orcas Island at the County Council

By Carol Kulminski

Patty Miller has a strong desire to listen to how people feel about the issues that effect Orcas Island. “My biggest challenge is hearing from the silent majority.”  In a meeting held Sunday, Oct. 17 at the Eastsound Fire Hall, this majority was definitely heard.

Patty demonstrated in words and actions how she intends to interact with citizens when she is elected as the East Orcas District county council member. (She is running unopposed for the Council seat being vacated by Gene Knapp). She demonstrated that she can bring structure to the decision making process and have dialogues on the diversity of issues.

“I want to hear from as many of you as possible,” Miller said and encouraged people to inform her about “any topic that is not on my radar screen.”

Miller created an atmosphere in the room that was friendly and welcomed discussion. Chairs were placed in a circle, coffee was brewing, and plates of cookies ready for the participants who arrived. At the door, Toni Hermansen had people sign-in, take hand-outs, and hold on to 4 large dots and 12 small dots.

A relaxing atmosphere ensued and Patty began by explaining the 18 issues that were posted in the front of the room. For an hour, participants listened patiently, many of them long-time residents that remember a day when things were simpler and people had more faith in their local government.

Patty asked each person to help her prioritize her time and energy by showing her what issues were most important to them. She did this by asking the group to get up and go to the posters with their dots. The group was reflective as they placed large dots on the headings and small dots on the subheadings relating to key issues facing residents.

It did not come as a surprise to Patty that the highest priorities were:

1. Critical Areas Ordinance
2. Solid Waste
3. Budget Crisis
4. Shoreline Management

She also asked the audience to prioritize what services were essential to them by individually filling out a form with 15 community services that will need to be assessed in the future. Given the budget crisis, there will be decisions that the council will have to make concerning whether to keep, reduce, or eliminate services now being provided.

When asked if there were any questions, Patty engaged in a lively discussion over curb site pick-up versus the current disposal of recyclables and garbage to generate some creative problem solving and address some of the solid waste funding issues.

In another discussion, one participant came to her defense when she endeavored to explain why the Critical Areas Ordinance was different in some respects, but sometimes the same, as the Shoreline Management requirements. According to a participant, this issue seems to be mired down in vague regulations and hard-to-understand policies between state, local, and environmental agencies.

Patty also listened to advice given to her from people at the meeting about how to be a good council member:
“be skeptical about the goofiness” (regarding unnecessary regulations),
“think proactively about the future and don’t get stuck in the past”
“don’t act like citizens’ time doesn’t matter”

One question that Patty may not have expected, but certainly was on everyone’s mind after the sharing of all the challenging issues facing the county council, was “Why are you taking this on?” Patty smiled and pressed on to the next question and you remember something she said at the beginning, “I love to solve problems!”