||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS |||
The following is a statement from San Juan County Councilmember Jane Fuller, District 3:
To my fellow Lopezians and constituents I deeply respect, represent and serve as your elected County Council member for District 3,
I have been a resident of this island since 1978 when the ‘Dump’ was located on Port Stanley Road, where the concept of ‘Take or Leave It’ was first born. Our family were ‘takers’ of treasures for decades before my parents passed away, and we then became ‘contributors’ of treasures. I have always held a deep respect for the values of sustainability, recycling, and giving back to the community that it represents and upholds and I am profoundly appreciative and respectful of the countless volunteers and visionaries who have made our ‘Dump’ an award-winning and model public entity over the years.
When I began my term on Council in January 2023, some of the first Lopez Island community partners to approach me were the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Managing Board of the LSWDD – Pam Stewart and Ross MacDonald. I became aware of the history between LSWDD and the County and the need to broker a better relationship and help solve some long-standing issues. For the last two years, I have been working hard to help the LSWDD and the County arrive at a new multi-year interlocal agreement. Unfortunately, those efforts have been in vain, and we find ourselves in this difficult predicament which I sought to avoid, recognizing fully over the last two years that the County has had its role in contributing to this outcome.
This situation has resulted in the dissemination of false and misleading statements on social media and through press releases, the most erroneous of all being that the County intends to “take over operational control of the Lopez Dump”, and that this effort has been led by me, your council member, and the Director of Environmental Stewardship. There is no intention on the part of the County to take over the Dump or its operations, nor is there any intention to alter the terms of the San Juan County Code Chapter 8.12 and specifically Article III (Solid Waste Disposal District “Lopez District”). This section of the code remains the basis upon which the new draft interlocal agreement has been developed.
Moving forward, it is imperative that the County, including the Governing Board of the LSWDD (i.e., County Council), and the Managing Board put aside their misunderstandings and disagreements and establish acceptable terms for a new multi-year inter-local agreement and budget. This will require professional, respectful, and thoughtful consultations.
I remain optimistic that we will be able to resolve the difficult predicament we are facing at present and finalize a new inter-local agreement that will enable the ‘Dump’ to grow, thrive and meet our goals of sustainability for many years to come.
If you would like to communicate with me directly about this, you can reach me at janef@sanjuancountywa.gov
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Big difference between living here “since 1978” and coming here to visit your family’s vacation home on and off beginning in 1978 and then moving to the islands during the pandemic with your family.
Councilmember Fuller has many fine qualities, but being a long time islander who understands the nuances and intricacies of island culture and politics is not one of them.
She might come to in time, but would be well served by softening her approach, listening more than talking, and coming to embrace the notion that she was elected to serve as a representative of her constituents- not as an “expert” of some kind who has been elected due to her intellect or subject matter expertise.
And I for one am growing weary of the County’s press releases that are well crafted, but often come off as slick, defensive, and are fairly transparent and cynical in their attempt to shape public opinion.
I’d like to speak about the Lopez Solid Waste Disposal District aka the Dump.
Given that none of the County decision makers have intimate knowledge of the dump operations and do not rely on the services of the Dump – they are bound to see everything through a different lens.
A different lens makes it easy to:
Dismiss Randy Gaylord’s (past prosecutor) recent letter,
Dismiss my concerns with these words, “I’m sorry Sandy – but I will not be responding…”
Suggest selling the land where TIOLI (Take It or Leave It) sits without community input,
Use solid waste funds to boost the Environmental Stewardship department,
Refuse to put Solid Waste back into Public Works,
Spend money on a boiler plate plan from Wilson Engineering and pretend to be performing due diligence,
Give more credence to the complaints of your friends and less concern to the 80% of Lopezians who voted for the November dump levy,
It also makes it easy to hide behind the issue of public safety and pretend that the Dump board, staff and volunteers are somehow lacking,
The list goes on. But perhaps most egregious at this juncture is how you all have decided it is fine to sign a new version of an Inter-Local Agreement (ILA) without the signature of LSWDD and claim NOT to be taking over operations of the Dump.
An ILA with one signature is not an agreement – it is a dictate. The sanctity of the managing board must be honored and respected. With all the problems going on on at the County, why turn your attention to meddling in the operations of an award winning, fiscally sound and well managed system?
The Dump has some issues to grapple with and good relations with the County are essential. Since LSWDD took over operations in 2013, Dump/ County relations have mostly been good. We had a supportive and knowledgeable Council, prosecutor, county manager and solid waste was under the Public Works Department. Public Works understood the many issues that came with managing the built environment, transportation, and growing pains on small site. They did not need to fill their work load by taking on operational aspects of the Dump.
Please ask the Council to not sign the ILA with only the county signature. They need to negotiate in good faith between the new council and the Dump board. Extend the ILA for a year. There is no crisis here – except of the County’s own making.
If you care about this issue, it is important to contact the County asking for an extension of the current ILA, and request that the Inter-local Agreement (ILA) be signed by both parties.
Sandy Bishop, Founding LSWDD Board member
WRITE to:
janef@sanjuancountywa.gov
jessicah@sanjuancountywa.gov
cindyw@sanjuanco.com
christinem@sanjuanco.com