||| FROM VICTORIA COMPTON for ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL |||
Economic Development Council (EDC) invites island business owners, workers and residents to participate in a survey regarding Washington State Ferries service disruptions this past summer. Islanders are invited to participate in the survey here: forms.gle/uzXU6vy3tujUyuSR9
Anecdotal information and data derived from the survey will be used to better understand economic and other impacts from ferry service disruptions, and will allow us to advocate for our most important transportation link.
For more information, please visit sanjuansedc.org/ferry-survey-2021, or contact the EDC at info@sanjuansedc.org or 360-378-2906.
Our mission: The San Juan County Economic Development Council (EDC) strives to support small rural enterprises, and conduct projects to stimulate new job creation, strengthen the economic base for working families, and support overall quality of life for islanders.
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I did the survey. it was geared primarily toward tourism-based businesses and did not really take into account the the impact of covid-19, in all its aspects, on the ferry system – including economic collapse caused by the earlier lockdowns and the over-booked reservation system due to over-promoting year-round tourism clogging the reservation system; and now, the vaccine mandates and how they are impacting the economy and millions of lives.
The survey was not geared to account for covid and climate-change-influenced increasing numbers of visitors, year- round (due to school closures, remote tele-businesses and appointments, dot-com-ers who can live and work anywhere, ETC.). There was little about impacts on regular folks trying to get themselves or their animals to the mainland for doctor’s or vet’s appointments or emergencies. It was either/or- you had to choose solely positive OR negative impacts, unless you answered “other” – then you could add a little nuance and include both positive and negative impacts. Even then, it seemed to be all about tourism-based businesses.
So… how can we take the survey seriously, or consider it to accurately assess anything? It doesn’t consider the covid 19 lockdown ‘refugees’ who have flocked here from urban centers since March 2020 to ‘get away’ from covid, the unceasing influx of BOTH vaccinated and unvaccinated visitors bringing covid here from outside the area or even the country if they flew. We never had a ‘winter’ here in terms of ridership since covid.. 2020 and 21 data should be completely thrown out in terms of assessing anything accurately, considering the lockdowns and closed businesses.
The ferry disruptions are in part caused by covid-19 illness. They are in part due to workers in this over-priced area not being able to find or afford housing in the areas close to the ferry runs. They’re also in part due to the over- authoritarian vaccine mandates to ferry workers and medical/government/public sector jobs, many of whom have little to no direct close contact with the public. The survey doesn’t consider the whole contentious can o’ worms that is opening up for communities across the globe, and the economic and social destruction caused to millions of lives when people are losing their income, their housing, their so-called community of ‘friends’ for not choosing the shot.
It’s the elephant in the living room; we’re in a pandemic – and no one knows the truth of what is happening in terms of covid, or how to deal with it. People are right to doubt and resist mandates for experimental injections.. Mandates never work, especially in a situation of constant fearmongering, divisiveness, and abuse, such as we have now.
To threaten ferry workers and other public-sector dedicated and skilled workers with firings, no unemployment or health benefits if they get fired, and worse, is to spit in the faces of the frontline workers who have tirelessly worked for us all through this pandemic, and who are now throwaway people. When people parrot the propaganda “they had a choice,” I have to call out the coldness and blame in that response, from supposedly compassionate people. What choice is more important than responsible sovereignty over our bodies? Masked or unmasked, vaccinated or not, ALL of us can carry and spread covid 19. Apparently, commonsense is in short supply. I hope this survey gets a do-over. You may think some of this is off topic; but this IS the topic.
Expect many more delays, disruptions, and supply-chain breakdowns.