Editorial: Everybody Look What’s Going Down

There’s a new sense of self-rule in the air: a practical, clear-eyed sentiment that is a double-edged sword.

Historical documentation proves that when Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address, he emphasized – three times – the word “People” in his concluding phrase: “That government of the PEOPLE, by the PEOPLE, for the PEOPLE, shall not perish from this earth.”

Nationally, our dismay and cynicism has grown as we see our government representatives and officials  work not for the people but to benefit their organization or their cronies. But locally, the pendulum is swinging toward public ownership of our problems and government accountability for them; of monitoring our elected representatives to serve in the public good.

Some examples:

• The decision in 2009 by the County Council to have the voters decide if they will support social services by a six-year levy dedicated to specific programs. Voters approved the levy;
• The decision in 2011 by the County Council to distill the solution of waste/disposal funding into two basic alternatives;  either private or government (county) funding. Voters chose to get the county out of the garbage business;
• The initiative in 2011 of the Eastsound Planning Review Committee to formulate and use a checklist to monitor the county’s permitting and plan review process. This procedure highlights and keeps the heat on the issue of county staff communications with Eastsound/Orcas Island planners and developers; the EPRC will also put a proposal before the County Council to authorize public garbage cans in Eastsound — a small but decisive step towards local health,  commerce and responsibility;
• The emergence of an “Occupy Orcas”  and “Orcas Community Council” groups that convene the “un-officials”  to speak for those who have found “official” government representation to be inadequate;
• The respectful, but decisive, spirit of the Charter Review Commission to define and address the inadequacies and failures of the decision by voters in 2005, to replace the “code” form of county government with a charter.

Maybe it comes from our small populations, where government decisions have an immediacy to them; maybe it comes from our intimacy with our natural environment that makes us more protective of our lifestyle; maybe it’s the arc of time that leads to increased citizen involvement in representative government. But people are having no more of “let George do it” as government impact is felt right in their back yard. Sometimes that responsibility is expressed in angry, unequivocable words: that’s okay, after all we’ve been through, we can take a little heat.

This renewed spirit of involvement should not be construed as a blame-slinging repudiation of elected officials or government workers. It is instead a healthy shouldering of joint responsibility for the common good.

Now the tough part: having made decisions, circumstances change and the public must stay involved, ask questions of government representatives and give them input and information. Pick up the phone, send an email, come to the meetings, read the documents (available online and at the public libraries), talk to officials, and stay involved.

Government is more than paying taxes and holding office. The mission of government is not to sustain its structure, but to serve the people that have put their confidence in it. Government is the servant of the people; but it’s up to the people to speak, again and again, to inform the government.

There are ample opportunities:

• This Tuesday, the County Council will be at the Outlook Inn in Eastsound.  Come early and sign up for public comment. If you can’t attend, send letters and emails beforehand; all county employees receive emails at their first name, last initial @sanjuanco.com, for example richardf@sanjuanco.com or pattym@sanjuanco.com
• Every Saturday for the next eight weeks, the Charter Review Commission meets on one of the three main islands. Next Saturday, Feb. 11, it will meet on Orcas Island. They are discussing the role of the County Administrator and streamlining of county departments;
• Orcas Islander Walt Corbin has funded the equipment making it possible for the County Council to be videoconferenced to Orcas and Lopez Island on the days that it meets in Friday Harbor. For those who want to speak to the County Council, without making the ferry trip to and from Friday Harbor, this is your opportunity. Contact Ingrid Gabriel, Council Clerk, at ingridg@sanjuanco.com to make arrangements.

Change is in the air. It’s an exciting time to be alive and work so  that government of the PEOPLE, by the PEOPLE and for the PEOPLE shall not perish from these islands.