Gen Z could determine the 2024 elections … if we turn out to vote

||| FROM GRAY GAILEY |||

With Election Day fast approaching, it is important to remember that our local elections have the power to shape our lives just as much as national elections. Local government officials make essential decisions that impact emergency health services and how we live, work, and learn. That being said, local voter turnout tends to be lower than national turnout. Especially with a new generation of voters, it is crucial for everyone with the ability to vote to vote. I spoke to my San Juan county peers to understand what issues matter most to them and reached out to the four county council candidates to see where they stand on each one. To all voters, but especially young ones, remember that your vote is your voice. Know your candidates and what they stand for, and vote for what you envision will be the best future for yourself and your (our) community.

All answers are listed in alphabetical order by last name and have not been edited by me in any way. They also do not reflect and are unaffected by my personal views of or affiliations with candidates and their supporters. Lastly, I have not received any tangible or intangible goods or money for this public service.

QUESTION #1: The San Juan Island Planned Parenthood was recently closed and will reopen, but only one day a week. If you were elected to the San Juan County Council, would you vote to partially fund and support Planned Parenthood if it was in jeopardy?

RICK HUGHES (OI District #2): Absolutely. I’ve been a long-time supporter of Planned Parenthood, and I’m honored to be the candidate who received an official endorsement from Planned Parenthood of Washington State and a campaign contribution from them.​ As a county, we need to prioritize mental health and reproductive health, especially for those who may struggle financially, who don’t have traditional support systems, and who are experiencing food insecurity or are unhoused.

KARI MCVEIGH (SJI District #1): I am personally a huge supporter of Planned Parenthood and I know that when its services are reduced, islanders suffer. I also know that the County has already stepped up to create a space for Planned Parenthood to operate and will be filling in some of their services when Planned Parenthood is not available. This is an area where the County Council cannot solve this problem on its own and should work with our health agencies to identify the best route forward. Much of the issue, I believe, is staffing and transportation so that advocating for better staffing pay would help improve reliability and possibly reducing ferry fares for medical providers would be helpful. As a Council Member, I would vote to support Planned Parenthood to the degree that was fiscally responsible and legally permissible (our legal mandates have been met and we have a process to identify our shared priorities).

STEPHANIE O’DAY (SJI District #1): The candidate did not respond by the deadline.

JUSTIN PAULSEN (OI District #2): As an individual who has received services from Planned Parenthood in the past, I deeply appreciate the services that they provide to our community. I, and my family have benefitted from having those services immediately available.

The current San Juan County Council has taken steps to provide a foundation for the delivery of services, and I support continuing/expanding those services as necessary to meet community health needs. Maintaining access to preventative health, reproductive and family planning services, especially in our isolated and remote location, is essential to the health of our community.

QUESTION #2: Please provide two new ideas to improve the reliability and affordability of the ferry system.

HUGHES: Providing housing to house extra crew members that we can station at Friday Harbor would help ​(as well as create potential jobs for our islanders) ​and creatively lobbying the state to help ferry members make a decent ​living wage​ with good working conditions. In terms of Gen Z ​specifically and ferry affordability, I would like to explore extending the youth discount to college students. And providing discounts for locals only​, especially those receiving cancer treatments off island and those on Medicare trying to get to doctor appointments.

MCVEIGH: I am not sure how many “new” ideas there are to improve reliability and affordability. But clearly, we must continue to put constant pressure on the State to improve our fleet, to give us new ferries and to pay the ferry workers better wages and working conditions. The Ferry Advisory Committee and County Council successfully lobbied the state resulting in a $1.5 million dollar grant from the Governor. We must ensure that this money is spent judiciously so that services are improved to the extent the money will allow. I also like the idea of a bigger “bulk” ride pass for islanders up to 10 rides for a decreased price and longer expiration and maybe even giving priority boarding to islanders at the Anacortes Ferry Terminal.

O’DAY: The candidate did not respond by the deadline.

PAULSEN: Improvement to the Washington State Ferry System is going to require all of us to play the long game. WSF is currently working on numerous changes to both administration and funding as they implement new processes. The positive news is that after nearly two decades of neglect, we are finally seeing progress. I think just focusing on improving WSF is short-sighted, however. San Juan County needs to be proactive in working to create internal systems to help deal with our transportation needs. I have been working for the last year and a half to prop up and implement supplemental Inter-Island service for our community. Those efforts have yielded $1.5 million in dedicated funding from Governor Inslee, which I will be working with the current Council to put into use in the coming months. San Juan County should immediately establish a Transportation Advisory Council to begin looking at transportation needs wholistically throughout the county. This has been needed for well over a decade and has never been established. Finally, San Juan County should be actively working with our schools and the EDC to create early-engagement opportunities with the Maritime Academy to incentivize access for students to CTE opportunities.

QUESTION #3: We all know that affordable and accessible housing is an issue. What is your plan to increase access to affordable housing specifically for single, young adults?

HUGHES: I believe the County Council should make this priority #1. I would look forward to tackling the ideas already approved by the County Council in the Comprehensive Plan, but the fact is that we need bolder and new ideas to tackle this problem, too. You can see some of those on my Affordable Housing Policy. For Gen Z specifically, I propose changing the current permit code to lift some restrictions and add more flexibility with livable ADU’s (Accessory Dwelling Units) so that they can be built on smaller lots, on your parents’ lots with separate water/septic and permittable more than 100 feet away from the primary resident on certain plots, always taking into account shoreline master plan and critical areas ordinances to minimize environmental impact. These ADUs and tiny homes for long-term renters or families need to be encouraged with easy, fast-tracked, prioritized permitting. Furthermore, younger generations would benefit from the allowance of Tiny Home Parks. I would also vote to increase funding of a first time home buyers loan program and make all affordable housing permits discounted and given priority approval to speed up the process of building.

MCVEIGH: In a nutshell, we can build more affordable housing by the following; 1) partnering with the existing housing non-profits on the Islands; 2) we can better partner with the Town of Friday Harbor to help create a shared vision for permanently affordable housing in our Urban Growth Areas; 3) we can partner with other public agencies and private enterprise (like we are doing on Shaw Island to build two units of teacher housing); 4) At the direct County level, we can look to prioritize and fast track permits for permanently affordable housing; 5) we can create pre-approved building plans for permanently affordable housing allowing builders to greatly expedite the permit process; 6) we can support creative options such as rural clusters of tiny homes, rezoning to allow ADUs designated solely for permanently affordable housing and changing some density restrictions where it makes sense and does not negatively impact our environment.

O’DAY: The candidate did not respond by the deadline.

PAULSEN: The most affordable way to build is through the creation of housing which has higher density and thus requires less resource-intense building practices. Specifically for young, single adults, offering developers willing to create permanently affordable housing access to density bonuses for higher density development is a great way to incentivize investment. We must also refine our code to acknowledge that non-traditional models of housing, such as group-living, co-housing and other alternate approaches are often more appealing to younger, more transient residents. Addressing the deficiencies in our current ADU codes in a way that acknowledges past concerns, honors resource availability and is consistent with our comprehensive plan has the potential to increase housing stock for both younger and aging members of our population.

QUESTION #4: What will you do to increase mental health support and resources for teens and young adults on the islands?

HUGHES: Honestly, I am eager to learn more when it comes to this challenge, but my board work with Safe San Juans, whose mission is to support survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault/abuse, and recent attendance at an Orcas Resource Center seminar on creating stability on the island for our most vulnerable and those experiencing housing insecurity, has given me some insight. Ensuring funding and support for non-profits that support mental health on the islands must be a priority. Lobbying to ensure our schools have the counseling and mental health funding they need is necessary, and our family resource centers must be supported. Ensuring the county has easily accessible mental health resource information in English and Spanish is a must.

MCVEIGH: One of the greatest things the Council can do to increase mental health support and resources for teens and young adults is to increase our partnerships with the Family Resource Centers and continue to support community mental health agencies such as Compass Health. Doing so will help ensure access to services. Family Resource Centers often have access to Community grants which help create a safety net for individuals who may not be able to access therapeutic services through their insurances for whatever reasons. Community Health Agencies can help provide access to young adults before they reach a stage of crisis. Encouraging more adults willing to mentor teenagers and creating spaces (like I believe Orcas has done) by providing a substance-free environment for teenagers to hang out, will also be great preventative measures.

O’DAY: The candidate did not respond by the deadline.

PAULSEN: As a member of the Coalition for Orcas Youth, a founding board member of Recovery in Community and a member of the recent Resource Mapping Project that is being spearheaded by SJC District Court, I am absolutely dedicated to increasing not only resources, but also to making sure that the resources are properly connected. When dealing with critical mental health resources and response, creating multiple and broad access points and having solid connections between specialized providers is incredibly important. While the schools and support agencies in San Juan County do a good job of extending resources to our community, we should be looking at ways to increase access through dedicated, community funded tele-health services and programs which help support youth as they make the school-to-work transition – a time when mental health concerns can be distinctly present.

QUESTION #5: What are three steps you hope to take to address the climate crisis and species extinction affecting our lands and seas?

HUGHES: One: We need to get islanders and businesses to commit to a more ecologically friendly and sustainable path if we want our islands to remain beautiful and wild. This summer, I took the Boating Pledge on Friends of San Juan’s website, which helps boaters learn how to protect southern Resident Killer Whales, anchor out of eelgrass to help our forage fish (which helps salmon, which helps Killer Whales), and Pump out not Dump Out. This program could use more visibility and support to ensure our Salish Sea stays clean and healthy. I also support and have enacted renewable energy and recently proposed a phased-in single-use plastic ban for our businesses. Single-use plastics are a glaring example of a throwaway culture that negatively impacts our environment by causing marine litter, endangering wildlife, and burdening our landfills. You can read the specifics of my Single-use Plastic Ban Proposal on my website. Two: The Lummi and Coast Salish have been stewarding the land and seas for thousands of years. It would be wise to steward with them and learn from indigenous ways to best conserve, protect, and restore. Three: We need to do a better job at working with and communicating with our environmental and conservation non-profits to learn about issues before they become litigious and see what programs we can launch on a county level to support their work, which supports nature now and for generations.

MCVEIGH: The most significant things we can do for climate resilience and protecting endangered species, is; 1) conserve existing and remaining habitat, build resiliency in our ecosystems by encouraging biodiversity. The islands support some of the most unique and imperiled ecosystems and biodiversity loss has a compound negative effect on species, nutrient cycling, water filtrations, etc. One of the biggest threats is development that fails to taken into account the negative and harmful impacts on our environment; 2) manage our forest land with strategic thinning to promote water retention, soil health and habitat; 3) protect clean water resources by building healthy ecosystems to support pollutant and nutrient filtration. 4) We also need to find responsible and low-impact ways of dealing with our waste (community composting is key) and having more independent energy grid — finding consensus on areas to site renewable energy generation, is key.

O’DAY: The candidate did not respond by the deadline.

PAULSEN: 1) Work with our community partners through the code revision process to facilitate the establishment of reasonable and proactive codes which support the development of renewable energy within our County. This is not only necessary as a means of reducing our impact on the environment, but also as a means of assuring a measure of sustainability within SJC in the event of a major disruptive issue. 2) San Juan County has engaged in extensive effort to mitigate the effect of sea-level rise and increased adverse climactic conditions over the past several years. We need to maintain those efforts and become focused on those areas in the county which are currently suffering from infrastructure failure that is threatening our marine habitat. We need to act with clear and decisive action to prevent septic and other critical utility failures which pose ecological threats. In addition to this, we must lengthen to outlook of our long-range planning efforts in order to understand and secure the availability of critical resources. 3) I plan to increase SJC’s engagement with regional partners to capitalize on the efforts being worked on at the state and regional level. We have a massive lift required to work regionally and across the border to assure that proper policies are in place to prevent potential damages posed by differing restrictions between the US and Canada – especially regarding shipping. As part of the regional coalition, we have an obligation to lead on these issues, and stand in solidarity with tribes, neighboring counties and our regional NGO partners to protect ours and their interests.

Each voter may vote for one candidate from San Juan Island (SJI) District #1 AND one candidate from Orcas Island (OI) District #2. Ballots may be submitted via postage-free mail, official ballot drop boxes, and in-person voter centers. Mailed ballots must be postmarked by November 5th. Ballots may be dropped off at the following locations until 8pm on November 5th, 2024 or earlier:

• • • Election Office
      55 Second Street STE A
      Friday Harbor
    • San Juan County Court House
      350 Court Street
      Friday Harbor
    • Orcas Island Senior Center
      62 Henry Rd
      Eastsound
    • Lopez Island Fire District Office
      2228 Fisherman Bay Road
      Lopez Island