This is the first of a five-part series to introduce myself, Katherine Bryant Ingman, to the voters of San Juan County so that you can learn more and vote in November for me as San Juan County Councilperson, District 3
||| FROM KATHERINE BRYANT INGMAN FOR SAN JUAN COUNTY COUNCIL |||
I moved to Lopez Island in my early 20s. At first, it was part-time starting in 2014. I was splitting my time between grad school and summers working at restaurants on the island. In 2017, I married my husband Joseph and made Lopez Island my full-time home.
I’m the daughter and granddaughter of public educators and college administrators. Growing up around that world taught me early on that real progress takes patience, structure, vision, curiosity, and dedication.
Like many islanders, I’ve worked multiple jobs to be able to live here, buy a home, and contribute to this community in a positive and meaningful way. Joseph and I bought a fixer-upper and slowly updated our home together, to make it a more welcoming and hospitable space. I’ve never owned multiple homes, but I have juggled multiple jobs while building a life in this community. I understand, firsthand, what it takes to build a life on these islands, and I see a path forward for a San Juan County economy that’s diversified enough for people at every economic circumstance to live well here.
That same drive toward service led me to a career in nonprofit management. I earned a master’s degree in Theology & Culture from Fuller Theological Seminary, and today I work as the Senior Manager of Community + Culture at the Washington Women’s Foundation, helping empower and educate everyday philanthropists across the state.
During my time in graduate school, I learned that cultural cohesiveness makes or breaks a community. What is the future of San Juan County’s culture and how can we build that together? What is worth building together?
I’m running for SJ County Council because I love this community, I want to help make life better for our neighbors, and I believe strongly in the power of collective action to steward a diversified community for our beautiful environment and unique island home.
What ultimately motivated me to run wasn’t one moment, it was years of hands-on work: helping start the Lopez Food Bank (Food Share), stewarding Housing Lopez’s first project at Fish Bay Cottages, leading the Lopez Clinic’s transition to Sea Mar as President of the Catherine Washburn Medical Association, coaching Lopez track and field at the state meet and many other engagements in our community. Each of these projects taught me the same lesson: Real leadership means collaborating, listening closely to everyone affected and most impacted, and making hard, community-driven decisions for the good of the whole community, not the easy ones.
That’s the kind of leadership I want to bring to the San Juan County Council. To learn more about me, visit katherinebryantingman.com/
**If you are reading theOrcasonian for free, thank your fellow islanders. If you would like to support theOrcasonian CLICK HERE to set your modestly-priced, voluntary subscription. Otherwise, no worries; we’re happy to share with you.**
Katherine, how do you plan to address the massive overtourism problem that is so corrosive to our quality of life?
Our local economy is stuck in a loop. Bringing more tourists, more business, and more fun “events” to the islands for decades hasn’t made a dent in the many problems that most full-time island residents are concerned about, and most of the effects of overtourism have in actual fact made these problems worse.
It would be really nice to see some candidates who not only understand this dynamic but will stand up and say “enough is enough,” through actions such as redirecting more LTAC funding towards local nonprofits, defunding the Visitors Bureau, imposing impact fees on tourist-focused businesses, and putting an end to the harmful and exploitative “whale watching industry” that drives much of our tourism.
Katherine, one of your promising campaign statements made me sit up straight and nod my head. “… I see a path forward for the San Juan County economy that is diversified enough for people at every economic circumstance to live well here”.
In order to have any credibility as debates and full bore electioneering unfold I ask you to elaborate on the details of this pathway that will rescue us from the inertia and death-spiral of summer over-tourism pumping up minimum wage seasonal jobs and a few service businesses. I have railed about this stagnant situation which is even more difficult to leave behind given state and federal grants are drying up and costs for everything out here going through the roof. I am looking at the new Comprehensive Plan elements and goals to piece together a achievable path for greater self-determination and resilience with little success.
Please explain the general underpinnings and steps of your suggested path. We are all ears!