||| FROM VICKI LEIMBACK |||
On Tuesday, May 17, there is a hearing to remove Steve Smith as a planning commissioner. The accuser has not presented any evidence.
Concerned islanders, including past & current county officials, have spent hours reviewing and comparing the accusations to the video records and concluded that Steve Smith was at all times, courteous, articulate, and well mannered. “Steve seems to be doing an exemplary job of doing his homework, and giving the care and attention the process requires.”
People like Steve, who volunteer their time and efforts in committees and commissions put in hundreds of hours on behalf of our community. They are our voice, and should never be silenced due to a differing opinion. The planning commissioners, who provide advice to the County Council, are protected by law as those in power often don’t want to hear advice that they don’t like. There is no evidence that Steve ever violated anything.
Please email the County Council before the May 17 hearing. Ask the Council to implement the following policy so that this kind of abuse does not happen again.
Suggested policies to put in place so this doesn’t happen again.
- The person or group making the accusation must put in writing what the complaint is and provide that to the PA and CC. The accusation must be signed.
- Any evidence associated with the accusation must be provided to the PA who will share that with the CC and the public if showing the evidence is appropriate.
- The accused will be notified in writing by the PA’s office of the accusation and be provided with a copy of the evidence if appropriate.
- The accusation will be posted on the appropriate County website for the public to review.
- The accused will be given an opportunity and adequate time to respond to the accusations prior to any hearing.
- After reviewing the accusation and after consultation with the PA’s office, the CC may at the CC’s discretion schedule a hearing for the purpose of accepting comments and information from the public.
Please send an email to councilpc@sanjuanco.com and demand that this unwarranted action stop and to implement a policy to prevent this kind of attacking happening to any other innocent people.
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I am curious, surely there must be a protocol in existence that maintains decency and respect with all individuals.. One can appreciate rules like bylaws, evolve over time as issues arise.. but I wouldn’t think for sequestering or dumbing down dialogue, but rather to enhance good objectivity with a harmonious exchange of trust in the platform of civility.
I don’t think two wrongs make a right. As I dig a bit deeper, I see that none of us has all the facts. State law has protections in place for employees, concerning Open Meetings and Public Records act. No one is privy to that information.
The more I learn about Comp Plan reviews, the more I see what a difficult position DCD and Council are in. We don’t have all the facts to make an informed decision about who even has the power; though most people either praise or blame politics and politicians, depending what their own goals and agendas are. I think that the real power people are outside of politics but they buy, bully, or influence politicians. . They may hide behind or try to buy politicians or destroy any politician who stands up to their doing whatever they want without consequences. Whoever these power people are, they hold a lot of sway over how things are going. I think Orcas is a microcosm of this; this is nothing new. It has always been so but it’s far worse in the last decade or so.
We need two things concerning potential removal of Steve or any other advisory committee person:
1) CONDUCT/PROCEDURE AT MEETINGS: written protocol about conduct, duties, and expectations for volunteers on advisory groups. We need some democratic method to assure that standards of conduct are met and that everyone has equal voice on any advisory committee – ie the same amount of time to share each person’s thoughts and conclusions.. Part of “conduct,’ IMO, should be that no one person sit on two boards, commissions, or advisory group at the same time. They could have one seat only. if this means advisory groups are smaller in number, so be it. This would reduce the temptation of conflicts-of-interest. Also – No official County business by any employee or volunteer should be done by phone – that is a conflict-of-interest that is misuse of public office IMO – even as concerns volunteers. All related county business should be done in email or written form, traceable by Public Records Requests. No one person should dominate the conversations – every opinion and voice is needed equally and given equal time..
2) CONSEQUENCES/DISCIPLINE : if the code of conduct is violated., written notice of violations of conduct must be given to the accused and time allowed for response – also in writing. This may be back and forth, not just one volley. If complaints are made by whistleblowers, their identity should be kept confidential for their protection;. Start with written warnings, (the number of those before action is taken would be decided by Council and Legal – perhaps a “three strikes you’re out” policy of step by step warnings and consequences. If violations repeat, the consequences also would get increased along with the severity and frequency of the violations – up to recusal, probation, and finally, removal as an absolute last resort. This should be a public process that is traceable in Public Records Requests.
I think these issues go back beyond the April Council and Planning Commission meetings. They also go back to long before Steve was a commissioner. The VRBO issue also does. The greatly-increased vacation rental caps proposed by the Planning Commission; which felt like a betrayal to those of us on Orcas – Eastsound UGA in particular. 54% or more of us must live here – mandated by the GMA. Instead, town is getting filled with luxury condos, many of them seasonal or VRBO that sit empty for part or much of the year. WE asked for help to stop speculative buying and selling decades ago. It’s not just off island people doing it – a certain faction of locals do it too.
I also learned that the Comp Plan Review is six years behind! So, there are some real issues beyond personality differences. I intend to find out why that is – how we got so behind. It puts Council and DCD in an untenable position. A lot of grant monies were lost because we’re not eligible until we complete the Review. I suppose the only way to know all of this for sure is to slog back through two years or more of Planning Commission meetings and likely, Council meetings – not something I relish, but I think it must be done, and searchable data compiled from those.
First, we need all the facts. We need to know what has happened – all of it – and we don’t know. I wrote two letters to Council asking for Steve’s hearing to be canceled or postponed until we know why, and how, we got to this place. All of our letters have been ignored, it seems, so I hope that they will at least stay the vote or I will conclude things I don’t wish to conclude.
Sadie–
Yes. What seems to have been ignored during this whole dustup is that the long-established and governing law assigns responsibility for managing Planning Commission matters, including discipline of bad behavior such as inordinate delay or uncivil behavior. The Planning Commission chairs have done exactly that for decades. For removal of a commissioner, the Planning Commissioners must vote to send the matter to Council for decision. That did not happen here. In fact, as many have already reported, the Planning Commission has been proceeding to reach consensus. Mr. Smith has never even been called out of order. The fact that the Comp Plan update is late is principally attributable to failure to fully staff the DCD for this major project.
Today, Council removed the hearing from its agenda, at least in part because the vacation rental cap issue was taking up much of the day. The hearing will either be rescheduled, or Council will recognize the serious procedural defects and/or the absence of factual support for the allegations against Mr. Smith, deny the motion and apologize to Mr. Smith.