Guest Opinion | Land Bank Director Lincoln Bormann subjected to Council disciplinary hearing

||| FROM DAN CHRISTOPHERSON |||

This past June something amazing happened — Due to the incredible staff at the San Juan County Land Bank and the San Juan Preservation Trust, we were able to permanently protect the Glenwood Inn property on Orcas Island.The acquisition of this remarkable 58-acre parcel permanently preserves forested uplands, more than 1,800 feet of natural shoreline with prime nearshore habitat for juvenile salmon, sand lance and herring, and is of significant cultural importance to the Coast Salish people. It also opens access to one of the most desirable previously inaccessible public lands in the state.For these reasons, the dedicated public employees at our own San Juan County Land Bank, led by their director Lincoln Bormann, worked tirelessly for over a year to make sure this very special place would be protected forever.Over the past months, after over a year of public discussions about the conservation, recreation and cultural importance of this property, Councilmember Cindy Wolf called for workforce housing on this property. She also spoke about art installations and other ideas. While there is a massive need for housing, as the professionals who work on housing found over a year before, this is not the place for it… and, Councilmember Wolf should have done her homework and known this.In fact, over a year before the Land Bank and the Preservation Trust purchased this special place, islanders trying to identify key properties for housing on Orcas Island actually did a fairly exhaustive review of this exact property… and found that it was not a location to pursue for numerous reasons. There are a small number of total density units available, the water resources are not great, the infrastructure is problematic, it is farther from town, and the well over $6,000,000 price tag makes it anything but affordable. Far more importantly, OPAL and others have identified other properties that have a far greater community benefit.This is all information that Councilmember Wolf and the San Juan County Administrator could have easily accessed.

When Councilmember Wolf raised the question of housing at this location, she was appropriately informed that this was not the right place for it. She was also informed that the San Juan County Land Bank is forbidden by law from doing housing except in very unique situations with criteria that this property would not meet.

In fact, at the formal County Council Deed of Acceptance Hearing, before Councilmember Wolf even voted, she was told that her ideas would not be allowed at this site.

Councilmember Wolf was further informed that some of the funds that were making this entire incredible purchase possible would not allow a housing development and would likely have to be returned – threatening the entire purchase.

The County Land Bank also partnered with the San Juan Preservation Trust to provide additional protections because the Trust is an excellent partner who works tirelessly with the Land Bank on large deals such as this and helps raise critical funds to make these sorts of deals possible.

All of this is public information and has been shared during the months-long process for this purchase. It is also the norm! It is the same way the Land Bank and the Preservation Trust have operated for decades including on the very public creation of the TurtleBack Preserve.

More importantly, it is the job of Councilmember Wolf to do her homework and know this.

What happened next ,however was shocking…

Shortly after San Juan County Land Bank Director Lincoln Bormann informed Councilmember Wolf that her desire for housing on this specific property would not be a favorable option, Lincoln Bormann was informed that he was being brought in for a formal employment review. While Councilmember Wolf wrote in an op-ed that she had nothing to do with this, the coincidence is incredible.

It is also important to note that the Land Bank Director Lincoln Bormann has had zero negative reviews since joining the County decades ago. In fact, he has consistently received overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Over the past weeks, this remarkable public servant has not known if he would have a job the next day, has felt threatened by superiors and he and his family have been deeply personally impacted.

To further impact this County employee’s life, Councilmember Wolf has now begun speaking publicly about extremely confidential internal County human resource matters. On Friday July 29th at a fundraiser for State Representative Alex Ramel, Councilmember Wolf spoke openly with a member of the public sharing her belief that Lincoln Bormann has committed fireable offenses and that Lincoln Bormann “must be held accountable.”

The abusive and hostile behavior of Councilmember Wolf toward a dedicated public servant is of great concern and likely in violation of County policies. Further, Councilmember Wolf should have done a far better job of doing her homework and the County Administrator clearly should have done a better job keeping his Council informed.

Councilmember Wolf has created a hostile workplace and publicly attacked Director Bormann. This sort of behavior threatens not only a wonderful member of our community, but the future of our county.

Finally, it is important to remember that San Juan County is the largest employer in the County. Hundreds of men and women work tirelessly as public servants to make sure our roads are safe, our communities are healthy and our environment is protected. As all of us know, finding and then keeping these dedicated staff employees is difficult at best.

We need to respect and celebrate their efforts, not beat them down.