State Senator Kevin Ranker
By Senator Kevin Ranker
As a past San Juan County Commissioner, County Council Member, and now as your State Senator, I have followed closely the work of the Charter Review Commission (CRC) and their proposed improvements to the San Juan County (SJC) Home Rule Charter. I strongly support the recommendations of the CRC. In fact, I believe they are absolutely critical.
We need fulltime leadership from a County Council that attracts the diversity of our community to public service. With a part-time salary, but a fulltime commitment, we will continue to have Council Members who have another job that is their actual priority, or worse, their job that actually pays the bills suffers, or they are retired and/or independently wealthy. Our Council should represent the diversity of our community – not only the wealthy and retired, but the working and young families. Our Council Members should prioritize the county’s business and future and not have to sacrifice their income to do so. The current structure severely limits who will consider running for this office.
Further, with the current part time Council, much more power falls to the County Administrator who is appointed and not elected by the people. A fulltime Council, elected by the people, possesses more authority. I believe it is extremely important that the people making decisions for our future directly answer to us.
Every Council Member making decisions for the entire county should have to answer to the entire county. For over 130 years, we elected a legislative body countywide and it worked pretty well. While I did not agree with every decision John Evans made during his years of public service, I know that he took the time to understand issues on Lopez and San Juan not only because he cared, but because he was a fulltime legislator and he answered to those voters as well as the voters in his own district on Orcas. Currently there are six members and all six make decisions for the entire county. Yet, we only vote for one. The current Council structure fractures our county and our ability to truly be a representative government.
Lastly, representation of our County in Olympia and other governmental organizations is imperative to our future. For decades, fulltime County Commissioners spent considerable time working for our county off island – recognizing that many of the most important decisions that effect our communities are not made in our communities. It is critical that the Council have a voice off island. Since switching to a part time Council, this representation is nearly nonexistent.
The beauty of our Home Rule Charter is that we can make improvements. This is exactly what we voted on – an ability to make important improvements and adjustments after the first five years with the next full review not for ten years.
Please join me in supporting the improvements to the Charter by approving Propositions 1, 2, and 3. We all recognize that county government can be improved. Let’s not wait another ten years to do it.
Senator Kevin Ranker was previously a San Juan County Commissioner and Council Member. He currently represents San Juan County and portions of Whatcom and Skagit Counties in the Washington State Senate.
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Kevin, I truly appreciate your service but could we not argue for policy changes using language like “attract diversity” or offer up opinions like “no one should sacrifice their income to serve”? I know of almost no data to support that diversity in this arena doesn’t already exist, (given who we are demographically), and it is my “opinion” that EVERYONE working in the islands from medical to gardener is “financially sacrificing” income to live here relative to what they would earn elsewhere. So what? The “logic” in your argument, taken to extreme, argues for giving the Council job to an unemployed person who seeks employment. Without a doubt, and I can prove this, they are underrepresented on the Council (problem?) and won’t financially suffer in order to serve (solution). Better “problem” definition, and clearer solutions tied directly to those problems, are required of us all.
Senator Ranker’s arguments in support of the CRC recommendations lack logical foundations. Where is the increased diversity in electing 3 council members compared to 6 members?
Secondly, is the Senator, whose actions affect the entire state, not elected by a smaller district of the state? As a state senator, is he accountable to all citizens of Washington, or is he more appropriately accountable to those citizens who elected him and whom he represents? This is, after all, a representative democracy – – and making the area of representation more broad only diminishes the immediacy and perhaps even the degree of accountability to the electorate.
Finally, the Senator seems to erroneously equate an elected official’s level of commitment to their level of pay. It is, after all, called “public service”, not “public employment”.
I will vote NO on Propositions 1 and 2 and encourage other voters to preserve the recent actions of the Freeholders by also voting NO on…
…Proposition 1 and Proposition 2. Lets improve the new Charter by increasing accountability, enhancing transparency, defining roles and responsibilities, and requiring elected officials to perform their fiduciary oversight of the county manager/administrator.