||| FROM KEVIN RANKER |||
After business hours on Tuesday evening our own County Council made two shocking decisions that could threaten the future of our county.
They continued their assault on the Land Bank Director Lincoln Bormann and they inappropriately blocked four measures from going to the ballot – denying every single San Juan County citizen our democratic right to vote.
LAND BANK: As everyone is aware, Council Member Wolf, began pushing for affordable housing at the magnificent Glenwood Inn property that was purchased by the Land Bank to permanently protect the natural, cultural and recreational values of this very special place.
Shortly after Council Member Wolf was informed that this was not the appropriate place for housing and that proposing it would threaten the entire purchase, Lincoln Bormann, our dedicated Land Bank Director, was told he would be brought in for a formal employee evaluation.
Over the next several weeks Lincoln and his family went through absolute hell. He did not know if he would be fired, Council Member Wolf spoke publicly about her belief that he should be fired and the hostile atmosphere that was created took a dramatic toll on this wonderful public servant.
Late Tuesday, after hundreds of citizens shared their opposition to the County Council’s position with dozens showing up to testify in favor of Lincoln Bormann and the Land Bank, the County Council decided not to fire Lincoln but instead directed the County Manager to create a work plan that Lincoln must follow in order to keep his job.
Lincoln Borman and the Land Bank deserve an apology, not to beaten down and reprimanded for securing such an incredible public asset.
BLOCKING OUR DEMOCRATIC RIGHT TO VOTE: Last December the San Juan County Charter Review Commission submitted four amendments to the Charter that would be placed on the ballot this November. The two most popular being Ranked Choice Voting and the creation of a San Juan County Public Advocate within the County government that any of us can call to get support with county matters we are dealing with – something that is seriously needed!
While the County has had these Amendments for eight months, they chose to wait until past the 4:30 p.m. deadline Tuesday for submission to County Elections to block these measures from even going to the ballot to be voted upon.
They claim a procedural measure, but if that was the case, it would have been appropriate to air their concerns months ago in order to allow their own constituents the opportunity to view questions being raised and possibly challenge it. Instead the County Council waited until past the deadline ensuring that the only possible ramification from citizens is an expensive court challenge – which would cost citizens and the county.
Worse, the Council has also had zero public discussion of this strategy which means they have discussed their plan to block the citizens right to vote entirely in Executive Session raising serious concerns of violations of the Open Public Meeting Act.
Regardless of whether we support the amendments that were put forward, being able to simply vote on them is our fundamental democratic right.
It appears we have a council unwilling to listen to public opinion and attempting to prevent taxpayers from voting. What happened to a democratic form of government even in this small county?
.. a sorry reflection of the chaotic state of democracy at all levels…
Thank you Kevin Ranker for weighing in on this action. Wolff has indicated Bormann “promised” he’d get county housing on the property and didn’t, thus he “lied”. Extracting a promise is inappropriate at best, perhaps illegal. The fact that there is insufficient water hasn’t percolated with her. Few things make me angry, but this one rises to the level.
Things aren’t always what they seem, one can expect there are several pieces that’s not privy to the public’s scrutiny..
This is how often complex agreements unwind. Congratulations are in order to all around for keeping this unfoldment to the level (we) the Community get to look forward to.
May the powers that be work together for common ground that meets everyone’s needs. Cindy is asking for housing for County staff, (I Believe). What other tools does this group have to help move that concern, in fact for our Workers and Service providers on all islands. The Depth is amongst these amazing groups, can there be some real tangible focus put forward there please.
I am amazed how significant our inventory of Community land holdings have grown.. and I’m Very Grateful for it!
Deeply concerned by all the above, one thing no one seems to feel inappropriate it the county using our money for county employee only housing. Every employer in the county is struggling to find employees. What makes county employees more worthy of housing, especially since it’s all our money that will be used to provide it. I’m all for more affordable housing but it should not be embarked for a single employer, especially one that should be providing for everyone in the county.
I think it is time for an extensive deep-dive investigation of county doings for the past 40 years at least. The next move is the PC is going to remove protections from certain lands (ie remove environmental protections – I didn’t know any still existed! so they can increase densities on lands that are Critical Areas – and council will likely go along with it. I agree with all of the comments and most of Kevin’s letter – though I will say that some Ag people are upset with Lincoln and we all deserve to know why – because we need to protect not only our Critical Areas but also our agricultural lands.
we don’t know and never will know all the facts about employees – state law dictates that we have no right to know, for the protection of the employee (discrimination lawsuits, most likely) – . but we ought to demand, and get, complete transparency and say-so on things as important as making Urban densities on a Rural island county! This has GOT to stop. Kim Roses’ point – exactly. I brought this up in another letter, especially due to the fact that many of the county employees are being ‘imported.”