Guest Opinion | The time to establish a Lopez Island Park and Recreation District is now

The time to establish a Lopez Island Park and Recreation District is now.

||| FROM JANE FULLER |||

To my fellow Lopez Islanders,

As your San Juan County Council member and mother of a recent graduate (2025) of the Lopez Island K-12 School, I am writing to share with you in my individual capacity that I am a strong supporter of the creation of a Park and Recreation District on Lopez Island.

Since moving to Lopez Island full time in 2017, my husband and I have been steadfast supporters of the Lopez Island School through our service on the school budget committee, active fundraising and advocacy, and for me as a co-founder of the Lopez Island Parent Teacher Student Association (LIPTSA). We understand how the school arrived at its current financial crisis, and how intractable it is.

We have actively supported our daughter’s participation in sports and witnessed with other parents the joys, heartbreaks, bonds and growth of our Lobos athletes. We cannot imagine our daughter’s high school experience without sport.

When elected to the San Juan County Council in 2023, I committed to being a relentless advocate for State funding of our school on Lopez Island, the heart of our community, and all the school districts in our County knowing the significant financial challenges they are facing due to State underfunding. School districts across Washington are in financial crisis as the State falters in its constitutional obligation to adequately fund
education for children.

Limited progress was made on education funding in the State legislative session earlier this year, and the State is severely financially constrained. Because of this, we must examine sustainable local solutions to mitigate the fiscal deficit facing our school district to keep the doors open. To be clear, fundraising alone is not a sustainable revenue stream for any organization, particularly on Lopez Island, nor is the reliance on grant
funding.

The idea of creating a Park and Recreation District as a reliable funding stream for our school as well as programming for children and youth has been around for some time.

In November 2023, as a resident of Lopez Island – not as a council person, I called the first meeting of the Lopez Islanders who now make up the Lopez Island Park and Recreation District Formation Committee to study this idea.

Now two years later, this initiative is before the voters of Lopez Island. I have been following the ongoing democratic debate about the establishment of this district and am acutely aware of the fear islanders face today with rising costs, inadequate housing,

increasing taxes and overall affordability. I am also very sensitive to the county council’s authority to impose taxes locally without going to the ballot, which is why I am glad you all can exercise your right to vote on this initiative.

In my view a vote for this initiative is a vote for sustainable and critically needed funding for the school for which fundraising is increasingly difficult; invaluable out of school programming for our children and youth in support of their quality of life and growth, and that of their families; greater opportunities for our senior age population to engage in meaningful community activities with residents of all ages; and long term investment in the future of our entire Lopez Island community, its connectedness, and well-being.

If you are unclear or unconvinced how a Park and Recreation District will benefit our entire community or are concerned about how commissioners running for election will steward your tax dollars, I encourage you to reach out to individual candidates to obtain accurate information and share your questions and concerns. The ideas and proposals the formation committee has shared with the community to date are not firm or final
decisions. Those will be made by the elected commissioners. If you haven’t already, please refer to the website www.rallyfortherec.org for more information and contact details of the formation committee candidates.

The decision to create this district is indeed a serious one. If the district is established, the levy passed, and candidates elected as commissioners those same candidates who are actively listening to your voices right now will have a responsibility to use your taxpayer dollars wisely with full transparency and accountability, and in the best interest of the entire Lopez community. I have full confidence they will do so.

A vote for the Park and Recreation District on Lopez Island, the levy, and the commissioners is a vote for our shared future. I am deeply appreciative of all who have worked so hard to get us to this decisive moment. Please consider voting ‘Yes’ for our island community!