Guest Opinion: Thoughts on Affordable Housing

— by Walt Corbin —

Sitting down here in palm tree land and seeing the never ending forecasts of rains and flooding in the NW Pacific removes me a bit from the affordable housing problems that San Juan County faces. So, I am not sure I am one to really comment after seeing the solutions that many of you have offered. I will say this, most of what you all have proposed is very logical.

Affordable housing on Orcas must take place within the Eastsound GMA boundaries( or perhaps a small increase in those boundaries) and the hamlets described such as Olga, Orcas, and Deer Harbor. At all cost we must maintain the rural aspect of Orcas and see that areas outside of the above are afforded the greatest protection from development. San Juan County is a County that is charmed with an environment that is irreplaceable. In our capitalist society the market forces that determine development are hard to stop. However, they can be mitigated.

Yes, it will take a combination of all parties, County, State, and the Community leadership to create, sane, affordable housing throughout the County. Our Commissioners and Council Members continually kicked the can down the road, hoping that they are the ones that don’t have to make the hard choices for fear of not getting reelected.

Maybe a bond issue, jointly sponsored by the State and Federal government, could be implemented to raise money for low cost housing. Interest rates are presently very low. However, it is up to the local citizenry to take care of their own needs and depend less on the savings(taxes) of someone else.

Obviously we can also petition for various planning regulations. For instance, allowing building permits in rural areas based on permits in designated, villages or hamlets. We could also waive the cost of building permits in those areas.

It is great to want and need this kind of housing, but how about some action? Can’t we petition to vote on this? Most people should know that it takes workers to maintain a viable community. It is common sense to understand that all people and their job skills are not the same and their pay reflects this. So many have the ability to perhaps subsist, but not to live as full fledged community members. I don’t believe in a free lunch for anyone but like the preservation of our rural community, we must preserve the dignity of all the people that wish to live and work here with habitat that they can afford.

In closing, I must say it all begins with leadership and the education of the public. The citizenry must be told that market forces could easily destroy the reason that they came to these island. They must be made to understand that to preserve what they have it will take some action on their part, not on their behalf. We have the perfect environment for a unique diverse community and it could be lost by the lethargy of an uninformed public and a politicized leadership.

Let’s organize ourselves on all of the Islands, raise some dollars to spread the word and implement town meetings to discuss this community problem and adopt a theme that would appeal to all citizens. “PROTECT THE PEOPLE THAT WORK FOR YOU”.

“AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS NOT A FREE LUNCH BUT DIGNIFIES OUR COMMUNITY”