— from Sadie Bailey —
Dear Madrona Voices:
I appreciate your taking the time to survey us on how Covid-19 is affecting us. That said, as with your airport survey, I take issue with some of the “either/or,” and questions that rate things on a scale, because the questions and issues we face are many-layered and nuanced, not “either/or.” That’s my issue with these types of questions on a survey; unless people take the time to read the comments where you’ve allowed for them, they will only see the “numbers” and not the thought and nuance.
I would like our county officials to make a stand for the safety of its year-round residents and workers first and foremost, and put the environment first from now on. This involves what I talk about later in this letter. The commissioners are pressured, even threatened with lawsuits or sued by property rights advocates, which puts them between a rock and a hard place, regarding decisions made that don’t represent the majority of us.
Just as parasites weaken and can eventually kill their host, the tourism industry (not the tourists but the industry that makes them a commodity) is weakening and damaging the host – this archipelago. The effects are undeniable in Eastsound UGA, where we have lost and degraded our most important wetland and much of forests all around it and up-slope. Now, Covid-19 brings a ‘host’ of new worries – all valid and worth weighty consideration.
At THIS time during the beginning stages of a pandemic, we have the opportunity to completely change direction – probably the last we will have for many reasons – including that we’re in the midst of the 6th mass extinction and climate change due to fossil fuel extraction and export, mining, big agribusiness, and deforestation. So it’s about a lot more than protecting the tourism economy vs protecting the health of residents during Covid-19. This pandemic is an unprecedented opportunity for us to take a long look at ourselves and our way of life.
A solely tourism-driven economy is unsustainable economically, environmentally, and in quality of life – UNLESS it educates and incentivizes people to take care of a place. Even then, I’m skeptical because… gentrification. In my many years of living here, I haven’t seen any real reform in the growth model – unless a lawsuit forces some after-the-fact compromise . This is discouraging and disheartening. It gives the wrong message to our youth – that we are not behind them; that solving the huge problems we face is not a priority because, “we’ve got ours,” and any
good capitalist can “get theirs” too – which is misleading at best – because many of the most wealthy inherit their wealth, and have for generations. The deck is stacked.
The problem with this growth mindset is that, in a large economic collapse coupled with a deadly pandemic- both of which we are experiencing in the beginning stages this will affect everyone. Things will likely get worse before they get better. Only a few will come out relatively unscathed.; all the more reason to stop, think, and change direction. Any economy based on a single industry doesn’t allow for creative solutions both economically or environmentally. Tourism/real estate/development economy is all about unlimited growth – i.e., parasitic.
This entreaty may not seem to put enough weight on the pandemic and its effects – but it’s all One Inseparable Affect. Our actions lead to consequences. Science is telling us that when we gobble up natural ecosystems, we ourselves are the cause of pandemics and plagues, due to deforestation and industrialization. This pattern has repeated itself throughout history – usually war-caused – only now, the environmental destruction is global and extremely rapid, due to mass air travel, military globalism, and giant corporations destroying ecosystems worldwide. We
would be remiss in not bringing to light the immense profits that the
pharmaceutical industry has to gain from this tragedy by developing and pushing an untested vaccine. When it’s all about profit, it’s antithesis to Life.
Our community and the global community could thrive in a different way. There are many different aspects to prosperity besides money and real estate – we can focus our efforts on THESE – for instance: Environmental & time wealth (the two most important aspects, IMO, that should drive everything else), resilience, skills and resourcefulness, knowledge, emotional-spiritual wisdom, material and resources wealth, social/cultural/community, and the barter and sharing of these aspects of
wealth. This would move us out of free market unlimited-growth capitalism where few profit at the expense of the many, to a paradigm where everyone can benefit in ways that count – even in the hardest of times.
We are seeing, in the generous and unselfish response to Covid-19 by so many in this community, what is possible when we all share and give – even a little. We already have all of this in our fantastic community. Now is the time to rethink “economics” and ask ourselves in our deepest hearts, which way we want to go – and not settle for any system that puts a few at the top and the many at the bottom, but rather choose a wide rich field of unlimited possibilities within a finite archipelago and planet. I hope we will work tirelessly and joyfully with trust, to go in this direction however and wherever possible.
We are all magnificent creative beings, as Nelson Mandela so wisely noted in his famous speech. We have the opportunity to find out who we really are. Hardships bring us together – and wouldn’t it be great if we could keep up this same spirit and intention in “better” times – if/when we are fortunate enough to see those again?
We are so much more than we can think or imagine. The crux is opening our hearts and minds and trusting that when we take care of the earth right where we live – and each other – Things Work Out.
Keep bad mouthing tourists and all other homeowners that do not meet your definition of “full time residents” and I am sure you will all get your wish. My wife and I “live” on Orcas 7 months a year, pay taxes, pay Opalco, pay Orcas OnLine, pay San Juan Propane, San Juan Pest Control, have a bank account, donate to charities, support the local economy, the movie theater, etc etc. I am sick and tired of listening to all of the “full time” snobs talking about how we, and others like my wife and I, are damaging the archipelago.
Sadie,you are very quick to comment negatively and find fault….why don’t you come up with a list of question s you find appropriate Then ask Madrona voices to send it out on their web list.
If your questions are properly constructed and not biased,I am sure they would send it out.Then the answers can be reviewed to judge and compare by the community.
Roy,
I completely empathize with your sentiments. Part-year residents such as you and your wife are valuable members of the Orcas community. I, for one, am appalled at how the COV-19 epidemic, with all its attendant challenges, is being hijacked by political agendas and used to justify anti-tourist, anti-growth agendas. Without tourism, this island would lack the jobs to support the livelihoods of many lower-income year-round residents. Let’s not kill the economic engine of this island to achieve our idealistic nirvanas but try to seek a balanced compromise among competing visions. Thanks to Madrona Voices for providing the forum.
Thank you Sadie for your well intended words of wisdom. There will always be those amongst us who “have their’s,” and are unable to look into the past to see how we got to where we are, and are to shallow to look towards the future to see where it’s taking us. Putting the dots together on the cause & effect of “too much” is not that difficult to do… if you have the will-power to do so. Get use to it Roy… you’re going to hear a lot more of this from those of us who are sick & tired of your small thinking.
Michael Johnson: What part of Roy’s thinking is “small”? He simply pointed out that he is an Orcas resident, that he pays full property taxes and supports many local businesses and services, and that using as a scapegoat the property owners who are present here fewer than 365 days a year is silly.
I agree.
Since World War II, Orcas had no real viable agricultural and timber production left. Orcas now has as its principal economic drivers construction and other services for people who live here, whether in retirement or for telecommuting work, building homes (“second” or otherwise), many of which have became generational legacies, and tourism. (Many of those second home builders in the 20th century, BTW, were teachers from Seattle and its suburbs.)
So, if the tourists leave, who is going to employ the service workers? Some are seasonal, but many are small business owners and year-round residents dependent on tourists.
I would love to see a coherent statement of the problem together with reality-based solutions rather than the vague but negative finger-pointing we have seen these past few months.
“If a medically-informed response to a pandemic creates economic hardship so serious that the economic impacts are more deadly than the virus, you change your fucking economic system not your response to the disease.
Condemning some to die of a preventable illness so that other’s don’t die of engineered poverty is disgusting.
Seriously, some of ya’ll dream so small. Our species can do so much better than this.” Unknown
Our traditional tendency to polarize options (as in: red v blue, health v economy, locals v visitors, us v them) is a shortsighted tactic and of little use against an ubiquitous opponent. A pandemic pathogen will infect and affect all hosts regardless of their philosophical positions.
The character Pogo once said: “We have met the enemy, and they are us!” Hopefully, humans will unite against a common enemy and not against each other.
Way to go, Sadie – sometimes you have to stir the grass to scare the snakes.
As Mr Johnson so eloquently put it, ” If a medically informed response to the pandemic creates such hardship that it is more lethal than the virus then change your fing economic system.”
Amen.
Were talking limits here, however typified or vilified, restrictions on tourism, vacation rentals, more diversity and less traffic. Mr Smith apparently might take note of that gay socialist Oscar Wilde, who quiped, ” A cynic knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing.”
No justice, no peace. Ask the folks in Minneapolis HOW THAT ONE WORKS.
I read Sadie to say, the tourism industry…(NOT the tourists but the INDUSTRY THAT MAKES THEM A COMMODITY).
This is NOT pointing fingers at individuals….but at a questionable skewing of commercial interests.
“Political Agendas?” Since when did caring about supporting the environment become politicized or about politics? Maybe my mention of free market capitalism hit a nerve and you shut out everything else I said. Thepeople who see that we need a healthy, diverse environment (and food sovereignty) to survive aren’t “politicizing” the need to protect the finite earth and waters that we have.
If I gave the impression that I felt negative about ALL the questions on the Madrona Voices survey, that is untrue – or I wouldn’t have taken it. I appreciate how hard it is to do a survey of this breadth and nature, and I appreciate them for even attempting it.
Also, where have I come out against tourists? The industry is the parasitic – not the tourists – that’s what I said. Yes, I want Council to focus on the workers – “full timers” clearly triggered some – and if you live here 7 months a year, this county considers you a “full timer.” Unfortunate choice of words on my part, I admit.
It’s not a good idea to have an economy SOLELY based on tourism or any ONE industry, or to depend on money and profit ALONE. The people who are hurt most by this virus and its economic implications are the workers themselves; they always are.
I hoped that by writing this, people would be inspired, if we allow ourselves to be – about what we can do to broaden our scope so that we have resiliency in the event of a huge crash – which is what we are experiencing in its beginning stages. Many businesses will never recover. People will lose their ONLY homes – they don’t have the luxury of 2nd or multiple homes. Will the same people crying “negative” help out those who are about to lose everything?
You miss the mark if you see this as an attack on “tourists” or “part timers” – which it is not. It’s a call, a plea, to think outside of our boxes and think larger, broader, and more compassionately toward each other and toward the ecosystems we depend on. If some of you are insulted by that, too bad – and it might be time to look within and ask yourselves what you want for your own future generations, and expand that out to include the world.
I want to add that yes, I understand that covid-19 cares nothing about who it infects – and that it will infect or affect us all. So this is not an “us and them” – it’s an attempt to address the myriad parts of ONE issue that affects us all when any disaster stikes – including this pandemic.
I never said “banish tourists or part timers.” That is what some of you heard – not what I said or meant. I can view these reactions as pointing to the need for me to be more concise in my language, and I take responsibility for that. That said, some people will still refuse to understand, and will point fingers at anyone who differs in opinion from their own narrative – or the one being fed to them – and try to make the person with an “other” view the bad guy for daring to say what needs saying, so we can begin to have a real dialogue. No amount of language precision can help that issue if someone refuses to see or hear, nor will I take the blame for it.
Sadie’s open letter has fostered a lot of good dialogue. Thank you, Sadie! Diverse perspectives can offer valid points to consider. Whatever the solution is, it will be a paradox to manage. IMO, finding an optimal course of action requires identifying clear interests and satisfying them as much as possible in ways that cause the least amount of harm.
NB: I am not an Orcas resident, but it is mine and my husband’s dream and we continue to save for it (gonna take a little longer now) so I cautiously dare to comment here.
I mean no offense, just want to share some feelings as one of your tourists. Our family has come to Orcas every summer (and a couple of winters) for 20 years. We don’t take vacations anyplace else. Orcas is our family’s one chance a year to gather in the peace, beauty, and kindness we have always encountered in the islands. We live in Silicon Valley, land of of the self-centered, and Orcas is the salve that gets us through the year. (Why not move, you ask? We have three adult kids with one grandson and another on the way soon and we can’t being ourselves to move away from them, plus my career is narrowly specialized.) We’ve resigned ourselves to the knowledge that we won’t even have a chance to move up there for another 15 years. Will we be welcomed? Some of the comments about tourists and outsiders make me wonder. When we come on island we try to invest in and learn about your community through the solstice parades, mayoral races, the shops, the art, the restaurants, and through the gun range and the Episcopal church. All of which is just trying to convey how much we love and try to befriend what is your home; it is sacred to us, too. We have a house rented for for 10 days starting in June and I expect that we will learn on Monday that that trip will be cancelled. I am crushed, but I can’t dispute your need to be cautious due to the constraints of medical care on the island and its geographically insular nature. We won’t try to get around the rules, we understand them (one son is a paramedic and makes it abundantly clear). So we won’t go, but please, please think about the fact that Orcas is tremendously meaningful for a lot of people who are unable to live there, and I hope you can find it in your hearts to consider that in any discussion of changes to short-term rentals once this pandemic is controlled. We will do what we can to support your small businesses from afar (books from Darvill’s, etc.); we care about you as the essence of Orcas, the people who have shared bits of it with us for years so generously, and want Orcas to make it through this horrible time intact. Thank you for reading this far. We miss you.
Thank you, Sadie Bailey for your well thought out article and responses. I agree with you 100%. This is a chance for all of us to consider how to build a better world for everyone and future generations. Natural systems are already being upset and the degradation is starting to accelerate.
Inge,
A lovely post. Heartening. :)
Beautiful, Inge Bond.
Inge Bond, your letter is touching and meaningful to all of us who cherish these islands as much as you do – and of course we have no right to deny these experiences to anyone – local or not. Of course you will be, and are, welcome here. Again I reiterate- this letter was never meant to be taken that I or most other people want to abolish tourism or all short-term rentals – yet we grapple with how much is enough or too much. Tourists are not the issue – whether first-timers or long-timers – nor are part timers, or people who take sustenance in being here whether they move here ever or not. Long before I came here, this place meant a lot to a lot of people who had to work someplace else before they could move here – if ever. Many of them were like you – or teachers who couldn’t find work here – or families who were land-rich and cash poor.
In my heart of hearts, what I would love to see, and was trying to say, is many adjuncts to the tourism indusry so that it’s not our main and only industry. I think most tourists come here for the natural beauty, safety, and friendly community. All we ask for is balance – and that balance has on a precarious edge, here and worldwide.
I hope you can come in June, and year after year. We can’t “legislate” the kind of people we want here, but we want people like you, who value this place as much as we do. Which is why this letter never pointed fingers at the tourists – you and people here for the first time help us see this place with fresh eyes – and that’s a good thing, because people sometimes forget to appreciate the best things about wherever they live. Thank you for writing your story.
What I want, and what this beautiful place deserves, is nothing less than respect for a place that is finite by its very nature, and needs to be understood and protected from the ravages of over-development – something that is happening everywhere.
Thank you for supporting local businesses – we will all be doing online support for awhile, I think – even the locals are doing curbside pickup, which we hope to be able to do at the library again soon.
Just learned the official news that we won’t be going in June. I’m actually crying. Will try for fall if it is safe for the island.
Thank you for your kind replies, and Sadie, for your clarification.
Be well.
I’m with you!!!
Inge Bond–thank you for your letter. You have captured what many feel about Orcas, even if they do not live here. It’s what my spouse and I felt after our first visits, and we were finally able to make this our home.
Ironically, you are the visitor that we WANT desperately to come. Caring, responsible, attentive.
Inge, I hope it ll work out for you to come in September – I’m sorry you can’t come in June with family, like you had hoped. September is a beautiful time of year here – let’s hope you will be able to come then.