||| FROM CLARK CUNDY |||
I know Cindy Wolf and would like to advocate her for position 2 Councilperson. Here are some of my observations leading to reasons to Vote Cindy Wolf.
My family moved here in the late 1960s when we purchased the Orcas Hotel and they ran the business for around 12 years and I graduated High School here. We mainly came here because of the natural beauty, rural lifestyle, and community. Eventually leaving the island was one of the hardest things to do, but after around 45 years Joanne and I decided to come to Orcas for the same reasons that my family came originally.
Currently I see many threats for the islands, these three, Natural Beauty, Rural lifestyle, and Economic resilience are among them. These components will ultimately have an effect on the community, it’s makeup, how there’s participation and involvement.
Looking to future governing of San Juan County and how best to manage crossroad issues will be a centerpiece of county government. Cindy Wolf would bring fresh inclusive ideas into the mix, and she is all about building communities of belonging, transparency, and a sense of the genuine common good that a great councilperson will need to have in order to navigate these and other issues. Where we are at:
- Vacation Rentals (VR) in the San Juans are a real threat to our rural living. It puts commercialism next door in private neighborhoods.
- Eastsound Village is going to be going through some more changes soon. The islands are more at risk for economic disaster since we put too much emphasis on tourism. Economic Resilience for the islands will come from diversification. Not having a single point of failure is the crux of economic planning.
- Natural Beauty, Rural lifestyle is directly connected to local development, use, and climate change to name a few.
It is our responsibility to future generations. Cindy is well equipped, connected and willing to serve. It’s highly unlikely those same minds that thought up current circumstances can get us out of the existing situation. A vote for Cindy Wolf, a vote for the future.
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One of the MANY good arguments against unchecked proliferation of transient vacation rentals is their adverse impact on the livelihoods of existing inns, hotels, and B&Bs like Orcas Hotel and Deer Harbor Inn, which have been good Orcas Island citizens for decades. Unlike her opponent, Cindy Wolf has excellent, realistic plans on how to limit the growth of VRs, and I support her election to the County Council in hopes she can implement these plans.