||| FROM ROBERT AUSTIN |||
Rick Hughes has worked tirelessly on behalf of our local business interests for the past eight years, and has helped make Orcas Island a favorite tourist destination. I’ve voted for him twice, have conversed and shaken hands with him on a number of occasions, and hold his competence in his role in high regard.
My personal opinion is that these times are a-changing, though. An unrelenting focus on tourism as engine to our economy has inflated our housing costs and forced lower income families I’ve known to leave, as long-term rentals have gradually been replaced by vacation rentals.
I’ve known Cindy Wolf and her family for more than half a decade, and hold her intelligence and creative insights in high regard. And I’ve had the good fortune to work together with her in the mail order business my wife and I operate for the past four years; presented with a problem to solve, she just digs in and does the research and analysis needed to arrive at a solution. She’s highly attuned to the needs, values and interests of our residents.
I thank Rick for his years of service, and I am voting for Cindy to carry on with new ideas and alliances, seeking the best future for our children and grandchildren, even if that comes at the expense of local and off-island real estate investors.
Like Robert Austin and many others, I voted for Rick Hughes in 2016. We recognized he’s a good businessman. In fact, he recently described the San Juan County government as a $100 million-dollar business, which underscores his qualifications.
But in the post-pandemic economy and world we hope to enter soon, it’s not going to be business as usual. We will need a leader focused on people rather than business. That’s why I’m voting for Cindy Wolfe in 2020.