Letter to Editor | Vote for “Kate” for OIFR Commissioner

||| FROM TOM FISCUS |||

I’m generally pretty reticent to recommend individuals for elected office, but the recent history of OIFR and its Commissioners has me looking at candidates who find the facts and act on them with the public good uppermost in their minds.

In the upcoming OIFR Commission election, that person is Kate Hansen. Kate has a long family history here on Orcas Island and she has deep connections with our community, including service on the Orcas Recycling Service Board of Directors, work for the Funhouse Commons, and Board service for the Actors Theater.

Those connections make her invested, but her recent, multi-year, actual hands-on experience as a member of King County Fire Protection District 16 gives her a critical advantage in understanding the inner workings of a fire house and its people. Having known her for the last 12 years, I appreciate her as an organizational guru who can sort through the conflicting agendas of the players to see the nub of problems. One of her strongest qualities is often undervalued: if she doesn’t know an answer, she doesn’t bluff or deflect – she says she doesn’t know, then digs in to get the facts and communicates what she’s learned to the questioner. And she tells it straight. She’s diplomatic and respectful but doesn’t sculpt the facts (or her view) to try to mollify the audience. She treats every question, whether it’s a great one, or one that is misinformed, as worthy of being answered to the best of her ability. That, I think, is something often lacking in our current public discourse.

Kate is part of a new generation of leadership on Orcas Island. Her judgment, maturity, work ethic and unfailing honesty, combined with her fire department experience and dedication to our community make her the best candidate to serve as OIFR Commissioner. I urge you to vote “Kate” for
Commissioner.