I first met Greg Ayers in early December when I responded to his Letter to the Editor, inviting locals to meet with him as he considered running for County Council. Never one to turn away from an interesting opportunity, I took him up on his offer, and I’m glad I did.
The first question I asked Greg was “Why, with your background in engineering and medicine, would you want to run for such a thankless job? In this day and age, most folks will find fault in everything you do?” He chuckled and responded that he thought he had a lot of different kinds of experiences to bring to the table and that he was at a point in his life that enabled him to make the kind of time commitment needed for the role that County Council Members will now play.
Greg has deep experience launching and running innovative businesses. He has run start-ups for medical devices, which require an entrepreneurial and innovative approach to high-quality problem solving, accuracy, and implementation. A status quo approach simply does not work in that kind of high-risk environment.
Our county has some significant challenges ahead, such as planning viable budgets, improving pubic health and environmental services, and implementing the critical area ordinance in a reasonable and transparent way. I believe that Greg will bring a fresh approach to our challenges that builds on his business skills. For instance, he will introduce new strategies to create incentives, accountability and rewards for our county employees, so that the current “us vs. them” approach to interactions shifts to “we’re all rowing in the same direction. “
For these reasons, in addition to the fact that he fixes his own flat tires, I support Greg Ayers for the San Juan County Council.
Donna Riordan
Eastsound
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Greg has been on the Eastsound Sewer and Water District board for about three years. He has not taken the leadership to reform the fees being charged. Right now whether you have a studio apartment or a 5 bedroom home on the water, the fee is $48.00 a month. The board has known for years that these rates are ridiculous. Greg comes along and has shown no leadership in remedying this nonsense. I wonder what would happen on the County Council.
Being a doctor and having made a lot of money and being invited to the White House isn’t proof that you would be a good leader. This culture is too obsessed with credentials. Things are not always what they seem.
I don’t think that it is helpful to grind one’s personal axe in a County election. Mr. Aldort seems annoyed about the Orcas sewer and water district. That’s a local issue and much of it is controlled by dictates from our leaders in Olympia. Ayers just joined the board a few years ago, and is not the only member, so making what that board did or did not do the principal issue in an election for the County Council makes no sense.
What I consider to be an important credential is work in the real world, where people have budgets and have to live within them, not relying on grant funds and political connections. Both Rick Hughes and Greg Ayers have long and varied careers in the private sector. Their businesses were neither driven by political connections nor propped up by government subsidies.
Our County government has long been driven by grant funds and subsidies, which bring with them agendas for projects of questionable relevance to the citizens. (Indeed, our planners just told Council that they had no time to work on the priorities of the Council and its citizens because they had committed themselves to grants with titles like “Managing Growth in Island Communities” and “Green Shores.”) The reality is that neither political connections nor grant writing experience is going to be of much use to the County as the State is facing a deficit of $1 to $2 billion this biennium, and the federal government’s deficit is so big my mind cannot accommodate the number. Grants are discretionary and will be the first areas cut by both the state and federal governments. In the future, rather than developing “scenic byways” and “stewardship networks” in order to get grant money, we’re going to have to focus on tax revenue and what we can afford to provide using it.
I am also dismayed about the personal attack in this comment (rich doctor?); it is a cheap shot and hardly accurate. Ayres was a successful cardiologist but more important someone who applied medical knowledge to solve real world problems by developing life-saving medical devices. He was invited to provide input on small business issues to the White House, not because of political connections but due to his small business experience.
The County is approaching its own fiscal cliff and it’s time for us to get real about our leaders. No more touchy-feely consultant-driven “visioning.” Lord knows we’ve had more than enough of that. We need someone who will look at the data and reach reasoned conclusions about revenue and costs. I believe that only someone who has had real skin in the game can give us that perspective. REMEMBER, vote for ONE candidate from San Juan as well as for one from Orcas.