There has been a great deal of misunderstanding regarding the nature and objectives of the Charter Review Commission. Here are a few points to set a perhaps more balanced stage:
The CRC was a pretty diverse group comprising 21 members elected by the citizens throughout San Juan County. The Commission included two current and three former Planning Commissioners, two former elected Freeholders, a former five-term County Clerk, a County Council staff member, a former County Commissioner, two attorneys, a former member of the Ferry Advisory Committee and member of the Agricultural Resources Committee, a former Board member of the Economic Development Council, local business leaders, two former Port Commissioners, retired executives, farmers and individuals with extensive corporate financial experience.
Its assignment was to review all portions of the Charter and bring its recommendations to the voters for approval or disapproval. It met weekly for 6-7 hours for five months beginning last January and individual members put in hundreds of hours on their own researching and preparing for weekly meetings. The proposed amendments cover sections of the Charter that most members felt needed revision. They were re-evaluated a number of times throughout the review period and each time the committee showed overwhelming support for them. At our last meeting 17 out of 19 members voted to have these amendments put on the ballot. Two members voted against it, 1 abstained and 1 was absent.
Much to our surprise, what we thought was giving a simple choice to the voters has turned into a major political battle. Providing choices, like three as opposed to six being necessary to govern a county of 16,000, (as in 33 of the 39 other counties in the state) or for the Council to be directly responsible for management issues rather than just policy, is being decried as the end of our world.
So, we are attempting to respond to a well organized opposition with letters, opinions and hopefully informative data. Someone needs to point out that greater complexity and more layers of administration are not necessarily the best solution to serious fiscal problems.
We are now in the middle of building a political support group to aid in getting our message across. If you have an interest in these issues and would like more information, please send your email address to Larry Hendel (clh@centurytel.net)
Bill Appel, Waldron/Orcas
Mary Jean Cahail, San Juan
Bob Gamble, Orcas
Steve Garrison, Orcas
Ralph Gutschmidt, Orcas
Larry Hendel, Lopez
Moana Kutsche, Orcas
Bob Levinson, San Juan
Madrona Murphy, Lopez
Gordy Petersen, San Juan
Tom Starr, San Juan
Maureen See, San Juan
Jim Stegall, San Juan
Barbara Thomas, Lopez
Richard Ward, Lopez
Bill Watson, San Juan
Ron Zee, San Juan
i hope you publicize these to give the public as much information as possible. do you use bcc (blind carbon copy) on your email lists?
Sadie, we do use bcc for our emailing to supporters. Please drop your email address to
Larry Hendel (clh@centurytel.net)
Interested readers may wish to read my response to Larry’s letter when it appears in local media soon. No one is decrying “the end of our world,” just pointing out the deficiencies in the CRC majority’s entire process, from start to finish.