Letter to the Editor: Pratt Defends Council Positions

My opponent in the County Council election, Bob Jarman, recently wrote that my actions on the previous Council lacked “fiscal responsibility and accountability.”  While I am pleased that he is on track for recovery from his recent cardiac surgery, he is clearly off-track in his accusations of me.

The Facts:
I am proud to have been a member of the Councils that kept the County’s budget balanced during the Great Recession while providing more detailed and transparent financial information to the public.

I was a member of the Budget Subcommittee that made recommendations for painful and necessary budget cuts that included program reductions, county employee lay-offs, and mandatory closure days. We also recommended the establishment of reserve funds to ensure greater long-term budget stability, which I continued to advocate for throughout my term in office.

I was the lone vote opposing loans from several county program funds to the Solid Waste Program in 2010 because there was not a plan at that time to repay the full loan amounts.

These are specific examples of my fiscal responsibility and my accountability to the citizens.

In contrast, my opponent has already demonstrated a lack of fiscal responsibility and accountability.  On January 29th Bob Jarman voted to “delay the open houses to review the draft Shoreline Master Program (SMP) until after February.”  He approved this motion in spite of knowing that the delay would forego the opportunity to notify all San Juan County property owners about the SMP update process (flyers had been printed and were ready to mail along with the tax statements).  More importantly, he approved the motion knowing that the County could lose a portion of the State funding for the SMP update.

Fortunately, the Council reversed this decision on February 12th (when my opponent was absent), though the opportunity for effective communications with all property owners was lost and a portion of the state funding for the required SMP update remains in jeopardy.

I look forward to continued civil and fact based discussions of the issues during this campaign.

Sincerely,

Lovel Pratt
Candidate for San Juan County Council, District 1