Dear Editor,
Connections count, and Lovel Pratt has the connections.
Getting things done requires more than great ideas; getting things done requires collaboration, and collaboration is facilitated when our elected officials have good connections.
Candidate for County Council Lovel Pratt has these attributes.
Lovel has been instrumental in helping to move along the large, multi-agency Cattle Point Road Realignment project. This project is one of the largest on the County’s priority list for public works projects. Construction cost is projected to be 5 to 8 million dollars. San Juan County can’t do it alone.
A portion of Cattle Point Road through American Camp is threatened by coastal bluff erosion and is the only access for emergency services, tourists, and residents to the Cattle Point area of San Juan Island.
Lovel’s gentle collaborative style has been a powerful factor in bringing together the many voices and interests involved in moving this project forward. She has encouraged our US senate, US congressional, and
Washington State representatives to visit the proposed project site and add their voices of support. She has advocated for and supported our SJC Public Works Department in the securing of funding to complete the design effort, to move the project forward to be shovel ready.
San Juan County government needs leaders who collaborate, who are willing to make appropriate compromises, and who represent all of the residents in the County. Lovel Pratt is that kind of leader.
Jim Hooper
San Juan Island
Given that Lovel Pratt was voted out of office by her own constitutents just two months ago, it seems that she did not make very good “connections” with the people who count, the citizens of San Juan. Voters considering Pratt should consider her record, including being the most vocal advocate of the recent changes to the critical areas ordinance. Ms. Pratt’s influence was primarily directed to getting money from the legislature, a well that has dried up, and resulted primarily from her Democratic party connections, which–given recent developments in Olympia–may be worth little. We need someone to focus on our existing revenues and what can be accomplished using them. The last Council did not resolve our budget issues, and there is talk of even more levy lifts just to pay for our basic services. We need a fresh perspective.