— from Steve Smith for Madrona Voices —

Madrona Voices has released a summary of the key facts regarding the Port of Orcas Master Plan as well as a survey on the topic. We have sent an email invitation to our mailing list, asking people to take the survey. If you would like to be included in the invitations, please let us know by contacting us via our website, MadronaVoices.com. We are happy to include anyone who lives on-island or owns property here.

We use the methods we do to ensure fairness of one survey taken by each person and that the responses to the survey are representative of the community. We had great success with our public health district surveys, which predicted that the PHD would pass with 76% of the vote. That is, indeed, the percentage with which it passed. We continue to work hard to make sure our surveys and the information we provide are accurate and representative.

We believe that Madrona Voices provides various decision-makers with the ability to reach out to people who cannot attend the meetings that are often held during working hours. We hope it provides us all with the ability to learn what a representative sample of the public across the island thinks, rather than just the few involved in meetings and certain projects.

We share much more about our methods, purposes, and reasons on our website. Thank you to everyone for sharing your thoughts and ideas via Madrona Voices. We feel honored to be a part of this great community.

**If you are reading theOrcasonian for free, thank your fellow islanders. If you would like to support theOrcasonian CLICK HERE to set your modestly-priced, voluntary subscription. Otherwise, no worries; we’re happy to share with you.**