Orcas West Council Race: Rick Hughes’ Profile

A Profile of Rick Hughes’ bid for Orcas District 4 (Orcas West) County Council position:

By Margie Doyle

(A similar profile of Scott Lancaster’s bid for Orcas District 4 (Orcas West) County Council position follows this article)

Rick Hughes, his wife Marlace (nee Fowler) and son Ricky have deep roots in the Orcas Island community, long before the Hughes’ purchased Ray’s Pharmacy in Eastsound in 2007.

As a retail business owner, Hughes finds keeping up with regulations a burdensome part of doing business, with liquor sales and immunization licensing, pharmaceutical take-back program and Medicaid contract verification adding to the more routine tasks of island commerce.

Yet those experiences add to his capabilities to serve as Orcas West’s representative on the San Juan County Council, Hughes says.

“As merchants, we have to provide a reason to shop local,” Hughes says. “We try to find solutions to keep people from going off island.

“We adapted the Whatcom drug take-back program for our county in a wonderful collaboration where we realized we could work together to solve the problem; we put together a protocol for the take-back program that is the most extensive in Washington State , and were able to work locally with the Sheriff’s Office, drug prevention organizations, San Juan County Department of Health, local water systems and pharmacies on each island.

“We were able to make it work; get drugs off the street, and out of the soil and ecology. We were able to solve the problem ourselves and not be delayed by legislation and implementation: that’s a model for Council service,” says Hughes.

Hughes’ family has maintained a home on the eastern shore of Orcas Island for many generations. Hughes spent most of his summers on the island with his aunt and uncle, and in the 1990s, his parents moved fulltime to their home on Buck Mountain. (His dad, Richard Hughes, played Cupid in setting up Rick and Marlace Hughes’ first date).

Rick Hughes brings his background in business, advertising, art and marketing to his candidacy. In addition, he has years of board service, beginning with his college fraternity council to the national board of the Outward Bound and YMCA organizations.

He early developed the Orcas lifestyle of holding down multiple jobs, and in Vail, Colo., he began working for Warren Miller, showing ski films  and selling T-shirts in the early 1990s.  Despite success in managing such national accounts as Motel 6 and Home Depot, Rick always wanted to return to live in the Pacific Northwest.

Always an entrepreneur and problem solver, when he married Marlace, they purchased Ray’s Pharmacy from Jack and Robin Becker, Rick plunged waist-deep into local issues. He joined the Farmer’s Market Board, and as he says, “One board leads to another.” The Hughes’ family values their privacy, and many donations to local non-profits are made anonymously.

Hughes joined the Eastsound Planning Review Committee (EPRC) in 2011 and with other members of the Eastsound Merchants Association, he’s organized community events  celebrating Freat Pumpkin Days,  Great Santa Saturdays, and Great Hoppin’ Saturday Bunny Days.

After running the popular Friday night Roller-Skating for kids at the school gym last year, this September Rick and Marlace became co-presidents of the Orcas Schools Parent-Teacher-Student Association (PTSA).

Hughes says to succeed in any venture, “You have to be passionate and dedicated, honest, and take care of your customers – and be realistic.”  He feels county government has lost focus of how hard it is to run a business: “You have to be responsible, resourceful, industrious – and pay the mortgage.”

The challenge before county government is to find ways to create revenue and not have to tax more. But he is quick to add, “You can’t complain unless you try to solve the problem.” Some of his ideas include creating a film commission to promote filming opportunities at the county’s rural sites; installing transient moorage in East Sound; building on the Farmer’s Market entrepreneurs to “incubate” new business; establishing local port districts as duty-free entry port; and providing technical infrastructure for home and small businesses.

“Let’s not fight over silly stuff, going after the same dollars. I like having big ideas and bringing people together to solve problems; to attack as a team and have nothing personal to gain. I’m looking forward to making changes on the legislative side.”

An interview with Hughes’ position on separate issues facing Orcas Island and the County will be posted next week.