||| BY theORCASONIAN REPORTER WALTER ZUSTOVICH |||


On March 31, a group of Orcas island citizens calling themselves Liberate Orcas filed a suit against the county demanding that the island be free to incorporate. In a statement to the County’s Prosecuting Attorney’s office, the group noted that “ . . . over a period of years, on a number of issues from land use decisions and Eastsound development to tree removal and vacation rentals, the County has not been sensitive to the needs of local people. We appreciate that Orcas Island has its own commissioner, but that only represents one-third of decision-making power. We see what Friday Harbor has been able to do and feel it’s time for Orcas –- or at least Eastsound -– to follow the same path.”

Responding to the call for “whole island” governance, a recent memo from the Prosecuting Attorney’s office asserted that, “We are not aware of any way to create (such) governance under existing laws in Washington State . . . We have also considered whether the charter review commission could recommend to the county council that action be taken to provide a method for ‘whole island’ governance through the establishment of cities for each of the islands . . . and found it to be an ‘impossibility’ because it would include nonurban areas” as defined by the GMA.

Undeterred, Liberate Orcas vows to find a loophole and is considering another suit that removes San Juan County from the entre GMA process.

A spokesperson for the county noted that Orcas Island citizens seem to be “a bit off their rocker these days.”


 

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