Patty Miller Hopes to Continue Community Service as Council Member

Patty Miller, right, works with Paul Kamin on Eastsound water issues. Miller has served on several county land use planning and environmental committees.

Miller considers a move from the Eastsound Planning Review Committee — which meets tomorrow at 3 at the Senior Center — to the County Council

When Patty Miller retired to Orcas Island 25 years after graduating from high school here, the last thing on her mind was running for political office.

After a strong business career in two signature NW companies – Weyerhaeuser and T-Mobile, Miller brought a sharp mind and a strong sense of commitment to the community when she purchased the building she grew up in, where her family had operated long time businesses, (parents’ Velma and Dick Doty’s) A-1 café and (brother Rick and Jeannie Doty) Homegrown Market in the heart of Eastsound.

And that has led to Miller’s increased involvement in local government, prompting her to run for the East Orcas County Council seat now occupied by Gene Knapp. Knapp has announced he will not seek re-election to that position.

When Miller moved back fulltime to Orcas in 2006, her main areas for volunteering were focused on Eastsound.   The development of the UGA was in full debate mode.  “It seemed like a good transition from business – I liked solving problems and also really wanted to serve Eastsound.” Miller says.

“Serving as a member on the Eastsound Planning Review Committee (EPRC) seemed like a natural step …..as the group that would be more involved in stewardship and less in serving personal agendas – real or perceived – than just Eastsound property owners.”

The youngest of the five Doty offspring, Patty came with her family to Orcas Island when she was in 3^rd grade. She describes herself as having been “a stereotypical, self-absorbed teenager…I managed to stay oblivious to the level of volunteerism that it takes to make the community work, even with Velma Doty as my mother,” she says, giving a nod to her mother’s unflagging spirit of community service.

“But coming back gave me a fresh perspective and I quickly developed an appreciation for the amount of commitment it takes to make the community work,” Patty admits.

After high school, she eventually attended the University of Washington, and graduated in business with an accounting focus. Soon afterwards, she earned her Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certificate, passing the difficult test on the first try.

She says of her employment history, “I was lucky to make two wise decisions in the companies I selected to work for.”

The first was Cornerstone Development Company, a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser Real Estate, from 1985 to 1993.  The company focused on redevelopment and restoration of historic areas of Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland. What I learned from the company’s development philosophy was the value of retaining aspects of the original architecture while creating a revitalized neighborhood where people want to live, work, and play.  While Eastsound is fundamentally different from Seattle, I think those same values can be applied to our little village as it evolves.”

“When Cornerstone wound down due to the real estate environment, I was fortunate to find a job at what became T-Mobile,” Miller says, “when it was a small start-up wireless in the underserved rural portions of the U.S.”

At T-Mobile she found “incredibly intelligent, visionary, strong business people.

“It was typical to spend 60 to 80 hours a week at work for years. We had a job to do and we weren’t going to hold back; it wasn’t that mentality… and I loved it. I thrived in it.  I had the privilege of expanding beyond accounting into many operational areas of the business.”

After 12 years, Miller retired as Senior Vice President, and soon moved full-time to Orcas Island, settling in Olga.

EPRC

She frequently attended Eastsound Planning Review Committee meetings when she was still living in Seattle, and has been a member since 2006.  Miller says that she always set pretty high standards for herself. “When I want to do something I want to do it really well…. I’m never happy with my level of commitment.”

She has been committed to research the issues and make the meetings productive.

“Maybe it’s my business background where I had the privilege to work with people who are artists at making things happen… Everyone is strapped for time and energy, and I’m not interested in serving on a committee to meet once a month and give my opinion — why take the time if that’s all your interest is? I join because I have enough true interest that I want to see it go somewhere.”

While she admits that working in the civic sector requires a lot of patience, she says, “For me, it’s quite fun. I’m used to a very entrepreneurial, fast-paced business, ‘get it done’ attitude — you either get on board or off the track.

“But the advisory capacity of serving on the EPRC is totally different. Bringing people along, incorporating new thoughts — it has to be a community-based solution for it to take off and go anywhere.”

Miller’s interest in what happens in Eastsound comes from the heart –“that was my back door; where I played when I was a kid.”

“I’d love to have people that want to work for Eastsound become members, and not to advance a personal agenda; I’d love to see people who live, work, and have a business in Eastsound take a more active role.”

She addressed some of the challenges of serving on the EPRC: “With the dialogue that took place on the EPRC, we’d start talking about the issue and although it was an interesting, intelligent dialog it  didn’t seem to go in any direction; it’s wasn’t  clear what next steps to take from the discussion.

“So I have tried to implement tools to move the dialogue forward toward action, working collectively to identify a focus and direction rather than bringing a personal agenda.

“I wanted to get away from the ‘gossip’ or third-hand information that is prevalent in small communities and the negativity that comes from that… even with people you trust and interact with regularly.

“I made the commitment that I would base my opinions on people and issues entirely on MY experience with these people and those issues.  I learned so much by taking that attitude. People can be so passionate and fixed in their solution that it would be so easy to either jump on the bandwagon – or totally block them out.

“I listen for the information, the learning, in what the person is saying. I may fundamentally disagree, but I take what I can learn from them, from the pieces that I can connect with.”

Serving on the EPRC has heightened her awareness of its place within County government.  “With Eastsound being our UGA [Urban Growth Area], I don’t want it to be the sacrificial lamb for everything else to stay beautiful and pristine: I want Eastsound to be something we’re proud of.

“The Eastsound Plan needs attention if it’s truly going to accommodate 50% of our growth,” as mandated by the Growth Management Act, Miller says. “How that happens will make or break the quality of Eastsound.”

“Good urban development respects history, makes it a place that people want to work, live and play AND accommodate substantial growth. Because the County Council sets priorities for county staff, the council has to have [Eastsound development] on their radar so it gets some level of prioritization.”

“I think I can help the EPRC on the Council position as much as I have serving as an EPRC member.  “I can help the council gain an appreciation for what Eastsound needs and wants as a community,” she says.

In addition to serving on the EPRC, Miller participated in both the original and new Citizens Stormwater Advisory Committees (vowing to make sure we have learned from the lessons of the original committee); is current president of the Economic Development Council, with the San Juan Initiative, and on the Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) update committee, as well as being a regular contributor to County Council discussions regarding land use regulations.

Hot Spots

Issues that have become “hot spots” in public discourse include Eastsound incorporation, solid waste disposal, budget sustainability, and the Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) update.

Here are Miller’s take on those issues:

Incorporating Eastsound, or even Orcas Island, as a stand-alone municipality (like Friday Harbor) “may solve one problem but would create others,” Miller says.

“In setting policy, the County Council tries to treat all islands as the same, but the personalities, dynamics and communities are so different on each of the islands. When making county-wide decisions, we have six council members trying to find a solution that works for all. The process takes longer, and while ‘painful’ is the word that comes to mind, government just takes longer, because you really are responding to the needs of a diverse community. You have to allow time for that evolution.

“Each island has its own personality and set of values. Because of our unique island community, our county government has to be adaptive to that reality.The council needs to be more responsive to the varying priorities and values of individual islands, but I don’t think that requires a change in government structure.”

Miller hopes to change a common theme among the other “hotspots”.

Rather than serving on a Council that deliberates on the final outcomes of a process, Miller envisions a Council that is “front-loaded.” One that sets strategy at the front end of the discussions rather than waiting until the end.  “I’m certainly not advising going around the public process, but I’ve seen huge inefficiencies at the end of the game, when the Council finally gets involved,”

“The best example of this is the CAO update… We couldn’t get the Council to set strategic direction or give direction to the CAO committee, and then after thousands of hours, the Council is starting all over with a $210,000 study.”  Miller agrees that the study is needed, however. “We don’t have any idea of the number of wetlands [in the county], and given the impact, I think it’s intelligent to do the study  Miller realizes that we can’t change history and wants to work for developing a balanced set of regulations to protect our critical areas but also wants to move the Council in a more proactive direction.

Another example of the Council arriving late on the scene is the solid waste situation, Miller feels. “It’s expensive to support the existing model of the transfer station on each island; it’s more expensive to support a system of hundreds of individual cars dropping off trash/recyclables, than a few trucks going into a facility.

“I know that we like that and want that, but I would like to know if there are other models that meet the majority of our needs with a more acceptable cost structure.  It’s time to re-look at some models and services, making sure people understand services, alternatives and the cost of their decisions. The current model has no funding for capital infrastructure, which is just not sustainable.”

When considering her responsibility as a council member to the voters, Miller says her accounting perspective comes heavily into play. “Responsible management means we ask not only what do people want, but how much they will pay for it, and how do they intend to pay for it?  If in the end we decide we want to retain this model, and are willing to pay for it, then I will support it 100%. Today we are living off borrowed resources with no idea on how we will pay it back.

“It takes scratching below the surface and rolling up sleeves, how can we do this better, I know county government is not business but maybe it can learn something from business.”

Miller points out that the Council’s work is complicated by the fact that much of the public expects the County Council to be involved in the county government operations; people want to know not only how much it is going to cost but that it is going to be delivered efficiently.  However the Council’s charge is to make policy.  The Administrator is responsible for the operations.  “The reality of the charter is that the council only has the ability to establish policy; it’s not allowed to get into the operations of the county, because that’s the Administrator’s role,” Miller says.

Prior to the establishment of the charter government, the County government was managed by a three-member County Commission. In the past, the council managed the departments, like the Health Department or Planning.

The Council approves staffing and budget decisions, but that is the extent to which they are involved in county operations. They can ask county staff questions, but they don’t give them direction.  The current budget has no performance-based metrics to evaluate the efficiency of staff’s delivery of services (which accounts for approximately 78% of the budget), Miller says.

The Council also has the ability to consider is the restructuring of departments. Miller asks if serious consideration has been given to consolidation of functions that could be combined: “These are the type of questions we need to be getting to.”

“I’m a stubborn individual – if there’s enough public interest and focused leadership, you can make happen what you want to have happen. “I have a ‘get it done’ attitude – I’m Velma’s daughter, OK?” Patty says with a laugh.