— by Lin McNulty —
Orcas Issues has confirmed that Port Manager Anthony Simpson tendered his resignation at the Tuesday, September 25 meeting of the Orcas Port Commission.
Simpson referred our inquiries to Board Chair Brian Ehrmantraut, who says that the resignation is noted in the minutes of the previous meeting, which at this point are only in draft form and have not been reviewed, let alone approved.
Details are unclear at this point, including an effective date. “I can confirm simply that Tony Simpson has tendered his resignation. His resignation letter is a matter of public record,” Ehrmantraut states.
There is no official statement from the Port at this time on the matter, nor any indication as to the next steps.
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Lin,
While you do not have my words in quotes, you have added a phrase to what I “said” which I did not say. In particular, the addition of “,let alone approved” adds a certain spin to the statement which I did not, looking at my email to you, ever say, and I suggest your fact checkers should do a bit better of a job…
I simply confirmed that he has submitted his letter of resignation, which should also be in the minutes, when they come out, and I mentioned that the minutes likely only exist in draft form and I have not seen them yet.
I was trying to be helpful, and you twisted my words.
Orcas Issues claims about itself: “This news site promotes online community journalism that adheres to journalistic ethics of accuracy, accessibility and transparency and to editorial ethics of impartiality, fairness, courage and questioning. ”
Is Orcas Issues a member of the Society of Professional Journalists? Perhaps they could provide some guidelines.
Sorry to read this. I can only assume you’re well qualified for this position. Agreement by all parties isn’t a requirement for the job. I can’t help but think that together we can find a way forward with some give and take. Winning doesn’t have to come at the expense of someone losing (and using the term “winning” is a fairly bold assumption at this point). It really doesn’t. Your experience must be needed and I’m sure we can acknowledge this despite heated and passionate exchanges. My lasting impression of you is that of a professional. Please reconsider.
Brian, quoting you exactly:
“The resignation should also be noted in the minutes of our previous meeting, which as I mentioned
before, may only exist in draft form at this point in time – I certainly have not seen or reviewed them yet.”
If anything, my punctuation may have been confusing. Thank you for your comment.
Orcas Issues, as a neighbor that respects your efforts in keeping our community enlightened, might I suggest raising the bar just a tad higher on reporting news with elected official board meetings until the board has had the oppertunity to memorialize such information.
Just a suggestion, but that way it’s news and newsworthy
You do such a great job reporting and this would simply reinforce your excellence of reporting.
Not ment as a negative comment but rather, supporting your high excellence that seem to demonstrate thus far.
The Commission has a challenge and oppertunity ahead of them, reguardless of weather the current manager stays on or leaves, change is in the air.
Good Intellegent Managers are a high commodity. While I hear rumblings of friction in our community, the Big picture seems we need all the intelligence and focus for the upcoming steps of our Communities Ports future.
There is always time for growth, not physically necessarily, but on point development of holistic structure and a clear understanding. So we don’t find ourselves in a bigger problem with out desirable solutions or options.
I look forward to our Port Commissioners, Manager(s) and Community stepping up with excellence.
Which in return will bless all.
There must be “plenty” of daylight between the media and politics.
Given that the media is comprised of very political operators the gold standard is a goal, a point of reference when the media strays too far into partisanship.
When we look at the principle media outlets (off island) throughout the country, it’s not hyperbole to use the word shameful in describing their effort to report responsibly and without strong bias on full display.
It’s where we’re at as a nation.
I have to say as a lawyer—Judges in the federal judiciary much more often than not exhibit the most neutrality than in any other area of civil society (with some notable exceptions). I see this daily.
We need judges of the highest intellect who are capable of self-policing by distinguishing between objective, subjective, competence, emotion, and reason.
It’s very possible to reach a very high level of neutrality and be wholly human at the same time.
What’s the linchpin?
Serious, not politically infected, Education!
Political infection also applies to Journalists and Journalism schools, which often find themselves compromised by the political correctness of our era.
Again, the “irrational” seed is rooted in Education—it’s “bred in the bone” as it were.
Chris, Brett Kavanaugh? The Supreme Court has been demeaned by the outrageous political tirades spewing from his venomous mouth. For those who have lost faith in the presidency, the congress, must they lose faith in the last branch, the USSC?
It is not hyperbole to use the word shameful (your own words) to express displeasure with Republicans who have relinquished fair play for an egregious arrogance and self-righteous behavior.
Thom- I was referring to the media generally and the need to remain objective and professional since that issue was raised above; my reference to most federal judges was simply a personal vantage point to illistrate showing how far one can succeed in keeping bias at bay when reporting the news.
As for the USSC, since you’ve raised it, one hopes Justice Roberts will replace Justice Kennedy’s “balancing” posture—though admittedly it’s a stretch (for Roberts). Historically, life tenure has operated unpredictably on some. Let’s hope; let’s see.
Oops, “illustrate” and stet “showing”
Supreme Court discussions aside…
The Orcas community has lost a knowledgeable and professional asset in Tony Simpson. An individual with deep ties to the island that worked(s) hard for our community in many way. It’s unfortunate to see him step down.
Tony, as a pilot, I flew into Orcas only once, but I can say it was a safe, well managed airport, and you can be proud of your record there. Sorry to see you “driven out” by the current affairs. It’s a loss for Orcas to lose your experience, but based on what I have read in the recent on-line posts, I don’t blame you for resigning.
It’s really a shame that Tony is resigning. Anyone who has been following the contentious goings-on can see why he doesn’t want to be airport manager anymore. As one of many who feel that the safety of our airport should be the main priority, I really appreciate Tony’s efforts toward making improvements, to meet FAA safety requirements. We were lucky to have a guy like Tony managing our little airport. It will be hard to find a replacement with anywhere near his level of knowledge and experience.