||| BY MINOR LILE, ORCASONIAN REPORTER |||
In a statement posted on Facebook on Nov. 4, incumbent Council member Rick Hughes conceded the race for the County Council District 2 seat to challenger Cindy Wolf.
“While all the votes are not counted yet,” Hughes wrote, “it seems clear that the District #2 race is decided. I would like to congratulate Cindy Wolf and her team for running a good campaign and for the victory. I wish Cindy and San Juan County the best in the future.”
In his statement, Hughes also thanked those who had supported his candidacy and expressed appreciation for having had the opportunity to serve as a member of the County Council for two terms.
“I would like to thank the community for the honor and privilege to serve San Juan County over the last eight years. Thank you to my friends and supporters during this campaign, all the letters of support and encouragement were humbling. I will miss the work and the opportunity to serve, but it has been a good run. Thank you to my campaign team, as you all have inspired me, been amazingly kind and have done such great work. Serving San Juan County has been the best experience of my life.”
With approximately 96% of the vote counted, Wolf currently has 5,959 votes (53%) while Hughes has 5,302 votes (47%). In the District 1 race, Christine Minney continues to hold a lead, with 5,722 votes (51.6%) to Ryan Palmateer’s 5,333 votes (48.1%). Election results will next be updated on Friday, November 6.
The current Council will continue to serve through the end of the year, with new Council members beginning their terms at the first meeting of the New Year. According to County Clerk Ingrid Gabriel, that date has not yet been set but is likely to be on either January 5th or 12th.
Dear Rick;
Thank you for your service to our island communities, and to the Orcas community. I appreciate the work you’ve done with WSF on our behalf, and in other community projects; as well as your wanting to bridge disparate elements and sides of difficult, complex issues. We didn’t agree on priorities all that often; still, I respect that you were always willing to listen and have a conversation about things – even without satisfactory resolution. I’m grateful for your commitment to the job, and the presence and attentiveness that you showed throughout your time as Councilor, and for the hard work you did and took to heart.
I hope you will continue to stay involved with our community, Rick – and regain some of that initial spark of enthusiasm and idealistic vision that I saw in you when you were first in office; how you wanted to help our community solve some of its many complex issues with creativity and resourcefulness. We need that badly in these times, in whatever capacity; and I know that you care.
I cannot imagine the difficulty of the job of being Councilor. Cindy Wolf will likely need help coming up to speed and the experience that you have worked hard to gain over these last 8 years.
I hope to see you around town; maybe have a socially distant ‘cuppa’ outdoors. All the best in your next endeavors, come January 2021.
With appreciation and respect;
B. Sadie Bailey