— from Fred Klein —
How important is the future of Eastsound to you…?…
What will it be like in twenty years?… And what role would you like to play in answering that question?
How shall we answer the question of the Future of Eastsound…?…shall it be…allowed to evolve on its own in accordance with existing regulations and whatever market forces are brought to bear…?…or, shall it be guided by the conscious intentions of the citizens of Orcas Island?
This is an invitation to you to be part of a group charged to reach a consensus on a Vision Statement describing our hopes and dreams for Eastsound in 2035; and to draft a statement of that consensus to be published and shared with the community at large. Pre-registration required.
The premise of this process is that the consensus reached by a group of (say) forty to sixty citizens, representative of our diverse community, will be supported and embraced by the public at large. Childcare will be provided during the working sessions upon request.
Why is a “vision” important? Simple. In the realm of Planning, a “Vision Statement” is the bedrock upon which “Goals and Policies” are based and from which “Regulations” are derived. In other words, regulations rely upon the specific goals and policies, and goals and policies rely upon the vision statement. It is in the crafting of the vision that ordinary citizens can have a major impact on the regulations under which Eastsound will evolve.
The Eastsound Planning and Review Committee has recently had two well-attended public meetings on the subject of a Vision for Eastsound…the first co-hosted with the Chamber of Commerce on October 13, and the second on October 26, co-hosted by Gretchen Krampf and Jared Lovejoy, was headlined as the “50-50” meeting which successfully attracted the attention and energies of the “under 50” crowd. An estimated 170+ citizens attended these meetings in total.
Needless to say, both meetings generated manyideas and diverse opinions over an extremely broad range on just what that Vision for Eastsound should be. With the upcoming revisions to the SJC Comprehensive Plan, now is the time to focus that energy and craft a Vision for the future of Eastsound that can be fully embraced by our diverse community.
Reaching a consensus is not the easiest thing in this world…it takes time, commitment, energy, and effort. But just think what’s possible when we’re all pulling on the same end of the rope? The Eastsound Vision Workshop first session begins on Saturday, January 7, and with three additional sessions…within one week…consensus will be reached on an issue which otherwise would be an open question for months if not years to come.
To accept this invitation…First, review the Workshop Process Outline at doebay.net/eprc/VisionWSprocessoutline.pdf. Second, follow instructions to register online.
”If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there”
This is an initiative of the Eastsound Planning & Review Committee Vision Group
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Fred, your consensus workshops are always thought-provoking and interesting. I hope many will attend.
But I have a few questions: when looking at the future of Eastsound, and how it may effect all of us, what happens when a statement is formed from this group of 40 that is NOT wholly accepted by “our diverse community?” For example,
I would attend, but will be off island for 3 of the 4 sessions, does that mean my voice will not be included in the vision for Eastsound? And will this statement have more weight in the development of Eastsound than the individual voices of say…50?
Again, I hope as many folks from as many different points of view can attend, but I worry that this single group may be seen as the voice for all. I’m sure you will put my mind at ease, Fred on this point. Thank you in advance for your feedback.
Hi Janet…to respond to your comment, I’ll first quote from the statement of consensus which came out of the group process which addressed funding of capital improvements for our local public schools within which you participated; namely,
“As our group struggled to reach consensus, our process demonstrated integrity, inclusion, openness, and dedication to exploring and developing a plan to resolve a thorny community problem. The participants represented a diversity of experience and opinion, but were mindful of those opinions not in the room as well.”
This invitation includes a click-on link to the Process Outline which, in turn, links to the pre-registration form. This includes links to various resource materials participants are asked to become familiar; these materials include the comments and opinions expressed in previous community meetings as well as those expressed in the Survey conducted by the Eastsound Vision Group which put together the report available on the Orcas Library Shared Community Documents page: https://www.orcaslibrary.org/shared-comm-doc.html
Finally, everyone should know that a Vision Statement is just the first step in planning for the future of Eastsound. The Eastsound Vision Group, a subcommittee of the EPRC, will be announcing a series of workshops between now and May, 2017 to address various aspects just how we would like our community to evolve over the next 20 years.
Perfect! Those are just the answers for which I was seeking. Thanks for taking the time to respond Fred.
Heather and I would like to participate although we will be off island Jan. 9 through Jan. 20. Can we attend the Jan. 7 meeting?
Greg…we have committed to not limiting participants to a specific number but participation is contingent upon attendance at all 4 sessions; depending upon space availability, we MAY be able to include folks like yourself as “observers”.
Fill out the registration form, noting your circumstances.
The process of reaching consensus requires trust building…we must build trust first; reaching consensus is the easy part…this requires attending all sessions.