• Who I Am and Why I Am Running
• What I Have Been Doing

Protecting the environment, our quality of life, and a strong stable economy in Skagit County is not just a slogan to me.  It is a personal commitment to which I have contributed a great deal of time, money and effort. I helped on Barabara Rudge’s campaign for Skagit County Commissioner in 1992, and was John Doyle’s campaign manager in 2000 in his run for Skagit County Commissioner.  I was on the Board of Friends of Skagit from 1996 to 2000. This GMA watchdog group was very successful in promoting the Growth Management Act, a law that provides citizens with the tools to protect farmlands and our natural resources, and gives everyone a voice in the process. Sally and I have contributed time and money to Skagit Land Trust, San Juan Island Land Trust, Anacortes City Forest Land Conservation Easement Program and many other local organizations that preserve and protect our natural resources and our quality of life, and have owned and operated a successful home building business for 30 years.

Most recently I wear 2 hats that are very important to me. First I am an elected member of the Anacortes City Council and secondly I have developed two low-impact subdivisions in Anacortes. Both of these roles have given me many opportunities to make a positive contribution to our community.

My experience as a builder/ business person and as an environmentalist provides valuable insights that are useful as a City Councilmember, especially in evaluating the negative or positive effects of growth. I know what needs to be done, and what “can” be done to achieve responsible growth, that which protects our natural resources, promotes livable urban areas and keeps our quality of life in Skagit County.

In 2005, I was asked by the County Commissioners to serve on the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) to develop a South Fidalgo Subarea Plan. This planning tool was mandated by the Skagit County Comprehensive Plan, and I was excited to help plan the future of South Fidalgo Island. Serving on this committee revealed to me what is wrong and right with the current County Commissioner government, and started me thinking about running for Skagit County Commissioner.

What is right? The County Staff are qualified and they understand the rules and laws they are required to follow. What is wrong? Our previous Skagit County Commissioners did not want to follow the new GMA laws. The South Fidalgo planning process was hijacked to serve the interests of a few entrenched special interest groups. Two years of committee work, $80,000 of consultant time and lots of County staff time went down the drain. So it had to start anew in an effort to get things right this time.

The old way of doing County Commissioner business is to ignore the evidence and listen mostly to the opinions of a few good buddies.  That will not help us get it right.  Many of our County wide issues are simply too important for all of us. Skagit County is growing at a fast pace.  We need to thoughtfully plan for that growth so that farmlands and our quality life will be preserved for future generations, not be sacrificed for a few.  We cannot afford to manipulate the process to serve foregone conclusions and short term objectives, ignoring future consequences.

I want to get it right!!  I believe that if we follow the planning processes already set by law, that if we listen to the various intelligent opinions that are out there, that if we make an effort to find consensus, that if we listen to our qualified staff, that if we elect thoughtful, intelligent Commissioners who take the time to know the issues, we will get it right! 

We have to start getting the process right. If we do, we will not have to start over and lose 2 years of work and money as we did with the South Fidalgo planning process. We will not spend tens thousands of dollars on studies, and waste hundreds of hours of people’s time only to decide wrongly to serve the interests of a few friends, as we did on the Solid Waste issues.  We will not attempt to break a good water rights agreement, negotiated for years in good faith and signed by 8 local jurisdictions, and waste hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars only to lose in court, as the current Commissioners did recently.

The Skagit County issues are bigger and meaner and more complicated than they used to be. The science is complex. The players are smarter, and there are more of them. The decisions are difficult, but we have the people and resources to get it right. I believe in involving citizens in the decision-making process rather than making decisions over lunch or behind closed doors.  Our citizens have an immense amount of information and expertise and experience to offer.  When everyone’s help is welcomed, the County Commissioners can make more thoughtful decisions. The more information we can gather, the better informed the Commissioners can be and the better decisions we can make for the future of Skagit County. We need to make the process work for all of us.

• Volunteer Fireman, District 11, 1977-1981
• President Mt. Erie Construction Inc. 1982-present
• Built one and only Super insulated home on Fidalgo Island with Wash. State grant in 1985. Most of my homes had a passive solar or solar water heating component
• Junior Warden/ Treasurer, Christ Episcopal Church 1986-1990
• Board Member, Friends of Skagit 1996-1999
• Little League Coach 1997
• Board member “Friends of Skagit”, 1995-1999
• Member Citizen Advisory Committee to local Anacortes school board to build schools 1995-1998
• Charter Member Fidalgo Island Rotary, 1996 to present
• Rotarian of the year 1998, District 5050 (Everett to Vancouver, BC)
• President Fidalgo Island Rotary 2002-2003, during which our club delivered 280 wheelchairs to Trinidad. Later we supplied another 280 wheelchairs to Montero, Bolivia
• Treasurer Celebration Lutheran Church, Anacortes, 1995-2003
• Board Member and charter member www.EttaProjects.org , a non-profit organization that feeds, and provides health care to 200 children a day, and trains mothers to care and work for their family in Montero, Bolivia. This organization started after my niece, Etta, a Rotary Exchange student in Bolivia, died in a bus crash while there.
• As a builder, provided the lead project supervision (with wife Sally) and coordination, at no cost, to construct the new Anacortes Soroptimist Thrift Store. This involved 100’s of hours of our time and the coordination of many volunteers Soroptimist, from different service clubs, churches and my own Rotary Club. Later I lead the effort of my Rotary club to build the Washington Park Bathroom facilities in Anacortes.
• Sally and I have had 4 exchange students in our home, 2 from Belgium, 1 from the Netherlands, and 1 from Argentina.
• Created the first land development in Anacortes using Low Impact Development methods (Castilleja Bluff), while preserving 10 of 18 acres in open space.
• Placed 12 of 26 acres of property on South Fidalgo abutting the Anacortes City Forest Lands (South side Mt. Erie) into a conservation easement that will protect that property from logging, development of any kind other than 3 single homes forever. 2008
• Member Anacortes City Council since January 2006, including representing the city on 3 Skagit County Government committees.