Thursday, July 10, 2008

Sally and I have lived on South Fidalgo Island since 1976. I moved to Anacortes in 2004 and was soon elected to Anacortes City Council. I am a homebuilder and have done most of my work in Anacortes, but have always thought of myself as a South Fidalgo Islander.

I cut my teeth in local politics when I got involved in supporting Barbara Rudge in running for Skagit County Commissioner. That’s when I became a big supporter of the Growth Management Act. I later joined Friends of Skagit County and served on their board for 4 years.

Friends’ mission was to make sure the Skagit County Commissioners obeyed the tenets of the GMA and created a Comprehensive plan that was consistent with the GMA. The Commissioners spent several millions of dollars on outside attorneys trying to thwart the implementation of the GMA, which was the clear law of the land. Thanks to the efforts of Friends and many others in the 1990’s, we now have land use policy and regulations that manage growth and provide a strong framework for an open public process. I was an active participant in that campaign.

We still have a battle before us to keep that process transparent, open, fair and consistent with the GMA. This battle became real for me again when I was appointed to the Citizens Advisory Committee formed to create the South Fidalgo Subarea plan. For two years I worked on that committee to build consensus on South Fidalgo Island growth. It turned out to be a setup. After listening to experts tell us we did not need any down zoning to accommodate more people--we had enough lots--and after reviewing responses to two mailings that clearly showed the large majority of people did not want down-zoning, this committee tried to force 2½ acre zoning for the whole Island upon us.

This was unlawful and could not work. So we lost two years of work, and nobody won. We still have no Subarea plan today. Fidalgo Island is a unique geographical area. It should have a Subarea plan (a smaller version of the County’s Comp plan, that is part of that plan) and the Skagit County Comprehensive plan calls for it specifically.

My wife, Sally, and I have always supported the protection of South Fidalgo. We have done this through donations to San Juan Island Land Trust, Skagit land Trust, Evergreen Islands and Friends of Skagit County. We have given our time to candidates who support the GMA. Sally and I are currently working to place 12 acres of our 26 acres we own (just 3 lots), just South of Mt. Erie adjoining the AFCL, into a perpetual conservation Easement. In Anacortes, Sally and I developed 18 acres of which we put 10 acres into open space, and this development used the latest Low Impact Development techniques.

We all need a Skagit County Commissioner that will provide an open transparent public process that will listen to the majority of citizens of this county, especially on South Fidalgo. Not to only a handful of people calling them at night.