Thank you to the community for supporting our schools!
The San Juan Public School Foundation would like to thank our community members who have made a donation during our fall fund drive! We had a successful phone-a-thon and we are very excited to continue to see the gold envelopes coming back to us.
Dear Editor:
The proposed merger of EMS and the San Juan Island Fire Department is a wise move on many levels. If done correctly, it will be financially efficient and provide excellent combined emergency services to our community. To that end, the Citizens’ Advisory Group (CAG) spent well over a year conducting a meticulous and thorough study of all the ramifications of such a merger. CAG concluded that a merger was the best route, and made recommendations for implementation, including the steps necessary to make a smooth transition for combining the two disparate entities.
To the Editor:
I understand that the San Juan County Public Hospital District # 1 will have a special meeting with its present Board on Tuesday, November 12, when it is expected to vote in favor of the its proposed merger with San Juan County Fire District #3. Four new members were elected on November 5 to serve on the incoming Hospital District Board, but their elections will not be certified by the State until November 25. Moreover, they will not begin their work on the Board until early December.
Dear Editor,
It is disturbing to me that three public hospital district commissioners on San Juan Island hope to effect change in the combining of our EMS organization and our fire district. All three are soon to end their tenures. This seems a hasty way to leave their posts as commissioners.
October 19th was Orca Recovery Day. The Conservation District organized a shoreline restoration event out at Cattle Pass Visitors Center. There was a good turnout of people. Shovels, gloves, plants and lunch were provided and there were brief presentations too. The primary talking focus was the science of it all. When it was my turn to speak, I could not help my unscientific self. My question blurted out along the lines of: “How is science saving the Southern Residents from extinction?”
To the Editor:
This letter is a demand to the outgoing members of the majority of the Board of the San Juan Island Public Hospital District to cease and desist with their ill considered rush to cede control of EMS services. The Fire District has been prudent in its decision await an unanimous vote of the new Board. Many of the families for whose children for whom I provide care, knowing that I have made comments in the past, has asked me to speak out at this crucial moment.
Tim Eyman is back on the ballot with another $30 car-tab initiative, I-976. You may have seen the TV ads or visited www.no976.com on the web. Among a long list of cuts, I-976 would have an immediate effect on funding for ferry operations as well as maintenance and improvements.
Dear Editor,
I will vote against the levy lift (i) because the explanation of the levy lift in the Voters' Pamphlet is the converse of full and complete disclosure and (ii) because under Proposition No.2 we are openly ceding to the State Legislature our rights as voters to determine our future County taxes.
San Juan County is an exceptional community inhabited by extraordinarily kind and generous people who truly want the best for our citizens. All of the organizations that benefit from the levy on our property taxes are worthy endeavours that do good work. Most of us who live in San Juan County work very hard to be able to live this very special lifestyle. We sacrifice and budget every month making decisions on what we can pay for now or what will have to be put off until later. We do not have the ability to reach into someone else’s wallet everytime we want something we can’t currently afford. I think it is time for elected officials to do the same. Property taxes have been raised several times in recent years and yes….a “levy lid lift” is just political speak to say they want to raise our taxes…again.
TO: Frank Cardinale, Bob Jarman, and Albert Olson, Fire District 3 Commissioners
Gentlemen:
Quite a number of island citizens have publicly expressed their concern about the public hospital district’s lame-duck membership rushing to approve an inter-local agreement with your board in their last couple of months in office, thus tying the hands of the newly elected board.
I am writing to urge the commissioners for Public Hospital District #1 (serving San Juan and several outer islands) to slow their head-long rush towards merging SJI EMS with Fire District #3. From what I can tell, three commissioners who are leaving the board in a month are determined to sign an inter-local agreement – a binding contract – which will leave many questions unanswered.
The third quarter results for San Juan Island and the County were consistent with the first and second quarter results. Per the NWMLS, the dollar volume year-to-date on San Juan Island was $84,048,800 with a total of 135 transactions. This reflects a 15% decrease in the dollar volume and a 25% decrease in the number of transactions. For San Juan County, the total dollar volume was $207,098,020 with a total of 319 transactions. The County had a decrease of 5.5% in dollar volume and a decrease of 19% in number of transactions. Based on the downward trend for the last 21 months in both dollar volume and transaction numbers, we will most likely conclude this year with less volume than 2018 in both categories.
Not far below the surface of the water, I observe everything around me. Emerald gunnels coiled around eelgrass cautiously eye me, while a vibrant orange Gonionemus jelly drifts past. On seemingly every surface sit fat bubble snails, decorating blades with their gelatinous yellow egg cases. And there! A bean-sized opalescent nudibranch gracefully cruises along, its cerata swaying in the water. I pause, soaking it in. All I hear are my own slow, measured breaths through my SCUBA regulator, everything else muted underwater. Then, I begin picking seagrass.
The San Juan Island Prevention Coalition (SJIPC) would like to publicly thank the San Juan Island Community Foundation (SJICF) for their continued support of our island youth. Members of our Rock Solid Youth Prevention Team were able to attend a national leadership training, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), this summer with the SJICF support. Rock Solid members have been working in our schools and community doing prevention projects to help create a healthier community since 2011.
