Letters to the Editor
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Margie Doyle
March 9th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
The 2010 Census is underway. I urge you to participate as a complete count will benefit our community greatly. Census data is used to allocate state and federal funds. It is estimated that each individual counted may qualify our community for an additional $3,900 in annual support. In 2000, San Juan County was estimated to have one of the lowest compliance rates in the state with 38%. Our community cannot afford such a low count this time around.
Additionally, Washington State is slated to gain a seat in the US House of Representatives based on this year’s census data. The census count will determine which district gains that seat. Your participation in the count will have a direct impact on that decision.
Forms are being hand delivered by census enumerators beginning March 2. If you are not home, the forms will be left on your door. If for some reason you do not receive a form, copies will be available at the public library. Please make the effort to complete the census. You count!
Hilary Canty
Olga, WA
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
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Margie Doyle
March 9th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
The Orcas Island School Board invites the community to a BBQ & Potluck and bond discussion this Wednesday, the 10th, to be held in the High School Commons at 6:15pm.
On March 11, the day following the potluck, the Board will decide when to place the issue on the ballot – April is only one possibility and not a given. This will not be the last chance for community members to make their views known. The Board is committed to seeking public input throughout the design process and will create a community advisory committee to ensure that all voices continue to be heard.
The Board is open to any practical suggestion as to how to reduce the costs of the bond and has already been working towards that end, through bond committee and community meetings, and in consultation with experienced professional advisors, for the past several years. The Board cannot reduce the amount of the authorization that we request of the community based only on potential or possibilities, but that does not preclude us from pursuing any and all cost-savings measures and working to reduce the cost to the community, even after the bond is approved. This is exactly what we intend to do.
The Board has thoroughly explored the use of existing community spaces, but for regulatory and logistical reasons, the use of external facilities is not a workable means of addressing the needs of the educational program.
The amount of the bond was developed by experienced cost estimators who have worked on hundreds of school construction projects. It has been vetted against state averages and is close to $270 per square foot. The bond resolution does not mandate that unspent money be used to pay off the bond, but the Board has made it clear that it is their intention to do just that. There are significant restrictions as to how bond funds can be
spent: they can only be spent on capital projects, cannot be transferred to the general fund and must be spent within a prescribed period of time.
The interest rate of the bond cannot be accurately calculated until the bond passes in the election and it’s put up for sale. As a school building project, which is seen in a positive light by purchasers of bonds, the rate we get will be favorable. The Board intends to reduce the amount of the second half of the bond sale by as much as possible, to reflect whatever cost savings can be achieved during the design process. This will affect the total amount of the bond and the interest. Whatever amount is placed on the ballot, the Board is acutely aware that it will represent a maximum authorization only, not a mandate to spend all of the funds.
The $10 million in indirect costs on the $35M bond amount were not an unknown quantity. This portion of the budget includes many mandated costs, including required contingencies, employing a project manager, permit fees, geotechnical and other testing, as well as other known costs, such as furniture and fixtures for the reconstructed spaces, the fees for the architect, civil, structural and mechanical engineers and other consultants.
The repair and rebuilding of our school facilities is essential. Due to the condition of our aging campus, a 10%+ growth in our student population over the past year, and the increasing importance of offering programming such as Career and Technical (Vocational) Education and OASIS, that will serve all of our students now and into the future, we need to act promptly to provide a safe and effective learning environment.
The economic realities that we are all facing require us to be as prudent and as thorough as possible in our consideration of this bond, and we hope that the discussions at the BBQ and Potluck on Wednesday will be one part of that ongoing process.
We hope you will come and join us in discussing the future of our schools.
Sincerely,
The Directors of the Orcas Island School District
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Margie Doyle
February 22nd, 2010, by Margie Doyle
I want to follow up the letter I wrote to correct a few misperceptions I had, and may have given. I talked with the man who removes the signs and is the enforcer for all the county codes. Being only one man, he must be very busy, yet he took the time to talk with me. He was courteous and helpful, and willing to share what information he had, including sending me the sign ordinance part specific to Eastsound.
The Ordinance (section 16.55.300(D) of the San Juan County Code – Eastsound Subarea Plan) as it now stands, states that there can be NO free standing signs anywhere in Eastsound, even on private property.
I’m not sure where the boundaries of ‘Eastsound’ are. Outside of ‘Eastsound,’ a different section of the Plan states that some free standing signs for events can be put up for short periods of time, but nothing commercial may be advertised.
The sign ordinance was pushed forward by a vocal few, not the many. It is coming under review by the County Council, who have received complaints about it and are aware that it’s flawed. I urge everyone who’s against the sign ordinance to come forward now – write letters and emails to the council, and keep copies to send on to whoever else needs to read them.
Tourists, guests, and residents love and are charmed by our signs and find them informational, helpful, and fun. Now is the time to make our voices strongly heard. Speaking in person during public comment time at a council meeting is especially weighty and gets their attention. Let the Council know the will of the people.
Sadie Bailey
Eastsound
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Margie Doyle
February 21st, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Hello from Orcas Rec! I would like to take this opportunity to give you an update about the state of the Orcas Island Recreation Program.
As I look back at 2009 I am impressed and grateful for the amount of community support we have received. Thank you to all who donated throughout the entire year of 2009, we sincerely appreciate your support. I hope this amount of community support will continue in 2010.
The County Council did not include general fund money for Orcas Rec in the 2010 county budget. The County Parks Department can only continue the program as long as all the expenses are covered from other funding sources. If Orcas Rec starts to lose money we will have to close down operations. The County Council has also determined that the Orcas Rec Program will not be part of County Parks Department operations in 2011.
At this point you may be thinking “so what about the Orcas Park and Recreation District I voted for back in November?” Good question.
The voter-approved district is separate from our County run Orcas Island Recreation Program. No funding was included in the voter approved proposition creating the district, so no funding mechanisms exist yet. The new Parks and Rec District holds their public meetings on the second Thursday of each month.
Currently our Orcas Island Recreation Program is receiving no funding from the Orcas Park and Recreation District.
What does this mean for Orcas Rec for 2010?
Our operations will be funded through donations, fundraisers, grants, and user fees until further notice. It also means that we will be pinching our pennies and operating with the following restrictions:
- Staff hours and office hours will be reduced until further notice
- Some of the less popular programs will be cut
- User fees will be increased to cover costs
- Administrative costs will be reduced. For example, we will tailor our eight page summer flyer to a one page flyer – look for full details on the website
- We will distribute our public information by focusing on internet-based tools like email, Facebook, and our website, www.orcasrec.org
We need your help!
- Donate – Send a check to Orcas Rec today! Our youth programs thrive because of community generosity and donors like you! Tax-deductible donations may be sent to the Orcas Rec Program PO Box 1644, Eastsound, WA 98245.
- Volunteer – We always need parents and chaperones for our kids programs. If you have a special talent that you would like to share let us know and maybe we can have you run a new program for Orcas Rec!
- Participate in Orcas Rec programs/events – User fees help pay for programs; the more participants the better!
- Participate in an upcoming fundraiser – We are going to hold more recreational based fundraisers this year, and we hope you can join us for one or more of these in 2010. For details visit our website www.orcasrec.org
We hope to see you this year at our upcoming events, programs, and fundraisers! Thanks for your support!
Sincerely,
Linda Sheridan
Coordinator Orcas Rec Program
P.O. Box 1644 Eastsound, WA 98245 360-376-5339
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Margie Doyle
February 20th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Today I decided to eat an early dinner at Mai-Lan’s Café. I’d wanted to eat there for a few months, but because her restaurant is in Oddfellows Hall basement, I kept forgetting, due to lack of a visible sign. A few weeks ago I noticed that there was a lovely and tasteful sign placed on the corner to Oddfellows, set back a bit from the sidewalk and clearly on private property. The sign had important information for Mai-Lan’s business – the days and hours open, location, and directions.
On my way there this afternoon, I noticed the sign was gone. I asked Mai-Lan what happened to her sign and she was visibly upset. She said it had been removed this morning; not just taken to the local police department here, but taken to San Juan Island. When she called the Planning Dept. to ask why, she was directed to the man hired by the county to remove signs. He told her that all signs in Eastsound would be removed, whether they were on private property or not. Mai-Lan asked the man when she could have her sign back, and the man said he didn’t know, he’d ‘check his schedule’. Mai-Lan lost customers today
Mai-Lan already had permission to put her sign there, from the landowner, Massacre Bay Realty, and from the owners of Passionate about Pies, who lease that property.
I am incredulous – if no provisions were made in the sign ordinance to allow a local restaurant such as Mai-Lan’s to put a sign at the corner of a low-traffic, out-of-the-way road that leads to her business. It seems to me that Mai-Lan is caught in a catch-22.
I have some questions for the Planning Deprtment: Read more
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Margie Doyle
February 16th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
I’m writing to speak to Senator Kevin Ranker’s remarks about his vote in the Senate to suspend the rule requiring a 2/3 majority before increasing taxes.
I’m sure Senator Ranker has had to make very tough decisions. Many in our state have been devastated by the economic crisis caused by the banking industry
.
We have a serious problem in our country with deregulation. Foxes guarding the henhouse is the quality of representation we’re getting in D.C.
It doesn’t help that our country is mired in expensive ongoing wars and that many of our jobs have been shipped overseas to maximize corporate profits. Our country is being sold out from under us, and both major political parties are responsible.
We must end corporate domination of our elections. Then our representatives would have incentive to represent our best interests over the interests of corporations that profit from wars and outsourcing jobs. We need publicly funded elections.
Our U.S. House Representative, Rick Larsen, a former lobbyist, too often favors corporate interests over the needs of the people in our district. He doesn’t lead, nor does he project a vision for a future that is both economically and environmentally sustainable. He does not promote jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency which we desperately need. (The one reference I found on his website is buried, vague, and not specific to our district.)
Rep. Larsen has said nothing about the Supreme Court decision giving corporations unlimited influence over our elections. And he doesn’t support H.R.1826 for publicly funded elections, stating that it would take money away from education and social programs. That is a false excuse. It would cost little, save a lot, and allow our representatives to spend more time legislating and less time fundraising.
I’m supporting Larry Kalb for Congress, a Progressive Democrat whose platform emphasizes people over profits. Larry will be at the San Juan Library on Saturday, Feb. 20 from 12-2 p.m.
On Orcas, Larry will be at the West Sound Community Club this Sunday, Feb. 21 from 12-2 p.m. He will also be on Lopez Island at the Lopez Community Center, Sunday, Feb. 21 from 7-9 p.m.
I encourage people to meet Larry, share concerns and ask questions. If we can get real representation in Congress, we have a real hope of restoring a healthy economy.
Sharon Abreu, Eastsound
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Margie Doyle
February 14th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
By State Senator Kevin Ranker
Many of you have contacted my office regarding the I-960 vote that we took this week. I think [the following article] in the Olympian describes the situation very well, and I wanted to share this with you.
Why I-960 is unworkable in this grim reality
Published February 12, 2010
Standing between Democrats in the state Legislature and their vote to increase taxes to help close a $2.2 budget shortfall is Initiative 960, passed by voters in November 2007. That initiative, which requires a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate to raise taxes, was approved by 51.2 percent of the voters.
Senate Democrats have taken the first steps toward removing the two-thirds requirement — in effect setting the stage for a tax increase vote later in this legislative session. The simple truth is this: The bottom has fallen out of the economy since voters approved the tax-limiting initiative more than two years ago. The landscape has shifted. The state already has cut billions of dollars in state spending, and an all-cuts budget would have devastating consequences for education, health, social services and public safety in this state.
In a normal budget year, about 59 percent of the budget is off limits to Gregoire and lawmakers. More than half the budget is obligated to pay for elementary and secondary education, Medicaid, pensions and other requirements. By accepting stimulus funds, Washington state has agreed to fully fund many other programs, leaving the governor and Legislature to make the needed cuts from just 29 percent of the budget. As Gregoire says, “There’s not a lot of options.” Lawmakers must find a balance between additional budget cuts and small, targeted tax increases to balance the two-year budget.
SMART VOTERS
Voters understand that the nation is in the depths of an economic recession. Voters understand that national unemployment is pushing 10 percent, and that demands for public services are up at a time when revenue is down. Read more
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Margie Doyle
February 7th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Now is the time to show your support for the Exchange on Orcas Island!
The County Council is making important decisions that will affect the cost of dumping garbage and recycling at the Orcas transfer station and your access to and the continuing viability of the Exchange.
In response to reduced income from garbage tipping fees and a long standing lack of capital funding the Council is cutting services at the Orcas transfer station (closing on Fridays starting Feb. 26th) and devising a new fee schedule. The fee schedules under consideration increase the cost of self hauling and may include a “gate fee”to enter the transfer facility.
The “Take-it-or-Leave-it”on Lopez and the Exchange on Orcas depend on self haulers to bring and take reusable materials that would otherwise be exported as waste. Any fee increases that further shift the costs of county waste programs to self haulers are contrary to the goals of the county’s Solid Waste Management Plan, which call for an aggressive waste reduction program.
The County Council must find a funding formula for solid waste to encourage waste reduction not penalize it.
The County Council is meeting at 10:30, Monday Feb.8th at the Eastsound fire hall, the day before they have another workshop on solid waste rates. This might be the last chance for supporters of the Exchange to influence their thinking in person.
I’m asking you to attend, to stand up and be counted in support of the Exchange.
Sincerely,
George Post, Founder of the Exchange and 20-year member of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee
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Letters to the Editor
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Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
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Margie Doyle
February 6th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Save the bees! Spring is just around the corner and bees are already starting their work on warm afternoons. But bees, both wild and domestic, native and non-native, are threatened!
Evidence continues to accumulate that radiation from wireless devices is the primary cause of colony collapse disorder (CCD) and the disappearance of wild bees. The radiation seems to affect the bee’s ability to navigate. Do you like to eat? Most of our food crops (especially in SJC) must be pollinated by bees to produce fruit, vegetables, or most important, seed. When enough bees disappear, so will people.
What can you do? It’s simple! Turn off wireless devices during hours of daylight when the temperature is above 50 degrees F (10 degrees C) and tell visitors and tourists to do the same.
Steve Ludwig, Lopez Island
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Margie Doyle
January 29th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
The PTSA is proud to have sponsored our schools’ participation in this year’s Scripps Spelling Bee. Many students participated in an after school Spelling Club for the last several months, learning words, strategies and taking part in mock bees. The Fourth through Eight Graders took part in class bees in mid-January to select 22 qualifiers to the school bee, which took place, Jan. 29th. Congratulations to Dylan Thompson, the 2010 Orcas Island School District Spelling Champion, and to Anthony Kaskurs, the Runner-Up. Dylan will represent our school at the Regional Competition in Mt. Vernon, March 13th. Both received a one-year subscription to Brittanica Online Student Edition from Scripps.
Special thanks to Tim Hance for his vision and drive in making this year’s bee a reality. Many thanks to donors All Islands Inspections, Enzo’s, Islanders’ Bank, The Office Cupboard, Stoltz/Kau Architects, Teezer’s, West Beach Resort and White Construction Co. for their generous support of the bee in the form of prizes for the winner and runner-up, making the winner’s trip to the regional bee (March 13 in Mt. Vernon) an expense paid proposition. Thanks to the many spelling club and bee volunteers: Jennifer Pietsch, Jonathan White, Kristen Wilson, Liz Hance, Bob Connell, Sarah Lyle, Kate Long and Sheila Veldman, and to the community members who donated their time to be Judges/Pronouncers at the Bee: Nita Couchman, Lance Evans, Jenny Pederson and Chris Sutton, and to Principal Kyle Freeman for his support and expert job emceeing the event. Most of all, thanks to the many wonderful spellers at our school for studying, improving and enjoying the f-u-n of spelling!
Barb Skotte, PTSA President
Eastsound
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