The Special Port Meeting to address Master Plan proposals of expansion of our airport was, in many ways, a disaster, to a populace that is getting sick and tired of being excluded and co-opted by officials when we have told them for many decades that we don't want unlimited growth at the expense of our rural character, culture, vision, lifestyle, and environment. People are finally questioning politicians' and developers' (who used to be called planners) reasoning, and the politicians and officials are scared of us and our (rightful) anger and frustration. They should be. They have harmed us and the lands and waters that sustain us, in so many egregious ways. They have eroded and betrayed Public Trust time and time again. What is needed is for we the people to step up, take the lead, and take back what is rightfully ours; care and stewardship of all we hold dear about this island we love - honoring the tranquil beauty and warm community that brought us here in the first place.
Mistakes were made by the Port commissioners present, the fire chief, who yelled at the people he turned away (as if it was their fault for coming!) and the Port manager. We would like to see all of those mistakes rectified. People came from off-island to attend this meeting; some from as far away as Portland and California. Some of them didn't even make it in the door. Elders were forced to stand. Some stood in the hall, defying the fire chief. Others stood in the scorching western sun on one of the hottest days of the year, so they could stand by the open door to the sweltering room (no fans) and hear. This is unacceptable. Some signed up to speak and were never heard, because the meeting agenda derailed and never got back on track.
This derailment was unfortunate for both the Port and for the 140 -150+ people who took time (and expense) from their days and their lives to attend this very important meeting. Notably absent due to the 3:30 time; working people and young people except for a few shining examples who attended and who not only asked incisive and intelligent questions, but who also offered solutions.
There was, at times, outright hostility toward some of the people in that room asking questions, sharing concerns, offering much cheaper and simpler solutions that would not require the Port taking opiate-laced candy from the Feds and State. The majority of people who came, seemed to not want expansion, or simply wanted their questions answered clearly, so they could decide for themselves. Many questions were not answered, were skirted, ignored, or diverted to something else entirely.
Most people came away with a general sense of unease and betrayal, of feeling un-heard, disrespected, their ideas disregarded or even ridiculed. We were treated like mere civilians; children. We were told that this is not a democratic process; an insult to our intelligence, passion and caring for our island, and the way of life we cherish.
This can be rectified in only one way - a DO-OVER of that meeting; this time, a listening meeting. More below. Comment period to DOWL engineering on proposed alternatives so far, is due on the 3rd of this month. Alternative 1 - no build, is the only viable and feasible option at this time.
To their credit, the Port and Tony Simpson gave us an extended comment time and this meeting because many of us were concerned enough to demand it. I think it surprised them that suddenly, someone wanted to know. It was the word "expansion" that caught our attention - and the map drawings put out in June.
We should demand more from the Port, since they grievously fell short of their obligation as a Public entity. When the Port manager has already made the decision on which plan is the "preferred" plan, the Public process is broken. This needs rectification, and listening to us with intent to seriously consider other options would go a long way toward that.
The Port and Port manager are not the enemy - although they are acting like we are the enemy. What we want and desire is for real dialogue and listening to our concerns and desires, and consideration of our ideas and solutions - that maybe there is a win-win for them and for us if we all work together.
Tony Simpson says he would meet with us and would listen. I don't want to believe that these people are our enemy - but we still need to hold them accountable and call out what parts of their story about what they need to do to comply, may not be entirely true or as inflexible as they believe. And more; we are not going to believe their scare tactics to make us think this expansion has to be a "done deal." It doesn't. There are options not being presented, so we will present them and even pursue them if the Port won't. One thing's sure; we need to be a presence with the Port from now on, and go to their meetings and involve ourselves with this process; or we'll get what we don't want.
Our goals for the meeting and after, as concerns the Expansion are:
1) listen to everyone's best thoughts about how to go forward effectively.
2) Inspire a groundswell of actions that might include: letters to the Port stating our dissatisfaction and insistence on a "do-over" meeting; task groups or people to take on some of the daunting and time-consuming research, letters to other entities such as DOE, the Friends, etc;
3) Make our comments to DOWL; keep a dated copy for our records - deadline Friday. Ask for another comment period extension to September in our comments. The Port and DOWL are moving ahead with the process; they should be taking and weighing comments throughout their entire master plan process.
orcasmasterplan@dowl.com
include in the cc:
council@sanjuanco.com, randy gaylord, kevin ranker, maria cantwell, patty murray, rick larsen, etc
4) Gather more volunteers who are willing to take the above-mentioned actions and help us be as effective and cohesive as we can, while looking for common ground. We need more people willing to take on tasks and commit to following through with them, if we are to succeed. Even one task helps tremendously. We're early enough in this process that we can make a difference. Let's Make It So.
We're having a public, citizen-led and driven meeting tonight; there will be a follow-up post about the outcome. We'll be listing actions people can take and providing links to make it as easy as possible.
We are calling ourselves Orcas Citizens' Forum - this is all inclusive, where we are all equals. We expect moles and sabateurs and maybe even some attackers, but we have nothing to hide; they do!
mail chimp sign up link for Orcas Citizens' Forum -Airport Expansion:
http://eepurl.com/dCvUwD
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Questions, Musings, Observations
Written in January, 2014
I went to a celebration for Martin Luther King last night. This is not about that. But I can't help but think of a quote that Sharon Abreu quoted (paraphrased): "Cynicism is the intellectual face of despair." Yup. Count me among the despairing when it comes to the County, with its inner workings of... is it corruption? Greed? in Community Development and (not) Planning, Council, and Public works.
Questions Un-answered:
Why is commercial development still being allowed in Eastsound, when there are empty commercial spaces all throughout Eastsound? Why are more trees getting cut? Why is there allowance for a 40 unit building on a quarter acre of property in Eastsound Basin? Why are only vacay rentals and air b &b's and luxury condos being built while homelessness is continually on the rise - who are they for?
Do the residents of Eastsound UGA know what's coming down the pike?
What is Public Works going to do with the remaining parcel across the trail from the future Eastsound Market Place or whateveritz going to be? Scary to think of the possibilities, since, with 9 engineers, their penchant for spending grant monies by making up things to do is stupendous. As are the damages when their projects don't get maintained.
Observations of the world around us (through a glass, darkly):
I used to see bats all the time in summer behind where I live. I haven't seen a bat - not one - for at least two years. Where did the bats go? What killed or repelled them? Ditto with Swallows. They used to fly around here; now NONE. Since the Lavender Hollow and the Christian School are weed -whacking all the tall grasses, not ONE red wing blackbird do I see or hear anymore. In our quest for "tidiness" we are killing off and repelling the beneficial birds and wildlife.
The Mount Property Constructed Wetland has all the SAME noxious weeds that was the justification for removing 260 10-yard ump trucks full of hydric soil - effectively ruining the wetland (part of Eastsound Swale - no matter what the "experts" tell you that it's not. It is. Or was. until they removed the hydric soil and now it can't recover.)
Eastsound and surround are in the Pacific Flyway migratory bird route. The San Juans are in that flyway. Light pollution is one of the biggest causes of bird deaths. The birds get confused and fly in circles in the light beams - and die of exhaustion. Now, they want streetlights in Eastsound Village and the new lights are blinding LED. Light pollution is already a serious problem in Eastsound; hence contributing to bird deaths. The birds get confused, think it's daytime, become diurnal. They're easy meals for predators - cats, owls, etc.
Musings (Not A-musing)
Stormwater control - GIANT FAIL. Eastsound is flooding. The September floods never should have happened. Public Works had not cleaned out the storm drains in YEARS. There's more. Public Works's solution to stormwater? Keep cutting down wetland trees. Put roads through wetlands; then never clean debris or silt out of the culverts. That's how most of the trees in Eastsound Swale by Enchanted Road got killed - drowned. Haul away all hydric soil so a natural wetland can't recover. Kill off beneficial amphibian populations. DO NOTHING to address stormwater running down from the tops of hills two miles away that all roar into Eastsound Basin through the ditches so deep that your car is automatically totalled if you happen to be unlucky enough to get your car in one. Putting in landscape designs destined to fail and then wiggle out of maintaining them, or anything else they engineer or build? (Actually, the workers do fix the potholes with some regularity.) A road is planned to go through the community garden in the heart of town. That is the short list.
There's talk of putting the road through and connecting Orion Lane with A Street. Right next to a SCHOOL and apartment complex where kids play in the street - there's no place else to play. Or they want to put A Street or Fern Street through Eastsound Swale to Lovers Lane. All of these ideas are disastrous for Eastsound Swale and any trees in the way of their idea of "progress."
One of the last horrifying things I witnessed/ overheard/observed at an "open house" last October;
the minions of Eastsound Sewer. The three men were: Greg Ayers (who thankfully was NOT elected as a County Councilor), Paul Kamin (head of Eastsound Water Users), and Dan Vekved - engineer at Public Works. They were all jubilantly entertaining the notion of joining forces into a Utility District. Can you say Monopoly and Total Control of the populace? The poorest people would pay the money to support the lifestyles of the rich! I swear they were licking their licivious craven lips - No, No, NO!
Possible Ways to Go:
What Public Works could do - if coerced by public opinion - is to fire 6 engineers at least - and hire more laborers to keep up with their Granted Projects. Instead, what gets bankrupted is Eastsound Swale, Fishing Bay, and President's Channel - not to mention narrow land bridge between the two parts of the Salish Sea. Hiring more regular workers would insure success of more of their projects. Having less "specialized "engineers means each engineer left would actually need to be a generalist and study details pertaining to a project - ie educated.
"Cynicism is the intellectual face of despair." Somebody, please help me. I have tried and tried. I can't get through to the county. I feel so heartbroken and negative, I can't get through to the people to incite them to ACT on their own behalf and on behalf of the environment before it's too late. It probably is too late, but something (stubbornness? denial? "optimism?") compels me to keep trying, keep acting. If I let myself feel the despair on this micro-cosmic level, at what a hash we've made of our lovely wetland basin, I won't have a way left to even get out of bed. Most days, thinking about all of this makes me want to cry. And cry. And cry. I write instead; about swallows, bats, destructive rabbits. I need to offer some solutions to the People. ATM i have none, except to advise people to get educated and let your county officials know what you think and feel about the plan to sacrifice Eastsound for the gain of a few realtors, developers, and mercenaries.
I went to a celebration for Martin Luther King last night. This is not about that. But I can't help but think of a quote that Sharon Abreu quoted (paraphrased): "Cynicism is the intellectual face of despair." Yup. Count me among the despairing when it comes to the County, with its inner workings of... is it corruption? Greed? in Community Development and (not) Planning, Council, and Public works.
Questions Un-answered:
Why is commercial development still being allowed in Eastsound, when there are empty commercial spaces all throughout Eastsound? Why are more trees getting cut? Why is there allowance for a 40 unit building on a quarter acre of property in Eastsound Basin? Why are only vacay rentals and air b &b's and luxury condos being built while homelessness is continually on the rise - who are they for?
Do the residents of Eastsound UGA know what's coming down the pike?
What is Public Works going to do with the remaining parcel across the trail from the future Eastsound Market Place or whateveritz going to be? Scary to think of the possibilities, since, with 9 engineers, their penchant for spending grant monies by making up things to do is stupendous. As are the damages when their projects don't get maintained.
Observations of the world around us (through a glass, darkly):
I used to see bats all the time in summer behind where I live. I haven't seen a bat - not one - for at least two years. Where did the bats go? What killed or repelled them? Ditto with Swallows. They used to fly around here; now NONE. Since the Lavender Hollow and the Christian School are weed -whacking all the tall grasses, not ONE red wing blackbird do I see or hear anymore. In our quest for "tidiness" we are killing off and repelling the beneficial birds and wildlife.
The Mount Property Constructed Wetland has all the SAME noxious weeds that was the justification for removing 260 10-yard ump trucks full of hydric soil - effectively ruining the wetland (part of Eastsound Swale - no matter what the "experts" tell you that it's not. It is. Or was. until they removed the hydric soil and now it can't recover.)
Eastsound and surround are in the Pacific Flyway migratory bird route. The San Juans are in that flyway. Light pollution is one of the biggest causes of bird deaths. The birds get confused and fly in circles in the light beams - and die of exhaustion. Now, they want streetlights in Eastsound Village and the new lights are blinding LED. Light pollution is already a serious problem in Eastsound; hence contributing to bird deaths. The birds get confused, think it's daytime, become diurnal. They're easy meals for predators - cats, owls, etc.
Musings (Not A-musing)
Stormwater control - GIANT FAIL. Eastsound is flooding. The September floods never should have happened. Public Works had not cleaned out the storm drains in YEARS. There's more. Public Works's solution to stormwater? Keep cutting down wetland trees. Put roads through wetlands; then never clean debris or silt out of the culverts. That's how most of the trees in Eastsound Swale by Enchanted Road got killed - drowned. Haul away all hydric soil so a natural wetland can't recover. Kill off beneficial amphibian populations. DO NOTHING to address stormwater running down from the tops of hills two miles away that all roar into Eastsound Basin through the ditches so deep that your car is automatically totalled if you happen to be unlucky enough to get your car in one. Putting in landscape designs destined to fail and then wiggle out of maintaining them, or anything else they engineer or build? (Actually, the workers do fix the potholes with some regularity.) A road is planned to go through the community garden in the heart of town. That is the short list.
There's talk of putting the road through and connecting Orion Lane with A Street. Right next to a SCHOOL and apartment complex where kids play in the street - there's no place else to play. Or they want to put A Street or Fern Street through Eastsound Swale to Lovers Lane. All of these ideas are disastrous for Eastsound Swale and any trees in the way of their idea of "progress."
One of the last horrifying things I witnessed/ overheard/observed at an "open house" last October;
the minions of Eastsound Sewer. The three men were: Greg Ayers (who thankfully was NOT elected as a County Councilor), Paul Kamin (head of Eastsound Water Users), and Dan Vekved - engineer at Public Works. They were all jubilantly entertaining the notion of joining forces into a Utility District. Can you say Monopoly and Total Control of the populace? The poorest people would pay the money to support the lifestyles of the rich! I swear they were licking their licivious craven lips - No, No, NO!
Possible Ways to Go:
What Public Works could do - if coerced by public opinion - is to fire 6 engineers at least - and hire more laborers to keep up with their Granted Projects. Instead, what gets bankrupted is Eastsound Swale, Fishing Bay, and President's Channel - not to mention narrow land bridge between the two parts of the Salish Sea. Hiring more regular workers would insure success of more of their projects. Having less "specialized "engineers means each engineer left would actually need to be a generalist and study details pertaining to a project - ie educated.
"Cynicism is the intellectual face of despair." Somebody, please help me. I have tried and tried. I can't get through to the county. I feel so heartbroken and negative, I can't get through to the people to incite them to ACT on their own behalf and on behalf of the environment before it's too late. It probably is too late, but something (stubbornness? denial? "optimism?") compels me to keep trying, keep acting. If I let myself feel the despair on this micro-cosmic level, at what a hash we've made of our lovely wetland basin, I won't have a way left to even get out of bed. Most days, thinking about all of this makes me want to cry. And cry. And cry. I write instead; about swallows, bats, destructive rabbits. I need to offer some solutions to the People. ATM i have none, except to advise people to get educated and let your county officials know what you think and feel about the plan to sacrifice Eastsound for the gain of a few realtors, developers, and mercenaries.
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