Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent the following newsletter on Fri., Dec. 23, 2022.
Thank you for reading my newsletter for the penultimate week of 2022. This week, I recap what I consider the most significant and/or interesting actions the Board of County Commissioners took in 2022.Please note: the regular things we do on a daily basis—staffing actions, approving Public Works projects, approving funding contracts for county business, getting updates on Public Health, Planning, and Human Services activities (permit times, COVID vaccination initiatives, temporary housing, etcetera), and basic county administrative actions—are not listed here.
The Board talked a lot in 2022 about broadband, ferries, COVID, affordable housing, equity, and climate resiliency. You might consider those the main themes of our year, though in the list below I don’t mention many specific actions taken on them. But if you listened to our meetings, you’d hear a lot of discussion on these topics and their impacts on our residents.
JANUARY
| COVID was in full blast, and the number of cases rose each week that month. As of today (December 22, 2022) 107 Island County residents have died of COVID. |
| The Board authorized 43 community service grants. The beneficiaries of these ARPA grants were agencies and businesses who provide services to seniors, children, youth, veterans, and the disabled; these funds were spent on initiatives and concerns impacted by COVID. |
| The Growth Management Hearings Board of Washington State found the County in compliance and dismissed the case filed against Island County by the Whidbey Environmental Action Network (WEAN) regarding critical habitat of the Western Toad and criteria for waiving a biological site assessment for minor development impacts. This began the first time in many years when the County was not in litigation with WEAN—and as a fan of WEAN, I am happy to report that remains the case today. |
| We raised the minimum pay for regular jobs at Island County to $20 per hour. |
FEBRUARY
| Puget Sound Energy gave a presentation to the Board about electrical outages on Whidbey Island. We were not a happy audience. |
| We received notice that 3 of our 4 requests to the legislature were denied, and the 4th was funded at a reduced amount (and as of today, we have not been able to take action on that project—the Clinton to Ken’s Corner trail—because we still need those additional funds). |
| We began working with WhidbeyHealth to assist them in getting through their financial crisis. |
| We began talking about developing a Climate Action Plan. |
MARCH
| We approved the purchase of new playground equipment for Freeland Park. Last week, I was told by our Public Works Director that the old playground equipment has now been removed and we are beginning the installation of the new equipment (which I assume is being put on hold this week due to the weather). I am hopeful the new equipment will be in place by March 2023, a year after we approved the purchase. This gives you an idea of how long it takes to get something done in government. |
| We voted to impose an additional sales and use tax of one-tenth of one percent (an additional 10 cents tax on $100 spent on taxable items) to fund affordable housing and related services as authorized by RCW 82.14.530. The resolution also recommends the suspension of this tax after 10 years if no new housing units have been created, or at any moment when the fund balance exceeds 10 million dollars, or when the percentage of rent-burdened households falls below 10%. This new tax took effect in July. |
APRIL
| We created a position to provide counseling to inmates within the jail, one of several initiatives undertaken in 2022 in partnership with our Sheriff and our Human Services Department, recognizing that much of the criminal behavior that people exhibit is due to addiction or behavioral health problems, and simply locking folks up is not always the best answer. |
| The Board approved the purchase of a subscription to ClearGov, a cloud-based budgeting system. Our 2023 budget, adopted earlier this month, was developed using this system, but we have not yet fully implemented it to the level where citizens can go to the ClearGov webpage and drill down into budget details themselves. That remains a goal for 2023. |
| We began to have trouble sending our solid waste off-island, due to a lack of containers and rail shipping problems. This issue continued throughout the year. I received a holiday card this week from our vendor, saying “We are all hoping for a smoother ride in 2023”. Very true. |
MAY
| We amended the Planning Code associated with Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). |
| Representative Rick Larsen’s office began educating the County and other local jurisdictions on the funding opportunities available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Over the coming months the County would try to hire someone local to help us with researching these grant opportunities—and finally, in December, decided to enter into a contract with a Washington, D.C. lobbying firm to help us. There are trillions of dollars available. We want to make sure our community gets its share. |
| We awarded a contract to Shelter Resources, Inc. to develop mixed-income affordable housing in Oak Harbor on property owned by the County. |
JUNE
| We extended the end date of our interlocal agreement with Langley signed two years ago, which granted $3M to Langley for a project to build out sewer and stormwater infrastructure to Furman Firs and create the infrastructure to accommodate affordable housing. |
| June 20th was the first time in Island County history that we celebrated Juneteenth Independence Day as a legal Island County holiday. |
| The Board approved the purchase of a building at 80 N. Main Street, Coupeville, which will bring our Public Works administration and engineering groups into one location and allows us to avoid erecting a new County building any time soon. |
JULY
| The Board signed a contract with the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) to provide matching funds for the purchase of the Harbor Inn in Freeland to be used as supportive and transitional housing. There were many meetings and a great deal of public comment in the weeks before this vote was taken. Island County Human Services will screen all applicants for residency. As I write this, the building is still being remodeled. |
| We began a conversation with the Port of South Whidbey and Langley regarding an affordable housing project at the fairgrounds. The Port wanted the Board to provide $150,000 in ARPA funds for a feasibility study and preliminary engineering, but before we would agree we needed Langley to commit to changing their code to allow housing in that zone. |
| We approved moving forward with two actions using Conservation Futures Funds: a request from the Whidbey Camano Land Trust for $650,000 for their Lagoon Point Community Forest Acquisition project on Whidbey, and a request for $125,000 from Island County Public Works for an addition to English Boom County Park on Camano Island. |
| This was a bad month with the ferry system, and I complained about it a lot. |
| We hired Michael Jones as Island County’s first County Administrator. |
AUGUST
| Island County was approved by the Veterans Administration to hire our county’s first Veteran Services Officer (VSO), located in Human Services. This was important to the Board: our county has the most veterans per capita of any county in the State—but we did not have a VSO. The VA will not speak to anyone but VSOs. |
| Island County is a Plaintiff in numerous opioid lawsuits. In August we approved documents associated with the first one, a global settlement to abate and rectify the County’s opioid nuisance against the 3 major distributors. We just received our first tranche of funds from that lawsuit this month. |
SEPTEMBER
| We took one of the most important votes of my tenure, and unanimously approved Resolution No. C-55-22: “In the Matter of Climate Change and Steps to Ensure County Resiliency.” We are taking a county-wide view toward climate mitigation and will incorporate a Climate Action Plan into the upcoming revision of the county’s Comprehensive Plan. |
| It became clear that the Board of Island County Commissioners now has a new vision. We remain focused on Public Safety of course—that is what counties were created for and is the reason we tax the public to provide such things as roads, law enforcement, and zoning; County government exists to ensure local Public Safety for residents and visitors. But in September your three County Commissioners recognized that we are united in wanting the County to begin viewing our Public Safety codes and policies using these three lenses: health, equity, and climate. |
| We adopted Island County’s Six-year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for the years 2023-2028. |
OCTOBER
| We began accepting applications for Affordable and Workforce Housing grants, to be funded with dollars the County received through ARPA. |
| We approved the purchase of property on Swantown Avenue in Oak Harbor, funded with ARPA, to be used for affordable housing. |
| We adopted Island County’s Six-year Capital Improvement Program for the Years 2023-2028. |
| We rescinded our COVID emergency resolution. But as you all know, COVID is not over, and in fact, we’re seeing a resurgence. Please think about masking up again. |
NOVEMBER
| We heard the 2023 work plans for the departments that report to the Board. |
| Once again (see February), Puget Sound Energy spoke with the Board after our residents spent a significant period of time without power. Again, we were not a happy audience. As I type this, I look out the window at the half-foot of snow in my yard, with temperatures in the 20s, and I worry: what will our citizens do if the power goes out again? |
DECEMBER
| We approved the 2023 Budget and 1% levies on current expense, county roads, and conservation futures. |
| We approved the Island County 2023 Annual Review Docket for Comprehensive Plan Amendments (aka “the Planning Docket”). |
| We approved our 2023 legislative priorities. |
Next week, I’ll write about the Board’s priorities for 2023.
Merry Christmas!
Melanie
“I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and the familiar climax and ending.”
~ Fred Rogers
