MELANIE BACON: A Message From Commissioner Bacon – Week ending February 18, 2022
Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent out this newsletter on Feb. 18, 2022.
Hello everyone!
Thank you for reading this 7th week update for 2022.
- The Board was disappointed by the legislature this week. Island County had made 4 transportation funding requests to the legislature—and 3 of them were denied. The 4th was approved, but at a reduced amount. These were our requests; only the Clinton Trail project was approved for funding:
- SR-20 Shoulder Widening – Race Road to Welcher Road ($2.5 million)
- SR-20 Deception Pass Vicinity Guardrail Replacement ($4.55 million)
- Roundabout at East Camano Drive and Cross Island Road ($6.7 million)
- Clinton to Ken’s Corner Trail ($4.52 million)
- Representative Dave Paul, a member of the House Transportation Committee, sponsored the County’s requests. The Clinton to Ken’s Corner Trail received $3.52 million in the package, funded using Climate Commitment Act money. We are very grateful to Rep. Paul for his work on these requests, and for getting the Clinton Trail funding approved. We will continue to work with the State to find ways to fund the other projects.
- We had three new COVID deaths in our county this last week, and hospitalizations remain at the 19-20 count that it’s been for the last several weeks. Please continue to be vigilant with your masks, booster shots, and social distancing. As you probably know by now, the state mask mandate is scheduled to be lifted on March 21. In the meantime, let’s continue to do everything we can to reduce the spread of this awful virus so that our hospital beds are available for other needs. This week’s COVID report: https://www.islandcountywa.gov/Health/COVID%20Manager%20Report%20Library/BOCC%20Brief%202-18-2022.pdf
At our Board of Health meeting, our Health Officer Dr. Leibrand stated that “By early March the risk for COVID for a vaccinated individual will be less than the risk for seasonal flu.” But he noted that the tail of infectious cases will not just drop off completely—it will continue to taper for a while. He said that after the mask mandate is lifted we should still be prepared and willing to put a mask back on when we’re in vulnerable or medical settings. - I had the very great honor of participating on the Island County Canvassing Board today, certifying the results of the February 8 election. 41.92% of registered voters voted in this election, which is phenomenal considering that the entire election was for school and parks levies and bonds—no office holder positions were on the ballot. This was my second canvassing board, and once again I was sincerely impressed by the dedicated attention and security taken by Island County Auditor Sheilah Crider and her elections staff to ensure that all valid ballots are counted and all invalid ballots are rejected (ex: ballots postmarked after February 8). Any ballots in question (ex: signature on the ballot doesn’t match the signature on file) are investigated by mail and phone to determine voter validity—and if the voter comes to the office and says “yes, that’s my signature on that envelope,” that still-unopened ballot will be counted. All signatures are checked. The Elections Office has no database to indicate race or gender or any other demographic information about voters, ensuring all ballot envelopes are treated equally. Envelopes containing ballots are not opened unless and until the envelope has been proven to contain a valid ballot (postmark is good, signature is good)—and then the outside envelopes are separated from the inner pink security envelopes, ensuring that the ballots will not be opened until each voter’s identity has been disconnected from their ballot so how individuals voted remains secret. The Citizens of Island County can be proud that our elections are honest.
But honest elections require participation by the citizenry. I urge you to consider going beyond simply casting your ballot. You could apply at the County to be a Temporary Election Worker and be part of the ballot counting process. To learn about how to apply, go to https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/islandcounty/jobs/3434068/temporary-election-worker?keywords=election%20worker&pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs . Or if you can’t make that time commitment, consider being an observer. All you have to do in that case is go to the Elections Office (400 N Main Street, Coupeville) during some or all of the period of time when ballots are being counted, usually 1-3 days beginning at 8 pm on election night. There are limits to how many people can be seated in the room at a time to observe, of course—but up to now there’s always been room for more observers.
~Melanie
“The better part of one’s life consists of his friendships.”
–Abraham Lincoln
