A Message From Commissioner Bacon

A Message From Commissioner Bacon 

Hello everyone,

  In my second GovDelivery of 2022, I want to give you the highlights of my second week as chair of the Board of Island County Commissioners.

• Island County appoints citizens to serve on 34 different volunteer boards and advisory committees. Some committees meet more frequently than others, but they all provide important public service. Below is a current listing of current board and committee vacancies. You can also find out more about our volunteer boards and advisory committees at: https://www.islandcountywa.gov/Commissioners/Pages/opencommiteelist.aspx

This is important work! Please consider serving!

If you are interested in serving on any of these boards please send a letter of interest by email to j.roll@islandcountywa.gov or by mail to:

     Board of Island County Commissioners

 ATTN:  Committee Vacancies

PO Box 5000

Coupeville, WA 98239

• This week the Island County Department of Natural Resources is putting out their 2022 call for applications for Conservation Futures Funds. Conservation Futures is a land preservation program that protects, preserves, maintains, improves, restores, and limits the future use of threatened areas of open space, timberlands, wetlands, habitat areas, culturally significant sites, and agricultural farmlands within Island County. Organizations located within Island County eligible to apply for Conservation Futures Funds are Island County government, cities, town, special purpose districts, non-profit nature conservancy organizations (as defined in RCW 84.34.250), and non-profit historic preservation organizations (as defined in RCW 64.04.130). https://www.islandcountywa.gov/Health/DNR/Pages/cff.aspx
• On January 12^th, the Growth Management Hearings Board of Washington State found the county now in compliance and has 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. Personally, I am and have always been grateful to WEAN for their dedication to the protection of our wildlife and natural resources—because of their insight and persistence over and over through the years, Island County Code has been revised to the betterment of our citizens and our rural environment. That is true this time as well. I hope the resolution of this case will serve as a positive mark in the relationship between the county and WEAN, and that we in the county will continue to recognize the value of working in partnership with those who are dedicated to protecting the critical habitats of our beautiful islands.
• At the January 11^th, Board of Island County Commissioners meeting we signed Memorandums of Understanding with our two largest unions, AFSCME 1845 and AFSCME 1845-I, bringing the minimum pay for any regular job at Island County to $20 per hour. Each of the commissioners is adamant that anyone who chooses to make their career as a public servant for Island County deserves a decent wage for their work. For comparison, the minimum wage in Washington State is $14.49 per hour and the minimum wage federally is $7.25. Island County also provides free health insurance to full-time employees.

UPCOMING MEETINGS YOU MAY FIND OF INTEREST

• The Board of Island County Commissioners is holding a public hearing on Tuesday, January 18^th, at 10 am,  regarding the consideration of an increase of the retail sales tax by 1/10th of 1% to fund development of affordable housing (10 cents per $100 of taxable sales). You can attend by phone at 1-669-800-5335; enter meeting ID number 491 987 8603. Or to attend by way of video, you may access the meeting via StarLeaf: https://meet.starleaf.com/4919878603/app
• On February 1^st at 6:00 p.m. Puget Sound Energy will provide an update and a presentation to the Board of Island County Commissioners; as well as respond to questions from the public regarding outages.  I will provide a web link and phone-in information in next week’s GovDelivery newsletter.
• COVID Update. You may recall that last week I reported a two-week increase of 150% in our COVID cases in Island County. This week we’re reporting a two-week increase of 113.35%. This latest report will be available to the public on Monday, January 24^th here: https://www.islandcountywa.gov/Health/Pages/COVID-Report.aspx . And speaking of COVID, this week the Washington State Ferries informed us that we should continue to expect the Clinton/Mukilteo ferry to run on the “alternate” (one boat) schedule until the current Omicron wave is over and they’re better able to staff the ferries.
• Island County has adopted a new county logo and will be rolling it out over the next twelve months.

UPDATES FROM LOCAL JURISDICTIONS AND OFFICIALS:

• The Town of Coupeville is holding a virtual community workshop on their Comprehensive Plan Update on January18^th at 6 pm. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84638980075?pwd=WGxiV0NJY0dHeld3R0N1MHZ5WC96UT09

           Webinar ID: 846 3898 0075 Passcode: 823377.  Phone: (253) 215 8782

• Savannah Erickson, Commissioner-Elect for the South Whidbey Fire/EMS, is hosting 2 upcoming events to introduce herself to the community and get feedback on what South Whidbey needs from their next Fire Chief.
  • Saturday, January 15^th, 10:30 - 11:30 AM coffee hour at The Commons in Langley
  • Thursday, January 20^th, 5:30 - 6:30 happy hour at Ogres Brewing in Clinton
•  And finally, BIG CONGRATULATIONS to my District 1 County Commissioner predecessor, Helen Price Johnson, who has been named Rural Development State Director for Washington State https://www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/news-release/usda-announces-helen-price-johnson-rural-development-state-director-washington-state . Helen is now the chief executive officer of USDA Rural Development for our state. She will be responsible for promoting the mission and strategic goals of Rural Development and will provide key leadership to develop and support a productive, diverse, and inclusive state workforce.

Wow, so much happening! And to think on Monday I didn’t think I’d have anything to talk about today.

~Melanie

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Please send along ideas and feedback. You can e-mail me at district1@islandcountywa.gov

It is an honor to serve you, 
Melanie Bacon
Island County Commissioner, Dist. 1

district1@islandcountywa.gov
(360)679-7354

PO Box 5000
Coupeville, WA 98239