The December retirement of Island County Clerk Sharon Franzen means the Board of Island County Commissioners must make an interim appointment to finish her term, which expires in 2010.

The Washington State Constitution requires the political party with which a vacating office holder is affiliated to submit names of three people to the Board of County Commissioners. Ms. Franzen is a Democrat. Commissioners will interview three applicants during a public meeting before appointing one by a majority vote. The interviews will be held 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, in the Commissioners Hearing Room in Coupeville. Commissioners hope to have a successor in place immediately following the effective date of Ms. Franzen’s resignation on Dec. 15.

The three applicants are attorney Linda Moore, J.D., a financial and development services consultant; Patricia Terry, a registered nurse with a masters in public administration; and Island County Deputy Clerk Debra Van Pelt, who has served under County Clerk Franzen since 2005.

Ms. Franzen resigns from her elected office after serving island citizens for the past 29 years, seven of them in the elected position of County Clerk . "This past year has been one of personal challenges, as I have been called upon with more frequency to deal with family health-related issues," she said in a memo to the Board of County Commissioners. " . . This decision was not reached easily, but after much thought and soul searching."

The continuing decline of Island County revenue again challenges county leaders who cut $4 million from their budgets in 2009, and now must face an additional projected shortfall of $1.2 million in 2010.

 

The loss of that first $4 million severely disabled all county departments and programs, with law and justice taking the smallest hits.

 

During a Tuesday, Nov. 17, workshop, the Board of County Commissioners suggested 4% and 4.5% cuts in all county departments in 2010, except those that have already been severely cut, such as the human resources department, now staffed only by a full-time director and part time office assistant. Other departments, such as the budget director and coroner, are in the same boat. Cutting any more means shutting them down completely.

 

Commissioners reluctantly suggested even bigger cuts – 10% -- in social programs such as senior services, rather than shut them down completely, because commissioners feel it is essential to protect the safety net they provide to vulnerable, older adults who live at home alone, for example. Cutting these life-line social programs altogether, thereby potentially losing leverage for state and federal funding for senior programs, would be inhumane, as well as put additional strain on sheriff's deputies. Other social programs, such as mental health, receive only a small portion of the current expense fund and are, instead, funded by a one-tenth of one percent sales tax, which cannot be diverted to other uses.

 

One very important, but technically “non essential” or non-mandated, program being cut is the Impaired Driving Impact Panel of Island County (IDIPIC), which received only $3,600 this year to help instill in teens and adults the serious dangers of drinking and driving. Such is the severity of this ongoing depression of Island County government. Even so – and here is one of several bright, untold courthouse stories that have been going on behind the scenes – several elected officials, including Sheriff Mark Brown and Prosecutor Greg Banks, have offered to donate the difference.

 

Meanwhile, the Board of County Commissioners will likely dip into the county’s fund balance to offset $200,000 of the shortfall during this financial emergency, the board will transfer an additional $100,000 from county road funds to the sheriff’s office for traffic safety, and commissioners will increase tax levies by the allowed 1% to help ease the need to dismantle government.

 

Looking back at what will soon be a total of $5.2 million worth of cuts over two years, the county has protected public safety and law enforcement, which, to this point, was cut the least. A 4.5% cut in the sheriff’s department need not mean any erosion of islanders’ safety and deputies’ current response times, and we have full confidence our dedicated and determined sheriff will find a way to avoid layoffs of patrol deputies, helping to hold his department and this county together as we go through these difficult times together.

Island County Clerk, Sharon Franzen, announced last week she will resign from her elected office after serving island citizens for the past 29 years, seven of them in the elected position of County Clerk . "This past year has been one of personal challenges, as I have been called upon with more frequency to deal with family health-related issues," she said in a memo to the Board of County Commissioners. " . . This decision was not reached easily, but after much thought and soul searching."

 

Ms. Franzen's last day will be Dec. 15. The Washington State Constitution requires the political party with which a vacating office holder is affiliated to submit the names of three people to the Board of County Commissioners. Ms. Franzen is a Democrat.  The Board of County Commissioners has asked the party to submit names by Friday, November 13. Commissioners will interview the three applicants during a public meeting before appointing one by a majority vote. The hope is to have a successor in place immediately following the effective date of Ms. Franzen’s resignation, Dec. 15.

The Board of Island County Commissioners banned the discharge of firearms at the county’s Deer Lagoon property Monday, Oct. 12, deciding, after hearing public testimony about confrontations between residents and hunters, as well as testimony about houses and people being hit by shot, that there is a reasonable likelihood of jeopardy to people, pets, and property.

 

Commissioners said this was a public safety decision, caused by an increase in people living and walking in the area. "The Deer Lagoon neighborhood has grown to the point where it is no longer safe for firearms, kayakers, backyard gardeners, and shoreline strollers to mix," Chairman John Dean said.

The ban on the discharge of firearms on county property at Deer Lagoon went into effect Monday, Oct. 12.

Island County officials announced today that preliminary approval has been obtained from the Department of Transportation for the 17-yr old carved Welcome to Whidbey sign to remain in its current site. A county sponsored Whidbey Scenic Isle Way gateway monument installation will proceed as scheduled at an adjacent location. Controversy arose last month when citizens resisted efforts to relocate the iconic cedar structure further up the highway from its current location near the Clinton Ferry Landing.

 

Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson credits the Island County Public Works Department with finding this creative solution. “The concerns came so late in the process; the county had very few options.  Contracts had already been signed and permits obtained. Staff was able to successfully work with our partners at the DOT to create this win for our community.”

 

Later this month gateway monuments will be installed at Deception Pass , Keystone Landing and Clinton . Each installation was individually designed to reflect the scenic beauty of Whidbey Island .

 

The Whidbey Scenic Isle Way project was funded by a federal grant in 2006 and the gateway locations were selected in 2008 by the Regional Transportation Policy Board which is comprised of elected officials and transportation agencies in our area. More information will be available at a public meeting in Clinton Community Hall, Thursday Oct. 8 th at 7pm.

Island County, the Town of Coupeville, and Ebey's Reserve, with support of the Board of Island County Commissioners and the Coupeville Town Council, have drafted proposed new design standards, code changes, and guidelines. All are now available on the Island County website: http://www.islandcounty.net/planning/2009Docket.htm as well as the Town's website.

Everyone is encouraged to take a look at these materials, and to provide substantive input at the upcoming series of public hearings -- the first of which is scheduled for Tuesday, July 28th at 1pm.

 

These are draft documents -- and need your input and the input of others to be as effective as possible in protecting the Reserve's rural heritage, while making sense. Staff of the two jurisdictions and Reserve has worked to develop what they feel is a structure that is practical, streamlined, and more stringent where appropriate. All of the materials are now on the web: http://www.islandcounty.net/planning/2009Docket.htm

For more information, contact Karen Hossfeld or Mark Preiss, Reserve Manager of Ebey's Landing, P.O. Box 774 / 162 Cemetery Road Coupeville, WA 98239, (360) 678-6084: Email: mark_preiss@partner.nps.gov

05/29/09

Veterans to Get Personal Help Along With Emergency Funds

Whidbey and Camano war veterans will receive renewed attention and improved services from Island County, thanks to a management upgrade to a long-standing grant program that provides emergency funds to indigent veterans. Management of the county’s Veterans Assistance Fund has been moved from the county’s General Services Department to the Human Services Department, which will not only administer the funds but assign a case manager to provide additional services and follow-up for veterans who need assistance. For more information, contact Gerald Pfannenstiel

( G.Pfannenstiel@co.island.wa.us ).