SAN JUAN COUNTY, WASHINGTON
"ORCAS EAGLE FORUM" – CANDIDATE FORUM –April 6, 2013
OPENING STATEMENTS BY EACH CANDIDATE:
In my opinion, nothing of interest stood out from what we have heard from each of them before in these forums or what is on their websites. I did find it interesting that Lisa Byers spent time trying to illustrate herself as a unifying “can’t we all get along” candidate. During t...his time she also listed her local and national community land trust accomplishments. Impressive as they may sound, it only served to emphasize her “Johnny one note” career path.
Of additional interest we will note here that in the opening statements, body of the forum and closing statements, it was extremely clear which 3 were truly independent, middle-of-the-road, candidates seeking to serve the best interests of ALL our County citizens as opposed to the 3 who will govern with an obvious liberal bent serving the interests of only some.
The first question came from the Eagle Forum staff. The question was a little long but basically boiled down to what they will be looking for in a new County manager, considering all the changes to the charter. The candidates mostly responded as we would expect them to each giving a review of good management characteristics.
The rest of the questions were written on cards by forum attendees upon arrival and then read by host Rick Boucher.
Next question: as a position of County Council person is nonpartisan, how do you feel about the about the outright endorsement by the San Juan County Democratic Party of some candidates.
This was extremely revealing concerning each of the candidates to attitudes.
Hughes, Jarman and McClerren did not seek nor consent to endorsements from anyone. None of them returned the SJC Dem Party questionnaire. All 3 stated that they were independent and chose to represent all of the County citizens as a nonpartisan. Any person or organization is free to publicly support any candidate they choose. That’s free speech. McClerren added that he had not only refused to fill out a questionnaire but had tried to contact the SJC Dem Party and state Democratic elected officials to question this. He says although he received not received a response from any of them, the party stated they were endorsing the other 3 candidates because of the responses they had received from all candidates. None of these 3 candidates complained about how their track records or views had been presented to the public by organizations or local publications.
On the other hand, Byers, Pratt and Stephens had no problem admitting they had responded to the San Juan County Democratic Party for their support and they welcomed the support. Byers said she did it so that the County voters would have an idea as to the overview of her political thinking. She then tried to imply that it really doesn’t matter as Democrat, Republican and independent have different meanings nationally as opposed to locally. She was implying that were just all one big happy family here in these labels don’t matter. As to the actual question, as with many of her “background” issues she effectively dodged it. Pratt and Stephens went further and “badmouthed” the Republican Party website and others for showing them in a bad light as opposed to their opponent. Their attacks focused on the Republican Party, Trust Islanders and the Trojan Heron.
They were then asked, what was the hardest decision they had to make when dealing with a committed group of people?
All spoke from personal experience. Hughes and Jarman reflected upon how hard it was to have been an employer and had to let someone in their employment go. McClerren spoke about his decision, involvement and in struggle to help restore a congregation in Oregon being torn from without.
Pratt talked about the difficulties of dealing with the contentious CAO process. Stevens seem to imply that all County decisions came to mind and Byers spoke of deciding to go ahead with OPAL’s Wildrose project phase 2 when the risk seemed like a bad idea but worth taking.
Next question had to do with CAO implementation dates. Due to all the complications and lawsuits, would it be better to wait or go with the May 1 implementation date?
Pratt, go on May 1. If not on May 1 then withhold all funds for public education and outreach until sometime later when things were clear. Stephens seems to have taken the “Pelosi” position of putting it in play so we can see if or how it works. Stephens wants to go with May 1 so we can see if it’s going to work or not and then figure out how to “tweak” it as we go. On the other hand Byers would push the implementation date down the road. She said the county is working on CAO maps that have layers showing all the various possible restriction types. We also need to come up with a checklist first. All staff must be conversant in the CAO and we need to develop case studies using the current regulations and see how the new regulations would apply.
McClerren said his research has discovered this is going to be so complex and expensive to the property owners that it absolutely should be delayed. Jarman mirrored these comments stating no one understands it due to the complexity of the CAO. Hughes called for a delay of until at least March 2014 so that we can build the tools we need and educate the public. He stressed that property owners, architects, contractors, realtors and County personnel will need time to digest the information for implementation without major costs or delays for everyone.
There were a couple of additional questions but they gave us know new information concerning any of the candidates.
The candidates closing statements followed suit in tone and their views and policies. Byers, Pratt and Stephens focused on the environment and social issues where Hughes, Jarman and McClerren focused on a wider range of County issues and future needs. Hughes really focused much more on jobs and the economy in his closing statement then did the others.
"ORCAS EAGLE FORUM" – CANDIDATE FORUM –April 6, 2013
OPENING STATEMENTS BY EACH CANDIDATE:
In my opinion, nothing of interest stood out from what we have heard from each of them before in these forums or what is on their websites. I did find it interesting that Lisa Byers spent time trying to illustrate herself as a unifying “can’t we all get along” candidate. During t...his time she also listed her local and national community land trust accomplishments. Impressive as they may sound, it only served to emphasize her “Johnny one note” career path.
Of additional interest we will note here that in the opening statements, body of the forum and closing statements, it was extremely clear which 3 were truly independent, middle-of-the-road, candidates seeking to serve the best interests of ALL our County citizens as opposed to the 3 who will govern with an obvious liberal bent serving the interests of only some.
The first question came from the Eagle Forum staff. The question was a little long but basically boiled down to what they will be looking for in a new County manager, considering all the changes to the charter. The candidates mostly responded as we would expect them to each giving a review of good management characteristics.
The rest of the questions were written on cards by forum attendees upon arrival and then read by host Rick Boucher.
Next question: as a position of County Council person is nonpartisan, how do you feel about the about the outright endorsement by the San Juan County Democratic Party of some candidates.
This was extremely revealing concerning each of the candidates to attitudes.
Hughes, Jarman and McClerren did not seek nor consent to endorsements from anyone. None of them returned the SJC Dem Party questionnaire. All 3 stated that they were independent and chose to represent all of the County citizens as a nonpartisan. Any person or organization is free to publicly support any candidate they choose. That’s free speech. McClerren added that he had not only refused to fill out a questionnaire but had tried to contact the SJC Dem Party and state Democratic elected officials to question this. He says although he received not received a response from any of them, the party stated they were endorsing the other 3 candidates because of the responses they had received from all candidates. None of these 3 candidates complained about how their track records or views had been presented to the public by organizations or local publications.
On the other hand, Byers, Pratt and Stephens had no problem admitting they had responded to the San Juan County Democratic Party for their support and they welcomed the support. Byers said she did it so that the County voters would have an idea as to the overview of her political thinking. She then tried to imply that it really doesn’t matter as Democrat, Republican and independent have different meanings nationally as opposed to locally. She was implying that were just all one big happy family here in these labels don’t matter. As to the actual question, as with many of her “background” issues she effectively dodged it. Pratt and Stephens went further and “badmouthed” the Republican Party website and others for showing them in a bad light as opposed to their opponent. Their attacks focused on the Republican Party, Trust Islanders and the Trojan Heron.
They were then asked, what was the hardest decision they had to make when dealing with a committed group of people?
All spoke from personal experience. Hughes and Jarman reflected upon how hard it was to have been an employer and had to let someone in their employment go. McClerren spoke about his decision, involvement and in struggle to help restore a congregation in Oregon being torn from without.
Pratt talked about the difficulties of dealing with the contentious CAO process. Stevens seem to imply that all County decisions came to mind and Byers spoke of deciding to go ahead with OPAL’s Wildrose project phase 2 when the risk seemed like a bad idea but worth taking.
Next question had to do with CAO implementation dates. Due to all the complications and lawsuits, would it be better to wait or go with the May 1 implementation date?
Pratt, go on May 1. If not on May 1 then withhold all funds for public education and outreach until sometime later when things were clear. Stephens seems to have taken the “Pelosi” position of putting it in play so we can see if or how it works. Stephens wants to go with May 1 so we can see if it’s going to work or not and then figure out how to “tweak” it as we go. On the other hand Byers would push the implementation date down the road. She said the county is working on CAO maps that have layers showing all the various possible restriction types. We also need to come up with a checklist first. All staff must be conversant in the CAO and we need to develop case studies using the current regulations and see how the new regulations would apply.
McClerren said his research has discovered this is going to be so complex and expensive to the property owners that it absolutely should be delayed. Jarman mirrored these comments stating no one understands it due to the complexity of the CAO. Hughes called for a delay of until at least March 2014 so that we can build the tools we need and educate the public. He stressed that property owners, architects, contractors, realtors and County personnel will need time to digest the information for implementation without major costs or delays for everyone.
There were a couple of additional questions but they gave us know new information concerning any of the candidates.
The candidates closing statements followed suit in tone and their views and policies. Byers, Pratt and Stephens focused on the environment and social issues where Hughes, Jarman and McClerren focused on a wider range of County issues and future needs. Hughes really focused much more on jobs and the economy in his closing statement then did the others.
Additionally, I did find it interesting that the planning department needed time to become completely informed and they basically wrote the CAO.
ReplyDeleteI was impressed by Hughes emphasis that we should not activate the CAO now just when the badly needed improvment in the economy is awaking. You could tell he runs a business and the slack in retail sales this winter has dampened the spirits of many business owners.
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Why is it that Government must grow? I don't understand. Seems it could flex for a time for things like the Mt Baker RD project and then retreat back to just above life support.