My name is Justin Ha and I am the nephew of Port Commissioner Candidate, Keith Carver. I am writing this letter to state my support. One might accuse me of already being prejudice. I will not dispute the claim, because I am. But, personal insight puts me above everyone else when I can honestly say, my uncle would make a great commissioner.

My uncle ran a successful company for years. This shows very good management skills. Also a lot of patience since the military was one of his customers. He is calm and collected in tough situations. I have witnessed this trait first hand. He has the ability to see the big picture which will lead to the betterment of the Port. I believe my uncle is the best candidate due to better management experience. Above all, he is the perfect blend of humor and pure intellect. Who doesn’t want a good laugh now and then?

Justin Ha

Sophomore FHHS

San Juan Island

I would like to urge everyone to vote for Keith Carver for port commissioner. I moved here from Port Angeles and live on my boat. I met Keith, another live aboard, and found him to be a very thoughtful and knowledgeable man. He is a former manufacturer of technological products and has the mind of an engineer and the experience of a businessman. That makes him an excellent choice for commissioner. He is super easy to talk to and is a good listener. He has the boating and airplane communities best interests in mind as well as that of all the islands residents.

Rand Fraker

San Juan Island

I am writing this letter in support of Keith Carver for port commissioner. Keith has impressed me as an intelligent, accomplished, capable man who cares about the Port and would represent his constituency well addressing their concerns and listening to their input.

I want to be clear that I truly believe that Barbara Marrett deserves a great deal of thanks and appreciation from this community for her many years of service to the Port. I concur with previous letters of support that she is knowledgeable, intelligent and honestly cares about the Port’s success. Last year was unquestionably not a shining moment for our commissioners, however out of that failure came an excellent executive director well suited to lead our port into a prosperous future.

I am a supporter of term limits for elected officials. It is my belief that entrenched politicians forget that they are public servants and begin to treat the entity they represent as their own, no longer feeling the need to listen to the community members that elected them as they feel they know better. New people with fresh ideas are a good thing for any political district. There are great individuals, like Keith, that have a lot of untapped potential for leadership in our community but because we do not have any limits on terms served, the same people keep the same position year after year and often for decades. I am sure that many San Juan Island voters disagree with me and like the comfort of that familiar name in office or they think that if someone is doing a good job why not keep them. I do understand your arguments but I believe this sameness to be a negative and the port district would thrive with new energy. Though paid, a port commissioner is a community service position and not a career. Knowledge of port workings is important but it is not rocket science and certainly can be learned and mastered quickly by someone like Keith who is willing and interested. I hope you consider this different perspective on why to vote for Keith Carver.

Lauren Cohen

Airport Neighbor and Marina Business Tenant

San Juan Island

John and I are in support of Keith Carver for Port Commissioner 2. We will vote for him because of his integrity, honesty, intellect and love for our port.

We have sat alongside of Keith and his family during many of the tumultuous port meetings when the current commissioners hired a port director to replace Marilyn O’Connor when she retired.

After much conflict under the new management, it was obvious that the current commissioners were covering up issues and even changed explanations for firing one of their top employees and using the “port budget” as a cover-up.

They never realized that they trusted the wrong person in their decisions making and never listened to their staff. We felt like our three port commissions were incompetent at problem solving and never taking the initiative to address issues that should have been dealt with. Because of the actions from our current commissioners, the staff sought out protection from the Union.

We understand that the majority of us were not involved in port meetings and therefore did not see the shortcomings of our commissioners. While we were attending the port meetings, we realized that the tasks at hand belonged to more capable and skilled commissioners who could solve problems, manage and protect their employees and to protect the direction of our port. Just because they might have held their position as a commissioner for a few terms, doesn’t mean they are capable of the demands of port decisions and the integrity and responsibilities of today.

There is no doubt that our port needs better representation with new port commissioners who are trustworthy, educated and someone with integrity to guide us on a daily basis. Because of Keith’s accomplishments in life, we support him and we know that he will be an asset as one of our port commissioners to see us through future projects and the possible purchase of Jensen shipyard.

We need to make a healthy change and start out fresh.

We support Keith Carver and hope that you will too.

John and Rynnie Wilson

San Juan Island