By Steve Ulvi, Journal contributor

It is obvious to me, after some 18 years of actively engaging here, that the challenges in this odd little county are complicated by the hard limits of small islands, highly divergent individual values, 25% resident turnover every few years, explosive regional growth and an anemic, summer-centered local economy. Additionally, our demographics are odd and discordant, while uncommon individual wealth is common.

We are a mishmash of people with one intangible similarity; we nearly all choose to be here and claim to care a lot about this place. Even in relative insignificance, this place captures hearts, nourishes dreams and fosters delusion. Histories of families settled here after the Civil War are properly respected, while those of the first people, here for the last 12,000 years, are seldom reflected upon.

Opinions about most community issues are all over the map, facts are stretched to fit and the fault lines of socio-political values and economic classism run deep. I’m told that Rant & Rave here is often like cyber tar and feathering. Politics can be a blood sport.

I have come to know that most residents avoid commenting in public forums, taking part in surveys or penning letters and opinion pieces. It seems that few care to challenge leaders. But as islanders, we do line up to secretly vote in droves.

Most of us understand that these backwater island communities are not immune, but instead highly impacted by external flux. Our stagnant economy, ”whack a mole” reactions to problems and lack of coherent strategies – outside of wordy planning documents – creates stressful uncertainty for all, especially our critical working families and small businesses.

The existential, bedrock issues in the current update of the Comprehensive Plan are the key notions about carrying capacity and projections of population numbers. These numbers have set off some alarm bells but seem oddly irrelevant or like “we can’t do a thing about that” to many. I hear calls for “degrowth” without a scintilla of explanation as to just how that works to regenerate community stability.

For me, any notion of a future “viable” island population is central to nearly every other aspect of quality of life and resilience of community. Population composition is most critical and best not left to chance. There is a dire need for intentional, managed county population growth, based upon measurable and achievable Comprehensive Plan element goals and employing stern conservation practices that build toward economic diversification and stability.

People with families, all thirsting for success, are the wellspring for any local economy due to broad participation in schools, sports, clubs, new business start-ups, voting, organizational boards and dollar-circulating and cohesive community endeavors. Vitality.

Many of us feel that funding and constructing many hundreds of permanently affordable rental and owned houses, scores of mid-range multiple family homes, as well as not only allowing, but facilitating rural clusters of tiny houses and trailers is the one sure path to strengthen diversified economic growth and nurture middle class expansion with new business incubation and living wage job creation at more than a glacial pace.

Staying the course should be seen as the economic failure that it is. Focused resident engagement can ignite the necessary changes. Why not “make good trouble” and break out of this island economic inertia with a unified voice?