Mayor Candidate Evan Perrollaz sees what the issues are in Friday Harbor and plans to use his 30 years of management experience to create effective solutions. His background in the private and public sectors – he owns a coffee shop in town and is deputy superintendent of the hospital district – puts him in a unique position to understand local problems, and he’s committed to collaborating with town staff, the council, and community members themselves.

Background

Perrollaz was born and raised in Michigan but was ready to escape the Midwest after college. He needed a change – some excitement – and found himself in Seattle, where he ended up starting and running a catering company before getting into hotel management. Notably, always in the caretaking/service industry, Perrollaz found his calling when he got his first job in senior living.

“It was probably one of the most breathtakingly amazing experiences of my life,” he said of his initial year working with seniors and their families. “You’re a lighthouse in a storm for people who don’t understand Medicaid or Medicare or long-term care insurance. All they know is, mom fell and she’s in the hospital – what do I do now?”

Perrollaz worked his way up to become the regional director of operations for Bonaventure Senior Living and then founded Cornerstone Senior Care Solutions, which offered regulatory consulting and training to help senior care facilities that were in trouble with the state get up to par. Overall, it’s been almost 30 years of working in this business, and it’s ultimately what led him to Friday Harbor.

He was vacationing on the island in 2016 when one of the primary investors of the Village at the Harbor contacted him. A typical phone call for his job at the time, the recruiting request just happened to be in the same town he was currently visiting.

“I said, ‘Brian, I gotta be honest with you, I’m like, four blocks from the Village right now,’” Perrollaz laughed while recounting the story. “He and I met at Haley’s for lunch, and he asked if I could help him find a new administrator for the Village. I told him I would help him find someone.”

After making his hour-long commute between Lynnwood and Bothell daily for a few weeks and daydreaming about the peace of the island, Perrollaz knew what he had to do.

“I called Brian and said, I have fantastic news for you, I found someone to fill the position,” he said with a smile.

Perrollaz worked as the administrator of Village at the Harbor for six years until he represented the investors in the sale of the Village to Hospital District No. 1 in 2022, a deal contingent on his staying on as the district’s deputy superintendent.

“I was part of the sale,” he laughed. He signed a one-year contract and then never left. “Why would I? I have one of the coolest jobs on the planet.”

Friday Harbor life

Perrollaz continues today to work closely with the Village in his work as deputy superintendent; currently plans are in place to replace the roof and he’s spearheading the Village at Home program for home care. He recently conducted a feasibility study to explore the potential expansion of the Village, such as adding more Medicaid beds.

“We added five a few years ago, which was amazing, but a drop in the bucket,” he said. “Last time we had an open Medicaid bed at the Village, we had more than 20 applications in 24 hours. It’s heartbreaking only to choose a fraction of those.”

Witnessing the gap between needs and services in the senior community on the island drove Perrollaz to create the San Juan Islands Healthcare Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping seniors access the care they need. While he has said that he would step down from various board positions if elected mayor (he serves on the board of the Food Co-op, the board of Island Artisans, is a member of the Rotary club, and board chair of the Cannery Landing Condo Association), the foundation is something that he will continue, no matter what.

“All the money we are raising with the foundation will go directly back into this community,” Perrollaz said. “If there is a senior or vulnerable adult in this community that needs anything, we’re going to take care of it.”

Somehow, Perrollaz also has the time to own and run both San Juan Island Roasters and Dockside Treasures at Cannery Landing. His partner (both in marriage and business), Mary, can typically be found managing the coffee shop. Their daughter, Ava, who graduated from Friday Harbor High School, just turned 21 and is working at Griffin Bay Bookstore.

“Ironically, in their cafe,” Perrollaz smiled.

Local Issues

As a business owner and manager of local employees, Perrollaz is witnessing daily the issues that impact the town. Aging infrastructure affects his shops on Cannery Landing, and he has seen his hospital district employees standing in line at the food bank due to the ever-rising costs of living. A lack of affordable housing creates staffing shortages that make it nearly impossible to offer enough services to island seniors.

“They’re not just Hospital District problems,” he said, referring to staffing issues. “I mean, they’re town problems, they’re island problems, county problems.”

Affordable housing is the number one issue that needs to be addressed, according to Perrollaz. He says the businesses in town do a good job of putting on a happy face, but are all struggling to get by, mainly due to staffing issues. Without housing, there aren’t any staff. And without staff, businesses have to close.

Perrollaz believes that the Town government needs to be better.

“It’s a shame, because there is a war going on right now between nonprofits and the town,” he said. “The town needs to hire another person for the planning department. They need to improve their processes. They need to lead. They need to be more collaborative.”

His biggest disappointment is the discord between the council and the mayor.

“That 100% has to change,” insisted.

Even so, he plans to show up to the mayorship, offering everyone a clean slate.

“It will look like any other new job,” he said. “I’ll walk into it, make assessments, meet with each member of the staff, and start to formulate a plan.”

He’s curious what changes will happen within the town government with a new management style and more support.

“I’ve been doing this a long time. I mean, I’ve been in management now for 30-some years,” Perrollaz said. “At the end of the day, every person is managed differently, and you have to figure it out.”

Ingrid Gabriel, who served as the clerk of the San Juan County Council for 15 years and was Perrollaz’s direct report in 2024 at the hospital district, is in a unique position to speak on the matter, considering her experience both in local government and having Perrollaz as a manager.

“What Evan does incredibly well is he’s very much a strong leader, but he brings everyone to the table. This is a man with incredibly creative ideas, but my ideas were always appreciated. I got feedback from him about my value to the team; he was so collaborative,” Gabriel told the Journal about her time working with him. “He was supportive and positive, would put everyone at ease with his sense of humor—honestly just a delight to work with.”

A tactic he likes to use to encourage collaboration is something he calls blue sky meetings, where all ideas are welcome.

“We need to have open meetings and ask what’s going to work here? Throw anything at the wall, nothing’s crazy,” he said of the brainstorming sessions he hopes to have with community members and town staff. “What can we do to improve things without dramatically impacting everybody’s experience?”

Long-time islander Lori Stokes is Perrollaz’s neighbor and has witnessed his work as chair of their condo association, and his work in the community. She saw a video re-circulating on Facebook recently from his time at the Village during the COVID crisis (which hit senior living facilities especially hard) and wants every voter to see it.

”To me, that video is why Evan should be mayor, in my humble opinion. It really shows his personal characteristics, his thoughtfulness, his willingness to jump in and do things and coordinate people to get things done,” Stokes said. “As a human being, his strengths are really in that area – leadership. And he’s done it! That video speaks even better than I can to his competence. I can’t imagine someone watching that video and not voting for Evan. It really shows why he is qualified to be the mayor.”

Although not a self-promoter, when pushed, Perrollaz shares Stokes’ confidence in what he’s bringing to the table as a potential mayor.

“Do I believe that I’m the best-qualified candidate? 100% yes,” he said. “I’m the only one of this group, honestly, that really has the leadership experience that I have. I’m the only one who’s managed a budget over $10 million. I’m the only one who has hired and fired – I’ve had 500 employees directly under my report. I’m the only one who brings that level of leadership and experience to the table. I know what needs to be done, and I know what needs to happen to get there.”