I write this letter in response to the recent letter by Mark Fishaut MD titled “Moving Forward with the Land Bank”. Dr. Fishaut, I am no longer on the Land Bank Commission but I was for fourteen years. In that fourteen years I have never seen you [Dr. Fishaut] at a Land Bank meeting, so I question your position of knowledge about what the Land Bank does and how it does it. First of all, the “mysterious” Zylstra Lake trails fiasco has absolutely nothing to do with the Land Bank. You need to address the Town of FH and SJ County on this one. How do you know what the essential matters are? The process and amount of revenue given to the Land Bank cannot be overhauled as it is a state law. This will not change, but rather it will stay the same or it will go away when the public has a chance to vote on it. The transparency of potential purchases is extremely well done and thorough for anyone wanting to pay attention to it. Extreme confidentiality is sometimes required in the early stages of any land acquisition as it is a transaction with a private party. It becomes transparent when an offer is made and that is how it should be. There is absolutely no evidence of any “bulldozing” or lack of respect of private landowners. I think it will be difficult for you to cite me examples. “Reassessment and REPLACEMENT of senior management being a necessity is absurd. You know nothing of how the organization works within County government. The Executive Director of the Land Bank is a talented and creative individual. If you think that he is “condescending and elitist” that is your opinion. Have you ever worked with him? I think not. What is needed in that position is someone who understands the nuances of difficult real estate transactions and how to navigate within a governmental structure. This director is like a star pitcher on a baseball team where not everybody may like him but he is needed on the team. He is good at what he does. You have obviously been listening to others that know nothing about the Land Bank. I suggest that you start attending Land Bank meetings and seeing for yourself how the Commission works and interacts with the community on many different levels. The Commission is methodical and ethical in the work that it performs for the benefit of all of us in San Juan County. It will only be then that anyone should listen to what you say about it.

Jim Skoog

San Juan Island