Submitted by the League of Women Voters Observer Corps.
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan organization, encourages informed participation in government. The Observer Corps attends and takes notes at government meetings to promote public understanding of public policy and decisions. The notes do not necessarily reflect the views of the League or its members.
SJI Public Hospital District regular meeting of May 28
PHD Superintendent Nathan Butler reported they hired a new employee to manage board notes and reports. Medicaid was approved for Village at Home services. The Village at the Harbor has two vacancies and just filled a Medicaid unit. Chief Bishop is planning the emergency medical services biennial mass casualty drill in June. The EMS building’s sewage system is still under repair, with parts arriving May 29; the system required a total redesign with a cost of $45,000-$50,000. EMS calls for April were well ahead of the past six years.
The Finance Committee reported they had approved the approach for the upcoming EMS union contract negotiations. The EMS reserve fund is in good shape.
The commission discussed renaming PHD to avoid confusion and correctly identify PHD as a provider of health care services. The SJC Public Hospital District #1 has nothing to do with hospital operations, yet many district constituents believe the PHD oversees Peace Island. The name can be changed using “doing business as” or DBA designation. The Orcas PHD changed its name to Orcas Island Health Care District. Butler noted the enormous across-the-board changes that a name change would generate. The Board tabled the issue to the June regular meeting.
San Juan Island Fire District commissioners asked the PHD commission for a joint meeting. PHD Board Chair Lindstrum will meet with the Fire District chair to explore purpose and goals.
The Health Care Coalition received a grant from the district court for behavioral health in the court system. The County lacks a central resource directory for health care and related services. Commissioners Clary and Frazer, along with Butler, will review the current PHD management structure and make recommendations.
The commissioners approved a resolution accepting the mid-year revised 2025 EMS budget. The revised mid-year PHD budget is forthcoming, pending additional financial information.
During public access time, a constituent spoke in favor of the name change of the PHD to avoid confusion.
SJI School Board regular meeting of May 28
Students and their teacher Alexandria Finch from Stuart Island’s one-room school house gave a presentation to the board. The school was reopened this year. Second grader Charlotte and her sister, third grader Hazele, talked about attending school on their home island instead of FHES last year.
Several staff members presented San Juan Island Early Learning Center activities for the school year. The 17 Transition to Kindergarten children and 12 Development Preschool students made noticeable improvements in language, social and emotional progress toward kindergarten. All three staff members were happy that the district now offers this program. In general, children who participate in TTK perform better at the third-grade level versus children who do not.
Superintendent Woods presented for the San Juan Institute program for teacher and staff training in late August, which will include a focus on using artificial intelligence.
Griffin Bay School Annual Report: Griffin Bay had 22 or more students during the year. Over the past three years, the graduation rate for GBS students has gone up to over 80%. GBS mailed postcards to counselors in school districts with no alternative education option, encouraging them to have students consider the GBS remote option. They are offering a coordinated educational effort to homeschool families who have expressed interest.
Brock Hauck reviewed capital projects for this and the next three years. This summer, they will complete re-siding and painting the high school. The elementary school gutter replacement will also be completed by August. They rescheduled re-siding and painting the middle school to next summer due to higher-than-expected costs.
The board reviewed the athletic program budget for 2025-26. Jose Domenech reported total school enrollment is up slightly for the year versus the budget. Spending is on plan for the year with some improvement in special education funding. The 2025-2026 budget will be submitted to the board in July. The board approved a resolution on business account authorization and approved the 2024-2025 board calendar.
County Council regular meeting of June 3
The Council proclaimed June as Pride Month, noting the challenging times for the LGBTQ community and the commitment of the county to be safe and welcoming for all. Representatives from the SI Pride Foundation and the Orcas Island Pride spoke about their organizations’ events this month and the goal of protection, especially for the trans community and trans youth.
At a public hearing on the siting of an essential public facility for County operations on Shaw Island, the attorney for a group of Shaw residents asked that the decision be transferred from the Council to the hearing examiner, who would be hearing an appeal on the environmental impact assessment. He argued this was a quasi-judicial decision and the Council thus had a conflict of interest. A Shaw resident said there was no urgency to decide now and asked the County to take the time to do a proper environmental assessment and to fix contradictions in the existing document regarding soil imports and forest clearing. The deputy PA said his office’s opinion was that the siting decision was purely legislative and the Council faced no conflict in proceeding. If the hearing examiner should have concerns about the SEPA, that can be addressed in the next steps of the process. The Council approved the siting.
After a public hearing, the Council approved the 2025 first budget amendments, which increased the 2025 budget by about $9.5 million and increased available cash by about $2 million. After a public hearing in which the Economic Development Council staff voiced their support, the council approved an ordinance to provide more stable funding for the EDC from the public facilities financing.
The Council heard an end-of-session update from their state lobbyist and updates from County Manager Jessica Hudson on the potential impact of state and federal funding decisions on county operations. In the state budget money was shifted with more for transportation and education and less for health. There is some new funding available for public safety grants for police and courts. The county got a grant to address seismic issues for the historic courthouse, and money for the Pea Patch on Orcas and the Lopez Library, Food Center and Swimming pool. The state will be eliminating the Regional Health Officer that the County has depended on for backup, and federal funding for public health services could see significant cuts.
Washington State University is experiencing financial issues that could affect extension services as they seek to regionalize administration. The County interviewed for a new public defender and will be interviewing candidates to head community development next week.
