Around Town
Early Music Festival: Baroque in all its beauty page 13
Island Scene
Careful what you wish for when you venture “Into The Woods” page 11
Editorial
The key to binding election wounds? Compromise, letting go, and keeping an eye on the big stuff page 7
Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, April 24, 2013 Vol. 106 Issue 17
of the San Juan Islands
Case of ‘open’, or not
www.sanjuanjournal.com
Helping hand, new leash on life By Scott Rasmussen Journal Editor
Ruling could send CAO back to square — 2? By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
San Juan County could find itself having to redo a significant portion of its critical areas ordinance if allegations that the County Council violated the state Open Meetings Act in preparing the recently approved, controversial landuse regulations are determined to be true. Oral arguments began in an Island County courthouse Friday, April 19, with the county’s legal team calling first for the case, a lawsuit brought by San Juans’ Citizens Alliance for Property Rights, to be dismissed. “Our contention, in part, is there was no violation of the open meetings act because three people are not a majority or a quorum of the council,” Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord said. A decision on the county’s motion for dismissal is expected sometime this week. Some facts are without dispute. The county and CAPR agree that as many as three council members joined in when a group known as the CAO/SMP (shoreline master program) implementation committee got together to hash out issues related to the revision of those two land-use regulations over roughly two-years time. That committee, which was assembled by former county See Case, Page 4
Journal photo / Scott Rasmussen
Friday Harbor’s Elizabeth Clark, right, and Michael MacLellan share ‘quality’ time with Zeus, a shelter dog the couple is fostering, with the hope that the once-abused pit bull can regain his trust, and be adopted.
Ballots in; What Next? By Steve Wehrly Journal Reporter
With the final ballot count underway, four former county commissioners weighed in with advice for whoever wins. The April 23 election will result in a different governance model for San Juan County, former commissioners Tom Starr, John Evans, Rhea Miller and Tom Cowan said. That model - with the council responsible for supervising county operating departments and the budget - will be substantially similar to the way the three-person coun-
ty commission operated before Home Rule came to the county in 2006. Cowan, from Lopez, was a county commissioner from 1983 to 1994; Miller succeeded C o w a n from 1995 to 2005. Evans served as commissioner from Orcas Island from 1992 to 2008. Starr represented San Juan Island, 1993 to 1996. All four think a three-person council will be more effective and efficient than the current six-per-
If you’ve only watched just one episode of the “Dog Whisperer”, starring Cesar Millan, you became aware rather quickly that the fundamentals of any good pack leader include the ability remain calm and assertive if the face of aggression. And, to stand your ground. Still, if you walk into a stranger’s home and come face-to-face with a good-sized Staffordshire Bull Terrier, more commonly known as a pit bull, one that’s obviously disturbed by the intrusion and letting you know about it, the urge to flee is hard to resist. That’s why Michael MacLellan advises to simply ignore the barking and to not look Zeus straight in the eye. It seems to work. “I’ve always had pit bulls,” MacLellan said. “I’ve had them since I was a kid. I could’ve gone with any kind of dog, though, I guess I’m a ‘dog person’ in general. I just seem to have a way with animals.” Which is a blessing for Zeus, a 5-year-old pit bull who landed in the Friday Harbor Animal Shelter about a year ago, languishing for attention but rarely receiving the amount that a highly sociable, relatively young and intelligent See Leash, Page 4
Clockwise, from left; former county commissioners Rhea Miller, Tom Starr, Tom Cowan, John Evans.
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son council elected from six separate districts. The original charter script for six council members was a major misstep, they all said. Starr said the move back to three was a “good move”; Cowan, Evans and Miller agree. See Next, Page 4
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