Editor,
Georgia Gardner is a professional, dedicated and hard-working Whidbey General Hospital commissioner and should be re-elected to continue to serve the community in this capacity.
While I was executive director of a local nonprofit, Georgia was the board treasurer and chairwoman of our audit committee for six years. She was a valuable resource for the agency. She was always available to me and to our finance manager to answer questions, assist with our audit or to help with other tasks when asked.
Georgia Gardner is extremely knowledgeable, not only in financial matters but in the rules and regulations governing nonprofits and general business principles.
Georgia has tremendous background in business, including 20 years as a business owner; 14 years in government — local and state elected office; and many years of community service to many nonprofit organizations. She has served on the Washington State Board of Tax Appeals and the Island County Board of Equalization, where she has been asked to research the statutes and case law and write and render legal decisions in cases of property and excise tax appeals.
As you can see, Georgia brings a breadth of knowledge and experience to her position as Whidbey General commissioner.
While there are many facets to her responsibilities as hospital commissioner, she has the ability to re-work and present financial reports to members of the board.
Georgia did the same thing for our nonprofit, so that our lay members with no accounting expertise could easily see and understand our financial position and results of operations.
It allowed our board to make better decisions, and I’m sure the same is true for the Whidbey General Hospital board.
I was very fortunate to have Georgia’s support and services as treasurer, and I am also fortunate to have her as hospital commissioner. She brings enormous skill and experience to our community’s hospital system.
I urge your vote to continue Georgia Gardner as Hospital Commissioner, District No. 2.
Margie Porter
Oak Harbor
