Water district
Asbestos in water concerning
I would like to respond to the Whidbey News-Times letter dated Oct. 24, titled “Asbestos material in pipes no health hazard.”
To date no definitive studies have been conducted on the effects of asbestos in the home. With the relatively recent discovery that asbestos is a cancer causing material, the study of airborne particle matter becomes a major concern. It is only in the last 5 to 7 years that asbestos in water and ducting systems has come to light and with it the possible related health problems.
There is, however, a known amount allowed to escape into the air, and here in lies the problem. What happens to any asbestos in the water after the water has evaporated? Does it then become an airborne problem? There is no agreed upon standard as to how much asbestos is too much in the water system.
Asbestos cement or AC pipes have not been sold since 1974 for water system usage. The state of Washington Public Works Board encourages water districts applying for capital improvements, to eliminate AC ducting from their systems.
A $450,000 capital improvement project has recently replaced an antiquated AC ducting system in Admirals Cove that was anywhere from 30 to 40 plus years in age. Some of the AC pipes found in future construction phases II, III, and IV are older and in poor shape. If old AC ducting is disturbed it must be treated as hazardous material. Currently asbestos fiber testing is not required in water systems. Do you need new pipes? Next time you take a shower, you be the judge.
Lana Wallace
president
Admirals Cove Water District

District dispute is 20 years old
It is of no surprise that Frances Skinner (Letters, Oct. 24) has no knowledge of people being spit on at the Sept. 11 meeting of the Admirals Cove Water District. She was busy across the room yelling at Mrs. Joan McPherson, the water district lawyer. I heard her yelling that Commissioner Wallace couldn’t just close the meeting like that. I do believe Skinner followed McPherson out to her car.
Yes, there was spitting and a lot of pushing and shouting. There was also a lot of name calling “you’re going to get yours . . . why don’t you just move and get out we don’t want your kind here.” Right in the middle of all of this was Mr. Iverson waving his cane and yelling at Commissioner Wallace. I was standing next to the commissioners and was also called names.
Earlier that day a friend called to say he had just gotten back from his walk on the beach and over heard a group of women talking about the water district. The subject was about the meeting that night and about how large a group they had put together.
At previous meetings this group had little or no interest in the project. Most of the questions were why was the day and meeting place moved from the shack (called the club house) to the fire hall, or why was Mr. Saba being picked on. These same questions were already addressed more than once.Your group’s motivation was for disruption. This whole group thrives on dissention. When we left the parking lot your group was milling around congratulating yourselves on a job well done, giving each other pats on the back and laughing.
As for Mr. Saba having the courage of his convictions, what convictions? The one and only job he has had as a commissioner was to renew the insurance for the district. Commissioner Wallace received a call telling her that the insurance was going to lapse if they didn’t renew it quick. Mr. Saba’s whole conviction has been to stall the forward progress of the new pipeline and to reinstate a water manager and bookkeeper that his son works for. He has never followed the advice of the district lawyers and makes up his own agenda to follow.
As for you Ms Skinner, what you give out is what you get back. You shouldn’t really be too surprised at the name-calling. It fits!
To air our dirty linens outside of the community is no problem. We are the talk of the island. We have met people that have moved from the cove just to get away from all the in fighting that goes on with the Beach Club. One couple left here 20 years ago, that is how long this has been going on. They gave us their condolences.
Georgia Duncan
Coupeville

Won’t be in anyone’s pocket
Honesty and integrity are two attributes that Howard Duncan has consistently used in his campaign literature to help us understand what is important in the current commissioner’s contest being waged in Admirals Cove Water District. I have suggested that accurate communications is equally as important. In spite of Mr. Duncan’s attempt to measure himself against these attributes, honesty and integrity seem to continually escape reflecting his behavior and actions.
In a campaign broadside recently distributed by Mike Shannon and Jay Wallace, ratepayers were encouraged to vote for Mike Shannon and Howard Duncan. In this broadside it is declared that “…the facts are: Commissioner Saba is guilty of misappropriation of district funds and other serious issues.” Because only unverified accusations have been made by Commissioners Wallace and Duncan, it cannot be said at this time that Commissioner Saba is guilty of anything. In fact, we are all waiting the State Auditor’s report which is currently examining the vouchers of all three commissioners.
Further, quoting from this same broadside:
“… a campaign lead by Sid Iverson and Adel Saba has knowingly been one of disinformation, baseless personal attacks and smear tactics against the district’s other commissioners.” Except for the observation that Commissioner Wallace’s leadership style is very autocratic and that Commissioner Duncan appears to support her decisions with a frequency great enough to suggest that he is as a rubber stamp to her leadership, no personal attacks or statements have been expressed by me.
From a previous letter mailed to the community, Commissioner Duncan accused Commissioner Saba and me of charging him (Duncan) of “… defaulting on his financial obligations.” What he based his comment on was the statement I made in an earlier letter I sent to the community: “I (Sid Iverson) have not defaulted on my financial or community obligations.” Commissioner Saba was not a co-author to this letter.
Again, from the broadside, “… Mr. Iverson has made groundless stinging accusations against this board that have no basis in fact. … Mr. Iverson has been presented with the facts. He refuses to address them.” In fact, the only observation I have made is that two members of the Board accepted the RCW’s authorization to adopt a per diem rate of $70 while the third was reluctant to charge that much. Even though the RCW requires the Commissioners to establish their rate of compensation when they take office, it took them nearly 18 months to revise the previous Compensation Resolution to complete this obligation. Prior to this revision, the rate of compensation from the previous commissioners was approximately $200 per month.
In spite of Mr. Duncan’s accusation that I do not understand the requirements of the RCW’S, I have had considerable experience in working with and applying sections of the RCW especially in the areas of land use, non profit organizations and fraternal benefit societies.
As far as being presented with “the facts,” I have never been given any “facts” by the board to address.
So much for honesty!
In spite of the accusations, my many neighbors and friends who know me will attest that I am in no one’s hip pocket and that I am not a puppet of any group. I have chosen to offer the community my skills, knowledge, time and experience to help bring some semblance of reasonableness and effective communication to the water district and to the community.
SID IVERSON
Coupeville

City Council
Taking a stand in the election
I am a family man and businessman in my late 20s and a long time Oak Harbor resident. I feel I represent a largely silent but vital demographic of Oak Harbor.
I know I’m not alone when I say myself and many like me most often allow our voice to remain silent when it comes to our schools, our businesses and our community. We are most comfortable when we are merely bystanders and not participants. Reading the editorials, watching the news, and keeping our opinions to ourselves, yes, these are safe activities. By doing them we don’t take risks and we don’t offend, however, the sad truth is we also do not affect. Well, today I want to affect. I want to say it is time for the citizens of Oak Harbor to elect a representative who represents you and me, a man who is speaking up and being heard. A man who cares about my issues, our issues, and not only the future of Oak Harbor, but the future of us!
If you take a long and hard look at the faces on the city council you can see that one is missing, that’s Eric Gerber. He is the right person for the city council of Oak Harbor and voting for him is the right thing to do. It is time all of us be given a voice and a face in determining Oak Harbor’s future and I can’t think of a better person than Mr. Gerber to do just that.
Alan Wynn
Oak Harbor

Disclosure
Judge’s teacher ruling perplexing
I get information from the Evergreen Freedom Foundation giving the public record of a judgement by Judge Thomas McPhee in which he ruled that the WEA did not have to provide the information about their PAC spending as to whom and how much, etc., since their $1.5 million being “only” 4 percent of their overall budget did not require that the union comply with Freedom Of Information Act rules about providing such data to a properly made request.
This ruling certainly makes it possible for the WEA to conceal their political coercion and impact. That much money spent in state or national political battles will certainly have an impact on the non-supported candidate.
The questions this judgement produces are such as: How did the
judge come to the conclusion that the money amount was to small to warrant anyone’s attention; and I wonder what the WEA does with the 96 percent balance of funds taken from teachers, often
without their consent. That is about $30 million plus.
How can anyone making their contribution impact the use of those PAC dollars? If these expenditures are balanced and reasonable why is the WEA allowed to conceal their spending? This is a union of professionals and their interests should be equally recognized with information provided as the state law provides. Perhaps readers will find other reasons to inquire on this subject.
Tom Harves
Greenbank