A seasoned incumbent and two hardworking business owners will face off against each other in the race for Island County Commissioner, District 2 to represent the greater Oak Harbor area.
Republican Jill Johnson, Democrat Christina Elliot and Republican Phil Collier will appear on the Aug. 6 primary ballot, which will whittle the candidates to just two in the general election.
In her efforts to secure a fourth term on the board of commissioners, Johnson named four priorities that motivated her to run for office again. These include the ongoing county comprehensive plan update, a new jail that meets the needs of the community, upgrading permitting processes and developing an outreach and support program focusing on kids whose parents are involved in the courts.
“Investing resources and developing services to support these children and engage their parents will reduce more costly interventions later in their lives,” Johnson said about the latter initiative.
Elliott, an entrepreneur and attorney, is a first-time candidate with over 10 years of experience. In 2015 she started and grew her own online company, which she sold in 2022. She now runs a trademark law firm and a business consulting practice for small- to mid-sized businesses.
The cost of living in Island County weighs heavily on her mind.
“As a county we must be doing more to build housing families can afford while also protecting our natural environment and rural character,” she said.
Collier previously ran 12 years ago as an independent candidate for the District 2 position but didn’t make it through the primary election.
He opened Hilltop Auto Service the summer he graduated from Oak Harbor High School and has run the successful gas station, auto repair shop and convenience store for nearly 50 years. With his extensive business knowledge, he said he feels prepared to take on a new role in government.
“Now it’s time to buckle up and run a campaign and get elected to help the county out, help the people,” he said.
His business has had state and federal contracts with several post offices to service their vehicles.
“It’s about 300 vehicles I work on, so I’m pretty fluent in civilian and government federal contracts,” he said.
When it comes to his philosophy about growth planning, Collier’s personal view is that a handful of people shouldn’t be making the decisions. Instead, he suggested citizens discuss and vote on the subject.
Elliott said urban housing density is essential, and she likes the local control afforded by the Growth Management Act.
Concentrating housing density within city limits will let people easily access goods and services, allowing Oak Harbor the opportunity to become a tourist destination like Anacortes or Langley.
“This would also give our downtown businesses more foot traffic and invigorate our local economy,” she said, adding that more concentrated urban growth areas have the added benefit of giving workers the opportunity to commute to jobs via Island Transit.
Johnson, however, took a different stance that can be summed up by one size doesn’t fit all. She has reservations about limiting growth to only urban settings.
“This model of restricting and regulating rural lands while requiring certain income levels to live in high-density urban areas, based on how the state says you must live if you are poor, systemically holds some individuals at an economic disadvantage while artificially creating wealth for others,” she said.
Candidates had plenty to say on the issues of homelessness, drug addiction and mental health.
Homelessness is a multi-layered issue that should not be combined with mental health or drug addiction, Johnson said, since it includes working families, seniors, veterans, and others who don’t qualify for housing for a variety of reasons. Homelessness can be a consequence of mental health or drug addiction, or it can be a driver.
Johnson added that based on demand, most of the county’s funding goes toward stabilizing people with existing behavioral health issues, and as a consequence, resources available for early intervention and prevention are limited.
“If we could change anything, I would like to see the county develop more early childhood intervention programs and be more diligent in targeting our efforts toward children with known traumas,” she said.
As a longtime business owner in town, Collier has had his fair share of interactions with customers from all walks of life, including those grappling with addiction and mental illness.
Until he’s in office, he said, he doesn’t have enough information to “deal” with it. As one possible solution, he suggested converting current overnight homeless shelters to in-house treatment facilities and adding the necessary staff to run them, although with zoning regulations, this is easier said than done.
“If you’re getting 50 people that need help and there’s not a room or bed available, we’ve got to do something,” he said.
Elliott believes the county’s services have been effective, albeit not at the scale that is needed. Some of her suggestions, however, extend beyond the authority of county government. In terms of first responders, she advocated for at least two sexual assault nurse examiner, or SANE, registered personnel and an additional vehicle so they don’t need to travel with police officers to the scene; WhidbeyHealth, not the county, employs a SANE nurse.
She also spoke about solutions beyond SPiN Cafe – an organization that provides meals, daylight shelter and other assistance to unsheltered and low-income individuals – and possibly also a different or additional location, although this is a city, not county, issue.
On the subject of affordable housing, however, Elliott said she thought county government could do a better job. Pointing to a three-year vacancy on the planning commission, Elliott was critical of the current District 2 County Commissioner for not doing a better job of recruiting a member to represent Oak Harbor.
“Housing is an urgent problem that needed solutions 10 years ago, but the second best time to address it is now,” she said.
Collier lamented the rising cost of housing, which his employees have experienced. He owns a 23-acre property just outside the city limits of Oak Harbor that he believes would be a ripe opportunity to create a bevy of workforce housing, but it doesn’t have the proper zoning that would allow for so much development.
“There’s a lot of issues that I think are holding people back, like myself, that want to do good in this county,” he said.
Johnson said she thinks the county is doing a lot to address the issue of affordable housing, especially when faced with land use regulations. She pointed to the $9 million in COVID impact funds that the county spent on purchasing land that can be developed for affordable housing. In Oak Harbor alone, this amounts to 160 new units of housing, 81 of which are already permitted. The county is also reviewing its housing code to allow more ADUs and less short-term vacation rentals as a way to add more housing for permanent residents.
When asked about what the county could do to address climate change and sea level rise, Collier said he didn’t think that could be done because Island County is not a high-manufacturing industry like Seattle or Tacoma.
“Sometimes you don’t want to build a house where Mother Nature might take over,” he said.
Collier has a cabin in Neah Bay that was recently affected by a big storm, but as far as he can tell, sea level rise has not been a problem on his property.
Elliott said sea level rise is a critical issue that affects many residents, particularly on South Whidbey. She advised planning now for issues that might affect the islands.
“Specifically, what to do to ensure freshwater access in the instance of salt intrusion in our aquifers, and how to remediate rising sea levels for waterfront homes through use of planning commissions who are best suited to engineer solutions,” she said.
Johnson said the county can address mitigation and offer regulations protecting infrastructure and homeowners from rising sea levels. She added that the comprehensive plan has a required element that asks Island County to develop goals and policies to ensure the community is resilient to the impacts of a changing climate, which she thinks is a responsible request.
“Behavior changes will make a difference, and starting with education and incentivizing best practices before imposing excessive regulations is the right first step,” she said.
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