Four commissioner candidates define themselves

Although the four candidates running for Island County commissioner in District 1 have much in common — including deep roots in the community and many similar priorities — each has staked out signature issues and leveraged their distinctive personalities in their campaigns.

Commissioner Melanie Bacon, a Democrat, is the experienced incumbent who has a diverse background as a military veteran, the former Human Resources director for the county and even a novelist. She has worked hard to create workforce, low-income and emergency housing in the community.

Marie Shimada, also a Democrat, is an energetic, well-spoken woman known for standing up for herself. She has championed equity, diversity, the environment and agriculture, especially small farms. A first-time candidate, she raised an impressive $67,000 in donations so far.

Wanda Grone, a Republican, is the former Island County treasurer and the current finance director for Langley. She understands numbers and details and has specific ideas for changes in county administration.

Steven Myres, also a Republican, has more than 35 years of experience as a business owner in the county and has navigated complex public works projects throughout the Pacific Northwest. He understands the importance of building and maintaining infrastructure for the economy, government services and quality of life.

The four candidates will be winnowed to two in the Aug. 6 primary.

The biggest project facing county government over the next year and a half isn’t exactly sexy, but the update to the comprehensive plan will guide future decisions about growth, housing, development, zoning, climate change and protection of terrestrial and marine environments for decades to come.

When it comes to his philosophy about growth planning and the comprehensive plan, Myres stressed that there are no short answers to such complicated issues. He said his decision-making process will be “a combination of real-world experience, hands-on past performance, expert input and public comment.”

“By addressing our infrastructure needs appropriately we can preserve our way of life and maintain our rural character for all of the current and future citizens that choose to live, work and raise their families here in Island County,” he said.

Grone, on the other hand, said her five-word philosophy is “coordinate growth planning with municipalities,” and she has a novel approach. Grone said she would like to see a change in the Growth Management Act, or GMA, the state law that mandates comprehensive planning. She said she would like to see GMA modified to allow more density in rural areas. Specifically, she suggests changing the minimum lot size for single-family homes in rural or semi-rural areas from the current 5 acres to 2 or 2.5 acres.

Grone said the increased density in the county would “support housing development but still have green space, pervious surfaces, small farms with animals (horses, goats, cattle, chickens, etc.), gardens, sufficient septic capacity for drain fields, and play space for children. Two acres could still accommodate low to medium-income housing such as house trailers, manufactured homes, or tiny homes.”

Shimada described her philosophy as “protect Island County’s future generations.” She said she believes in GMA and its requirement that state and local government manage growth “by identifying and protecting critical areas and natural resource lands, designating urban growth areas, preparing comprehensive plans and implementing them through capital investments and development regulations.”

“Not only do I support the principles of the GMA to protect resources and direct growth to urban areas, I have been endorsed by Washington Conservation Action, the state’s leading agency for environmental policy, in part due to my policy priorities in advancing these principles,” she said.

Bacon said her shorthand philosophy for growth planning is that it is “complex. Time-consuming. Extremely important.” She has been deeply involved in the comprehensive plan update since the county started in earnest late last year and hopes to continue with the process in the coming year. She said she’s especially excited with the process because the commissioners have identified a clear vision for the county — climate resilient, equitable, healthy for all life.

“And we’re looking at every policy and code through those three lenses, in order to ensure that over the next 20 years every one of our residents will have the best quality of life that’s within the county’s scope to provide,” she said. “The Growth Management Act does not require us to do any of that.”

When it comes to the issue of affordable housing and the tangential problem of homelessness, Bacon points to all the work the county has done to combat the national problems in the microcosm of Island County.

“We spend so much of our time on affordable housing, I don’t know how we could spend more time on it and still do the rest of our job,” she said.

The commissioners committed $10 million of the county’s $16 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to create affordable housing, and the result is workforce projects throughout Whidbey. In addition, the commissioners passed a 1/10th of 1% sales tax to use on affordable housing. The commissioners created a position in Human Services for a person whose only job is to find and develop affordable housing solutions.

Bacon said one of the first projects she championed after being elected was to support the Whidbey Homeless Coalition’s plans to open an overnight shelter in a former church outside of Coupeville. It was so successful that a second will be needed in the near future.

“We do everything we can to find housing for people who want to be helped,” she said.

Shimada, however, feels there is more to be done for promoting affordable housing.

“The county could lean in with a stronger sense of urgency and advocacy to critically look at potential code or zoning updates, available funds for leveraging resources, and incentives to encourage citizen participation in the affordable and workforce housing and rental crisis,” she said.

Shimada said Human Services already offers a “plethora of programs” to address homelessness, and she said she will continue to support the programs.

Grone agrees that the county has taken many steps to promote affordable housing, but she said it’s difficult to achieve in South and Central Whidbey because of the lack of infrastructure and services outside of Coupeville and Langley. She would like to see more direct cooperation between the county and the municipalities to build the type of infrastructure and extensions needed to support multifamily housing.

“The county will likely have to front the cost for these systems and then repay itself through connection fees and repayments from the municipalities from future tax revenues,” she said, adding that the state has tax increment financing proposals that could help the municipalities but would require county help.

When it comes to homelessness, Grone said she would like to see a detailed analysis of each Human Services program to gauge whether the benefits support the cost. She said she has asked for the information previously but received nothing.

“How can useful decisions be made about continuing these programs without that information?” she asked rhetorically.

Myres didn’t specifically address affordable housing in answering the News-Times’ questions, but he has previously pointed out that healthy infrastructure — from sewer treatment to roads — are key to cost-effective residential development. In addition, his website states that one of his priorities is economic growth, which “provides affordable housing options for our young professionals.”