Sparks flew at the regional transportation meeting last week when Island County commissioners demanded that Skagit County mayors decide whether they want to continue in the two-county organization.
“I understand I sound adversarial. I’m having a hard time with this process too,” said Island County Commissioner Jill Johnson.
Elected officials from both counties have been evaluated the future of the Skagit-Island Regional Transportation Planning Organization, or SIRTPO, for several months.
Citing frustration with decision-making redundancies and lack of local control, Skagit mayors appear to be leaning toward dissolving the SIRTPO or simply opting to leave the organization individually.
Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton was one of the few leaders who stated his City Council’s intention outright.
“I know exactly where they are,” Sexton said. “We will have a resolution on May 15. They want to dissolve.”
Hamilton Mayor Joan Cromley said that although her council only meets monthly, members expressed a desire to separate the transportation planning.
“They are of the mind that the two counties should have their own transportation organizations and would like to leave,” Cromley said. “They are far removed from Island County.”
Island County Commissioner Rick Hannold agreed that the rest of the city mayors in both counties needed to go back to their city councils and return to the SIRTPO with a decision.
“It seems to me like we’re beating a dead horse,” Hannold said. “It seems to me either you want to be part of a SIRTPO or not. You either want to be a group and work together or you don’t. At that point, if enough people say they don’t want to be involved, then it’s dissolved and we pick up the pieces from there.”
Mount Vernon Mayor Jill Boudreau said Skagit cities only wanted to review the structure of the organization, not blow it up.
“I think it’s horribly disingenuous that we think this is a nuclear decision option,” Boudreau said. “It’s a 20-year-old structure. We’d like to streamline the bureaucracy.”
Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard said more discussion on the issue is needed before a decision is made.
“It’s too simple to say up or down,” Conard said. “Let’s do something on an advisory basis.”
Skagit County staff member Kevin Murphy said the structure needs to be updated at some point anyway to ensure it complies with to changes in state law. But ideas about how members would like to reform the organization, if at all, have been all over the map.
Without a regional transportation planning organization, Island County could lose some of the “clout” it currently has with Olympia lawmakers as a regional organization. In addition, it could potentially lose long-term access to state Transportation Alternatives Program, or TAP, funds.
After a lengthy discussion, leaders agreed to return to the next SIRTPO meeting, tentatively set for June 25, with a decision on which direction they want to go.
Representatives serving on the SIRTPO cannot dissolve the organization. At least one county, five cities, or a single city representing a large percentage of the population, must remove themselves from the group by resolution to dissolve the origination.
“I don’t see the point in revamping a structure when the majority is fine where we’re at,” Johnson said. “If enough votes come out and say that we’re out, we’re out.
“It’s a call for the question.”
