Between an impending credit crunch and a lack of affordable housing, homeowners and renters alike are facing uncertain futures.

U.S. Senator Patty Murray sat down with a panel of Island County leaders Wednesday to discuss pressing issues. The longtime county advocate, who owns a home on Whidbey, found herself fielding questions that primarily surrounded the housing issue. Transportation was a close second.

Murray, a Democrat who in 1992 became the first woman to represent the state in the U.S. Senate, just returned home from a road trip around the state, during which time she spoke with Washington homeowners.

Langley Mayor Paul Samuelson said the lack of affordable housing has caused a shift in demographics. With home prices continuing to skyrocket, an older population is replacing younger families.

As chair of the federal Transportation Appropriations Committee, the senator also deals with housing. The country is now racing to catch up and, in the face of declining federal funds, generate elusive answers to the housing quandary.

“It’s a challenge everywhere and we don’t have a lot of good answers for it,” she said.

The Federal Housing Administration Bill, which awaits Senate action, would allow the FHA to offer zero-down-payment loans, increase mortgage amounts substantially in high-cost markets, and provide low interest rates and consumer protections that are rarely available from “subprime” mortgage lenders that specialize in loans to those with imperfect credit.

Murray said she is anxious to get the bill out of the House and to the president.

Steve Gulliford, executive director for the Housing Authority of Island County, lives and breathes housing woes. He said the people he serves are not homeowners but potential renters. The Section 8 Rental Voucher Program would be a boon to Island County, increasing affordable housing choices for very low-income households by allowing families to choose privately-owned rental housing.

The program has targeted veterans returning from war, Gulliford said, and he appealed to the senator for “some kind of rental assistance for working families.”

He further beseeched Murray to help maintain public housing in the county. Residents in the federally subsidized housing must have a household income at or below 80 percent of the area median income. And many of the residents are single parents with children, seniors or persons with disabilities.

“Continue your effort to push that number closer to 100 percent,” Gulliford said.

Helen Price Johnson, a member of the South Whidbey School Board, thanked the senator for her support of the federal Carl D. Perkins Grant, federal grant aimed at developing more fully the academic, vocational, and technical skills of secondary and post-secondary students who elect to enroll in technical ducation programs. She invited Murray to tour the district and see the funds in action.

Price Johnson, a candidate planning to run for the District 1 county commissioner position currently held by Phil Bakke, attributed a drop in student enrollment to the exodus of younger families. Education jobs will be available, she said, but affordable housing will not.

“The need is going to grow, I think, exponentially for us,” she said.

Oak Harbor Mayor Jim Slowik said enrollment is up at the high school, but the district was forced to close an elementary school last year. He added that 30 percent of Oak Harbor teachers lived on South Whidbey when he was serving on the local school board.

Although Washington has not been hit as hard by the subprime mortgage catastrophe, Murray said there are thousands of state mortgage holders who have been hit by increases.

The senator has said for a decade that housing is the silent crisis in the country. The issue is now obvious.

“We expect approximately two million homeowners this year to go into foreclosure,” Murray said. “But they don’t have to.”

Homeowner counseling will be tantamount to turning the impending foreclosure tsunami into manageable tidal action. Education, she said, needs to come before the damage is irreparable.

Murray said another issue is the disturbing increase in “sleazy online entrepreneurs” who prey on desperate homeowners trying to avoid foreclosures.

“Counseling is critical,” she emphasized.

The credit crunch drafting behind the subprime mortgage debacle will be even worse, Murray said. Bankers, Wall Street professionals and financial pundits have been unable to generate a solution.

“None of us want to do a huge federal bailout,” she said.

Island Transit has been in dire need of a new barn, County Commissioner Mac McDowell said. Murray praised the transit system’s success and said the request has already been submitted.

“Everybody benefits from it and it takes traffic off the roads,” McDowell said.

Commissioner John Dean stressed a need for alternative forms of transportation and consistent broadband connections that will help foster telecommuting.

Sharon Hart, Island County Economic Development Council executive director, agreed with Dean that sketchy broadband is a legitimate concern. Murray was not so sure.

“I kind of like coming up here and having my Blackberry not work,” she quipped.

Port of Coupeville Commissioner Ann McDonald brought up the local push for a privately-run, Coupeville-to-Camano Island ferry. The channel is deep enough and the dock on Whidbey is already there. The problem lies with a Camano location. She said the port has held discussions with Victoria Express out of Port Townsend.

“It’s a long way from being done, but we have made those steps,” McDonald said.

“That sounds interesting, as far as tourism …” Murray said. “It’s a challenge, but there are more private companies looking at this.”

Dean, looking decades down the road with his grandchildren’s futures weighing on his mind, further advocated early education for youth and parents to avoid having to play catch up.

“We don’t want them to end up in the system,” he said.

Island County Sheriff Mark Brown lamented the the president’s cutting of funds from the Byrne Formula Grant Program, a partnership among federal, state, and local governments intended to create safer communities and improve criminal justice systems.

The cuts will directly impact a law enforcement agency’s ability to fund task forces. Brown said his lack of resources and manpower has precluded the office from joining task forces along the Interstate-5 corridor, but the county has aligned itself with the agencies. Murray was sympathetic to the sheriff’s plight.

“We will have to restore that funding,” she said.

Briefing Murray on the drug situation in Island County, Brown said the number of local methamphetamine labs is down, but drugs are getting through with cartel action. And meth use has also increased violent crimes and crimes involving damage to property. The sheriff said he firmly believes in attacking other crimes as a means to combat drugs.

Slowik added that identity theft has become a bigger problem in Oak Harbor.

Oak Harbor Fire Chief Mark Soptich said more money would definitely help with a department 85 percent volunteer. Another attendee urged Murray to support farm bills that support smaller farms, operations that are exploring new sustainability strategies.

Murray, just before embarking for Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, said all of the issues were meticulously taken down by her staff members present Wednesday. She pledged her continued support for the county.