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02/27/2007: "Getting To Know You -All About You"

(County Council & County Administrator Pete Rose dine together at end of 1st day of "retreat")

The County Council and Administrator Pete Rose topped off the end of the first day of a retreat on county priorities by siting down together in a public restaurant to share a dinner, and continue to share thoughts and ideas about the governing of San Juan County.

They will return to the Commons Room at the U. of W. Friday Harbor Laboratories on Tuesday to continue to explore topics and methods of governance, but, a major reason for the "retreat" was to allow the council to come together in a relaxed atmosphere, that hopefully would facilitate a free flow of ideas, that in turn would lead to a better understanding between the council members as to what some of the core values are of the members.

At first it seemed that perhaps it would take more than a new environment to relax things, but after an hour of discussion, and some frustration, the councilmen settled down, and did what, so far, they do best: they made a long list of topics that needed to be discussed. While they worked on reaching consensus on what the county should, could, and should not, look like in twenty -or even fifty- years from now, they did seem to reach a better understanding of what the individual priorities, values and beliefs are that drive them to their respective positions.

By the end of the day the free-flow of ideas and thoughts had generated a long list of subjects. That list was then harvested for topics that all of the Councilmen could agree were germane to further discussion and investigation. And then it was off to dinner.

Today, Tuesday, the plan is to review an organized list of the topics, and set to work trying to see how many of the items can really be addressed by the Council in a meaningful way.