11/27/2007: "Need To Set Policy: Parks & Fair Board"

The question has been raised, should the board members of Parks and the Fair Board continue to have policy setting authority, in addition to their role as advisors to the County Council. The general question results from the need to adopt new ordinances that are consistent with the Charter.

County Council Monday morning staff meeting are just that: an opportunity for the council members to prepare for their regular scheduled meetings normally held on Tuesday; but at the November 26th meeting some members of the Parks board, and the county fair manager, showed up to address the County Council.

In an unusual move, and after noting that there had been some miscommunication that resulted in the group showing up on a Monday instead of at a Tuesday meeting, Chairman Myhr allowed them to enter into policy discussions with the full board.

Parks Board Chair Lola Deane of Lopez told the council the parks board was “very much in favor of staying with the current administrative basis for the parks board.”

Deane explained the reasoning for the importance of the boards to retain some policy making power resulted from the need to sometimes quickly make decisions to deal with immediate circumstances, such as can result from their interaction with the public. Deane said the relationship with the pubic can be intense, and that they serve the general public, not just the public of San Juan County.

A second concern had to do with the makeup of the board, She stressed the importance of the interaction of board members with the public, and that it was helpful for members of each island be able to deal with their island specific issues. As it stands now, San Juan, Orcas and Lopez each have two members, and one member from Shaw. Deane requested that the “representation on the parks board be kept as it is now;” which is based not on population, but on geography representation.

SJC Fair Manager Christine Miller briefly spoke, and agreed that the Fair Board shared some of the concerns, and some of the same types of problems, as the parks board.