02/12/2008: "FAC & Council Members Meet"

The Ferry Advisory Committee met on Monday in Friday Harbor with County Council Chair Howard Rosenfeld and Councilman Bob Myhr to discuss how the Committee should function, and a general discussion on how they and the Council should relate to each other. Later in the morning the Council also took up the matter.

They agreed on a number of issues, one was that communication should flow both ways, and that the Council needed to be active. One of the FAC members asked that the when the Council is in communication with WSF, or goes to Olympia, that there be communication with the FAC so that the Council may benefit from the expertise of the FAC membership.

“The government is doing a lot of stupid things” one member said, and complained that when Councilman Ranker goes off to D.C. to talk to Senator Cantwell’s office, and goes to Olympia, the Council does not communicating with the FAC before, or after. There were given as examples of the lack of communication from the Council to the FAC.

Chair Rosenfeld said “that is a very good point,” and Myhr said that “it is a two way street”, then added “Or should be.” As if on cue, FAC Chair Sutton asked Rosenfeld to give a recap of his recent conversation with the governor when council members recently went to Olympia to meet with the governor and legislators about -among other things- ferry issues.

Rosenfeld said “the bottom line in talking to the governor is that this year is going to be a matter of stop gaps, they will do what ever they have to do to patch the whole thing together.” And that “there is no plan for the long term funding of the ferries.”

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The meeting was well attended, as far as FAC meetings go, and there was an attempt to smooth the waters that are still troubled by the removal of former Chairman Alex MacLeod. There was agreement that some mistakes have been made, and Myhr suggested that the FAC set a schedule for regular meetings, with the understanding there will be times when they will meet for special or emergency meetings.

A number of issues were addressed, some in passing, some in more detail, but none were resolved other than the need for the FAC to advertise their meetings.

Rosenfeld reported back to the full council later in the morning on the list of topics that had been discussed. They were:

* Would passenger only ferries help to free up space on the vehicle carrying boats.
* Would reducing or removing parking fees for cars be necessary, to encourage walk-ons
* Would it be viable to use the “Flexcar” program in San Juan County
* Should a Council member take a direct active role in the FAC
* There is no county contingency plan in place for loss of ferry service
* Could some of the steel electric boats be used for commercial use only
* Is it possible to change the law so boats can be built outside of Washington state
* Need to explore a Public Transportations junior taxing district
* County Commission needs to be more assertive
* Look at a passenger only boat to Bellingham and Anacortes

The last one will be looked at by the FH Port Commission when they hold a Special Meeting at Downrigger’s Restaurant on Friday, February 8, 2008 at 11.45 p.m. to discuss "the potential of Bellingham/Friday Harbor passenger ferry service." Representatives of the Port of Bellingham will be in attendance to discuss the matter with the the Port Commissioners.

One issue not resolved by the Council is what is to become of the new Council Task Force on transportation. Both Rosenfeld and Myhr indicated they no longer see a need for it, but Councilman Rich Peterson disagreed, pointing out that they are not duplicative in their function. One deals more with policy and legislation related to transportation, while the FAC is working on ferry related issues only.

Administrator Pete Rose seemed to agree with Peterson, and said the relationship between the two was analogous to the general role of the Planning Commission, as opposed to, for example, the Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) Committee that is charged with a specific function. The Planning Commission could to the work of the CAO Committee, but not the work of the Planning Commission. Councilmen Lichter was absent, but since he has been opposed to the way the Council handled the MacLeod matter, and is the chair of the task force, the matter may come up again at the regular meeting on Monday.