04/15/2006: "Councilman Lichter Owes The BOCC An Apology"

Councilman Lichter owes an apology to former County Commissioners Rhea Miller, Darcie Nielsen, and me, as well as Prosecutor Randy Gaylord for referring to the ballot measure on guesthouses last November as being "bogusly written" and that the advisory ballot measure was asking citizens to agree that it is "right to break the law." Councilman Lichter's lack of understanding of the GMA process and a councilmen's role in representing the citizens of the County is scary.

Using an advisory ballot to ask citizens their opinion on a local issue being decided by our local elected officials is legal and appropriate. The prior Board of County Commissioners listened. We continued to use the appeals avenues available to the County to try and meet the desires of the citizens. This current council is choosing to ignore the expressed will of the 7,100+ voters who supported allowing guesthouses…over 73% of the votes cast. That number of voters and percentage is a landslide by any standard! To use Councilman Lichter's words…ignoring that kind of public sentiment is "bogus."

As to Alan's contention that citizens were being asked to endorse an illegal action by the County… what a bunch of baloney. The County has every legal right to contest, in court, a ruling by the Growth Hearings Board. The courts have overturned the Growth Hearings Boards rulings in other jurisdictions any number of times. (There was a major ruling just this last summer against the GHB by the State Supreme Court that strengthens the County's position of allowing guesthouses.) This fact alone clearly demonstrates, to any thinking person, that the Growth Hearings Board's interpretations of the Growth Management Act are not infallible. Alan and this Council are simply afraid that allowing the Court of Appeals or the State Supreme Court to hear San Juan County's guesthouse issue would mean a ruling in favor of guesthouses and against the Friends of the San Juan's.

I am guessing that Councilman Lichter's comment that the matter was "bogus" will not sit very well with the 7,100+ voters who said they did not want the citizens of this county to lose the right to have a guesthouse. There is a hearing on this matter April 25th. People should attend or write or call and let the Council know how they feel. Guesthouses, detached from the main house but attached to an accessory structure, such as a garage, have been allowed by the Growth Hearings Boards in other counties.

Councilman Ranker says, "I'm disappointed we are not pushing the envelope more." He then does nothing. His words say one thing and his actions another…just so much empty rhetoric.

Councilman Myhr, for his part, is fine with no guesthouses. To his refined eye, living quarters over a garage is something he calls "sprawl"

The sad part about all this is that the citizens of San Juan County are losing a property right for no reason. We are also losing a good and proven source of affordable rental housing. It is ironic that the three Councilmen are supporting a tax increase through the .05% excise property tax that will be before the voters in May. They are endorsing an increase in the cost of property and increasing the tax burden to provide some "affordable" housing…the same housing that is being lost through their actions on guesthouses.

Thank you for listening.

John B Evans
Former County Commissioner