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La Conner town’s council is posed to pass the town’s 2022 annual budget at its Dec. 14 meeting. At their Nov. 23 meeting, held on Zoom only, members, the mayor and staff seemed in general agreement on the items they discussed. No resident was present or spoke during the budget public hearing agenda segment. Discussion centered on social infrastructure, first the need to catch up with equipment for the fire department. The department budget will be raised to about $175,000 from October’s $144,596 initial amount. Fire Chief Aaron Reinstra and m...
My thoughts about law enforcement in La Conner: • The sheriff is a town “vendor.” If any vendor has complaints regarding provision of contracted services, it makes little sense granting the vendor a longer, five-year contract which, except for commitment to walk First Street twice weekly, is essentially the same. Logic dictates finding an alternative vendor or re-thinking the contract entirely. • Current/ proposed contract provides 80 hours weekly patrolling Zone 1 and “guaranteeing” a ten minute response. • During 2020-20...
5 Festival of Tiny Trees From “Kiss Me Under the MistleJoe,” to “Skagit Valley Tree of Plenty,” 29 tabletop trees featured in local businesses created a buzz in downtown La Conner last weekend, as the holiday season kicked off with the Festival of Tiny Trees Trail. Started five years ago in the library as a silent auction of decorated tabletop trees, the event took a year off in 2020. This year a new twist featured local merchants, many of whom wanted to showcase a tree in their shops. A total of 29 trees were decorated by local businesses a...
In last year’s Pew Research Center survey on religion in America, we learned that the COVID-19 pandemic actually bolstered one’s religious faith. Nearly 30% of those surveyed reported a strengthening of their faith because of the pandemic. This number was almost double that of most other developed countries. In the early days of the pandemic my congregation saw an uptick in our Friday night sabbath observance numbers, even though we had gone entirely virtual. It was clear that people wanted to feel connection even if they were not able to sta...
Big changes are coming for law enforcement in La Conner in 2022. The town council will decide about whether to sign a five-year agreement with the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office when it agrees on the police contract embedded in the annual budget. Mayor Ramon Hayes introduced the topic at the Nov. 9 council meeting, telling its members that he and Administrator Scott Thomas had a draft agreement following a meeting with sheriff’s office staff. Thomas had provided a two-page memo to the council in their meeting packets. The sheriff’s offic...
Few people enjoy as strong a command of language as John Stephens: In four decades of public speaking gigs representing the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Town of La Conner, La Conner schools and Skagit Valley College he has been aptly described as a walking thesaurus. Or, putting it in more modern terms, Stephens was Google before there was Google. But more recently, in the week since his retirement from Swinomish, where he filled several administrative roles, Stephens is the one who has...
I’ve been disappointed with the recycling services provided to residential customers by local waste haulers. Waste Management has done little to improve residential recycling. And even though they say the major obstacle to effective recycling is education they do little (nothing?) to “educate” us in best recycling practices. Nor have they increased the kinds of recyclables they accept. Subscribers who care know that they end up putting items that might be recycled into the trash and items that might not be recycled into the recycle bins. A few...
La Conner once again showed that it is the little town that can – and does – when its town council last week passed a thorough and strongly worded resolution against the Skagit County commissioners allowing Fully Contained Communities to be included in the country’s comprehensive plan. Bravo for the three council members supporting the resolution. They took an important and necessary step. It does not mean the county commissioners will read the many-pointed resolution. It has 23 “whereas,” enough to choke a horse – or a devel...
With the challenges of last year, memorial services for Anita Hilde Lang, a Shelter Bay / La Conner resident since 1977 and long-time realtor, were delayed. Anita passed peacefully Nov. 22, 2020, and her memorial service will be held Nov. 6, 2021, at 3:00 pm at the North Cascade SDA Church in Burlington, Wash. To watch Anita’s memorial online, visit vimeo.com/637993164. We welcome thoughts and remembrances of Anita at https://www.lemleychapel.com/memorials/anita-lang/....
With the challenges of last year, memorial services for Anita Hilde Lang, a Shelter Bay/La Conner resident since 1977 and long-time realtor, were delayed. Anita passed peacefully Nov. 22, 2020, and her memorial service will be held Nov. 6, 2021, at 2:30pm at the North Cascade SDA Church in Burlington, Wash. We welcome thoughts and remembrances of her at https://www.lemleychapel.com/memorials/anita-lang/...
The La Conner Town Council covered a lot of ground verbally at its Oct. 12 meeting but no items on their agenda required a vote. Thirty-four of the 74 page council packet laid out the 2022 town budget, which Mayor Ramon Hayes had sent council the day before. Hayes told council, “You have a small pool of people, under 1,000, living in a boutique community.” He emphasized their needs must be managed with limited funding, Staff wage increases were one of a few line items emphasized, with Finance Director Maria DeGoede explaining it is pegged to th...
It is time to choose among six candidates running for three La Conner town council seats. Get an up close and personal look at the candidates – the pairings are Ivan Carlson versus John Leaver, Rick Dole against Bill Stokes and Glen Johnson facing MaryLee Chamberlain – at the Skagit County League of Women Voters website: skagitlwv.org. The forum, prerecorded Wednesday, Oct. 13 and available on the website starting today, was organized in a partnership between the League and the La...
Mayor Ramon Hayes unveiled the Town of La Conner’s proposed 2022 budget at Tuesday’s town council meeting. Taking a very cautious approach and calling this “a time of uncertainty” in his budget message to council and the community, Hayes frames “adaptability and flexibility (as the) … guiding principles in preparing this budget.” The $4,743,298 projected revenues are almost $530,000 below the 2021 budget, 10% less. Expenditures are also reduced 10%, down $602,000 to almost $5,386,000 for 2022. The budget is in deficit of $642,695 an...
Calvin “Robot” Edwards, Sr. 62, a lifetime resident of Swinomish, passed away Thursday October 7, 2021 at St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham, Washington. Calvin was born July 20, 1959 in Mount Vernon, Washington to Reggie Edwards and Dodie John. He attended La Conner schools. He later became involved with the fishing commission and became skilled at hanging nets. Calvin was a lifelong commercial fisherman who found himself a member of the St. Paul’s Catholic Church, as well as the Swinomish Smoke...
Blue and white are the official colors of La Conner Schools – except two weeks ago, on Sept. 30, when orange shirts were worn instead. And, very likely, annually going forward. The change in garb was no mere fashion statement. It was intended to build public awareness of the atrocities and ensuing historical trauma linked to prior forced attendance and assimilation to white culture imposed upon Indigenous students at residential schools in the U.S. and Canada. The La Conner School Board, following an impassioned presentation last month...
Background and experiences Ex-New Yorker; Located La Conner 2011; Two adult sons; served U.S. Navy medical corpsman; Career: aviation field, Japan Airlines, Alaska, including service manager, project mgr. (JFK Terminal), Sales: snowplows, seating and revenue consultant. Operate (permitted) Airbnb “Super-host,” animal lover. Hobbies: Classic cars, biking and military miniatures. Appointed town council 2012. I love the town and want to contribute. Council accomplishments: Initiated “Sister Citie...
My concern: If I need to call 911 and I can get to my phone to dial I don’t want to have to guess and wonder if or when the police are going to show up. I expect it in a reasonable amount of time. I attended the council meeting Sept. 28 and expressed this concern to the sheriff’s representatives there. They stated that there is an existing contract to provide 80 hours of service … to La Conner? My unanswered question: Is that 80 hours in La Conner or “Zone 1,” which includes Conway, Bayview, etc.? I think everyone at the meeting agreed...
They say good friends are hard to find. But for those associated through the years with La Conner Regional Library, that hasn’t been the case at all. Quite the opposite, it turns out. Ground was broken last week for a long-sought new building. That moment has benefited greatly from a sizeable volunteer group considered friends in both deed and name. Since its inception in the late 1980s, the Friends of the Library has actively participated in a wide range of key fundraising activities while its members made significant donations in support o...
Two weeks after approving a new labor contract with the La Conner Education Association, La Conner School District board members rolled up their sleeves and got to work on several key tasks marking the start of the 2021-22 academic year. The first of those at their Sept. 27 meeting was to unanimously approve a proclamation designating Sept. 30 as Orange Shirt-Residential School Awareness Day during their 90-minute hybrid public session. The board action followed a presentation by district...
La Conner’s Town Council used the development of the 2022 budget to consider law enforcement options at its 5 p.m. budget hearing Tuesday. This often brought up topic at council meetings this year, has the group’s attention, with the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office $331,000 contract up for renewal. Councilmember John Leaver has long questioned the value provided and some residents have shared that concern throughout the year. When Mayor Ramon Hayes called the meeting Thursday, the 10 page packet Town Administrator Scott Thomas provided had t...
Thursday Mayor Ramon Hayes notified the La Conner Town Council of a 5 p.m. Sept. 28 special meeting to discuss the law enforcement/public safety services section of the 2022 budget. The meeting is in person at Maple Hall and via Zoom. The regular council meeting will follow at 6 p.m. The 10 page special meeting packet has a four page memo from Town Administrator Scott Thomas addressing public safety services and how those services may legally be provided: 1) continue to contract with the Skagit County Sherriff's Department for law enforcement s...
Was the Town of La Conner’s sale of the Maple Avenue ballfield property to developer Landed Gentry illegal? A letter from Bricklin & Newman, a Seattle law firm, to Brian Gentry dated Sept. 1 and delivered Sept. 7, advises that “your purchase of the property from the Town of La Conner was likely illegal, in violation of Article 8, Section 7 of the Washington Constitution.” The Town bought the property from the Hedlin family and then sold it the same day in April. La Conner area resident Linda Clark asked the Bricklin firm to review “the applicab...
The La Conner Town Council started the process for filling the vacancy left by Jacques Brunisholz’s resignation at its Sept. 14 meeting, but the eight week schedule they agreed to means whomever they choose will be approved Nov. 9 at the earliest. That is after the Nov. 2 election and only two council meetings before the 2022 budget will be approved Dec. 14. While the only qualifications for council are being a town resident and a registered voter, council was presented by Town Administrator Scott Thomas with a 14 page packet. The town is requi...
I am writing today to bring awareness to the issue of property crimes and crimes of opportunity. This is a situation that exists throughout the county and La Conner has certainly not been immune to this activity. I encourage each citizen, household and business to take this occasion to assess your individual readiness regarding security. Some obvious measures include removing any items of value from your vehicles and making sure garage and home and business doors are locked. Other effective actions include the implementation of automated...
La Conner Town Council members did double duty Tuesday, starting at 5 p.m. with a special meeting to discuss the public works and wastewater treatment plant sections of the 2022 budget. Council was sent a 16 page special meeting packet Friday, Sept. 10, with a five page memo from Town Administrator Scott Thomas addressing near term “necessary” improvements to the Town’s wastewater treatment plant. It had five sections: a. regulatory overview; b. nutrients; c. expansion and replacement; d. next steps; and e. costs. Following were nine pages...
