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Bob Anderson

Amazingly, Glen Veal read your agenda in Saturday's Herald and noted the discussion planned for extending Ferry hours. Of course it was after hours so no way to determine what it meant until Monday at 9. That's why the phone calls and emails flew fast all weekend and you had a room full of Guemians. How many times, Don, have we discussed improved communications with the Island by the county? 5 or 6 times at least? Yet still bad or nonexistent communications are the norm. It's really not cricket to surprise the Island Ferry Committee - and even the ferry crew, like that. Not when YOU set the "process" that has ferry matters going through the Round Table and the Ferry Committee and on to the county. The "process" you spoke to on Monday bears NO resemblance to the process we all thought you had put in place.

[More]

[5.4.05]

Robert Easton

Skagit County Commissioners
Chal Martin, Director of Public Works
Steve Cox, Ferry manager
The Guemes Island Ferry Committee

$35,000 is allocated to this project for 2006.

$30,000 is allocated for a new building at the Anacortes terminal this year (2005). With a lengthy haul-out planned for Fall 2005, the Guemes parking lot is more important than the proposed building at the Anacortes terminal. What is wrong with the exising terminal building? Where are your priorities?

[5.3.05]

Bob Anderson

Dear fellow Guemians.

I am risking major duplication here, but it is necessary. Glen Veal just spoke with me. The County Commissioners have on their Monday next agenda at 10 a.m. to discuss extending the hours of the Guemes ferry into evenings weekdays. This is in a small notice on A2 of the Sat. SV Herald re: Commissioners agenda. No notice to Island or to the ferry committee, to whom it is a surprise. No one knows (being "after Friday news hours" when no one can call them until Monday at 9) what this means. Usual County "surprise" without advance notification of those for whom it is a concern? Maybe. Can't chance it. Ferry Committee will have a statement ready for the meeting and they would like any Islanders who can be there to attend - MONDAY, 10 A.M.

(Who knows where Commissioners now meet? A new building - where?) [Commissioner's Hearing Room is located in the Continental Building at 1800 Continental Place, Mount Vernon.]

Ferry Comm. wants support, since they know extension of the hours is a minority opinion on Island, and, they believe, should not even be considered before GIPAC has done its work with the sub area plan, or without an environmental impact statement.

Forward this info. ASAP to your mailing lists on Island.. Time is too short to worry about duplicate messages.

[5.1.05]

Jayne Mardesich

Don Munks, Ted Anderson, Ken Dahlstedt, Skagit County Commissioners
Chal Martin, Director of Public Works
Steve Cox, Ferry manager
The Guemes Island Ferry Committee

As I discussed with Mr. cox, the 9:00am ferry is much too busy not to have a second run. I suggested that the 10am be moved to a 10:10 or whatever will accomodate the crews break. the other possible option that I think would work is that they take their break after the 8:20 run, which should give them their 15 minutes of break. the propane trucks should come over on the 6:30 am run on tuesday, NOT the 9:00. please listen to the voices of those who ride the ferry.....jayne mardesich

Robert H. Anderson

The recent outage sent my mind spinning in a "what if" direction.

What if we thought about some alternatives to the car mess at the ferry dock, not just for outages but for daily use?

What if we got the school district, SKAT, Ferry Committee, GIPOA, and County folks together and pushed them to 'buy into" an all-purpose van for the Island?

[More]

[4.7.05]

Robert H. Anderson

Dear Don,

I have been trying to meet you on a Friday for a couple weeks but you have been in Olympia. I understand the need to be there often. So I am sending you some concerns by email to "open the door" to a discussion following.

I am very concerned about the County approach to the Guemes parking lot and the changes planned in general:

1. I did a count yesterday and the lot has 65 legally parked cars. We Guemians seem to know how to park efficiently without having an asphalt lot or marked places laid out for us. The county plan for "improvements" has 48 places AFTER extensive and expensive "improvements" without including the newly-acquired lots. Please explain how this "improves" the parking situation? Right now in this "outage" we have a full lot and a crazy quilt of cars everywhere.

[More]

[4.7.05]

Marcus Merrow

As we’ve all noticed, in the past several weeks the county has initiated some changes to our little ferry system. Now I’m wondering what else we can expect. The raising of the fares is not an issue as far as I’m concerned; but other things have occurred that I find disturbing. What I find troubling is the feeling I have when I’m in the ferry line or on the boat and see the changes that have come to pass already. I’m talking about the signs telling us when to do this and when not to do that; not to mention (but I will anyway) that goofy chain link fence. Thoughts of Stalag 17 and the Gulag (not the San Juan Archipelago) come to mind. Do we really need this kind of “protection”? In the summer, when it can be quite congested for walkons, it was often helpful to be able to step up on the curb and let others who may have trouble negotiating the crowds pass. Will we be able to do that now? The new ticket books and uniforms for the ferry crew? Please. I know Guemes is changing but....We came to Guemes from the city thinking we’d left a lot of that rigidness and formality behind; but while reading my book in the ferry line the other day, I looked in the rear view mirror and realized it had followed us here.

3.26.05

Vivian Meyer

Today I went to the ferry landing a full hour before the 1:00 pm run to be sure I could get a place in line to make it onto the ferry. There were three cars in the ferry lane, and actually out into the street, due to the cars that were parked diagonally up the road.

The next vehicle, a Verizon truck had chosen to park in the ferry lane at the top of the hill, just passed the intersection, in order to keep the street clear for two way traffic. I have seen this done before, and proceeded up the hill to get into line. After that, most people were aware enough to the end of the line. However, there were those who either didn't "know" there was a line further up the hill, or just didn't care. Some of them even drove past us and still got in line behind the first three cars.

I went down and "counseled" them as to where the line ended, because had I not done that, I would not have made it onto the ferry, even though I was the seventh car in the original line. Most people were quite cooperative, but there were some who didn't agree to leave the gap, and clearly did not want to reposition themselves.

It seems to me that there are two obvious choices. Disallow parking up the hill in the ferry lane, although there aren't many other options and I have parked there myself. The other is to bring over signs that direct people to park in the ferry lane at the top of the hill, just passed the intersection. Something needs to be done immediately, because tempers were really hot today, and it will just get worse.

[11.16.04]

Connie Snell

Re: Ms. Cox's 12/30/03 letter. There are several reasons why someone would move to a Class 2 island (accessible only by ferry) such as Guemes. One is the mystique of island living, another is the financial appeal of lower property values (hence, lower taxes), and still another is the concomitant security against random crime that isolation provides. But, the merits of each diminish with increased accessibility. The reason two of the county commissioners are licking their chops to extend Guemes ferry hours is that they know that property will become more valuable, and because the county must assess based on market value, they know that the tax stream into county coffers will increase, giving them more to spend.

Understanding that running the ferry on extended hours would increase its operating costs is elementary. While a few people would find it desirable to come and go at their pleasure on weeknights, the added costs to support their pleasure would be spread to the rest of us, this in addition to the inevitable increase in our tax burden. Thus, we expect the real majority of Guemes residents will continue to resist these attacks that would have us spending more to live here just to pacify the newcomers who want it their way.

Finally, we say to you advocates of extended ferry hours, if it is living on an island that you want, move to Samish, or Camano, or Whidbey, or maybe even Fidalgo — they are Class 1 islands, but islands nevertheless.

1.29.04

Robert Easton

Editor, Skagit Valley Herald
P.O. Box 578, Mount Vernon, WA 98273

Your readers deserve a rebuttal to the letter from Lou Ann Cox regarding extended hours for the Guemes Island Ferry. The Skagit County Commissioners authorized expenditures of up to $300,000 for a study of the ferry operation by Berk and Associates.

One conclusion from this study was that a majority of the ferry users are not in favor of extended hours. A similar polling conducted by the Guemes Island Property Owners Association (GIPOA) arrived at the same finding.

True, Commissioner Munks does not live on Guemes Island, but if he did, his vote for extended hours would not change the outcome of either study.

1.1.04

Written Responses To Proposal [PDF], Public Meeting Comments On Proposal[PDF]

Comments Received By County After 12.15.03 [PDF], Petitioning the Commissioners