Thank you for reading my newsletter for the 24th week of 2026. Most County offices will be closed on Friday, June 19 in celebration of Juneteenth. I plan to publish this newsletter the day before, Thursday June 18.
- Over the summer I plan to bring all of the District 3 County Commissioner candidates down to South Whidbey to meet with interested citizens. The first such gathering will be this Monday, June 15 — candidate Grant Shaw will be joining us at the Freeland Hall at 3 pm. Please join us!
- The Regular Session of the Board of Island County Commissioners was held on Tuesday, June 9, 2026; video recording here: https://media.avcaptureall.cloud/meeting/cfdefb47-4f48-40de-9c3c-0dc7b6bcab68.
- We celebrated our new employees and employees receiving service awards. This month we recognized long-term employees Leif Haugen, who’s been with the County for 20 years, and Matt Huss, who’s been with us for 30 years. Both Leif and Matt are exemplary public servants who’ve accomplished amazing successes during their many years with the County, and we are very grateful to both of them.
- There were two public comments, both from people who want the Commissioners to pay to hire a second animal control officer.
- We held two public hearings on code changes: one brought our kennels code into compliance with our noise code (mark 00:27:21 in the recording), and the other was a new code for addressing potentially dangerous dogs (mark 00:56:34). Three people spoke in favor of the kennel code change.
- The agenda for the Tuesday June 16 meeting is here: https://media.avcaptureall.cloud/meeting/dcc89f7c-a706-4253-a4c3-373fecf6b4f8. On that agenda: the three franchise public hearings shown below.
- Tentative Upcoming Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) Public Hearings (held during board meetings, beginning at 10 am, unless otherwise noted):
- Tuesday, June 16: SE Camano Franchise
- Tuesday, June 16: Olympic Marine Franchise
- Tuesday, June 16: Higgins Franchise
- Tuesday, June 23: Establishing a Farm & Ag Committee (Assessor)
- Tuesday, June 23: Comp Plan
- Wednesday, June 24: Comp Plan continued (if needed) – at 2 pm
- Tuesday, July 7: TIP/CIP
- Tuesday, July 7: Rockaway Park (franchise)
- Tuesday, July 7: Wiedmann & Fuller (franchise)
- The Board held Work Session on Wednesday June 10. The agenda for that meeting: https://www.islandcountywa.gov/AgendaCenter – docaccess-001fa84dc80176e2f9de293fa54c7ddb. Audio recording: islandcountywa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/14864/06092026-WS-Audio-MP3.
- We started with a long discussion on the numerous open positions on our advisory committees. If you are interested in serving on one of the County’s advisory committees, please contact Layla at LA.Tromble@islandcountywa.gov for more information.
- We spent a long time with Public Health talking about the issues around creating a Climate Impact Advisory Committee; chief of these issues is: we already have more committees than the Board has the capacity to staff. What we decided to do instead is: we plan to inform all of our committees that they have an obligation to consider climate, equity, and public health implications every time they advise the Board on policy or identify action items. Discussion begins at mark 0:57:17 in the recording.
- We received updates on the 2026 work plans for departments that report to the Commissioners. In each, we discussed climate, equity, and public health impacts for 2026 and 2027. Facilities: mark 1:34:43; Human Services: mark 1:44:55; Human Resources/GSA: mark 1:52:07; IT: mark 2:11:34; Public Works: mark 2:27:04; Public Health: mark 2:33:38; Planning: mark 2:45:39. During the Planning discussion we also talked about the status of the Shoreline Master Program.
- Human Resources/GSA brought a discussion on Historic Preservation Grants, mark 3:06:38 in the recording.
- The agenda for the work session for Wednesday, June 17 is here: https://www.islandcountywa.gov/AgendaCenter – docaccess-57ee8c9006512ddc81b7bf7b9afec01a. On that agenda: 2025 RCED Financial Performance & 2026 RCED Grant Cycle Awards; discussion of several lease contracts; IT storage replacement; 2026 Chum Run (July 3, Windjammer Park); Road Closure for Sunrise Blvd Shoulder Widening – Camano Island.
- The Board of Health will meet on Tuesday June 16 at 1 pm. Agenda including zoom link is here: https://www.islandcountywa.gov/AgendaCenter – docaccess-9405f1aad221d049d8b95f2c342ee5ec. On the agenda: Community Health Advisory Board Update; a presentation on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Rule Change; and a presentation on the Thrive Island County Resource Directory.
- The November general election ballot will include an advisory vote for the County Commissioners regarding consumer fireworks. What the Commissioners will ask voters is: should the Island County Board of Commissioners amend Island County Code Section 9.08A – Fireworks to ban the use of consumer fireworks in Unincorporated Island County? This will be an advisory yes/no vote only—the Commissioners want to know how you feel before we decide whether or not to take any further action on fireworks. I plan to include Pro and Con statements in the Voters Pamphlet, which means I need to form a committee of 1 – 3 registered voters to write the Con statement (a committee has already volunteered to write the Pro statement). These statements are limited to 200 words, and I will provide the committee with template and submittal information. If you are interested in serving on the Con committee, email me at district1@islandcountywa.gov.
- Island Transit news: https://www.islandtransit.org/
- Island Senior Resources news: https://senior-resources.org/.
- ISR is asking the Island County community at large to help shape the future of their services and contribute to ISR’s path to 2031. Please complete this survey to share your vision for senior services: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ISR-Survey-2026.
- The 2026 Thunder Run will be held on Saturday, June 13th from 10 – noon at the W10 Airpark on Venturi Way off Crawford Road in South Whidbey. The Thunder Run is a community emergency preparedness exercise designed to strengthen Whidbey Island’s response capabilities and resiliency during a large-scale disaster. This year’s drill expands beyond the airfield, beginning in local neighborhoods and moving through communication channels that include the fire department and the Department of Emergency Management. Attend to learn more about how the community responds in times of crisis.
- There are a number of Pride events happening over the next couple of weeks; see https://www.southwhidbeypride.org/events for details. Just a couple here:
- Coupeville Pride is this Saturday, June 13. Program and parade start at 12:30 at the Coupeville Farmers Market. https://www.coupevillepride.org/.
- South Whidbey Pride is next Saturday, June 20. Parade and festival from 12 – 3, in Langley. https://www.southwhidbeypride.org/parade-and-festival.
- See note above: District 3 County Commissioner candidate Grant Shaw will be joining my Monday citizens conversation group. The WiFire Community Space is too small for this type of gathering, so we will be meeting at the Freeland Hall at 3 pm instead. Please join us!
Melanie
“Juneteenth has never been a celebration of victory or an acceptance of the way things are. It’s a celebration of progress.” ~ Barack Obama