Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your District #2 County Councilor for the 2021-2024 term. After giving careful thought to some recent family health news, I have made the hard decision not to run this year. I am committed to doing the Council’s work well for the remainder of my current term, but my values are family first and that is where my time and energy need to go given the current circumstances.

We’ve done a lot of good work together in a few short years:

– putting in vacation rental caps.

– providing funds to our non profit partners that will provide over 100 units of affordable housing.

– structuring climate resilience into the County organization’s thinking by creating a Climate and Sustainability Committee that brings Citizen Experts, county staff and community partners together.

– Creating a Department of Environmental Stewardship that captures hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants each year for nearshore habitat restoration, innovative solid waste management and boater education.

– hiring a professional Communications Coordinator who has vastly improved our website interface and community outreach.

– building skills for strong working relationships with the Tribal governments whose citizens have ancestral ties to these islands and waters.

– making sure the County workers are paid at hourly rates comparable to their regional counterparts. After all, if you want to have a healthy local economy, it sure helps if your largest employer pays a fair wage.

This is just part of what we have accomplished together and I am proud to be at the table. I look forward to 8 more months of good work on your County Council.

Kind regards,

Cindy Wolf

Orcas Island