by Marian O’Brien

Orcas Islanders are going to have the opportunity to use their votes to support the formation of a Park & Recreation District on the Nov. 3 ballot. The Park & Rec district will put the future of recreation programming into our hands so that we can design a program that works well and that will have long term viability.

When you mark your ballot with a YES vote for this District now, there will be no tax connected to it, no levy.

Your vote will allow the formation of the district as defined by the Washington code:

“To provide leisure time activities and facilities and recreational facilities, of a nonprofit nature as a public service to the residents of the geographical areas included within their boundaries.” (RCW 36.69.010)

On this ballot, your votes will also elect five commissioners who are committed to working together collaboratively and with transparency. They will research current programming on Orcas, look into budgets and needs, meet with the community to listen to ideas, concerns and highest hopes, and then balance all of those things with collective good judgment, fairness and accountability.

Only when this work has begun will these five commissioners approach the voters of Orcas Island again, in a future election, to ask for a levy to fund programming. Only them, will you, with your votes, be able to tell us if we have done a good job of research, listening and assimilation of all of the information and created a workable, sustainable plan just for Orcas Island.

If you give us your confidence, then we will be charged with allocating the funds generated by the levy wisely. This is not something these commissioners will take lightly. We will need your ongoing engagement in the process to help us get the job done.

There have been many discussions about what the new Park & Rec district will consist of. The truth is, this can’t be defined until we are given the opportunity to work together, with the commitment to determine what it should actually be.

A group of Orcas Islanders came together out of concern that funding for our Orcas Rec program was going to be cut from the general fund due to the budget crisis the county has been experiencing. We also had concerns about the County Parks department itself being minimized to the point of jeopardizing the future of our Eastsound waterfront and Village Green Parks. We had concerns about our Senior Center’s services and activities being cut. We felt that a Park and Recreation district could provide solutions that would support our Island’s needs.

We won’t know how it will all come together until we roll up our sleeves and get to work. A great deal of research into all of these issues has been done already, but there is much more to be done.

Please give us the possibility to discover what will work for Orcas Island: for our children and youth, for our working parents, for our seniors, for our patrons and for our businesses who rely on tourism to keep their doors open – in short, for all of us.

And remember: all you are voting for by saying YES to Orcas Park & Recreation District is for 5 highly energized, committed commissioners to start working on your behalf to figure it all out.

Marian O’Brien will be on the ballot as a candidate for a Park and Recreation district commissioner.