At a commissioners’ work session on April 18, Island County Commissioner Kelly Emerson proposed that a non-binding voter initiative regarding the Conservation Futures Program be added to the August primary ballot. She argued that other local governments in the state use this sort of advisory elections on occasion.
The popular Conservation Futures program was created about twenty years ago “to protect, preserve, maintain, improve, restore, or limit the future use of, or otherwise conserve selected open space, wetlands, habitat areas, farm, agricultural, and timber lands for the public use and enjoyment and as one tool for salmon preservation purposes”. It is funded through a small property tax and has been used to acquire properties for habitat preservation and public access.
Commissioners Price Johnson and Homola are disinclined to go along with the non-binding election. Both commissioners have expressed support for preserving the Conservation Futures program and believe that public input provided through the budget process allows a thorough public examination of the program’s costs and benefits. Both Price Johnson and Homola encourage Island County residents to share feedback on the program. Please send your comments to the commissioners at the following email addresses:
Helen Price Johnson: district1@co.island.wa.us
Angie Homola: district2@co.island.wa.us
Kelly Emerson: district3@co.island.wa.us
You can listen to the commissioners’ work session last Thursday at this link: http://www.islandcounty.net/commissioners/worksessions/2012/WS4-18-12-Part2.MP3 The conversation about the voter advisory election starts at about 21 minutes.
