Final meeting of outgoing County Council held today – housekeeping votes in a friendly atmosphere
Monday, December 23, 2024
by Jeff Noedel
The final County Council meeting of the year — and the final meeting of the 2023-2024 Council — was held today from 9:00 a.m. to 10:40 a.m., with an executive session held from 9:49 a.m. to 10:14 a.m. to meet privately with County Prosecutor Amy Vira.
The two outgoing County Council members, District 1 Rep Christine Minney and District 2 Rep Cindy Wolf, video-called into the meeting remotely. Incumbent District 3 and current Council Chair Jane Fuller ran the meeting from the County’s legislative building in Friday Harbor.
The Council unanimously approved a one-year contract with the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau for $535,000. In recent months, the Council had been discussing a 16 percent decrease in Visitors Bureau funding but decided today not to cut the funding for 2025.
The Council approved budgets for county staff payroll, including ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement with the Deputy Sheriff Guild.
The mood of the meeting was gentle and friendly. Several times, the outgoing members declined to take action on items that would require follow-up in the future.
Rep. Wolf was proud to announce that outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee has joined the request of the Canadian government to post an emergency response vessel in Sidney, to enable a faster response to an oil spill.
Council 3 Rep Fuller said she intends to leave the Ferry Advisory Committee in 2025.
After returning from the executive session and going back into a public session at 10:14 a.m., the final major item left was to discuss the hiring of a dedicated County Coroner. Tamara Greene, a current staffer, was appointed Interim Coroner. Amy Vira called the interim appointment of a staffer “immensely efficient” for now. Vira speculated that fair compensation might be $1,000 per month plus a $300 base “call out” fee for the first two hours on a call-out remote location and additional compensation for longer call-outs. The Council unanimously made the appointment, effective January 1, 2025.
The meeting adjourned at 10:40 a.m.
