November 30th Meeting Recap
(Entire Meeting Video is Below)
Our first Ground Truth Table Talk brought together long-time islanders, planners, conservationists, off-grid residents, HOA members, land bank veterans, and newcomers who have lived here “only” 28 years. What emerged was a clear picture of a community that cares deeply, thinks critically, and is trying to understand how we move forward without losing the very things that make these islands livable.
Below is a synthesis of what we heard —
1. The Shared Tension: Growth vs. Island Character
Nearly everyone agreed on the core dilemma:
How do we meet current needs without unraveling the rural character the islands were built on? Two major perspectives surfaced:
• Concentrate growth where growth has historically occurred
Fred Klein emphasized the islands’ traditional pattern: distinct “nodes” of settlement surrounded by rural land. In his view, reinforcing these nodes — Eastsound, Olga, Deer Harbor, West Sound, Orcas Landing, and the equivalent centers on other islands — is the only way to protect the landscape as a whole.
• Increase population to stabilize the workforce and economy
Steve Ulvi argued that the island’s biggest fragility isn’t too many people — it’s too few working-class people. Tourism and trophy-home construction have created a brittle economy; more year-round residents, not fewer, may be the only path to a sustainable local ecosystem.
Both perspectives point to the same question:
What does “enough” look like here — and who gets to decide?
Strengths, Strains, Possibilities & Pressures — (SSPP Board) with meeting notes
2. Housing: A Crisis With No Market-Based Solution
Several realities became immediately clear:
Market-rate construction ($400–$1,000/sq ft) is out of reach for the workforce.
The 0.5% REET (housing transfer tax) helps but cannot keep pace with escalating land values.
Nonprofits like OPAL are the only working model for permanently affordable housing.
Vacation rentals have shrunk the long-term rental pool.
State landlord/tenant laws feel risky to small landlords, leaving many choosing not to rent at all.
The island story hasn’t changed:
Without nonprofit-driven, community-supported housing, we will not have teachers, EMTs, caregivers, or contractors living here.
3. Ecological and Infrastructure Constraints
Water: We’re operating without the data we need
The aquifer recharge study from the USGS (altered after since I keep saying the wrong department!) is still pending, and many residents described visible signs of stress — dry trees, low wells, seasonal shortages. Without basic numbers, planning feels like guesswork.
Ferries: The essential bottleneck
Residents described ferries not as a transportation system but as a daily constraint on medical access, commerce, and lifestyle. It shapes everything — from whether people can work to whether they can safely age in place.
Energy: A grid stretched thin
The underwater cable is nearing end-of-life and cannot be replaced locally without enormous rate impacts.
Conservation and using less electricity
OPALCO’s rate structure currently rewards high consumption and burdens minimal users.
Community sentiment leaned toward a tiered system that charges significantly more for extreme use.
Add to this the proposed electric ferries (high cost, limited impact), and the theme was clear:
We can’t keep expanding demand without facing real limits.
4. Community Participation: A Desire to Be Heard, and a Long Memory of Not Being
One of the strongest threads of the meeting was frustration with how public input disappears:
Hundreds may testify at a hearing, yet policy rarely reflects it.
Planning Commission recommendations often do not survive later stages.
Comp Plans have historically “sat on a shelf” after adoption.
Residents weren’t apathetic. They were exhausted by processes that don’t translate effort into action.
This is exactly the gap Ground Truth Table Talks aims to close.
5. Solutions the Group Supported
A. Consensus-Based Community Meetings
Fred shared a successful model used on Orcas to pass school bonds and address school safety:
12–15 hours over one week
Same participants commit to every session
A clear, single question
A consensus agreement: not the perfect decision, but one everyone can live with and won’t undermine
This approach builds durable agreement across differences.
B. A Public ArcGIS Community Hub
Island Stewards spoke on the countywide map we’re building with ESRI support. The group supported a shared, citizen-powered mapping system to:
Track water, zoning, and environmental conditions
Document community observations (dry trees, algae blooms, failed wells, road hazards)
Layer data in plain view so everyone can understand the same picture
Create a foundation for shared decision-making
GIS is a tool. What matters is what we choose to put on it.
6. What Comes Next
What Island Stewards will do:
Continue monthly Ground Truth Table Talks
Begin curating recommended data layers for the public ArcGIS map
Research Topics on the SSPP Board
Develop a pilot structure for a consensus-based meeting
What participants can do:
Suggest map layers or datasets that matter to you
Share the recording or summary with neighbors
Identify issues suitable for consensus meetings
Join the next Ground Truth Table Talk
Closing Thought
This first meeting wasn’t about solving everything. It was about surfacing the “ground truth” — the patterns and pressures the community already feels but rarely gets to discuss together.
The San Juan Islands don’t necessarily need more people.
They need more capacity per person — more clarity, more civic bandwidth, more shared understanding of what we’re facing.
Thank you to everyone who showed up and spoke with honesty, care, and courage.
Meeting 2 begins from here.
November 30th Ground Truth Table Talk #1