La Conner Weekly News - Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper

The Port of Skagit and Town of La Conner propose happily to move ahead on the Port's elaborate proposal based on a few, token, public meetings and little-to-no community understanding of the near and long term implications of the project.

There is no time nor process in place for serious discussion of what we want our town and our Town to be. It is completely reactive to the Port’s vision, supported by the town administration, which is hard pressed to describe a comprehensive vision for the community.

The Port knows exactly what it wants to do: generate capital. The administration nibbles at the edges and paves the way with an abbreviated, doomed-to-fail, public process. This is government by default. Proposals of this magnitude, to be respectful of the town and its citizens, must be based on active, creative and robust public participation over months or a year, not days or weeks.

The Port and the administration should realize that it is more important to build communities than to build buildings. Real public participation is inconvenient. Creative public participation takes time and serious support and an administration that is interested in providing that support.

I repeat: Who is in charge of determining the economic, residential, commercial future of our built community? I’m tempted to answer, the Port Commission, in close consultation with a town planner who lives in Bellingham (30 miles distant), the town administrator, who lives in Mount Vernon (12 miles distant) and a mayor excited by construction.

This fourth class town is established as a strong council-weak mayor government. Those roles have been reversed for some time. Our council and our planning commission, should ask – demand – of the administration the information, analysis and time they need to make decisions, approve projects and establish policy that will reflect the priorities of the council, which in turn will be based on their understanding of the will and preferences of the people.

Unfortunately, that is not the way it has been working for La Conner. There is visionary vacuum eagerly filled by a complacent staff.

Who’s in charge and whose vision is driving this mega project? The Port, the planner and the mayor. Who should be in charge? The town council, the planning commission and the community.

Stop this rushing train and do it right.

Bob Raymond

La Conner