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

It’s election time in Shelter Bay – Online voting closes 4 p.m. May 19. In person must be done the early morning of May 20. If you intend to mail or drop off your vote, you must travel to the office to pick up a ballot. Mailed ballots must be received by May 19, 2023. Why is this information here in the paper? Because it is not clearly communicated to the residents of Shelter Bay.

Shelter Bay residents: The selection of your board representation is more important this year than ever. Shelter Bay faces several issues requiring competent, unbiased, qualified leadership. In the 2022 cycle, three new members were voted in on a campaign of transparency and accountability from the board of directors. If this change in leadership is to come to fruition, it will only come about from continued participation from the community and each individual vote. It is critical you vote!

We are fortunate to have several members who are well qualified to lead Shelter Bay – each offers a skill set that only the voters can decide who are best for the tasks at hand.

Shelter Bay has been fractured into two distinct “camps.” This is a reflection of the total lack of leadership coming from the current makeup of the board. Rather than de-escalate contentious issues the five existing officers continue to block together in their voting.

This was most recently displayed last Thursday during a meeting called to discuss the recall petition they each face. 25% of the voting population of Shelter Bay have delivered a petition calling for the board secretary to call a special meeting. The express intent of the meeting is to hold a vote on each officer remaining in their director position. During this open meeting vice president Joseph Hurley referred to legal opinions regarding this matter. This gives the impression that the five officers are utilizing a community paid attorney to circumvent the will of the population! The community attorney is to represent the community, not be used as a shield against the community by the very subjects of the recall.

To add a bit of icing to that cake, Hurley, up for reelection, made a motion to return the petition (read that as “ignore the will of 25%”) and of course the vote was split down the line again – The subjects of the recall voting to not bother with addressing the petition. Not one of the officers should have voted on the matter; indeed, had they acted ethically and recused themselves, the motion would not have been heard or voted on.

Now is the time to finish what was started in 2022. The future of Shelter Bay is in your hands. You control your destiny. Vote for the candidates promising change – they are clearly visible. The old guard is just that – more of the same. It is time for new ideas and fresh leadership that will work for all of Shelter Bay, not just a favored few.

Kontos, a Shelter Bay resident, was elected to the community’s board in 2022 and recalled this spring.