Putting Skagit First

I am running for re-election because I am committed to Skagit County and its people. I stand FOR what I stand ON: The Skagit. I don’t have other loyalties.

The following are my positions on the key issues currently facing Skagit County government:

Flood Risk Prevention

The Skagit River is a natural treasure that defines and sustains us, providing municipal and irrigation water, habitat for salmon and other wildlife, recreation, and much else. 

  • The Skagit is also a powerful river - the U.S. West Coast’s third largest - posing tremendous flood risk to our cities and infrastructure. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that the Skagit’s existing levee system only provides 25 year flood protection, meaning that without additional flood risk reduction measures our levee system can be expected to fail once every 25 years. A catastrophic flood could mean billions of dollars in property damage and loss of life. At the same time, it would cost billions to raise the levees higher. We’re in a tough situation.

    That’s why it is vital we ensure a safe level of flood storage at the Skagit’s hydroelectric dams. By drawing down reservoir levels ahead of fall storms, the dams significantly reduce our entire community’s flood risk from Marblemount to Conway.

    By law, flood control is the first priority operational purpose of Seattle’s Skagit dams, part of the deal allowing Seattle to build dams on federal land. Nevertheless, Seattle’s operating license for its Skagit dams has never included a provision requiring a safe level of flood storage. When I ran in 2020, I promised to make progress on Skagit flood safety, this issue in particular.  

  • Working closely with Skagit Treaty tribes, state and federal agencies and other Skagit local governments, we negotiated a safe level of flood storage at Seattle’s dams last fall, a deal that also honors Treaty rights and protects salmon habitat. It’s a big win for public safety, tribal-local relations, and the fisheries resource.  

    Our plan was supported by Skagit cities, dike and drainage districts, tribes and agencies, an example of the success we can achieve when Skagit local and tribal governments work together.  

    We are in the midst of finalizing a settlement agreement with Seattle, but we still have work to do to ensure our community is safe. That’s one reason I’m asking for your vote this November.

Growth Management & Affordable Housing

Over the last 50 years, Washington State’s population has more than doubled, growing from 3.5 million to 7.8 million. During that time, Skagit County’s population has grown from 51,000 to over 131,000.   

  • As Skagit County’s Comprehensive Plan reflects, our community is deeply committed to protecting the Skagit Valley from the sprawl that has consumed counties to our south.  

    As the Skagit’s population has grown, it’s become harder to find affordable housing, particularly for young families just getting started. The lack of affordable housing has contributed to a rise in homelessness.

    When you elected me in 2020, I promised to address these challenges over the long term, while helping the most vulnerable in our community. 

  • At the time, the County was considering a proposal to build a Fully Contained Community (FCC) in a rural part of the County, which some argued would help provide more affordable housing without harming farmland. I promised to give the idea a fair hearing. After listening to significant input, I concluded that FCCs are not compatible with a sound long-term vision for the Skagit Valley, and I voted to end the County’s consideration of the FCC concept.

    We need affordable housing in our cities, which I will continue to advocate. Since I was elected, I have helped fund, organize and support city governments in their effort to provide more affordable housing. 

Climate Change & A Locally-Led Integrated Plan

When I ran in 2020, I promised to protect Skagit farmland while working with Skagit tribes to protect and restore salmon runs.

  • Skagit farmland is some of the world’s best, but we’ve lost tens of thousands of acres over the last few decades, mostly to development.   

    The Skagit’s farmland is uniquely positioned to remain productive even as climate change impacts farmland across the planet. Accordingly, protecting Skagit farmland and a viable farming economy is one of the most important climate adaptation strategies we can pursue. 

    Our community has sacrificed for generations to protect Skagit farmland, adopting some of the nation’s strictest farmland zoning. By reducing Skagit farmland’s development potential, it helps keep farmland relatively affordable for new and historically disadvantaged farmers.  

    But that creates a new problem: seeing relatively cheap land, outside corporate entities sought to buy up Skagit farmland as an inexpensive way to offset their environmental impacts occurring elsewhere.  

  • In 2022, with broad community support, the Board of County Commissioners unanimously passed a law banning offsite compensatory mitigation. It’s a critical piece of our commitment to protect Skagit farmland, and I’m proud of my role in making it happen.  

    The fact that outside corporate entities were making big plans for Skagit farmland highlighted the need for a locally-led, long-term plan that centers Skagit local and tribal governments in addressing our shared interests.  

    It is important to keep in mind that the Skagit was originally granted by Skagit tribes on the condition that strong salmon runs remain, a right reserved by national Treaty. We must ensure that Treaty rights are protected, and we must meet our regulatory obligations under the Endangered Species Act and other laws. Strong salmons runs in the Skagit are good for our entire community, providing food, recreation, and ecological benefits.

    As we do so, it’s important that we pursue habitat projects and other actions that actually help salmon, improve infrastructure, minimize farmland loss, and help provide regulatory certainty for local government. We have to get all of this right.   

    On top of these challenges, we are required to plan long-term for sea level rise and climate change. As we update Skagit County’s Comprehensive Plan and Shoreline Plan, these issues are at the forefront of our minds.

    That’s why we’ve been working with all three Skagit Treaty tribes, natural resource agencies, and Skagit dike/drainage districts to create a Skagit/Samish Delta Integrated Plan. This will allow Skagit tribal and local governments to collaboratively plan for sea level rise, farmland preservation, infrastructure resilience, and habitat enhancement, centering the Skagit and our community in the decisions we make.

    The Skagit is a special place. I believe that local and indigenous knowledge, working together in good faith, is the only way we will successfully protect the Skagit for future generations. 

Homelessness, Mental Health, & Substance Use Disorder

As a career public health professional, homelessness, mental health and substance abuse are issues at the center of my thinking and action.

  • Since you elected me, we have delivered results:

    • Helped create and establish the North Star program, which allows the County and Skagit cities to efficiently coordinate resources in addressing homelessness and mental health issues.

    • Helped fund and open Martha’s Place in Mount Vernon, which provides 70 units of affordable housing and support services for veterans and other citizens in need of assistance.

    • Funded and opened the new Skagit County Evaluation and Treatment Center in Sedro-Woolley, a 16-bed facility that provides inpatient care and support for individuals experiencing acute mental health symptoms.  

    • Support for the First Steps program, which helps get those struggling with substance abuse off the streets.

    • Support for the Anacortes Family Center

Effective Management & Leadership of Skagit County Government

The Board of Skagit County Commissioners is an executive body, responsible for running County government, with 826 employees and a 2024 budget of $304 million. 

  • Since I was elected in 2020, improving County government’s performance and efficiency has been a priority. Here is what we have accomplished:

    • Implemented a third-party wage study and appropriately adjusted compensation to ensure our pay rates are competitive, which has led to significantly reduced staff turnover

    • Created a Skagit County Strategic Plan to focus staff and resource priorities on key objectives

    • Improved relations with unions, in part by providing clear goals and objectives

    • Implemented a “Priorities of Government” budgeting process to ensure that budget decision are appropriately prioritizing resources toward County core missions.

Fish Passage at Seattle City Light’s Dams

Over the last few decades, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on salmon recovery, yet, in many cases, salmon have continued to decline. 

  • But with these salmon population declines, there's been one shining example of success, right here in the Skagit. In 2007, the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe and others required Puget Sound Energy to build fish passage over its dams on the Skagit-tributary Baker River. As a direct result of fish passage the annual Baker run went from several hundred remaining salmon to over 65,000 returning last year, providing significant harvest for both Tribal and non-Tribal communities.  

    Now, Seattle is seeking a federal license for its three dams on the mainstem of the Skagit River - Ross, Diablo, and Gorge dams. Federal and state agencies, tribes, and local government all demand that Seattle install fish passage at its dams. Scientists believe that we can achieve the same kind of success as happened with the Baker River.

  • If this passage is built, it would likely be the biggest Skagit public works project of our lifetimes. In addition to help for tribes and salmon, fish passage would provide local jobs. 

    If I am re-elected, I will continue to work for the Skagit and will continue to support Skagit tribes in their fight for environmental justice.