| LineTime Question | William McWatters Responds |
Please tell us about yourself. |
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| Why do you want to serve on the Guemes Island Ferry Committee? | Hello All, Thank you, for your time. My name is William McWatters; I am 25 years old. My intent for wanting to serve this community on the Guemes Island Ferry Committee is to bring a grounded, honest, holistic representation of the population of Guemes citizens to Skagit County. |
| What skills and experience would you bring to the committee? | I have sought community through all of my experiences, and through these experiences I have gained three very important skills. The first is to listen. The next is to understand, empathize, and value every opinion in balance. The third is to do all things from a place of love, from the heart. I have also served on a community council while living in Arizona. The council acted as an intermediary to a board of trustees who allocated funding for different aspects of Arcosanti, the educational facility where we were working. |
| On what other island organizations have you served? | I have to date not been a part of any other island organization. As a citizen of Guemes for only two plus years, I have just begun to put my roots down. |
| Why do you choose to live on Guemes Island? | I fell in love with the tranquil serenity and majestic beauty of this place the first time I set foot on the island. Or was it the ferry, the anticipation, boarding, the start of the motor, the motion of the boat, and the arrival. It is ritual now; it is a right of passage, our gateway in and out. In a way the ferry is a representation of the “personality” of Guemes. There are so many reasons why I made the decision to move here, why it was easy for me to move here, that I have conceded there must have been a greater reason for my presence on Guemes, but I’m sure that is true for everyone. |
| How would
you describe the point of view you might represent on the Ferry Committee? |
I would best describe my point of view as holistic. It is best to try to understand the whole picture and formulate an opinion based on all of the information available. From all sides of the spectrum we generate our vision of what is true. |
| How do you see yourself representing those with whom you disagree? | We can learn the most from those we disagree with, usually about ourselves. In this situation I am a representative of an entire group with many points of view. If we can sift through and find what is self-motivated and what is good for the majority, not just quantitatively but qualitatively as well, then we can make an intelligent decision that is good, fair, just, and reasonable. |
| How did you participate in the Fares and Scheduling Task Force process? | I attended meetings on the island during the task force process. These meetings are what sparked my interest in the Ferry Committee. I feel grass roots democracy is the foundation of our society and drastically in need of participation in most places. |
One issue of concern to Ferry riders is whether or not the ferry should operate past 6:00 pm Monday through Thursday. |
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What do you see as the benefits of such expansion? What do you see as the consequences? Are you in favor of
expanding the ferry's hours of week night Do you believe
expanding Guemes Island ferry service, either with a |
I believe that if the ferry runs more frequently or later into the night, those runs will fill because people will find necessity for it. A larger boat will fill just as a larger highway does. All things surrounding this issue are being assessed currently, and with good reason. Our present rate of growth is astounding, startling at times, and I am sure that most of us see it as inevitable. We must ensure, though, that change does not degrade and destroy this place we all love. We must ensure that growth strengthens and diversifies our ties to this place and those people that make and will make this island great. I am a young and active citizen of Guemes, and I feel this ferry should run as little as possible but as much as necessary. I am not for the extension of service hours. I feel, though, that all aspects need to be assessed—benefits, consequences, impacts, and improvements. |
Over the past year, the Ferry Committee's and Islander's involvement in Ferry policy development has greatly expanded. |
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In
what ways would you improve communication between the Ferry How do you see improving the role of the Ferry Committee as intermediary and advocate for ferry ridership? How do you see the
Ferry Committee helping islanders understand the |
I see that by creating better known avenues for communication, we would greatly increase the committee’s ability to fully represent the people’s views. Open dialogue with ferry and county representatives should also be a scheduled event. I think a physical venue with representation from all sides involved in the issue would be most beneficial in the improvement of communication between the citizens of Guemes, the ferry crew and their union, and the county. I envision two information kiosks, one on the island and one at the ferry landing in town, as well as a newsletter to promote open communication between all concerned. |
According to Skagit County's Capital Facilities Plan, one way to increase the capacity of the Guemes Island Ferry system is to "encourage car-pooling and walk-on passengers" to reduce drive-on traffic. |
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| How do you imagine encouraging walk on traffic, especially among those reluctant to get out of their cars? | To encourage walk-on ridership, I think the island should consider a small- to medium-sized electric transit vehicle on island to transport walk-ons to their destinations. Decreased fares and/or other incentives should also be offered. |
| Do you walk on regularly? | I frequently walk on or ride my bike on the ferry, and encourage others to minimize their drive-on usage. |
Please tell us your vision for future Ferry service. |
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| How do you envision the ideal Guemes Island Ferry system? | My ideal future of ferry service would be our ferry converted to run on an alternative fuel like biodiesel (which the state ferry is considering) that could be grown by local farmers and processed at local facilities, which would create more jobs and local revenue while polluting less. Yes, I believe the ferry could be an asset to our county. Furthermore, due to our economic status, the federal government has made funding available for such a venture. A ferry crew at least partially made up of volunteers from the island could help bring down ferry costs while the electric transit could help the increased number of walk-on riders find their way home. We must work to find a solution within our means that would decrease the cost of operation while still increasing the volume of ridership. I think this can be obtained through systems/operations modification , alternative-funding sources, and a shift in user-ship. |
What issues do you see as being paramount in the next 5 years? |
As I look to the future in consideration of issues pertinent to the ferry, I think of how the solutions to our current issues will be affecting us in the future. What will our outcomes be? Where will we place our checks and balances, how will we be held accountable for our actions? For now, the most important issues are volume of ridership, ferry crew contract, scheduling and fares, economic effects, environmental impact, cost to the county, quality of life impact, and the rate of growth. Our choices shape our future. Thank you, Peace William C. McWatters |
