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Taxpayers endorse county approach to advisory group

By Meg Olson

At their annual general meeting the Point Roberts Taxpayers Association members approved in principle the county’s proposed structure for a Rural Advisory Committee (RAC) to act as a link between the county and the community.

“ The county wants one place to go to,” association president Michael Rosser said at the group’s June 19 annual meeting. “Having so many different groups on the Point they don’t know who to turn to.”

Rosser said county planning staff had contacted him after being deluged with proposals from different groups and individuals aspiring to form the closest thing the Point will have to a government. “The county is reeling under all the proposals and has decided the executive will appoint individual committee members,” he said.

The process being proposed by county staff is that the taxpayers association, the voters association and the chamber of commerce each submit three candidates for positions on the advisory committee and two will be selected from each of these organizations. One member from the Economic Development Committee (EDC), one member from the Character Plan Advisory Committee (CPAC) and one at-large member would round out the group.
Some taxpayers association members were concerned that legally only local registered voters could be appointed to the committee, which disenfranchised the many association members who owned property on the Point but were not citizens or full-time residents.

“ There really are not opportunities for the many non-full time residents of Point Roberts to be represented,” Rosser said. Other members felt that having the association being well represented on the committee was enough. “If our representatives take guidance from us, from this association, then Canadians do have a voice,” said a local owner of vacation property. “At least it would be better than what we have now because I as a Canadian can attend a meeting right here and make my views known,” added Frank Addison.

Other association members questioned why the EDC and CPAC were being tapped for representatives when those groups were made up of representatives from the other local groups. “Anyone they put forth will already be someone from one of our groups,” said Madeleine Anderson, cautioning that would mean if both the EDC and the CPAC representatives were on those committees as delegates from, for example, the taxpayers association, that group would have four votes on a nine person board which could constitute undue influence. Several audience members suggested more at-large positions would be appropriate, since many Point Roberts residents didn’t belong to any of the named organizations.

The association membership voted unanimously to approve participation in the RAC, but in a second motion agreed to submit their concerns about committee membership to the county. Rosser said the other associations who would be submitting candidates to the county would also be approving the committee structure and selecting who would represent them. “We’re going into this as partners and all the partners need to be on the same page,” Rosser said.
County planning division manager Sylvia Goodwin said that they wanted broad community support for the RAC, which would be the single Point Roberts meeting that county staff would regularly attend. Towards that goal, she said, her staff would look at the applications received and could recommend more or less at-large members if they felt that would make the committee more representative.

“ If we get an overwhelming number of people who don’t belong to any of these organizations and are very qualified, the executive can really appoint anyone,” she said. “If you really want to participate, get your application in.” Those interested in being part of the committee should contact Amy Pederson in the county planning department through800/676-6757.

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