Unofficial Report. This is an unofficial report of the Citizens Advisory Group (CAG) meeting held earlier this Monday (3/3/08) evening. The official reporting of the meeting will be by Kitsap County.
Continuing to Report. We have been asked by a number of Illahee residents to continue with our reporting of the all the events going on in Illahee, including our views of the CAG meetings, and so we will publish unofficial updates that cover the meetings.
County Process. The county has taken over the entire community plan process and so it was interesting for us to observe their methods and actions at this first meeting. They are starting from the beginning, with the visioning process, to determine exactly what the citizens of Illahee desire for their community. We think this is a wise decision on their part, and needs to be done, to prevent someone coming in later to say the public process was not followed or it was not sufficiently objective.
Planning Team. Katrina Knutson is our lead planner, with Jonathan Pavy as assistant, and Pete Sullivan, another planner who is also assisting. They are an energetic, knowledgeable,and helpful team and it should enjoyable to work with them. They are trained planners and have access to information that took us much time to obtain, not to mention access to maps and readily available copy machines.
Monday (3/3/08) Meeting. This was the first official meeting of the CAG that followed the open house held last Monday. The CAG was relatively small in numbers but very concerned and outspoken.
The Vision? So what did they come up with for a vision? There were 5 or 6 charts of input that we will let the county synthesize and report on. When we compared their notes with the vision statement in the draft Plan, we found it was almost exactly the same as that articulated by one of the breakout groups. We think the second group may have come up with some new additions, but will wait to see once the final report on visioning is complete.
Similar to 2006? The original vision statements in the draft Plan came from the comments received from the approximately 250 respondents to the questionnaire sent out in March of 2006. It was when Illahee residents responded with articulate statements of what they wanted for their community and were willing to take the time to answer questions and then address, stamp, and mail them into a Post Office Box, that we knew the Illahee residents really cared. And it was heartwarming Monday to hear essentially the same concerns and interest in Illahee some two years later with another group of residents.
A New Survey. The group was asked whether they felt a community survey should be conducted, and we were happy they wanted one. For those of us involved with the beginning of the Plan in 2006, the questionnaire that was developed provided the basis for almost everything we did in that it provided the quantitative data of what the community wanted. Without it we would have had to rely on what was said at each meeting, which would have been dependent on who attended, and then on who spoke up. We found out then that we have many people in Illahee who for whatever reason are not 'meeting people' but who want their voices to be heard. And so we welcome the survey and will help get the survey out to residents, if need be.
Thanks to the County. In closing, we thank the County Commissioners and DCD Director Larry Keaton for supporting the development of an Illahee Community Plan. We look forward to working on a plan that preserves and protects the natural features, charm and quaintness of Illahee for this generation and generations to come.
A Unique Opportunity? We think this is a very special habitat place that needs some special care and attention by the county and the community, and those actions will someday be an example or showplace of what can happen if people really want to protect and preserve unique natural resources.
Jim Aho
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