Editor,

Have you learned about how the words, “should” vs “shall,” are commonly used in the rules and decisions our county commissioners make? It’s taken me quite a few years to fully understand how common the practice of using these two words is.

Recently, our county commissioner’s wrote a new shoreline management document. Some of the decisions around this issue are being impacted by seasonal sea level rise, which can be good or bad for how our shorelines and the environment they encompass are treated.

Last November, we had what’s called king tides, which are the highest tides of the year that flood beach front property and even roads on our island. I remember, last November, when roads and yards all along Mutiny Bay were flooded for about a week. I think I recall, West Beach Road on North Whidbey flooding at the same time.

Many other parts of our country have been experiencing these kinds of flooding issues longer than we have, some of that has been because of storms, but now many of these areas are having regular floods almost every time they have a high tide. Along the East and Gulf Coast, these have become regular occurrences. How have they adjusted to homes and yards flooding along the shorelines? The options are moving the house, abandoning it to the sea, and lifting them onto stilt foundations. In recent news reports, you can see the stilt homes with the water washing through the parking on the sea level bottoms of these homes, but the one thing you don’t see, is cement bulkheads along their shorelines, because they have already learned these are both temporary protection, and will impact the rest of the shoreline around them.

Washington has also had to deal with these issues and has been making decisions and notifying some land owners of their options, none of which includes cement bulkheads. We had such a decision in Island County in the 1990s, when at the southern part of Mutiny Bay, after the county had approved a cement bulkhead, the local citizens appealed the decision and the state stopped the building of this bulkhead.

Now we get down to that question of the, “should” vs “shall,” part of county regulation. My guess is “should” means it would be better for all of us if you did, “shall, seems to mean you’re required to follow this regulation. The state seems to be making decisions that you “shall” follow their rules, but a couple of the county commissioners, Jill Johnson and Melanie Bacon, just like back in the 1990s, are saying you “should” not do cement bulkheads, but maybe we’ll let you?

Please support the Democratic candidates running against them, Christina Elliott, and Maria Shimada, who will clearly govern, protect our shorelines and not try and deceive us.

Jerry Hill

Freeland