Letter to the editor: Wendy Shepard

Jan. 27, 2022

A question haunted me as I considered my vote on the forthcoming EMS levy: Why am I voting yes? Reading the recent incoming emails and online letters on the levy revealed that all had their own agendas for the future of the EMS. But what about now?

The image arose of the EMTs and the paramedics and the staff who are currently on the front lines. Now, I realize that my decision to vote yes on the EMS levy has nothing to do with community politics; rather, it is the human factor that has been haunting me. The people who spend their time, some paid, many volunteer, doing the critically important job of keeping the community safe — they are the reason for me to vote yes. It has been tough work, ever since the start of COVID, and even more so with the stress of the levy hovering over them, and yet they have been hanging in there, doing their hard work. My vote is to give them my moral support, to let them know that I value their work, to let those who are thinking of working there know that this is a community that supports them.

This is not to dismiss the community politics and its many agendas for the future. However, having spent most of the 60-plus years of my professional life in long range planning with diverse populations, the first step has always been to make sure that all involved felt valued and supported. Only then can they begin to talk with each other and plan together. Where there is intense conflict and dissension, little can be accomplished until the work of mutual appreciation begins. It just might be, as our community begins to address the possibilities of beneficial mergers or other plans for the future, that communicating our gratitude for what they all do will help to open the way to more positive negotiations.

The business of the EMS levy is to approve the tax that helps to support the EMS. Period. It is a fair and just tax. Please vote yes on the EMS levy. Thank you for listening.

Wendy E. Shepard
San Juan Island