I enjoyed an excellent tour of the facility on Tuesday, Sept. 24th, 2019.
Mr. Phil Matthews is the Wastewater Plant Supervisor. He contacted me recently after he saw that I had posted concerns related to recreational shellfish.
Phil invited me to come down and speak with him and see how the operation functions. This was a very open & hassle-free experience. I have dealt with several publicly funded departments here on Whidbey Island. In some cases, the attitude is that if you want more information, you can submit a public records request. To start the process of interacting with a department you fill out a complaint form. I would rather call it a request for service. Maybe just some human interaction would help to smooth things out.
No complaint forms or public records requests were required for me to meet with Mr. Phil Matthews. He has people skills and was ready to provide an educational component related to the Clean Water Facility. He said that storm drain runoff would be the major concern in impacting recreational shellfish. I very much appreciate the open attitude and interaction with Mr. Matthews. He provided me with a detailed information packet, describing the steps required to create clean water.
As time goes on, maybe WDFW will emphasize the issue with storm drain runoff. This would give the public a better idea of what they could do to improve the situation. It would be helpful for newspeople to keep the public informed by reporting on the sewage treatment plant outfall issue described by WDFW.
Over the years, several people who work for, or once worked for various publicly funded departments here on Whidbey Island have made a very positive impression on me.
These are people who are the best representatives of local government and the departments they work for. These folks have people skills. They are ready to make a sincere effort to improve situations and educate the public.
Thanks for taking time.
Phil Matthews
John S. Clark
Traci Faught
Photo- Whidbey scene
