“The man who helped save Double Bluff for public use could become involved in the effort to acquire public beach access in Clinton.In 1993 Phil Pearl was an employee of the non-profit Trust for Public Land. He arranged funding for the Double Bluff access acquisition and helped with difficult negotiations between a reluctant property owner and government agencies, primarily Island County.Since then, Pearl has moved to Langley and started his own company, Open Space Resources, of which he is the sole employee. He has met with the Clinton Community Forum which is trying to lead an effort to acquire the Kenmir property in Clinton, on the north side of the ferry dock. There is no public Puget Sound beach access in Clinton, as state ferry dock projects have taken all of the old access area.Lynae Slinden, a leader of the small Clinton Forum group, on Wednesday asked the Port of South Whidbey commissioners to take the lead on the Kenmir property, and hire Pearl to do the research and negotiations. Pearl had met with the Forum group on Jan. 31.With Commissioner Gene Sears absent, commissioners Jan Smith and Jim Hawley declined to immediately jump on the Pearl bandwagon. Instead, Smith held firm to the idea of another meeting on the subject, this one involving all the interested government bodies, ranging from Congressman Rick Larsen’s office to local Legislators, State Ferries, state Department of Transportation, the Port, and Island County Parks.It wasn’t what Slinden wanted to hear. You won’t find anyone better (than Pearl), she said, citing a positive reference from Island County Commissioner Mike Shelton, who worked with Pearl on the Double Bluff deal. We’ve got just glowing remarks about him, but he can’t work for free.We can’t commit financially to it, Smith replied, reluctant for the Port to take the lead in the property acquisition project. She said she would prefer Island County to be the lead agency. The project is not listed in the Port’s current comprehensive plan, she noted, although it will be in the new plan that will likely be adopted this spring.It’s logical to look at you, Slinden responded, pointing to the Port’s present interest the area with its recreational pier and dock, accessed through an easement across Kenmir’s property. Next week, that pier will be used for a demonstration passenger-only ferry run to Seattle.In a scope of services proposal from Pearl’s Open Space Resources, the cost of his services is broken down into three phases, totalling $12,800 for 160 hours of work at $80 per hour.Slinden finally agreed to arranging the meeting Smith suggested, sometime before the Legislature ends its business in Olympia this year. Obviously, she thought the better course would be to hire Pearl outright. He’s just a magnificent person who could make this a reality, she said. “