WITA fight continues

Published 10:00 am Wednesday, September 20, 2000

“The two factions of the Whidbey Island Transportation Association agreed to meet last Thursday, but even that agreement was short-lived. The meeting was cut short when people started walking out.Roger Scott is president of WITA, at least in the eyes of himself and his supporters. But the self-described old guard believe he quit when he walked out of an earlier meeting, and they elected their own slate of officers.Now nobody agrees on who really represents WITA, including the bank that holds its $13,000 in funds. Don Pinter, manager of the InterWest Bank branch in Clinton, made a brief appearance at Thursday’s meeting at the Eagles Hall, but only to deliver a letter stating that the bank was freezing the account until the funds are released by a court.Latecomers missed the meeting, but all agree that Scott was the first to walk out. Roger (Scott) got going, he threw the papers on the table, said Saranell DeChambeau, one of Scott’s supporters. When Scott walked out, she, Jack Negus and others followed. As they saw it, the meeting wasn’t called by the legal WITA organization. We felt we shouldn’t recognize the meeting as a WITA meeting, Scott said later.The old guard of some 20 friends remained, and chatted around plastic tables on the patio at the Eagle’s Club. Cliff Filibeck, president of their group, and such longtime WITA members as Skip Brown, Blackie Lloyd and Dick Farrow agreed on the following views:* They believe Scott, whom the then-united WITA members elected 18 months ago, did resign as president.* They loathe Scott’s well-publicized proposal that hovercraft be studied to provide water taxi service for islanders. It’s a pipe dream, said Lloyd, who served as WITA president for several years.* They are afraid hovercraft or other transportation study costs will drain WITA’s $13,000 account.* They want that money to go to college scholarships for local students, with WITA still existing as a group, but not active. If there’s a crisis we’ll start again, said Filibeck.The old guard reminisced about the founding days of WITA, when ferry workers were on strike, people risked their own money to hire a ferry, and actually built the Clinton dock where that ferry landed to take commuters to Mukilteo. After those glory days, WITA became involved in commuter parking and helping start Island Transit, but those efforts too are in the past.DeChambeau, a long-time WITA member who sides with Scott, described her take on the position of the old guard. They’re not doing anything, she said, clearly frustrated, the day after the meeting. We want to do something.The Scott faction is downplaying hovercraft, placing that idea well down a list of transportation needs. Top priorities include shuttle service to buses and working to preserve existing ferry service in light of budget threats.They’re living in the past, DeChambeau said of the old guard.By Friday, Scott was unsure what his next move would be. I’m not sure what we’re going to do, he said. In the beginning the name WITA was worth carrying on. Now, we may form our own organization . . . walk away from it, he said. Their biggest argument is, ‘We’re retired and we’re tired.’Walking away isn’t something DeChambeau is willing to consider, however.To me that’s quitting, she said. I don’t want to quit. We have the papers that say we are WITA.Such uncertainty is not a problem with the old guard. Annie Carson, secretary, said they have called a meeting for Oct. 5 to hold WITA’s annual election of officers. “