"County representatives need to be visible,"
Dean said during his campaign. "They need to make frequent rounds as ambassadors of democracy and open government, continually polling a diverse group of island residents and business people about the quality of their lives, their needs and expectations."Island County has a diverse population to serve - families, retirees on fixed incomes, small business owners, cottage industries, hobby farmers, the U.S. Navy, forest dweller, construction companies and Realtors," Dean says. "Such a complex mix invites county officials and island residents to leave entrenched positions to collaborate creative, just, non-political and bi-partisan win-win solutions that favor all in turn, or ideally, each in some measure."
A former theology student and later newspaperman, Dean is also a musician, songwriter, performer, artist and co-author of Camano Island: Life and Times in Island Paradise." He and his wife, Julie, a registered nurse, live on south Camano Island. Dean said he ran for office partly to ensure that Camano Island had direct, meaningful representation in a county leadership team that had formerly been comprised only of Whidbey Islanders.
Before running for office, Dean had worked for 26 years in community journalism with the Stanwood/Camano News, where he had been editor and associate publisher.
In endorsing Dean for election, current publisher Dave Pinkham described him this way:
"He listens to all sides before making a decision. He is inclusive. He is positive. He always pitches in without complaint… He gets people to work together, even if they started with major differences…It's a matter of attitude: he's never met a problem that couldn't be solved."
"He has a passion to serve. He feels his trying to improve Island County government is a calling."
