Asset Mapping Summary of Friday Harbor

First Round: Unofficial Results Prior to Data Analyses

Introduction

            As part of the Hi Tech High project, researchers held interviews with community members to gain a better knowledge of community functioning and networks.  Four researchers, split into two teams of two, interviewed 32 respondents during a two-day period in May 2003.  Each interview lasted between a half-hour to an hour and consisted of one researcher in each group driving the interview by asking questions and note taking with the other researcher taking extensive notes and asking follow-up questions.  A recording device was not used in any of the interviews. 

The interviewers explained to the respondents that the questions were being asked in order to map the assets of the community and to provide the community with a baseline prior to the implementation of the Hi Tech High.  In three years, after the Hi Tech High is implemented, researchers will conduct follow-up interviews to examine the effects of the new school on the community.  The researchers answered to the best of their capability any questions the respondents had and ended the session by handing out a survey that was to be completed on the respondent’s own time and mailed to the researchers.  The following is a summary of the respondents’ replies to the interview questions.

Organization Involvement and Leadership Positions

            On average, respondents belonged to four different local organizations, with a range of 0 to 14.  Respondents were members of a wide variety of organizations, boards, and committees.  They were involved in a total of 94 different local or countywide organizations. 

An intricate web appears to be in place among members in different organizations.  It appears that many organizations are linked to numerous other organizations through the involvement of respondents themselves in multiple organizations and/or having close friends or relatives involved in different organizations. Respondents mentioned several times how there are 100 non-profit organizations on the island.  Several respondents felt that there were too many non-profit organizations.  Because local residents would start a new organization instead of participating in an already existing organization, respondents felt that while having committed people in the community with lots of ideas was positive, too many organizations could also be negative in certain ways.  “People get stretched really thin.”  “Local businesses get really tapped for all of the contributions and donations that are being asked of them by all of the non-profit organizations and these non-profit organizations compete for fundraising events.” 

The majority of respondents were members of at least one organization that was not local or county-wide.  The average number of non-local organizations per respondent was one, with a maximum of five.  On average, respondents held two leadership positions, local or non local, in the past five years.  The maximum number of leadership positions was seven.  Several of the respondents held a public office or a position on a government board during the past five years. 

Networking

            There was no one core group of individuals involved in community affairs.  Instead, respondents had a wide variety of friends and relatives involved in community affairs, and nearly all of the respondents had at least one close friend or relative involved in community matters.  Most had several friends or relatives active in the community.  Several respondents mentioned that they had too many friends or relatives involved in the community.  Respondents mentioned many different names of individuals who were either friends or family and involved in a wide variety of organizations and community affairs.  There did not seem to be a group of individuals or a single organization that stood out as being personally connected to multiple respondents.

Recreational Activities 

            The vast majority of respondents reported participating in an outdoor activity such as biking, kayaking, walking, hiking, boating, gardening, etc. for recreation and leisure.  Most of the respondents who reported doing an outdoor activity did so on an individual basis and not in a group.  A substantial number of respondents also reported reading and going to the gym for leisure.  Approximately two-thirds of these activities were also done on an individual basis.  Only a small minority of respondents reported attending youth sporting events as recreation and leisure.  Some respondents reported not having enough, if any, time for recreation after working and tending to their organizational commitments.

Church Relations

            Of the respondents, 63% did not belong to a church, a few considered themselves to be a member of a church but not very active in it, and the remainder considered themselves to be moderately active or very active in their church.  Out of the respondents who were members of a church, a wide variety of church denominations were named.  Several other respondents believed that the Presbyterian Church was the largest church in terms of membership in the community.  Churches as a whole were mentioned by many as being significant to the community, while several singled out the Presbyterian Church as being a significant social group in a nondenominational sense.  A few also mentioned the churches as being a place to gather.

Significant Social Groups

            Respondents named over 60 different significant and leading social groups.  The social groups named were very diverse in general characteristics of members, numbers of members, and purpose of the group.  Service oriented social clubs, such as the Kiwanis, Soroptimists, and Lions club, were the most frequently mentioned type of social group.  The Yacht Club was the second most frequently mentioned social club.  The theatre group and churches were mentioned by about one-third of the respondents as being significant social groups.  The other 58 social groups mentioned were only cited by one or a couple of respondents.  Of the 60+ social groups given, six of them were groups that were youth-oriented and had youth as members.  Respondents named few social groups that were gender or age specific.  The vast majority of significant and leading social groups were composed of adult members specific to a cause or task.

Gathering Places

            Overall, respondents named 34 gathering places in the community.  Several respondents mentioned ten core gathering places.  The senior center was most frequently mentioned followed by the community theatre, the bars and pubs, the bowling ally, the American Legion and Grange, the yacht club and the health club and churches. 

Respondents listed many different restaurants and coffee shops as gathering places, with Vic’s cited most often.  Approximately half of the respondents mentioned at least one restaurant or coffee shop as a gathering place.  Most of the places mentioned were gathering places for adults and older adults. 

Several respondents stated that the community had a “dearth of gathering places for youth.”  The streets, corner, park, beaches, skate park and bowling alley were the only gathering places where respondents specifically mentioned youth frequenting.  The bowling alley was the only structural facility that respondents specifically named as a youth gathering place.  Along with youth, families and league bowlers also gathered there.

The senior center, most frequently mentioned, had many events that were open to everyone, but primarily older adults and retirees gathered there.  In terms of the community theater, respondents disagreed on who typically gathered there.  Some respondents claimed that a variety of people gathered there while many others claimed that the social elite, more conservative and older crowd gathered there. 

A wide variety of people gathered at the different bars; however, respondents mentioned the working class more often than any other specific group.  Rounding out the top five most frequently mentioned gathering places were the American Legion and the Grange.  The Grange held events such as dances and weddings as well as served as a meeting place for non-profit organizations.  Veterans and their families gathered at the American Legion; however, it was thought that drinkers gathered there and that anyone could get in if they tried.     

Percentages of Friends in Community and Adults Known by Name       

On average, approximately half of the respondents’ friends lived in the community.  Close to half of the respondents said that most of their friends lived in the community.  On average, the respondents thought they knew less than half of the adults living in the community by name. 

Community Representation

            A core group of people was mentioned as representing the community to the outside.  While approximately 50 different individuals were named as being effective in representing the community to the outside, four individuals were named repeatedly.  Nearly every respondent was able to name one effective representative of the community, with many naming multiple people.

Decision Makers

Respondents gave differing views on the individuals who could make a decision on a proposed community project.  One-third of the respondents claimed that different individuals made the decisions about different kinds of projects.  Many expressed that if the project was water related, a different set of people would make the decision than if it was land related.  Others claimed that if it was school related, the people making the decision would be different than if it was health related.  It was also expressed that the people making decisions would differ if funds were brought in from the outside than if funds came out of local taxes.  While several people expressed this point of view, others mentioned several individuals and a core group of people came up often among respondents.  One individual was named most frequently but an additional 5 individuals were also named by many respondents as being able to make a decision about a community project.  Thirty-four other people were each mentioned once or a couple of times. 

Individuals Effective in Implementing Projects

Overall, 73 individuals were named as being effective in implementing projects.  Nearly every respondent was able to think of multiple individuals who could get a project done.  One individual was named most frequently but an additional 3 individuals were also named by many respondents.  The other 69 individuals named by respondents were mentioned by one or a couple of respondents as being effective.  A small percent of respondents believed that it depended on the project as to who was effective.  It was expressed by some respondents that many people in the community were good at implementing projects and many are also involved and doing a lot of things.

Individuals Effective in Stopping Projects

Respondents had a more difficult time listing the people who could effectively stop projects.  Several respondents did not know of individuals who could stop projects or were unsure of the individuals they named.  Respondents were likely to mention groups as stopping projects.   It was explained to respondents that stopping projects could be for either positive or negative reasons and many respondents stressed that the people they named stopped projects for positive reasons and for the betterment of the community.  One individual was named most frequently as stopping projects but three additional individuals or groups were also named by many respondents.

  Drug/Alcohol Use

            Several respondents thought that there was an “overemphasis” on alcohol and drug use among the public – both adults and youth.  Respondents saw AA as a significant social group in town and thought that there were many alcoholics that did not attend AA meetings.  Respondents also mentioned that alcohol and drug use had become a cultural norm for the community.  Some respondents believed that serving alcohol at social events was contributing to alcohol abuse and should not be done, while others believed that serving alcohol added to the festivities.  It was expressed that drug and alcohol programs were not as effective as they should be and were “hard to penetrate”  (when one came back from treatment, it was hard to get away from drugs and alcohol.) 

Several respondents mentioned bars as being gathering places in the community.  Some respondents believed that alcohol and drugs were a major problem among youth as young as the 6^th grade and that access to alcohol and drugs was easy.  Others thought that the youth in the community were, on the average, “better kids” than youth in bigger communities and cities and that one always knew where and what the youth were doing.

Race Relations

          All respondents appeared to be of Caucasian background.  A small minority of respondents mentioned an Hispanic population on the island, the rest made no reference to an Hispanic population or any other ethnic group.  Of those who did mention an Hispanic population, all thought that it was growing in numbers.  It was also expressed that the Hispanic groups were not finding enough work.  It was believed that word of mouth had been the only way to reach the Hispanic population.  Very few respondents mentioned a primarily Hispanic social group as being significant or leading in the community.

Youth/Adult Relations

          A division existed among the respondents regarding their perceptions of youth and community relations.  Some respondents felt that the community was very supportive of the schools and youth and that the youth were well connected with the community.  It was expressed that the newspaper and online websites did a nice job of endorsing the youth and that most of the individuals in the community supported the youth.  Some respondents emphasized how the community and different organizations raised and gave a large amount of scholarship money for a large number of students going to college.  Several respondents believed that scholarship money was available to any youth who wanted to go to college.  Besides scholarship money available to the youth, other respondents stated that the community attended the school theatrical plays and also attended high school sporting events (although not as frequently).  However, on the other side of the spectrum were the respondents who believed that the community was not very connected with its youth.

            Other respondents felt that there was a large gap between youth in the community and the retired, wealthier people of the community.  They thought that these people did not go to football games and that the community did not hear about what the youth were doing, what organizations they were creating and building, and how they were impacting the community.  Several respondents saw the need for more recreational activities for youth on the island.  Respondents felt that more constructive “cool stuff” was needed for the youth and that sometimes teenagers felt as if they had nowhere to go.   Some respondents believed that adults could get so involved in their own projects that the youth were left out and that there were few places for youth to be.  It was also articulated that the youth’s voices needed to be heard where their experiences would be valued.

Economic Relations

            Several respondents saw a severe economic divide in the community.  They mentioned that affordable housing was a major problem and that the county had the biggest gap in the state between the prices of houses in the community and the people’s wages who live there.  Respondents also mentioned that there were very few members of the middle class in the community because people were either working multiple jobs or were very wealthy.  Respondents described the island as being divided in half: describing half of the people as the “San Francisco boutique type” and the other half as the “Alaskan fishing village”.  The village people were poorer and criticized the boutique crowd for “running prices up.”  It was also mentioned that the biggest source of income on the island was from returns on dividends.  Several were concerned about poverty on the island.  The trailer park in town consisted of many travel trailers that were arranged haphazardly with little green space in the area.  There was mention of some subsidized apartments for people earning 60% or less of the median income and that there was some affordable housing.  Besides a problem with affordable housing, respondents also mentioned that the growing Hispanic population were not finding enough work. 

Concluding Remarks about the Hi Tech High and Gates’ Grant

            After explaining to the respondents what the Hi Tech High entailed and what the purpose of the Gates’ grants were, the respondents gave differing points of view.  Several respondents were concerned that the Gates’ grants would not be able to help their organization or what they saw as problems in the community.  Some didn’t believe that the high school did a good job of “selling” the Hi Tech High to the community.  A few respondents had mixed feelings on the Hi Tech High.  Other respondents believed that the Hi Tech High and Gates’ grants would be beneficial to the community and help in connecting youth to the community.  While respondents had differing opinions about the Hi Tech High and corresponding grants, all seemed genuinely curious about the project and wanted to know more and current information on the project.