During the pandemic, some members of the League of Women of the San Juans (LWVSJ) started kicking around the idea of reviving an Observer Corps. They had one in the early days, but it was long moribund.

When some LWVSJ members attended the caucus for the soon-to-be-issued Local News study, at the 2022 LWVWA Council in Everett, they were convinced it was time to act. While San Juan County is lucky to still have local print weeklies and a couple of on-line newspapers, it was clear that their skeleton staffs were struggling to provide coverage of local government. When asked, the Editor of The Journal of the San Juan Islands said she would gladly publish LWVSJ Observer Corps notes.

In summer 2022, board member Necia Quast began a pilot covering the County Council, Friday Harbor Town Council, The Friday Port Commission, the San Juan Island (SJI) School Board, and the SJI Public Hospital District. As the notes began to appear in The Journal, San Juan County's on-line outlets asked for the Observer Corps notes as well. At a November membership retreat, LWVSJ members approved officially establishing an Observer Corps. Five more members agreed to cover specific meetings or cover absences, and as of January 1, 2023, the Corps has gone from pilot to official—and they added the County Board of Health and the SJI Fire District to the meetings covered.

The notes themselves are concise, limited to a single page. They leave out routine actions, but cover all decisions made and provide brief descriptions of issues discussed, key points and any public comments. In addition to being published, there are links to the notes on the LWVSJ website.

The Observer Corps project has been successful on several fronts.

• The news outlets where notes are published have received lots of positive feedback, including letters to editor thanking the publications and the LWVSJ for the notes.  A recent letter-writer said the Observer Core notes kept them "in-the- know about town and county news" and are very appreciated! Writers also comment that they hope the League can continue this valuable project.  

• LWVSJ has received requests to cover additional bodies like the Planning Commission and the SJI Library Board of Trustees. The Salish Current, one of the on-line publications covering the San Juan Islands, did a news story on the Observer Corps. It has clearly raised the profile and awareness of the League in the county.
  
  Looking forward, LWVSJ hopes to bring more members on as observers to cover additional meetings as requested and to expand membership on other islands to cover school boards, ports and fire districts on the other main islands.