By Brian McClerren
Candidate San Juan County Council #3, Lopez Island

Meeting islanders across the San Juan’s has been a deeply enriching experience for me. The benefit of sharing perspectives from different islands is valuable to our residents whom often hear little of life on other islands, as well as to our Officials, whom easily forget the concerns beyond their home shores.

If we don’t know about each others’ needs, how will they be met?  If we refuse to hear from divergent perspectives, how will they be represented?  If we do not understand the values of others, how will they be respected? We do a great disservice to ourselves if we choose to believe that our varied political, social, and economic views are irreconcilable.

I find the newly proposed Charter Amendments deeply offensive. Isolating five (or six) regions in the county with District elections and Council members unaccountable beyond their own community would be a move in the wrong direction.  It will only serve to dilute any sense of Countywide community which we could try to foster.  I cannot speak for the other candidates, but I entered this race with the intention of engaging the entire County and maintaining that posture as your Councilman.

I also think that it is highly inappropriate for sitting Council members to craft an Ordinance which relates to their own employment, election, and compensation.  If allowed to stand, this Ordinance will create a time consuming and costly distraction at the worst possible time.  Please stand with me in setting aside the matter of redistricting and let’s begin finding our common ground.

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