Have you noticed the nasty political attacks coming from blogs on the right? Now there¹s a PAC (Political Action Committee). Their ad states that they are “non-partisan.” Yet the PAC was first announced on the SJC Republican website:
googleusercontent.com/search?=cache/sjcrp.org/new-pac-of-interest-for-our-county-council-elections [Editor’s note: this link is a “snapshot” of a March 9 article published on the San Juan County Republican site — sjcrp.org]
Who is funding this new Republican supported “Trust Islanders?” This PAC doesn’t appear to be listed yet with the Public Disclosure Commission. But, the Republican Party’s site makes it clear that this PAC is devoted to raising money and spending big bucks to make sure the three candidates not endorsed by the Democrats win this race.
How is this not a Republican endorsement? How is this non-partisan?
Meanwhile, the letters to the editors and the bloggers just keep on telling us how we’re all supposed to keep quiet and be good little non-partisan candidates and voters.
The County’s Prosecuting Attorney has repeatedly stated the Charter only mandates the election itself be non-partisan. Meanwhile, the candidates are free to be endorsed. The Parties (and anyone else) are free to give their endorsements. It’s called free speech. That’s how it works in all the other Charter counties in Washington State that have non-partisan elections.
So please quit the posturing and just drop the fig leaf already.
Howie Rosenfeld
Friday Harbor
Mr. Rosenfeld should really do some research before picking up a pen and writing a factually flawed letter with the sole purpose of creating confusion and divisiveness within the readers mind. We are a truly non-partisan group and have sought no support from any political party.
TrustIslanders! was formed by Islanders who are justifiably concerned about the very real threats to island life by individuals and organizations that have relied on divisive rhetoric such as that displayed by Mr. Rosenfeld. These individuals and organizations have purposely damaged the fabric of our island community by tearing it apart one thread at a time. They have preached that we cannot take care of the islands that we love, that we should support draconian land use laws (CAO) that are not based on science, and that we cannot trust each other.
TrustIslanders! supports a vision of a community based on Trust. Please visit our website WWW. Trustislanders.org or read our ads that are currently in the Journal, the Sounder and the Weekly to read our clearly stated vision.
The two founding members of TrustIslanders! are Greg King and myself. Greg is known to many islanders as his family has lived and done business (former owner of Kings Market) in the San Juans for six generations. Greg recently had his first child and is concerned that the seventh generation of Kings will not grow up in the same atmosphere of neighborly trust that supported him. I am a relative newcomer. I first came here after meeting an enchanting island girl 14 years ago. Shortly after we were married, we purchased our home on San Juan Island. I love the Islanders for their creative and sometimes very non-mainland (funky) lifestyles. I am quite concerned that our island way of life is being threatened by over zealous individuals that would change our island culture from “charming” to “institutional”.
We are not the Koch brothers as Mr. Rosenfeld might like to portray us. We are only your neighbors who are honestly concerned about the erosion of a wonderful way of life. We have been joined in our vision by quite a few like minded islanders—thus the‘big bucks” that we are spending to promote Trust.
You should also know that Greg King and I are not affiliated with ANY political party. We are truly independents who vote real issues–not party lines. Most supporters of TrustIslanders! feel and vote the same way.
TrustIslanders! is a PAC that is listed with the Public Disclosure Commission and will follow all rules as required by the State of Washington.
I have dropped the Fig Leaf, but I doubt that it woke up Mr. Rosenfeld.
Royce Meyerott/San Juan Island
Howie–I am not a Republican.
I support Trust Islanders! and its message. (I also support equal rights, gay marriage, protecting the environment, the removal of the Citizens United approach to elections, and a lot of other principles that you seem to think you have the corner on.) My islander friends have a wide range of opinions, and I think that the islands are better for that.
I also think that it’s time that governments at all levels started balancing their budgets, that we don’t need “planners” and consultants to tell us how to live our lives while protecting the islands, and that we’ve done a pretty good job of protecting the islands so far.
The world is not a binary place–we are not all “this” or “that.” I was raised a staunch Democrat, campaigned for McCarthy, demonstrated against the Vietnam War, and even voted for Obama for very complicated reasons, but have been thoroughly disenchanted with both political parties for a long time.
I consider myself a moderate, with a libertarian leaning, but those are complex concepts themselves. So let Trust Islanders! speak for itself. Islanders are smart enough to know whether they want to be micromanaged or left alone; whether they want more levy lifts and state income tax or a realistic scrutiny of all spending; whether they truly believe in transparency or opacity in government; and whether they want to live in Disneyland or the funky old islands.
Finally, “spending big bucks”? You have got to be kidding. I know that’s a popular meme, but the PDC says that the Democratic-endorsed candidates have raised $58,000 to date.
Dear Mr. Rosenfeld,
Your letter of March 21st, posted in local papers, has come to our attention. We are grateful to you for having posted a picture of our email, written to our neighbors and friends on March 9th. There is nothing in our email to indicate an endorsement by a political party, but rather a group of concerned islanders who are distressed about the future direction of our county. Your letter appears to be yet another attempt at divisive partisan politics.
We wish to clarify that the San Juan Republican Party did not ask us if they could post our email to their site, nor are we members of the San Juan Republican party.
We are not officers of the PAC, however, we are supportive of Trust Islanders!
Dave and Jane Cable
Actually, Peg Manning understates the amount raised by the Democratically-endorsed candidates by $10,000. The real figure is $68,873.
I believe that the county has had a heavy hand with dealing with the public. I also believe that much of what is happening is driven by state law.
3-23-13
Response to Meyerott,
Mr. Meyerott, I would’ve let your response slide if it wasn’t for your snarky parting shot. Thank you for reminding me once again of the nasty nature of political discourse for many here where it’s okay to make belittling personal attacks on the fellow islanders you refer to as “your neighbors”. I’m sure it hasn’t gone unnoticed in some circles that these personal attacks go a long way to keep many worthy people from wanting to participate as candidates or on committees. This was proven in the late 1980’s when the then Journal editor’s attacks made it difficult to get people to serve on Town and County Planning Committees.
Thank you for reminding me and especially my wife that the most condemning photo of me falling asleep was during a very boring PowerPoint the afternoon after being up very late dealing with her father’s sudden death. So she gets to associate her father’s tragic death with costing me my re-election. While I don’t deny my other noddings off those photos weren’t as embarrassing. These noddings were due to undiagnosed sleep apnea. Since getting diagnosed the treatment pretty much took care of the issue. I very much appreciate those like Gordy, who apologized when he learned it was a medical condition.
By the way, you omitted that Greg has been a major realtor, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Your interests are not readily apparent and the other TI members are not yet posted. It’s just curious that it seems like many of the same people demanding transparency in government are reluctant practitioners.
Howie Rosenfeld
Driven by state law? More like state grants.
Mr. Rosenfeld, has it even occurred to you that you made extremely inflammatory and incorrect remarks about an organization of very well informed and concerned islanders? You then have the nerve to lecture us about the ethics of political discourse. There is something very wrong with this picture. Maybe “the pot calling the kettle black”?
Thank you for informing us about your medical condition and the possible reasons for your failed re- election campaign. I really do hope that you have your condition under control. I fail to understand how this information relates to my parting comment about your present state of awareness.
I also donʼt understand the reason for your comment revealing that Greg King is a realtor. Were you hoping to paint him in a negative light? Your question about my interests and transparency are also curious. I have recently written four letters to the editors that have been published in most of the island newspapers and websites. I have not been shy or oblique about what I think and believe. I have signed all of my letters and stand behind what I have written.
If your real interest was to find out who founded TrustIslanders!, you might have politely asked. I would have answered you in a straight forward manner as I did in my last email. I really think a more relevant question is, “what are we advocates for?” I suggest that you read our ads and go to our website. http://www.TrustIslanders>org.
Mr. Rosenfeld, you are very welcome at our next neighborhood barbecue. Please bring your humor. I will supply the hot sauce.
Royce Meyerott/San Juan Island
I’m still unable to find a listing for Trust Islanders! on the PDC website. If I have overlooked the listing can someone please post a link. Or can Mr. Meyerott tell me when the PAC was registered so I’ll have an idea of when that information might be available. Thanks.
You are likely unable to find the PDC listing for Trust Islanders! because it was formed only recently and has no reporting deadlines yet.
According to the PDC website the C1pc (“includes the purpose of the committee, reporting options, treasurer’s name, relationships with other political committees or candidates, identifies committee officers, and name of financial institution”) needs to be filed within 2 weeks of organizing or 2 weeks of when funds are expected to be received or spent. The ad in the weekly came out around March 12th (which means it was paid for earlier than that) and a fund request was sent out even earlier (it was posted on the Republican Party site on March 9th), which is why I’m surprised that I can’t find the C1pc on the PDC website. For more info on the requirements: https://www.pdc.wa.gov/filers/committees/instate.aspx
Ah–I finally found my way through the PDC site: you can find the Trust Islanders! documents through the “View Actual Reports” “Advanced Search” function. Here is the link to their reports: https://www.pdc.wa.gov/qviewreports/results.aspx?rpt=https://hera.pdc.wa.gov/PublicAppXtender/ISubmitQuery.aspx?DSN=IMAGE&AppName=PDC&FILER+NAME=*Trust%20Islanders*