From the Charter Review Commission Outreach Committee
The next meeting of the San Juan County Charter Review Commission (CRC) is on Saturday March 24th at the Orcas Hotel from 7:30 am to 3pm (with a break for lunch). Public input is welcomed and with time set aside at 8 am again at 12 pm (after lunch). The CRC is charged with reviewing the Charter “to determine its adequacy and suitability to the needs of the County.” Changes that they propose will be put on the ballot for the public to vote on in November.
At their March 17th meeting on San Juan, the CRC heard a presentation from Friday Harbor Town Administrator King Fitch. Mr. Fitch spoke favorably of the strong mayor system used by the Town of Friday Harbor. In this system the town administrator works directly with the elected mayor and the elected council members are responsible for policy only. He explained the system of capital reserves used by the Town of Friday Harbor and expressed some concern about the financial health of the County government.
During the public comment period, former County Engineer John Van Lund encouraged the CRC to propose a five-member council. He said that such a council would be more democratic than one with only three members. He also spoke in favor of a professional administrator, and a strong separation of power. Mr. Van Lund suggested that the CRC should take the approach of suggesting incremental changes. The CRC also received comments in favor of partisan elections; in favor a motion proposed at a previous meeting that would include requiring council pre-approval for grant requests or considering offers of funding or assistance directed to county functions; and a comment in favor of a three-member council but against a full-time council with administrative power.
During their working session the CRC, by majority vote, adopted a motion that would propose including language in the Charter to prohibit Council members interacting individually with County employees from giving them reason to believe they would suffer, either personally or professionally, from taking lawful action or from refraining from unlawful action.
The CRC also considered, but did not adopt, a motion that would propose setting the County Council salaries at the median income for all of San Juan County. They also considered setting their salaries at 120% of the median County income. Another motion considered, but not adopted, would propose the creation of three new council districts of approximately equal population to replace the old County Commissioner districts.
The working model of the CRC includes a three-member full-time commission with legislative and administrative authority, countywide non-partisan elections and maintains the powers of initiative, referendum and mini-initiative. At upcoming meetings they will address how to transition in the changes to the Charter, whether any currently elected positions should be made appointed, whether to require a County administrator, and how to set Council salaries. Findings supporting the working-model are available at the CRC website (www.sanjuanco.com/committees/charterreview).
The website also has other documents considered in the Charter review and the schedule of CRC meetings. The March 31st meeting is at the San Juan Grange from 8:30am to 2pm. Members of the public are encouraged to attend the meetings and to contact any member of the Commission to voice their opinions (e-mails sent to crc@sanjuanco.com will be received by all of the CRC members).
“Another motion considered, but not adopted, would propose the creation of three new council districts of approximately equal population to replace the old County Commissioner districts.” Why would the CRC decide to use districts with unequal population? That seems subject to challenge.
Thank you for your comments, Peg. San Juan County has operated with three districts of unequal population from its inception as its own county to the adoption of the Charter in 2005. The districts have been San Juan, Orcas and Lopez, with Shaw, Waldron, Stuart, etc., included in one or another of the large districts. There is specific state legislation saying that this is legal. Although this legislation has never been challenged in court, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld similar districting of unequal populations, so long as the district boundaries are not drawn for improper purposes (e.g., racism). The CRC is considering recommending that we return to pre-Charter districts, which respected geographic island boundaries but have unequal populations. One county council position would be nominated from each district, but elected by county-wide vote.
Thank you, Moana. How disparate are the district populations?
If we go back to pre-Charter districts, roughly speaking, San Juan Island has half the population, Orcas has a third and Lopez has a sixth. Geography does strange things here.