Greetings all!

Central Committee Meeting

this Saturday 

4/29/2017

 11:45 am

Heritage Bank in Friday Harbor

All conservatives are welcome!

Since we are meeting this week, and there are a number of important deadlines early in the week, it is one of the rare weeks where I will email more than once. I will send out another reminder about our central committee meeting at the end of the week.

Note: OPALCO ballots must arrive by May 4th. Lopez special election ends today — the 25th. See last week’s email for more details. Sound Publishing has published a Q&A this week about OPALCO, found in the Islands Weekly and the Sounder.

Public Hospital District #1 is meeting tomorrow, 4/26, at the Legislative Hearing Room located at 55 Second Street. Michelle Loftus has sent us an update which can be read here. As she reports, there is a bit of a split, with several commissioners wanting to give the $50,000 in question to hospice and the paramedical program. See http://www.sjcphd.org/ for more details about the meeting. Agenda can be found here.

Today is the last day to nominate someone (or yourself) for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) (Islander reports here). We have previously circulated this issue, but by way of update, I emailed the contact, Marcia deChadenedes (SJI Nat’l Mon. Manager, Spokane district), and posted her reply on the website. It has the documents you need to apply and some explanatory information.

The Hirst Decision:

Are you are familiar with the Hirst decision? It is the court case in WA State that made it so that if you want to drill a well, you cannot do so if it might feasibly impact a river or stream. This is a major issue for property owners across the state, and a perfect example of how much local and state matters impact our daily life. It also gives the government tremendous control over whether you can build or not. State Representative John Koster (Arlington) has been doing excellent work to ameliorate the impact of this decision:

John Koster’s update here (posted on our website)
WA State Dept of Ecology has a concise overview here.
Seatle Times, March 1st: “State Senate passes bill to address ‘Hirst’ water-rights decision” (the house has not yet passed a similar measure)
To see the House bill on the table click here.
Seattle Times, April 13th: “Fix court decision: Property without water is worthless”
The Washington Policy Center has an excellent article on the Hirst decision as well, and another on water issues generally.
If you want to do something about this, you could email the members of the Committee for Agriculture and Natural Resources, but you must do it soon.
The WA Legislature also has a website that direct you to the right place to comment on a bill.

Really, this is about much more than water rights. It prevents rural development of all kinds.

Also, does this change your mind about how important the 45th Legislative district special election is? It will determine which party controls the state legislature. (click here for our past coverage of this issue). It will be on the primary ballot in August.

The legislative term ended on the 23rd of April, they are currently holding a special session (Island Guardian Reports). This is the 7th special session in 8 years and is primarily to resolve budget issues resulting from the McCleary decision (where the state supreme court held that the state was not spending enough on education).

Other Links:

San Juan Island Real Estate update. This is of interest to property owners and would-be property owners alike. Island Guardian reports.

Seattle is considering an income tax. Seriously. Seattle Times reports.

Homelessness is a difficult problem to solve and has been in the news a lot lately. I was reminded of this the other day when I saw a man sleeping outside in Friday Harbor at about midnight. The Seattle area is attempting an integrated solution. Seattle Times reports.

The county council has altered the plastic bag ordance. The Journal reports.

County Calendar: (details here)

Public Hospital District #1 Meeting

April 26, 2017, 5:00 PM @ Legislative Hearing Room

Building Advisory Council Meeting
April 27, 2017, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM @ Orcas Ferry Landing Building

Veterans Advisory Board Meeting
April 28, 2017, 11:45 AM - 1:45 PM @ Large Legislative Conference Room

SJC Council Monday Meeting
May 1, 2017, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM @ Council Hearing Room

SJC Council Tuesday Meeting
May 2, 2017, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM @ Council Hearing Room

Eastsound Plan Review Committee Meeting
May 4, 2017, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM @ Eastsound Station 21

Noxious Weed Control Board Meeting
May 5, 2017, 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM @ WSU – Skagit Campus

Human Services Advisory Board
May 8, 2017, 11:45 AM - 1:15 PM @ Large Legislative Conference Room

SJC Council Monday Meeting
May 8, 2017, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM @ Council Hearing Room

SJC Council Tuesday Meeting
May 9, 2017, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM @ Council Hearing Room

Please consider picking a meeting and attending it. If you attend any of these meetings, please pass along what you learn to me atsjcrpchair@gmail.com

If you have not heard about the special election for the 45th legislative district, it matters because it will determine which party will control the state Senate. You can read about it here. It has tremendous significance for all residents of our state, and because it is a special election it will have the attention and effort of both parties across the state. We are considering a vote at our Central committee meeting to make a modest donation as SJCRP to support GOP candidate Englund. Do you agree/disagree? Let me know.

OPALCO Election:

NEW LINKS 

I have tried to collect a number of links to local media outlets, found here on our website. There are a shocking number of them, and they vary widely in quality. Corrections and comments welcome (did I miss any?)

There are a number of upcoming county meetings, click here. Sample: SJC Council (Mar 20, 21) Solid Waste Advisory committee (Mar 23), Building Advisory council mtg (Mar 23), Veterans Advisory board meeting (Mar 31), etc.

Seattle flounders in dealing with its housing crisis with a number of measures that only discourage investment in housing: here and here. (Seattle Times). Locally in SJC we are struggling with this issue, and liberals have proposed vacation rental permit changes.

Tuesday, March 29th Bill Watson is holding a public hearing, including a “comprehensive plan update.” Journal reports.

Jill Meyer wrote a thoughtful letter to the editor, here. She has received some pushback. Those who share her concerns should consider speaking up. I do not mean to target Ms. O’Clair for questioning one of us in a somewhat unkind manner, I only mean to highlight a public issue that is of importance to many who will receive this email. The papers will publish those of us who dare to speak out, but it’s important that we support them. Try to keep it civil (as Meyer did), even if they prove uncivil; target ideas not people — even if they don’t do the same.

Border patrol responds to “sanctuary city” issue in SJC. Sounder reports. The Island Guardian also addressed this issue recently in more detail.

Bill O’Reilly on Governor Jay Inslee: https://wsrp.org/dunderhead-inslee/ (WA State RP)

Grassroots advocacy actually works. Direct constituent advocacy works, reports the Hill. A full study here by the Congressional Management Foundation. I can tell you from personal experience that when people email me, I actually listen. And I don’t get a lot of emails (though keep in mind that it’s often the case that someone else emailed me something that sharply disagrees… so be patient). Local newspapers often receive only a handful of letters, if that.

My personal favorite: environmentalists groups are silent as raw sewage drains into the Puget Sound. The Seattle Times wrote a scathing article here. The Times has run a number of articles about the failure of the treatment plant referenced, but this was by far the most scathing.

Republican WA State Treasurer Duane Davidson received a major award for his office’s financial reporting. (WA Wire)

Tucker had a particularly searing reply to the “Russians made Trump president” conspiracy theory. Fox News reports.

In my email to the Republican Party last week I listed a number of news articles of interest. Many of them I received from others, some I curated myself. I am reposting them here for convenience: 

Opponents are needed for a Lopez Hospital District ballot measure. I know nothing about this subject. If there are conservatives who have concerns let me know, and I will try to put you in touch with each other. Of course, you do NOT need my permission to write something. 

On Lopez, the Land bank is making a purchase. Islands’ Weekly reports. 

Over the last few weeks I have been telling conservatives that we need to get on the many county boards that have seats available. At least a few of you have taken this up. I noticed this week that the Journal ran an article noting the many empty seats on county councils. This includes all the islands. 

There have been a number of letters to the editor published in the Journal of the San Juans regarding the SJ Public Hospital district’s planned transfer of funds to Planned Parenthood, here and here. I don’t have a problem with either persons stating how they feel and have no intent to target either of them. I was disappointed that there were no published conservative voices. It is possible that they simply declined to publish them, but I know from having talked with them that they don’t receive many letters. For those of you who care, it’s worth considering writing something. The Island Guardian did publish one peice on the subject with a different perspective. 

Monday March 13 the League of Women Voters is holding an affordable housing forum in Friday Harbor. The Journal reports. I’d like to see conservatives show up for this. It’s important to air our concerns. Island Guardian and the Sounder also report. 

The soroptomists are having a major gala this Saturday In Friday Harbor. Island Guardian reports. 

An Orcas woman filed a civil rights complaint against “a deputy,” who turns out to have been Sheriff Ron Krebs. The Sounder reports. I generally like Sheriff Krebs and it’s hard to see that there is any merit in this case, but it is worth mentioning. It’s patterns to look for, outlier complaints can usually be discredited.

I have been worried about the economic warfare being waged by the left for some time now. Many articles have been published on this, the most recent one details the organized campaign “Grab Your Wallet” that targets conservative leaders. The (somewhat sympathetic) Seattle Times reports.

 

MEMRI ran an interesting article discussing how Saudis feel about a President Trump presidency. It shows how fault lines run in the Middle East, for many Americans they are lumped together as though they were just one place. 

The American Thinker published a peice discussing President Obama’s controversial pardon of Oscar Lopez-Rivera. 

WA State legislators take action regarding smartphone use while driving (yes, it really is as risky as driving drunk); Seattle Times reports.

What is it with far left liberals? Elizabeth Warren pretends she’s part American Indian. Former NAACP leader out of Spokane pretended she was black for years, got caught, and now she is changing her name to an African name. For the record, she’s Caucasian. Seattle Times reports.