Saturday, April 19, 2014

FOSJ Litters Beaches

Over the years, the Friends of the San Juans have gotten a lot of PR mileage out of their laudable beach cleanup activities. They have a whole webpage devoted to it.
Pollution of our oceans by marine debris is one of the fastest growing environmental problems.
On that same webpage, the Friends talk about their involvement in the San Juan Anti-Litter Initiative.
The San Juan Island Anti-Litter Initiative invites friends and neighbors to help keep our roadside and beaches litter-free. As founding members of the San Juan Island Anti-Litter Initiative ... 
So we were a little surprised a month ago when the Friends participated in the littering of county beaches for the purpose of collecting data on the currents affecting our county, ostensibly in the name of "science."
conservation groups launched about 650 ‘drift cards’ – biodegradable plywood cards, each with a unique serial number
It's hard to attribute any rational scientific justification to the Friends' actions. They could have simply looked up existing data about currents. There is a large amount of up-to-date research on the topic, as David Hyde has said:
The circulation models we now have available are mature, detailed, and tested physical science.
To us, the drift card gimmick looks like just another Friends' publicity stunt that probably has more to do with their funding than science. Friends' revenues have increased substantially since they took up the fight against coal and oil spills. Annual revenues have doubled since 2009 to over $800K, so who knows what kinds of strings are attached to that kind of money ... littering beaches may be part of the deal.

The Friends are announcing the findings on their Facebook page. We've never seen people so happy to find beach litter. Perhaps a couple of words of caution are in order though. First of all, Land Bank signs frequently say, "All collecting, including driftwood, is prohibited." Also, it's "Stuart" not "Stewart" Island. Like the currents around here, that's well documented too.


142 comments:

  1. So I guess FOSJ is trying to drum up angst about oil tanker traffic, in addition to more reasons to apply for grants. But I must have missed the action item. I have seen maps showing where all the cards have been reported. What's new. Oil from a spill has a good chance of winding up here. What does FOSJ want people to do beside send them money?

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  2. @ 12:41 ponders: "What does FOSJ want people to do beside send them money?"

    Nothing. That's it.

    Love the name: San Juan Anti-Litter Initiative. You can always tell something that was named by FOSJ types or some of the energy wackos on Lopez. The never want to create a name that isn't itself a strawman. San Juan Anti-Litter Initiative? Was there a San Juan Pro-Litter Initiative that this was created to combat? Similarly the "San Juan Citizens for Safe Technology" - was there a "San Juan Citizens for Unsafe Technology" actively engaged in nefarious activities that prompted the formation of a safe technology alternative?

    Actually, the San Juan Citizens for Safe Technology is inappropriately named based on their beliefs - since they don't believe anything invented since 1840 can be proven safe beyond a doubt, they should probably just stick with San Juan Citizens Against Technology. They can hold informational meetings on the poop deck of the square masted bark they plan on replacing the current state ferries with.

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  3. Jack Aubrey said: "@ 12:41 ponders: "What does FOSJ want people to do beside send them money?"

    Nothing. That's it."

    uhhh...no. actually, the friends would like everyone to: a) send them money, and then b) if they're other than wealthy seattle attorneys/docs owning weekend mega-mansions in the san juans, they wish you would die.

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  4. The Land Bank warning sounds ominous. Removing drift wood is prohibited. Yet the detritus the FOSJ is tossing in the water is a "drift card" composed of "biodegradable plywood." Or, to use fewer words and plain English: "Drift Wood." DO NOT TOUCH.

    Call Felix. Call the Department of Ecology. Call NOAA. Call BLM. In fact call the Friends. Raise the alarum bells. Drift wood being illegally removed. Something must be done. If not now, when? If not us, who? Where do I send my money to hire an English teacher to help these fools how to spell local place-names properly. Oh I forgot. Most of them came from the east coast to save us and spend the winters in Arizona.

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  5. Some racing sailors buy a fairly expensive currents book available at Kings-up stairs- also at the Roche Harbor store and probably several other places like bookstores!

    This currents book is very sophisticated and charts speed and direction of sea currents at different times of the day year round. Similar to a standard tide book, but with a whole lot more detailed info.

    So if you are in an around the islands sailboat race and you wonder which way to go around Shaw during a certain time period, this book will help you make the correct decision.

    But, this is only part of it, "it" being something floating in the surface of the water. There are many other factors like wind and the wind's effect on the object, and other important variables like wave run up and shoreline gyre.

    If a person wanted to know about currents around the San Juan Islands that data is readily available. It would take a very large undertaking to improve on the data we already have.

    Look out the window, is it raining? That's the level of this exercise.

    (Those folks herein offering guesses as to why FOSJ carried out this little stunt seem to have some pretty good guesses.)


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  6. I'm still looking for TH yard art thank you! We could do the same thing

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  7. The FOSJ is a cancerous boil on the buttocks of society. They raise money from guilty rich liberals in Seattle in order to do nothing more than justify their own existence. If they were just a bunch of tree hugging fools, I could tolerate their nonsense, but they are far worse. They litigate endlessly, causing good people to go broke paying lawyers because they wanted to chop down a tree, build a shed, or put a bulkhead on their beach to stop their home from sliding into the ocean. The FOSJ is an incredibly destructive group, and we need to fight them on all fronts.

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  8. Doesn't FOSJ know that you have to be more careful with (the spelling of) an island!

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  9. I have an idea. Could a group of Heronista Citizen Scientists come together to replicate the Friend's experiment. Let's see if we can confirm their startling findings that well understood oceans currents still function in about the same way they did since the last ice age?

    Who knew? Environment Canada? University of Victoria? Dr. David Hyde? Pfffttt. We need more data!

    I say drop day glow placards in the ocean with images of Kevin Ranker up to his neck in grant money. And see where they wind up.

    We'll offer people valuable free prizes and cool swag and gear for finding. That way they will have incentives to make their own and plant them and coming running out with great news of their discoveries and thereby learn about scientific grantsmanship.

    We'll provide easy to follow instructions on how to make them and how to make large graven images of important ocean heroes to boot.

    Where do I send my check?

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  10. Aren't air currents (wind) important too? Chinese coal fired power plants spew their deadly particles into the air, and they wind up falling on San Juan County wetlands. Let's get a grant to hire a plane to drop $100 bills over the Islands, with a note saying "If found, send to FOSJ, Friday Harbor".
    This will educate the citizenry to the dangers posed by the proposed coal Terminal in Bellingham, and provide Kyle Loring with much needed litigation funding.

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  11. "As founding members of the San Juan Island Anti-Litter Initiative..?" Well, not really. The Anti-Litter Initiative was well founded before one or two of the members of the FSJ came on -along with many others- as part of it.

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  12. Oh No! These are the same air currents that may possibly be wafting GMO pollen in from God knows where to alight on our locked down artisanal agriculture lands. That's illegal! We have an ordinance! You need a CUP for that! Call Vile Boring! Sue the winds! Command the tides! Turn back the clocks! Get medieval on their asses! They're coming to take me away hah hah!!

    Where do I send my check?! If not now then when? If not us then who? What could possibly go wrong? Anything! Don't you Tea Cup yahoos understand our warnings? Anything could possibly go wrong! In the face of future uncertainties we must take the precautionary approach and stop! Stop the clock! Progressives against Progress unite!

    Whoops just saw an Easter Bunny hop by with something bright and shiny. Oooh. Gotta go. Have a great day!

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  13. "biodegradable plywood cards", huh? And what of the color ink used? Lot of it, the whole card is covered with it…the question is not if wood is biodegradable -what with that being an oxymoron and all- but rather are there any negative impacts from the ink, the glue to make the plywood, and God-only knows what else. With “Friends” like these…

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  14. How many of these decomposing cards were dumped in the ocean? Who did the dumping and where? Who manufactured these cards and paid for all of this?

    So, Kyle Loring is vile and boring eh? That's pretty close to the mark. He should sue the Friends for polluting the Sacred Salish Sea.

    Did this crap actually cross international borders? Didn't the Friends (as an sovereign kingdom) sign some kind of border treaty last year? Is that why they get to pull stunts like this without permits?

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  15. They Irony of banner ads on the San Juan Islander site promoting the keystone pipeline....

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  16. Irony or the hypocrisy? From the woman who single-handedly initiated Mar Hysteria.

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  17. RCW 90.48.080

    Discharge of polluting matter in waters prohibited.


    It shall be unlawful for any person to throw, drain, run, or otherwise discharge into any of the waters of this state, or to cause, permit or suffer to be thrown, run, drained, allowed to seep or otherwise discharged into such waters any organic or inorganic matter that shall cause or tend to cause pollution of such waters according to the determination of the department, as provided for in this chapter.

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  18. Good grief.

    "According to the determination of the department." Sure pal. We've determined its not pollution if our Friends are doing it. So sue us.

    Thou shall not suffer a witch to live nor suffer to to be thrown any matter unto such waters according to the determination of the department

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  19. @ 11:54 AM

    Please someone, get a screen shot of the Northern Gateway banner ad on the San Juan Islander. That is beyond priceless ... deserves its own special TH treatment ...

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  20. So far all I'm seeing are ads for free lists of island home foreclosures. That seems consistent with the shriekster's editorial policy anyway.

    For anyone who can grab a screen shot of the elusive Northern Gateway ad, you will win a free Trojan Heron hood ornament. You must act now. Supplies are limited, really limited.

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  21. Formaldehyde is used in the composition of composite wood products (plywood, particleboard, medium density fiberboard, etc.)

    Formaldehyde can cause irritation of the skin, eyes, nose, and throat. High levels of exposure may cause some types of cancers.

    What are the effects of decomposing composite wood products, such as the Friend's "biodegradable plywood", on salmonid populations and the marine environment known by scientists to be around here? The potential possibilities are shocking to say the least. Highly uncertain.

    Formalin is a highly toxic water based solution of the carcinogenic chemical formaldehyde which is used as a preservative for biological specimens, and a ritualistic embalming fluid to prepare Euro-American humanoids for funerals. Formalin is also used to treat farmed fish of the range of parasites they are exposed to in pens.

    Does the Friends of the San Juans have any idea what it is doing? Poisoning the marine environment to prove regional ocean currents continue to flow in much the same way since Noah drank himself into a stupor after the Flood?

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  22. Not very precautionary. What about the thousands of untested chemicals that Janet Alderton keeps bellowing about? A couple of hundred of those must be in the plywood adhesive.

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  23. Such stuff probably exists…

    Patent Application number EP20080733012
    The present invention includes a panel comprising a first ply of a biodegradable wood or bamboo and a layer comprising a resin comprising cured soy protein that is optionally impregnated into a fiber containing structure. The multiply panel is biodegradable

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  24. Soy is an endocrine disruptor. OMG those poor fish! Where are the people speaking for the fish now, LINDA!

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  25. I am frankly horrified. This is far, far worse than formalin. Or, at least, it could be. We just don't know.

    So as a potentially possible negative impact of the Friend's apparent disregard for what we believe to be fragile marine ecosystems, they have failed to consider an abundance of precaution and in probable fact blatantly dumped a known endocrine disrupter into rapidly disappearing juvenile salmonid habitat. This could lead to immunodeficiency effects at key developmental phases in the salmonid life cycle. Even worse, as these endocrine disrupters concentrate through the food chain, there may be a possibility of male Orcas growing breasts.

    Who will speak for the fish I say! If the fish speakers are poisoning the fish, all hope is lost!

    But then again, what a great pitch for a grant.

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  26. This is really too much fun and too correct.

    I'm going to, in a faint way, miss FOSJ once we get rid of these extraneous and worthless people, but only because they provide for almost continuous entertainment.

    Again; is there any excuse for a 365 islander to belong to this organization? I'm a patient person, so I'm waiting, please respond.

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  27. Formalin? Soy? Friend's Fraken-Placards indiscriminately dumped in our marine environment?

    "Why should we be worried about soy? Approximately 25% of US bottle-fed infants are consuming soy at extremely high doses for their body weight and age. Should we really be so concerned about potential endocrine disruptors from trace levels of BPA exposure from plastic bottles given that babies are mainlining on isoflavones in their soy milk? It is estimated that an infant receiving exclusively soy formula would be consuming the equivalent of five birth control pills per day (Irvine et al: The Potential Adverse Effects of Soybean Phytoestrogens in Infant Feeding, New Zealand Medical Journal, 1995 May 24:318). A 2001 University of Illinois study shows that the estrogen levels in soy are sufficient to stimulate breast cancer cells in mice. According to the Guardian, soy is in 60% of all UK processed food. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that soy formula fed to infants could contribute to the early onset of puberty."

    http://risk-monger.blogactiv.eu/2012/11/12/endocrine-corruption-soy’s-dirty-little-secret/

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  28. Sweet jumpin' Jesus on a pogo stick! (no disrespect and Happy Easter!)

    We have to be really worried about juvenile salmonid species thingees around here. If babies are consuming five birth control pills day chugging soy milk, imagine what dissolving the stuff in our near shore marine environment (a critical area mind you!) could potentially be possibly having on the developmental life cycle phases of juvenile salomids.

    The poor fish trusted the Friends to speak for them! And now this? Oh betrayal thy name is Stephanie! Or, perhaps possibly Janet although more data is needed. Shame! Shame!

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  29. We demand to know the composition of the "poison shingles" that these careless despoilers deposited into our pristine waters! Did they seek the proper permits? Biodegradable or degrading the bio?

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  30. I'm worried for the fish! I tried Googling "biodegradable plywood" and gave up after the first 10 pages of results. If such a thing really existed, there would be paid ads right at the top, as usual. I can't seem to find a place to but this stuff. I guess FOSJ must have some special source. Or, they just assume because it's wood, it must be safe. Total disregard for the salmonids, mollusks, eel grass, algae, and whatever. I think a 3 minute talk at Citizen Access time before the County Council is required to shed light on this callous attack on the Marine environment. An inquiry must be launched!

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  31. Wonder what the Best Available Science has to say on this Poison on a Shingle controversy?

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  32. The Island GuardianApril 21, 2014 at 7:35 AM

    Okay, so who has one of the cards that can be tested..all in the name of science and protection of our waters.

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  33. It may be time for citizen scientists to quarantine the Friends offices in Friday Harbor. If this rogue outfit is willing to potentially despoil our fragile and pristine marine environment, just imagine the bubbling horrors they may be possibly brewing behind closed doors! We just don't know! They must be sealed off, now!

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  34. @ 7:35 AM

    Dear Mr. Island Guard Guy:

    What about the chain of custody? How can one ever be certain the sample has not been tampered with? Are the Friends going to submit an "authentic" shingle for independent third party peer review? Hah! Not likely! Will a shingle be submitted by a "Friend of a Friend" or a Friend of a Friend of a Friend of a Friend? We will never know. How can a sample be properly tested if we have no clear chain of custody? I am deeply afraid that Shingle Gate is now spiraling out of control and that only severe new regulatory measures will potentially stop the possible harm to our pristine waters.

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  35. Willful negligence! I submit that the tides and currents are well known, documented in scientific literature and commercially available publications.
    Poison shingle release points were carefully calculated to produce maximal pile up in select locations, in order to heighten the fear of a spill. "See, they cry, all this oil will wind up in your beach!". Therefore, they consciously put hazardous material into the water for political purposes. I can see the deposition now; "When, Mr Loring, did you decide to knowingly place bio-hazardous material into the Salish Sea?"

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  36. We really just cannot afford to do that kind of testing unfortunately. There's just no budget for that. We don't have the staff. Our only real option are new regulations. They will be very easy to administrate. Trust us.

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  37. Call that guy on Stuart Island! He has many shingles. Maybe he will "donate" one to be tested. Just because something is "biodegradable" doesn't mean it doesn't hang out in it's original form for YEARS.

    Anyway, I heard that having Shingles is very painful.

    Maybe that's why FOSJ got rid of them all. They want to keep their tradition of spreading pain.

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  38. Perhaps we should all conduct our own drift tests. If they can do it why can't I? Don't have any shingles around but will use something else to keep the data segregated.

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  39. It's easy. All you have to do is back up a dump truck to the edge of a feeder bluff up in Canada somewhere and unload them over the edge of a cliff into the waters below. Its easier up in Canada. They do not value marine life in the same way we do. They don't care about permitting this kind of thing. That's why they all want to bury us in Northern Gateway sludge and drift cards. They are massing on our borders, like the Russians and Ukraine. Have you heard about the "Green Soldiers" yet? Highly trained in subversion and propaganda, creeping across your borders to sew civil unrest. Beware. You think it can't happen here? Think again. I think its high time for some rumor control.

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  40. Given enough time, even Uranium 238 isotope will technically "biodegrade". About as meaningful as the label on a bag of chips that says "all natural".

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  41. "So, we can get several sheets of plywood and rip em down for our floats?

    "Right, and we'll save about 50 bucks a sheet over using solid wood.

    "Plywood sounds bad to me. Do we have a budget on this?

    "Well no, but we figure this thing is total bank! Look how good we're doing with this whole coal hysteria.

    "Well, of course, I trust your judgement and certainly this looks like a winner."

    Who is Stephanie Buffum?

    (Vanna is touching the cubes right now.)



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  42. Well given that the Friends of the San Juans are composed of natural ingredients how long do you think it would take for them to biodegrade? Some byproducts of decomposition could be highly toxic.

    What is the LD-50 of Kyle Loring?

    What is the half-life of Janet Alderton?

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  43. Of the 650 "drift cards" released, HOW MANY has FOSJ accounted for?

    And how much litter is still out there?

    And why hasn't Randy Gaylord (the SJC Prosecutor) charged FOSJ with littering?

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  44. This just in:

    A big box store is dumping 650 "drift cards" for a Mother's day promo.

    A spokesperson said: "We need to know where our customers are drifting and what better way than this to give mom an opportunity for a new toaster oven on Mother's Day."

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  45. 1) Who conceived this project in the first place?
    2) How was it funded, what was the budget?
    3) Who manufactured the card? What was the manufacturing process?
    4) At what locations were cards thrown into the ocean, how many, by whom, and under what authority?
    5) What enforcement authority does the the County have over such materials floating within County boundaries?
    7) Did any of the drift cards traverse BLM/NM protected areas?

    A petition should be drawn up and some answers demanded.

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  46. No one is asking the most important question. "What would Ed Hale do"?
    Probably just continue drooling.

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  47. What we may have here is a solid waste disaster of vastly uncertain proportions and even worse we just don't know. The potential for possible harm to nearshore aquatic ecosystemic functions and processes are just unknown.

    That is why we hire full time qualified experts such as edhale to analyze potential catastrophes such as this may or may not ever turn out to be and recommend proper precautions and regulatory measures that absolutely must be taken now before it might be too late for something about which we really have no clue.

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  48. Who will speak for the Salmon?
    Let them speak for themselves.....
    Salmon 1: "Hey Tony, stay away from those colored floating things that showed up recently. I got near one and it made my scales itch."

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  49. I can barely rise off the floor with laughter pulling me down there, but there is something becoming very clear here.

    Dig it. The water, the "Salish Sea" Puget Sound actually, BELONGS TO FOSJ!

    They can do anything F-ing thing they want with it cause it is theirs!

    NO, say it is not so.

    That's a tad difficult given the more than obvious fact that if ANY person pulled a fund raising stunt like FOSJ just did they would be fined. Their entire family/organization would be cast out forever as BAD, BAD, BAD.

    OMG what if an oil company had done this "drift test"?

    There would have been hearings, and a whole bunch of hoo ha.

    Since FOSJ is sacrosanct nothing will happen, after all, they speak for the fish and Puget Sound belongs to them. Fund raising? Well we have to understand there are essentials like gas and lipstick.

    Meanwhile the morons appointed to the Growth Management Board will arrive shortly to tell us low life types how to live. Never mind, I'm sure, that we are living cleaner than any of them. And, yes, it is kinda boring.

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  50. Kinda vile and boring.

    Who are these drift carders anyway, what with their serialized shingles and so forth?

    I thought all the drift carders fled the country and sought asylum in Canada back in the '70s? Did they just all float back?

    What happens when an innocent young Orca whale happens to see some bright and shiny object bobbing about and mistakes it for a tasty fishy morsel and "chomp" down it goes only to get stuck sideways down the poor whale's throat?

    Ack. Ack Ack. What a horrible, horrible way to die. And do you know who's fault that will be? Do you? Do you think every one of these 650 drift cards are going to wind up on a beach recovered by excitable wide eyed young Euro-American bleeding heart teen angels?

    We think not!

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  51. I think a lot of these so called drifter cards are going to make their way out into the ocean into that Great Pacific Gyre Garbage Patch, the trash vortex.

    Yeah, Friends of the San Juans, our own local trash vortex for junk science, garbage policy and rubbish regulations. Not only vile and boring, but smells funny.

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  52. Thank God for the press, now we are getting some answers. It turns out that one Captain James Slocomb commandeering his boat, the Sea Otter, along with his crew, is personally responsible for littering the Salish Sea with driftish card thingees.

    And look at the map, already this litter has gotten beyond the Straits of Juan de Fuca into the ocean, washing up on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

    http://crosscut.com/2014/04/02/puget-sound/119389/oil-spill-Vancouver-san-juans-salish-sea/

    I am so relieved the press picked up this story, aren't you?

    Stephanie Buffer, Queen of the Friends is liberally quoted herein: "You know here in the Salish Sea we're sloshing around twice a day with significant tidal variations and that can move oil around very quickly. So we could see the entire shorelines with a bathtub line full of dilbit.”

    I just love f*1&&ing science!

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  53. Seriously. Lets get a card, put it in water collected from the beach and put a cam on it. We can take bets on the date decomposition is complete.Someone will collect plenty if they are still alive.

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  54. Meanwhile, the outfit in Canada that put something in the water which actually revived the salmon runs--AND sequestered some carbon!--was raided and shut down:
    The Pacific’s Salmon Are Back — Thank Human Ingenuity

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  55. There you see, the radical environmentalists hate first nations folks as much as they hate everyone else.

    First you'll see the Friends embrace local tribes that build casinos on mudflats and wetlands as their spiritual brothers and then turn on another first nation for actually discovering a powerful method to replenish salmon fisheries.

    All in a days work. You can get money on the side from a casino operation, but where's the payola in replenishing fish stocks?

    Just follow the money. Pretty simple once you get the hang of it.

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  56. FOSJ is a cult

    Shun them

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  57. This just in! (not really):

    Pink and Yellow cards washing up on Japan's shores:
    "LITTER FROM THS USA!"
    We'll need a USA cleaning grant to get all of these cards off our beaches. Prosecute the culprits!

    Response from the SJC Prosecutor's office:

    *crickets*

    Response from the FOSJ:

    "It was for YOUR own good!"

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  58. Yes a Federal Clean Up Grant may be necessary. And supplementary funding for behavior modification facilitation therapy. Perhaps some jail time. Community service. Clean up the Port of Friday Harbor waterfront park.

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  59. No new comments recently?!?
    Must be a new buffer to protect the heron.
    Appears to be working.

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  60. It is the new CAO - Criticism Abatement Ordinance. FOSJ had it passed during a moment the video stream of the last Council meeting was paused.

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  61. I suspect David Dehlendorf's recent newspaper opinion pieces and those of his sock puppets and fellow travelers have stunned the Heron into silence.

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  62. I think President Obama sums up folks like David Dehlendorf and the Sock Puppets pretty well, actually:

    "When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance you don't really have to do anything, you just let them talk."

    Bless his heart, there he goes again. He's kind of an odd man out really, but that's what I love about the islands and our unique rural character.

    Let's give him a bigger soap box and louder megaphone and see what he does with it. That he is currently the head of our local Democrat Party committee has got to be a bit of an embarrassment to a lot of us who tend to vote Democratic tickets more often than not.

    David can parrot a buffed up mom and apple pie party platform and tell us this is what he stands for if that makes him feel worthy. But none of that matters. What matters is the authoritarian Theory X social control policy he and his companions are intent upon here.

    In that, he is only a member of a cult, a weird local mafia, and in no way represents either a majority of island voters nor the Democratic Party itself.

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  63. @10:33 very well said. Your written word should be valuable in the election ruckus that looms.
    Midterms, big machines have already begun churning.
    Me, not super articulate.
    Guess I will just beat the plowshares into swords.

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  64. Let's watch and see what other sock puppets pop out as "Dr. Doom" Dehlendorf and his lovely wife and former long time Planning Commission Chair-human Susan (I'm shocked, shocked!) fight desperately to re-establish the greatly diminished power of the now discredited Friends of the San Juans.

    That's all this is about.

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  65. SJ County is so hungry for a place to communicate about these issues, could someone who knows how please construct a website/forum where we could go to discuss issues without having to wait for the Heron to post something to respond to? Something with different subjects, where people could bring up questions, opinions, discussions, etc. I feel like we are all waiting for a new post from the Heron, hoping it might be what we want to talk about. It's not the Heron's responsiblity though, we should make a place where we could start our own subject. I would do it if I had a clue how. Anyone? Would the Heron consider an open forum on this website?

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  66. Who would participate? One third of SJC (5,000) are too old to use the Internet. According to "experts", one half (7,500) are making less than median wages ($55,000) and are thus at the "real poverty level". They can't afford an internet connection. The remaining 2,500 are evil capitalist pigs owning empty vacation houses, and are only here three months of the year. That only leaves the 9 people at FOSJ and the 3 peoples at CSA, plus county employees to blog away!

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  67. "The remaining 2,500 are evil capitalist pigs owning empty vacation houses."

    ...who collectively pay HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of dollars in property taxes to keep the services the "year-rounders" and service workers use.

    OUCH! Bite the hand that feeds you, way don'tcha?

    We all contribute here. By the way, the library hosts TONS of people who use internet and most people (even fossils) have a phone that is internet-capable.

    If you want to start a rant about ANY TOPIC, join Facebook and go to "Friday Harbor Rant and Rave!" It's VERY entertaining.

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  68. @9:15am

    Sorry, I forgot the /snark (end snark) at the end of the post. These points are typically made every time anyone proposes anything in this county that might be of use to all. The "I don't use x, therefore I won't pay for x" runs strong and deep.

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  69. Certainly occasionally one must be thankful for what we have. Certainly it is also important to move forward toward all those other things wanted.

    But, being all things to all people is not possible.

    However, I remain thankful, as I know most do, that the TH came along.

    Be happy. Everybody has a great little scrip here. And, I think most work hard to cherish that.

    So, who the F is going to win at OPALCO?

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  70. Bad news - OPALCO hired Felix to be the Sgt at Arms for the annual meeting on the ferry.

    Good news - no one will be singing any f'ing Christmas carols.

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  71. Bad news - OPALCO invited David Dehlendorf to present the First Annual Shame On You Euro-American Anti-Green Award

    Good news - Everyone is a winner.

    ReplyDelete
  72. Both incumbents, Vince Dauciunas and Glenna Hall, won in the OPALCO elections today. Both amendments were defeated. Steve Hudson needed 50 more votes to beat Glenna Hall. Does anything ever change around here? I'm a firm believer that if it ain't broke...But when it is why is it so hard for people to see that it is?

    ReplyDelete
  73. Actually, I think Judge Glenna kinda lost. Given the way the ballot was drawn up to very much favor incumbents it is amazing Hudson did as well as he did.

    I thought only corporations engaged in this obvious stacking of the deck, but seems it is quite close to home.

    ReplyDelete
  74. I'm not a public person so someone who is, please write to the Guardian and thank Howie for finally fessing up. He says,

    "In land use, every property owner wants to be able to do what he or she wants with his or her property, but they don’t want their neighbors to be able to do anything they want. So we have regulations."

    It really is about controlling their neighbors directly rather than meeting the dictates of environment.

    Thanks for the slip Howie!

    ReplyDelete
  75. On www.SanJuanUpdate.com today:
    (If anyone is brave enough, there is a comment box attached to the notice)

    "Help FRIENDS of the San Juans Celebrate 35 years by Giving BIG!

    FRIENDS of the San Juans turns 35 this year. Since 1979, we have worked hard to protect and restore the San Juan Islands for people and wildlife. The public can help us celebrate by “giving big” and helping us raise $35,000 for our Safe Shipping Program.

    FRIENDS of the San Juans is excited to take part in the Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG event this Tuesday, May 6. The more FRIENDS raises through the Seattle Foundation’s website, the more percentage of dollars we will receive from the stretch pool, and the more funding we will have to protect the Salish Sea from the risk of a major oil spill. Plus we might win a Golden Ticket! The Seattle Foundation will randomly pick donors to select a non-profit of their choice to receive an additional $1,000. And the donors they select will also receive a $100 gift certificate.

    Everyone and everything on our coast – our islands, our environment and our economy – will be directly affected by a marine oil spill. Export terminal projects proposed in British Columbia and Washington threaten to add an additional 2,620 ship visits per year to our crowded waters making us one of North America’s busiest fossil fuel shipping corridors.

    Our Safe Shipping program is generating cross-border support for increased shipping safety standards in order to reduce threats from fossil fuel vessel transportation through our shared waters. In fact, we were just at the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference last week collaborating with our Canadian and Tribal partners.

    Help FRIENDS celebrate our 35th Anniversary! Make a gift today through GiveBIG and help us raise $35,000 for our Safe Shipping program.

    Thank you for your support!"

    ReplyDelete
  76. I would like to donate ethics and a moral compass to the FOSJ since they are so obviously in need.
    Where do I send these items?

    ReplyDelete
  77. A concocted hereditary collection of people has been beating the shit out of everyone else for 35 years! Something is seriously wrong with the gene pool.

    ReplyDelete
  78. Ah, yes Spring is in the air and the wife, who loves her mower, says the grass is growing an inch a day.

    So Department of Public Works how is that guard rail grant looking now with hundreds of man hours needed to weed whip around hundreds of new guard rail posts?

    And, the truly wonderful fact is you will be doing this costly maintenance on these mostly unnecessary guardrails FOREVER!

    ReplyDelete

  79. Hey Dude! Its a safety issue.
    Personally I cant wait to get fitted for my collar with the attached short leash.
    Also. What's so wrong with a strechpool, golden ticket and gift certificate? Its for the friends to help us.
    All I know is that if I win a gift certificate I am going to use it to get some swim fins so that I can do laps in the strechpool.

    ReplyDelete
  80. It is fun to watch Dehlendorf's authoritarian puppets pop out. Hi Howie. Right on queue. Growing old and bitter aren't you. Fess up. Dorf called you a few evenings back for a favor, really need to keep up the pressure on CSA or all is lost. Can't look like its all coming from just one confused geriatric barking at the moon. Howie was happy help. Look everybody, what a grass roots groundswell. Even elder statesmen have a chance to loudly scold the greedy property owners.

    These old coots are just looking for any excuse to be peeping toms, and poke into your privacy for the sake of saving the sand lance. They are just kind of creepy that way.

    Speaking of creepy, when is Lovel going to weigh and and wierd us all out? Can't wait.

    ReplyDelete
  81. Quick question:

    Isn't it candidate filing time? Do we have a list of candidates from Lopez yet?

    Lopez- chime in and let us know what you are sending to the election!

    ReplyDelete
  82. Pleeze, Lopez rules and they know it!

    ReplyDelete
  83. Really worried Lopez will be pleased to send Rhea's gimp back into the ring unopposed and praise him for being the one adult in the room.

    Someone, anyone over there with pulse, no criminal record and half the age of Howie Rosenfeld and Bob Myhr, please, please run. Married with a kid or two? Wear sensible shoes? Got a local job or two or three?Problem solver? Actually use Facebook to keep in touch with other islanders and local issues the papers ignore? Understand the FOSJ for the creepy local mafia they are? Dear God in Heaven run, please run. Need help raising the ridiculous filing fee? Just spread the word.

    You have more support than you can possibly imagine.

    ReplyDelete
  84. My family donated $1,800, the max, to McClerren in the last round and I'm positive we would have a much different and better council had he been elected.

    Those of us who actually care on SJI will support a Lopez person with real smarts, someone who can think clearly and will do the homework. It might be nice to also have someone who leads and directs staff, rather than those who follow what staff puts on a screen.

    There is support out there, people, you don't need to ask Dehlendorf and his cabal for it.

    ReplyDelete
  85. Seems the little Dorfie is out in full force, so early.
    Coincidentally, candidate filing for office is next week.

    I appreciate those taking time to debunk the Dorf's crap. Just wish the local fishwrapper would stop printing his nonsense.

    If people are too stupid that they can't see through Dorf's trite vague general attacks, then we will again deserve the elected officials we get.

    I'm guessing that if the OPALCO board and Orcas Fire Levy are any indication of voter IQ then we will see the distinguished Jamie again elected.

    ReplyDelete
  86. It does surprise me the Journal prints the same diatribe from three different authors all saying the same thing as if there was something interesting in this tired claim that those who are involved with CSA, (Common Sense Alliance) should be barred from public office, or committees, or life in general.

    These condemned folks seem entirely reasonable to me, and every person should have and must have the right to self expression no matter who gets upset about it.

    On the other side, and there is another side, the Prez is right, just let people like Sterling and Dehlendorf rant on. It is then even more obvious how stupid they are.

    Critically, it is truly amazing the lofted San Juan Democratic Party, of which I was a member long ago, would go so low as DD for its leader. For me, that says it all.

    RUN, independents, RUN!

    ReplyDelete
  87. Election filings have begun.

    Not being an incumbent is a good way to earn votes.

    ReplyDelete
  88. "The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it."
    - Morpheus

    ReplyDelete
  89. "The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain
    occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be
    exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I
    like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the
    atmosphere."
    -Thomas Jefferson

    ReplyDelete
  90. If you see any BLUE people around in the next 2 days, say hi to them. Those would be our elected officials, holding their breath until tomorrow, hoping no one files to run against them.

    Locally, from the looks of things, once again, no one is running against:

    --Assessor, Nonpartisan 4 year term

    --Auditor, Nonpartisan 4 year term

    --County Council Residency District 3 - 4 year term

    --Prosecuting Attorney, Partisan 4 year term
    (Randy Gaylord)

    --District Court Judge, Nonpartisan Nonpartisan 4 year term
    (Currently, Judge Andrew)

    --Precinct Committee Officers " Partisan 2 year term "no filing fee"

    Really? REALLY.

    Now - Who cares about your vote?
    ONLY THREE PEOPLE:

    The Sheriff
    The Treasurer
    The Superior Court Clerk

    That's it. That's all.


    ReplyDelete
  91. Oh, make me wanna holler
    And throw up both my hands
    Yea, it makes me wanna holler
    And throw up both my hands

    http://youtu.be/57Ykv1D0qEE

    Or if you will ...

    http://youtu.be/MzvlivbptXk

    Tryin' to make it real — compared to what?

    ReplyDelete
  92. Have you had your Marvin Gaye break today? Be sure to take one tomorrow. You deserve one. Keep moving along, moving along ...

    http://youtu.be/Et-hbNXTWaQ

    ReplyDelete
  93. In a 3 way race, Ron Krebbs and a fence post should beat Ron Nou.

    If this guys end up as Sherrif again we might as well just open the islands up to the cartells. Perhaps the worst public official elected in SJC in the last 4 years. Well, with the exception of the Hughes disaster.

    ReplyDelete
  94. Is it true that Jamie is running unopposed? Has the Lopez machine crushed any alternate thinking? Or, has it dawned on people that running for any public position in this county is a recipe for misery?

    ReplyDelete
  95. Filing deadline is a few hours from now, no one has filed from District 3 for a competitive race.

    ReplyDelete
  96. District 3? Sorry, we on Lopez were thinking that Orcas and San Juan would save us in the last election, and how did that turn out.

    ReplyDelete
  97. Jamie wins four more years by massive 100% landslide, thanks to the civic minded denizens of Lopez and Shaw. We know you all did it for the greater good.

    ReplyDelete
  98. Seriously, why was there no other candidate from Lopez? Are they all too poor to afford the filing fee? Do they all like Stephens positions?

    ReplyDelete
  99. @7:57
    Or could it be the thought of having to work next to a flake like Hughes is enough to turn anyone away?

    The TH readers should have an honest debate here. Who has been the worst elected official, Princess Rickki Hughes or Rob "Fore" Nou.

    ReplyDelete
  100. Well fortunately we all have The Adult in the Room in office for four more years and if that other district doesn't snooze like Lopez just did, why in only two years you can vote for whoever runs against Hughes. Maybe Lisa will give it another whirl. God knows the Money Machine will do anything it takes. Thank heavens they won't have to spend a dime this year. But maybe its best that way. We all need a break from last year's crazed Charter bust up frenzy. And there are actually more important issues to focus on than Yet Another Council Race this year.

    My own theory of which I am seeking data to support, is that the 2014 pollen count on Lopez was unusually high these past few months leading to runny noses, sneezing fits and headaches overpowering any sensibility to mount opposition to an easily defeated Jamie Stephens.

    ReplyDelete
  101. If Randy and Jamie are running unopposed can a write-in campaign be launched?

    ReplyDelete
  102. I believe so. Check the rules with one phone call to the elections office. The August primary seems distant but coming up fast.

    There were folks interested in these positions, but may have looked pretty daunting for the lone independent. A true grass roots campaign (with the full involvement of motivated candidates who suddenly see a fresh wind at their back) could at least raise issues and perhaps even prevail.

    Although I cannot recall one case of a write in ballot ever winning. I'm sure its happened somewhere. Anyone know?

    Prepare to raise $20,000 to pull it off.

    ReplyDelete
  103. Maybe it is time for the Leave Us Alone Party of trusted independent islanders to make a run. Twenty grand crowd funded through internet fund raising sites should be quite easy to do out here, in small donations from younger voters looking for a generational change in leadership. Just getting the other side to fight like wet weasels and burn money just to tread water would be fun to watch.

    What is there to lose but our chains?

    ReplyDelete
  104. What do the people who vote for or finance Stephens think they are getting? What would an alternate candidate run on? is it "I'm not him!"?
    Or is there a substantive platform one could create? What would be on it?

    ReplyDelete
  105. Well if a Leave Us Alone Party or No Party Party gathered together there could be a very simple common platform for both Prosecuting Attorney and District 3 positions. That's almost essential to generate enough protein for a real campaign.

    So, there would have to be at least some kind of common platform. A rising tide lifts all boats. That is why, damn it all, political parties are important, or certainly the rights to free association are. Which is why David and Howie are getting cross that folks are exercising their rights of association outside of the Machine.

    So, what's the really simple platform? Look to why Sheriff Nou is falling out of favor from so many folks, across the board. There are good clues there ...

    ReplyDelete
  106. @12:22
    Senator Lisa Mirkowski of Alaska got primaried out last time but ran a successful (albeit likely fraudulent) campaign and won a national senate seat via write in.
    If no one has stepped up now, it's much less likely. The best path forward would have been to get someone on the ballot.

    The upside to Jamie running unopposed is that we won't hear nearly as much crap spewing from the Dorf.

    ReplyDelete
  107. A Google search showed a number of successful write-in cases. Strom Thurmond among them. Waddya know.

    Anyway, we are a top two primary state, and that drills down to all County offices, yes?

    So, the primary is in August. Right now, Jamie and Randy are only running unopposed for the AUGUST PRIMARY... not necessarily for the November general. And the rest of the currently uncontested positions as well. Think about it.

    If someone receives a sufficient number of write in votes for the Top Two primary, do they not then go onto the official ballot in November as one of the top two candidates?

    In that case, going into the November general would include the top two names on the official ballot.

    Getting write in votes to ensure a top two slot out of the August primary and an official ballot name for the November general as a result, does not seem too hard to me.

    What would be really hard is trying a run for write-in going into the November general. But the top two primary system in Washington provides a pretty easy on-ramp to the general by running a good write-in into the August primary.

    See how that works? Is this right? I think it is. If so, game on, there's plenty of time. And the howl of the Dorf shall be heard throughout the land.

    ReplyDelete
  108. Ok, who do we write in then?

    ReplyDelete
  109. Well, first let's reality test this top two primary idea, but it seems to make sense.

    Take it a few steps further. Running several well qualified write in candidates for say, District 3 into the August primary could potentially unseat Jamie. The top two vote getters go on to the general. Likely Jamie would be one of them but no guarantee of that.

    And the primary election is County wide I believe not just for Lopezoids and Shawristos ... only requirement is that candidates reside in that district)

    And I think the primary comes on the heels of the County Fair, so one could use the Fair for get out the vote campaigning to good effect. That and the silly but important League of Women Voters candidate forums. Although our local League has long been highjacked by the Machine.

    As to who? I'd say relax and mull this over for a bit, we have a good two month window here to let things bubble up. But definitely someone who wants the job, is not insane, has brain cells and good local street creds. Expect to need to organize folks to beseech the right person to run, however. This needs to be authentic grass roots. And there needs to be a good reason for why the candidate just didn't the hell file this past week?!2532 3

    ReplyDelete
  110. Remember, ya gotta be an attorney to run for Randy's position.

    So THAT narrows it down a bit.

    There are 65 lawyers on the ferry-serviced islands who are currently ELIGLIBLE to run for Prosecutor. There may be more on the outlying islands...

    There are 13 lawyers in the ferry-serviced islands who have voluntarily resigned or who have been suspended. I don't think they are eligible to run right now.

    And.None.Signed.Up. So, a write-in campaign would be really interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  111. Certainly we are all appalled the good people of Lopez Island could find no one to take on paper clip Jamie or the general public of these islands could find no attorney to run against dear Mr. Gaylord.

    Sad, very sad, and certainly it speaks to why we have a person like Dorfie sitting on a toilet running things.

    DD wants no one at the table except his small crib of insiders. No people who work,members of the general public, no young family types, no builders, plumbers, electricians, no truck drivers, no school teachers, no no no. (And, none of those taxpayer types either.)

    Life is sweet for DD.

    BUT, if you are tired of getting screwed and not enjoying it, then baby you gotta run. RUN RUN RUN!

    ReplyDelete
  112. I would support and vote for Colton Harris Moore over Rob Nou. By any objective measure, Moore has been much more active and involved with local law enforcement that Rob.

    Not Nou, hell no.

    ReplyDelete
  113. The idea, thank you 3:20, that someone can get officially on the final ballot simply by running as a write in the primary has real potential.

    Voters like a horse coming from behind, and with some smart people helping an aggressive, qualified candidate, I think there is a better than average chance for a young game changer to blow Jamie out of his soft chair.

    Make some money! RUN!

    ReplyDelete
  114. @8:30
    No one has stepped forward yet, why would they now?

    ReplyDelete
  115. @ 8:11 AM

    Why would you not want them to?

    To oversimplify a bit: There are two kinds of politicians in the world: Charismatic narcissists greedy for power and true public servants who need to be invited and who tend to run for office reluctantly.

    We have been fooled too often by the glamour of the former and haven't done our civic duty to reach out to the potential leaders with integrity who aren't on some kind of weird mission from God but are simply available to serve if you ask them properly and they believe they can make an honest difference.

    The demographics of San Juan County are hollowed out, we are losing our middle class, our younger working families and yet this is precisely where the future of our true islander spirit lies. These are busy people working hard and honestly and not thinking as much about politics or their potential leadership role as they should be. It is up to the rest of us, and probably a much of old geezers who see what's coming, to reach out to our younger brethren and quite frankly beg them to get involved in county politics and in exchange we will happy finance and advise their campaigns and eliminate as many obstacles as we can.

    I sort of feel like it is up to David Dehlendorf's peers to shut him and his crew of authoritarian phony bullshit progressive environmentalists down (they are neither) so the younger generation can get traction in more elected positions.

    I think the real message for any potential candidate who might want to take advantage of what the top two primary was intended to accomplish:

    "WE GOT YOUR BACK"

    Make sense

    ReplyDelete
  116. @10:42
    I never said that I didn't want them to run. I just thought that trying to unseat an incumbent is substantially easier if you have a candidate on the ballot.

    I will support anyone willing to run against an incumbent.

    ReplyDelete
  117. RCW 29a.24.311

    Write-in voting — Candidates, declaration.

    (1) Any person who desires to be a write-in candidate and have such votes counted at a primary or election may file a declaration of candidacy with the officer designated in RCW 29A.24.070 not later than the day ballots must be mailed according to RCW 29A.40.070. Declarations of candidacy for write-in candidates must be accompanied by a filing fee in the same manner as required of other candidates filing for the office as provided in RCW 29A.24.091.

    (2) Votes cast for write-in candidates who have filed such declarations of candidacy need only specify the name of the candidate in the appropriate location on the ballot in order to be counted. Write-in votes cast for any other candidate, in order to be counted, must designate the office sought and position number, if the manner in which the write-in is done does not make the office or position clear.

    (3) No person may file as a write-in candidate where:

    (a) At a general election, the person attempting to file either filed as a write-in candidate for the same office at the preceding primary or the person's name appeared on the ballot for the same office at the preceding primary;

    (b) The person attempting to file as a write-in candidate has already filed a valid write-in declaration for that primary or election;

    (c) The name of the person attempting to file already appears on the ballot as a candidate for another office, unless the other office is precinct committee officer or a temporary elected position, such as charter review board member or freeholder;

    (d) The office filed for is committee precinct officer.

    (4) The declaration of candidacy shall be similar to that required by RCW 29A.24.031. No write-in candidate filing under this section may be included in any voter's pamphlet produced under chapter 29A.32 RCW unless that candidate qualifies to have his or her name printed on the general election ballot. The legislative authority of any jurisdiction producing a local voter's pamphlet under chapter 29A.32 RCW may provide, by ordinance, for the inclusion of write-in candidates in such pamphlets.


    [2013 c 11 § 91; 2012 c 89 § 2; 2011 c 349 § 13; 2004 c 271 § 117.]

    ReplyDelete
  118. @ 10:50 AM

    Apologies, my bad. I misinterpreted, probably needed more coffee.

    ReplyDelete

  119. Game on. Two months.

    7/18/2014 is the Last day to file write-in candidacy for the August Primary RCW 29A.24.311

    http://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/calendar_list.aspx?y=2014

    ReplyDelete
  120. Meanwhile as the Heron sleeps, via the Island Guardian it appears the County Council wants to throw well over one mil on the table to address many of things enunciated here vociferously for about two years.

    As we all know here at the Heron this is basic stuff that should and could have been enacted at the first large paycheck.

    But, wait; also we get an update from the Common Sense Alliance who perhaps trying to be helpful connects us to the County as it makes a feeble attempt to assist those with questions about the "new" rules enacted in the new CAO.

    There is no way to sugar coat this one. I used the word feeble, but it's certainly obvious NO ONE can explain this crap.

    It fact, the writer constantly writes as though he or she was sitting in the FOSJ office making as much trouble as possible for every citizen wanting to do anything but eat lunch here and leave...very quickly.

    While I am amazed and frankly thankful the inactive, well paid County Council has finally started to actually do something...if it was them, which I doubt...it still remains that what they did do, the CAO, was ruinous to the County and the long suffering public.

    Thanks, but no thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  121. The Heron is sleeping during Annie.

    When the play's not the thing, The Heron will raise it's beak again...and peck...peck...peck.

    ReplyDelete
  122. Be careful on Orcas! The county road department has determined that the trees are trying to assault drivers.

    Beware of the underhanded Hemlocks and feisty Firs that after 100 years on the planet are now a threat to vehicles. Oh, and whatever you do, DO NOT trust your alder! It's out to get you! Never fear, SJC will protect you from these fast moving devious creatures!

    ReplyDelete
  123. @4:15
    What happened? What half baked scheme is the overpaid crockpot of stupidity cooking up this time?

    ReplyDelete
  124. The Bank of San Juan County (Roads Department). Has decided that our roads are unsafe and we need to take out the hazards(trees).

    And because the roads are so unsafe, Eastsound needs a Transit Hub. Yes, you read it right, a Transit Hub.

    A transit hub for a place with no busses. Rosie Burton has a train, but it won't be connected. The latest rumor is that the tunnel in Seattle will eventually connect, allowing us to finally be rid of those pesky Ferry rides. And no, the ferry won't connect to the transit hub either.

    I could get behind some kind of off-roadway bike path as a project, but a Transit Hub. If it wasn't true, it would be a really funny thing to propose!

    ReplyDelete
  125. @9:40pm

    I'm waiting for HUD to tell us that we need to build a light rail system to connect affordable housing clusters to the UGA's, because requiring cars for transportation is discrimination.

    ReplyDelete
  126. The county administrator commented on a Council meeting where the public testified. Blah, Blah, Blah he said.

    Wonderful to have the usual players in leadership. The committees staffed with people being paid by the county making recommendations to the county. San Juan County is maddening and clownish not to mention disrespectful to its citizens.

    ReplyDelete
  127. The mad clown is the Dorfmeister.

    ReplyDelete
  128. It ends not with a bang but with spam

    ReplyDelete
  129. http://www.salishrocks.org/page.php?type=item&item_handle=1400908794&menu_type=postit&return=31&offset=0&limit_key=&limit_rock=9

    Hope all the FOSJ types are happy with the National Monument designation. Want to hike with 10 friends at Iceberg Point? Going with a kayak tour at Colville Point and stepping onto the beach? Biking to Iceberg with an organized for-profit bike tour? Sorry, sorry, sorry - you'll need a Special Use Permit and an Environmental Assessment, including public hearings for the community to weigh in. Hope you're not in a hurry as the process will take between 1 and 3 years.

    The process of turning the San Juans into a theme park for the bureaucratic elite is accelerating.

    ReplyDelete
  130. Those darn trees attacking the cars, that really has to stop!

    But dig this; have you noticed the roadside mowing seems to be way off the pace, I mean this is fire protection right?

    Word is there is a budget issue, read man/woman power IE labor cost, as it takes THREE personnel to weed whack around the hundreds of...YES!! GUARD RAIL POSTS!!!.

    Well, just wait until FOSJ runs a fund raiser over the use of 2 cycle engines the County uses to add to Global Warming.

    Let us go back to whack a mole at the County Fair, no harm in that.

    ReplyDelete
  131. And meanwhile, the SMP "update" quietly moves forward. Ole Captain Hale and her merry crew of dolts prepares to unleash even more nonsense that she can surely write but can't explain or herself understand.
    Letting this fool continue to work for us taxpayers is appalling.
    Yet, somehow, she probably will be promoted and given a raise.

    ReplyDelete
  132. I have a write in campaign idea.
    Everyone who is a TH reader write in "Perry Mason" for the write in space against Randy.

    Seems like a good anonymous way to do a head count.

    ReplyDelete
  133. It appears the unopposed candidacy of Jamie Stephens has caused the Heron to commit suicide.

    We are now left to come up with our own posts:

    Two CAO's walk into a bar...

    ReplyDelete
  134. Well, since tree is one race up for grabs, shall we try to rally to bounce the guy who is currently pretending to be Sheriff?
    Not Nou, hell No.

    ReplyDelete
  135. Can this guy Hughes really be that stupid? 20 years!!! Does he actually think it takes 20 years to return fallow land to active farming.

    Try six months as the real time it takes, Mr. Councilman.

    Perhaps the Heron swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills with the full knowledge that not one man woman or child on Lopez Island could bring a challenge to the lack luster Jamie Stephens.

    Truly, people, Rick Hughes just cannot be this big of an idiot. He has some other agenda inspired by someone else, perhaps a family member? Perhaps, dare I say it? Money!

    Is this guy on the take?

    ReplyDelete
  136. Rick was probably misquoted again, that seems to happen a lot.

    Anyway, what do you get when you cross a CAO with an SMP?

    Hint: it will take a lot longer than twenty years to recover ...

    ReplyDelete
  137. Rick was probably in a room full of people that also thought it took 20 years, so he agreed with them. He's really good at that- simply agreeing with whoever is in the room.

    He hasn't had an individual thought in years. But then again, we voted for a guy whose been in sales his entire life. What did we expect?

    So who's going to run against Rick?

    ReplyDelete
  138. Might as well add Jarman to the list. I've seen stocks of Asparagus be more inspiring and effective than him.

    ReplyDelete
  139. At least Lovel and Howie kept the trains running on time. And Lisa has theories. And ... and ... Jamie has a Jaguar.

    ReplyDelete
  140. And, and...
    Rob Nou has a decent golf game. Too bad he didn't spend the same amount of time at least attempting to be Sheriff.

    Zebra One MUST GO.

    Not Nou, Hell NO.

    ReplyDelete
  141. I don't know about the trains, but I do know that Lovel and Howie actually made a brick work.

    ReplyDelete
  142. 5/30 @ 7:53 said: "At least Lovel and Howie kept the trains running on time."

    Right, it's just the ultimate destination of the boxcars making up the train, and who's in the boxcars, that has me a little worried.

    In a Lovell and Howie world, anyone wanting any personal freedom probably needs a stop at the re-education camp.

    ReplyDelete