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Wednesday, July 3, 2013 • The Islands’ Sounder
Political pundits offer insight on mayoral race
by SUSAN ANDERSON
Director of Children’s House
The Honorary Mayor of Eastsound race – an annual fundraiser sponsored by and benefiting Children’s House – concludes on Saturday, July 6. Votes are accepted until 2 p.m. at the Farmers’ Market when the winner will be announced on stage and current Mayor Murphy (a Portuguese Waterdog) exchanges the key to the Village. The race is still wide open, but we’ve asked political experts Layna Mosley and Andrew Reynolds (pictured at right with his daughter Tess) to analyze the campaign so far. Voters can follow the election at http://orcasislandmayor. wordpress.com. Q: The candidates vary
quite a bit in the constituencies they’re trying to mobilize. How effective do you expect these different voter mobilization strategies to be? A: Looking at the candidates’ political platforms, it’s striking to observe the range of parties represented – LABritarians, Cascadia Separatists, Beagalitarians , Windependents and Island Independents. But can the candidates build broad enough coalitions to bring in the votes they’ll need by July 6? Winston is targeting his appeals to the canine crowd, offering to pave the streets (including Mt. Baker road) with dog treats. Jinjer also is appealing to the folks she knows best – preschoolers at OICH. But Winston isn’t the only dog in the race, so he may
have a hard time winning over voting canines. And, like preschoolers, those canines may not be the vote buying machines. This could spell trouble for Jinjer and Winston. Lucy may have hit on a broader strategy to appeal to voters – parking herself at the bar, performing the “prairie dog,” and playing
on the sympathies of beeraddled patrons. Then again, when it comes to choosing between another pint of Old Madrona or a vote for Lucy, Lucy’s supporters might not always buy the votes she needs. Q: Andrew, you’ve worked on elections in a range of places, including Afghanistan, Egypt and
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to Supreme Court rulings on voting rights as well as marriage equality. What can we expect these candidates to do to promote equality if elected? A: It all depends on whose “equality” we are talking about. These candidates are diverse in some ways – political affiliation, size of bark and body, ability to twirl like a ballerina or sit on hind legs – and yet, let’s face it, they are all dogs. While they’ve each promised, in various ways, to think about “all of their constituents,” even including cats, one has to wonder how sincere these promises are. Fair point. But that said, all five of these candidates seem to have the interests of Children’s House students at heart.
San Juan County parks bagged more than half of the Public Facilities Financing Assistance Program funds allocated for 2014 by the county council. A stair access project for Agate Beach on Lopez was awarded $75,400 and renovation of the Otis Perkins Day Park, also on Lopez, was awarded $58,900. The rest of the $264,000 in available funds was allocated to the Port of Friday Harbor and the San Juan County Fairground. The airport visitors automobile turnaround received slightly less than $22,000 and a sidewalk project on Mullis Street near the airport was awarded $33,000. At the Fairgrounds, $7,000 was awarded to the “Horticulture Greenhouse Phase I” project, $4,000 to an electrical project and $64,500 for a “double vault toilet” project. The PFFAP Advisory Committee reviews applications and recommends awards, which are screened for legal compliance by the prosecuting attorney’s office. The committee consists of the chairman of the county council, the county auditor, the county manager and a representative of the Town of Friday Harbor and one from each of the port districts. Because applications for projects from the Town of Friday Harbor and the Eastsound Sewer and Water District were incomplete, the advisory committee recommended not to consider those projects, instead suggesting re-application for next year. Funding for the local PFFAP is generated by a .09 percent sales and use tax passed by the Legislature years ago for the purpose of funding public facilities which promote economic development. Perhaps reflecting an improved economy in the islands, the amount allocated for 2014 represents an increase of about $70,000 over the amount allotted for 2013.
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Zimbabwe. What’s your sense of the election process here? A: I’ve seen my share of voter fraud – maybe even contributed to it sometimes – and I have to say that the Eastsound mayor’s race is something of a dogs breakfast. On one hand the egregious vote buying is transparent and used to good effect. I haven’t had a chance to study the ballot, but I believe it is confusing and easy to spoil. Why aren’t there color photos on the ballot for less-human voters or perhaps scratch and sniff? There are a lot of puppies chasing hanging chads, and it’s just not clear how the Supreme Court might rule on such malfeasance. Q: During the last week, there’s been lots of attention
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