San Juan County Councilman Jamie Stephens spoke to a group of more than 30 people at Lopez Center on April 14 as part of a series of town hall meetings hosted by the council. Stephens, County Manager Mike Thomas and County Prosecuting Attorney Randall Gaylord each spoke on different topics.
Oil Spills
“We’ve been working on vessel transportation and an increase in vessel transportation and a possibility of an oil spill for about the last six years,” said Stephens. “There are 20 more projects that are proposed. Five years ago, everybody thought ‘that would never happen; the tribes will stop this; it’s too expensive; they’ll never pass environmental concerns.’”
As those projects, like Kinder Morgan, start to move forward, the county council is trying to find ways to be more vocal about its discontent, said Stephens. The council is not alone: Salish Sea tribes met on April 21 to discuss their efforts to counteract the increase.
“They’re really frustrated,” said Stephens.
Jets
“It’s more than just 35 planes,” said Stephens, adding that the San Juan County Council responded to the Navy’s comment period for the draft Environmental Impact Statement. He said that the statement did not take into account the economic and noise impacts in the San Juan Islands.
County update
Thomas then went on to highlight strides the county made this past year such as becoming the first Leave No Trace county in the state, installing solar powered lights at the fairgrounds, assisting in the construction of the new Exchange building on Orcas and conducting a hazardous waste removal initiative. He said the county purchased two electrical vehicles, increased countywide childhood vaccinations, instituted a new website and constructed a new dispatch center over the last year.
The county’s financial status was also presented by Thomas as well as initiatives for 2017. To read a detailed breakdown of those topics given by Thomas and County Auditor Milene during a February town hall on Orcas, visit https://goo.gl/qY1hhB.
Immigration
“I’ve been a prosecutor for 30 years and I’ve read one presidential executive order,” said Gaylord. “I keep learning more about it.”
He said that the prosecuting attorney from each of the state’s 39 counties invited U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorneys and its regional head to talk about the executive orders done by President Donald Trump. For more information about those orders, see https://goo.gl/FKLpjw and https://goo.gl/6hGVKE.
According to Gaylord, the ICE representatives said that illegal immigrants are a “significant threat to national security and public safety,” said Gaylord. The prosecutors of Washington disagree with ICE about that belief, he added.
“Every city and county in Washington state are a ‘Sanctuary Jurisdiction,’” said Gaylord. “We have lots of people … who can enforce federal law. If they want to enforce the immigration law, they can.”
Gaylord said the county is willing to allow ICE to do its job but has no intention of doing the work of federal law enforcement for them. He said that is what makes San Juan County a “sanctuary county.”
“Basically, they’re using our police force to do their work,” said Gaylord. “Our sheriff doesn’t want to enter into this agreement. I don’t even want to look at it.”
Fewer crimes are being reported out of fear of deportation, said Gaylord. He added that having an undocumented immigration status is not a criminal offense but a civil one, therefore there is no reason for the county to be detaining anyone because of it.
“There’s a strong effort (in San Juan County) to get immigrants to stay,” said Gaylord.
