05/14/2008: "Draft Letter On Spot Checks Is Dead, Then Alive"

The County Council failed on Tuesday to pass a motion to forward a signed joint letter to the Friday Harbor Town Council for their signature, that would then be sent to U.S. Senators Murray, Cantwell, and Representative Larsen, asking that action be taken in response to ferry spot checks in Anacortes.

At some point after the open public meeting, the letter was modified, and then sighed by all of the Councilmen, except Rich Peterson, who was opposed to the content of the letter.

While the draft letter had been strongly supported in the public meeting by Chairman Howard Rosenfeld and Councilman Alan Lichter, there was less support from Councilmen Gene Knapp, Kevin Ranker, and Bob Myhr, but in the end they all signed on to a modified version of it.

Almost immediately after the letter was introduced as an agenda item on Tuesday, Councilman Lichter made a motion to forward the letter to Washington DC, contingent on the approval of the letter by the Town Council. Ranker gave a second, and then discussion began with Myhr, who had been absent for the Monday meeting- recommending striking parts of the letter that implied Border Patrol Agents do not receive adequate training; to which Ranker, Lichter and Rosenfeld agreed.

The letter had been thoroughly deconstructed at the Monday meeting by a thirteen point-by-point criticism from Councilman Rich Peterson, and Councilman Gene Knapp picked up the criticism of the letter on Tuesday by stating in response to the Lichter motion that “I have several problems” with the letter.

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Knapp questioned a request to reduce spot checks during the tourist season, noting “that is the season when were going to invite in whoever they want to keep out;” and he did not think “writing a letter about a problem, and not even mentioning the cause..” was a good idea, and suggested the cause should be included

Rosenfeld said the basic cause is “our porous borders, and the possibility of in -Giuliano’s (Border Patrol Deputy Chief) words- ‘bad people’”

At that point Ranker asked if perhaps the motion was premature, and Knapp suggested that Representative Rick Larsen letter to the Chief of the Border Patrol was “very firm, and everything in it was accurate, and understood the problems; and I kind of feel that is where this one (the draft letter) parts company.”

Knapp said that if the majority was happy to send this, that’s fine, “but I don’t I’ll sign it in it’s present form.” How and when the letter was changed is not know, since it was done out of pubic session, but in any case Knapp went along and signed the letter.

Councilman Myhr said he would happy to send his own letter, and that would solve the problem of doing a letter by committee, along with the Town, since it “Seems to take an awful lot of confusion” to write a joint letter, and the forcefully stated “I will write my own letter!”

Lichter asked if Rosenfeld would inform the Town Council that the County would be “backing away from the letter,” and asked what that may do to the Counties future relationship with the Council.

Rosenfeld responded by stating “I’m more concerned about out reputation for standing up for our business community that is concerned about this.”

Lichter said his motion to forward the amended letter to the Town Council had been defeated, and “the letter is dead; it is a dead issue” To which Rosenfeld said “that would seem to be true.”

But the letter was altered and signed anyway. As of Wednesday morning, in response to questions raised by The Island Guardian, the County Clerk had included the revised letter for formal approval at the regular Tuesday meeting on May 20th, so it now seems the Council is somewhat back on track with the Open Meetings Act.