04/17/2006: "Evans Response to Mr. Munsey"

Slow down a minute Tom. You seem to have yourself so tied up bashing President Bush and Republicans that you have lost all perspective on what I was writing about…namely Councilman Lichters statements about the citizen's vote in favor of guesthouses (73.5%). A vote he calls "bogus." The current Council is ignoring the wishes of the voters, plain and simple, with their intent to ban guesthouses.

At the end of your piece, you reference the amount of time that was spent by Rhea Miller, Darcie Nielsen and myself, (three former County Commissioners who actually asked the citizens what they thought about the guesthouse issue). We did spend a lot of effort working on the language that was to appear on the advisory ballot. We got a lot of very good legal advise from Randy Gaylord, the Prosecuting Attorney as well. Your comment about the effort we put into this is absolutely correct, but not as you're wording implies. Sorry.

As County Commissioners, we wanted to be sure that the citizens knew exactly what they were voting for! We did not want any question in anyone's mind as to what the vote meant. None of the shenanigans of voting no if you really mean yes or the other head-scratching mind games that get played on ballots these days. (Maybe like the .05% excise tax increase the voters are going to be asked to approve next month without a voters pamphlet that tells them what they are voting for or against and lots of open questions about how and for whose benefit the money can really be spent.)

I guess I should point out the obvious. The two Commissioners I worked with in drafting the language and who strongly supported bringing the advisory ballot forward were San Juan County Democrats. I was the single Republican on the Board of County Commissioners for eight years. The Board of County Commissioners I served on was hardly a bastion of so called "Republican development interests" that you claim.

Regarding Jackson Hole and Teton County, Wyoming and Gordy's writings that seem to have you so upset. You say you are familiar with this area. Just out of curiosity, I went to the election page of Teton County, Wyoming to see how that "fortress of Republican money" was governing itself.

Surprise!!! It appears that it is a Democrat "fortress!" Kerry carried Teton County with 52.7% of the vote. The vote was 62.24% for the Democrat candidate for Congress. The results were similar wins for the Democrat candidates for the Wyoming legislature. The Republicans managed to elect one person to the State legislature and secure one of the two open County Commissioners seats. As a Republican, I hardly call these results a landslide for the GOP.

Tom, you have a very narrow view of Republicans if you don't mind my saying so. It is true that most Republicans are not socialists, are not opposed to private enterprise, and prefer less, not more government in our lives and do believe that we can't tax our way to prosperity. Most of us are strong believers in conservation and supporters of responsible decisions to protect the quality of life for everyone in the islands.

It is interesting to note that it is San Juan County Republicans who are continuing to speak up for working families, small business owners and their employees, public sector employees, retirees and property owners. It is Republicans who seem most concerned that we are crashing headlong toward becoming the bastion of the rich and famous. To their credit, lots of responsible Democrats are beginning to speak up as well. I don't think the voters, including many Democrats and Independents are getting the kind of local representation that they expected.

It is becoming increasingly clear to many citizens, regardless of political party, that a few financially secure movers and shakers in the Friends of the San Juan's and the current three elected Democrat Commissioners, (now non-partisan Councilmen) are working hand-in-glove. Ironic isn't it, that the ones most likely to benefit from this cozy arrangement are the wealthiest in the islands.

Tom, you have a nice day and thank you for listening.

John Evans…(far from rich, and working hard on a small farm and nursery in Doe Bay).