In November San Juan County voters will choose 21 Charter Review Commissioners. They will take stock of the charter government that voters put in place in 2005 and assess its effectiveness. It will not be surprising if they find things that can be improved. Voters will be asked to approve suggested changes in 2012.
I think the future commission and the voters should consider:
1. Why are important races going uncontested?
2. How can we expect to resolve long-standing issues without enough qualified candidates to choose from on Election Day?
In 2005 the Freeholders asked the voters to approve a change to non-partisan elections. We agreed, and this is where we threw the baby out with the bathwater.
Since adopting non-partisan elections, we have seen a decline in the number of candidates on the ballot, with critical elected offices going uncontested and fewer qualified candidates to choose from.
At first glance, taking “party politics” out of local elections seemed like a reasonable decision. What we didn’t anticipate was that partisan elections had helped ensure healthy competition for these positions.
Partisan elections motivated the parties to identify, nominate and support candidates for local office; consequently the voters had more choice and more information about the candidates’ views, and candidates had campaign support.
Party affiliation opens doors in Olympia. For better or worse, elected officials from small counties have less leverage than their counterparts in metropolitan counties. Our county representatives don’t have the same connections in Olympia. Eliminating party affiliation only ensures that our representatives will have less political clout and fewer opportunities to represent us.
When the State Constitution was ratified in 1887, it created rules for partisan elections for all but judicial elections. I’m not proposing that San Juan County go back to the commission form of government, but I believe that when it comes to electing our representatives, the Constitution was right. Partisan elections provide the voters with more information, more candidates, and more choice, which are all critical to good government.
I hope our Charter Review commission will consider a return to partisan elections when they convene next year.
Sandy Strehlou
San Juan Island
