A friend reports from the Sequim City Council meeting this evening (shrill harpy sighting ahead, keep reading). Big decision tonight: would the City adopt the heinous, union busting Propositions 1 and 2? Or would they punt and put it on the ballot? Props 1 & 2, foisted on the citizens of Sequim by the certifiably frothing at the mouth Evergreen Freedom Foundation, would open all union negotiations to the public and relax any requirement to join a union shop to work. In effect, a right to work law. Washington is not a right to work state, so this would place the citizens of Sequim in the position of violating state law by adopting these props. They would not survive a legal challenge and the city will be forced to defend itself, costing the taxpayers money. All to satisfy the insatiable blood lust of some of the most crazed among us (see harpy reference above). The Evergreen Freedom Foundation knows this. They also have a strategy defined and its sole purpose is to raise their profile with their donor base to show them that the FF is doing something with their donations instead of what they normally do which is sit on their duffs in the bars around Olympia. You can imagine the divisive nature of such propositions in a small town and you'd be right, this is bringing out the worst in public behavior.
So as to the harpy, I'll call her T, a person who shows up in google searches. T was amongst the speakers there this evening, I've seen her perform in a public meeting before so I can easily visualize the way she looked as she launched her speech. My friend reports that she over ran her allotted time for comment and was told to stop and sit down. But T was unable to control herself and blurted out "And they're Communists, too!"
So there, there's the real feeling finally being expressed. "They're Communists!" The Crusty Codgers of Clallam County and the Evergreen Freedom Foundation have finally completely revealed themselves as the modern day iteration of the John Birch Society. Unable to reason, they resort to using a word as a slur that has actually resulted in the death of people when it was used against them in that way, in our own country.
When the Tea Party was first ramping up here in 2010 or so, I went to there meetings once in awhile. Once, they had a speaker from the state level GOP talking about upcoming federal elections. He opened his slide presentation with an image of Barack Obama sitting in a watermelon patch outside the Whitehouse. BO had a bone through his nose. Several in the audience snickered, but the moderator chided the presenter and said "We don't do that here." I actually developed respect for them even though we were so far apart politically.
But this is too far, attacking our fellow citizens in this way is reprehensible and extreme beyond the pale. The local instigators don't even live in Sequim and the real force behind it are Olympia outsiders. I hope people here realize how destructive this local bunch is and stops listening to them.
The City Council wisely did not adopt the propositions. My correspondent was unclear as to whether or not they moved them to the next ballot. We'll have to wait for another source as to what further action the took. In closing here's what the city attorney had to say about the propositions
In a legal memo to the city council, City Attorney Craig Ritchie advised them not to adopt the initiatives or refer them for the ballot because they would violate several state and city laws.
“The City of Sequim has various obligations to its citizens, including compliance with state and federal laws regulating collective bargaining,” Ritchie wrote.
“'Prop 1' and 'Prop 2' attempt to usurp or infringe upon a power granted to the governing body of the City of Sequim,” he continued.
“They interfere with and coerce administrative action. They interfere with and conflict with state law.
“They attempt to do indirectly what they cannot do directly; collectively bargain through initiative,” Ritchie wrote.
“They put the Sequim taxpayers in jeopardy of paying for potential unfair labor practices.”
Because of those issues, he said, the court would nullify the initiatives.
The Freedom Foundation fully knows this. They are cynically using our town to publicize their agenda.
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