The Green Party of South Puget Sound takes a stand against the militarization of Olympia's port

author : Drew Hendricks topic : Green Party | Iraq occupation | Port Militarization Resistance | Port of Olympia

by Drew Hendricks

On March 24, the Green Party of South Puget Sound decided to petition the Port of Olympia Commissioners to change the name of our Port to "Peace Port of Thurston County."

We would rather run a candidate for one or both of the seats up for election this Fall, but we could find no candidate after three months of trying to identify someone within the districts up for election. Instead, the name change campaign is our backup plan of action against the militarization of the Port.

The name change campaign is a way for us to have an impact the existing races for the two open seats, making the militarization of the Port an issue in the election for all the candidates. They will each have to address the issue during the campaign because of our petition. It is also a way to secure a referendum on the question of military use of public property, which would appear on the General Election Ballot along with the candidates for office.

There are three seats on the Port of Olympia Commission. They are elected by district, if there is a primary. These districts have the same boundaries as the County Commissioner's districts. Each seat must be filled by someone who lives within that district. At the general election, each seat is voted on by all of Thurston County's voters.

The two seats up for election in 2005 are districts two and three. These are the districts at the Eastern and Western edges of the county. The central district (#1) which covers Olympia is held by Robert Van Schoorl and was elected in 2003. We supported Ken Filak in that race, and he earned just under 40% of the votes cast in the election.

If more than two people file for office in any single port district, a primary is held just within that district so that only two choices are left to the voters in the General Election in November. If there are only two people filed for office, there is no primary and both go directly to the General Election. Thus, if we ran someone in the third district (Tumwater, Rochester, Western Thurston County) we would trigger a primary election between Paul Telford, the sitting commissioner, and Ed Stanley, a Tumwater City Councilman who is rumored to be running for the seat, and our third candidate. That would essentially double the cost of winning the seat and reduce our chances to win significantly.

If we could run someone for the second district (Yelm, Ranier, parts of Lacey and Eastern Thurston County) we would likely avoid a primary and have a much better chance to win that seat. To change the military policy at the port we need two of three seats voting with us.

To secure a ballot item for changing the name of the Port of Olympia, we need to collect signatures of registered voters equal to 10% of the votes cast in the 2003 race, or just over 4,136 people. We can do this by collecting just 28 signatures per day between now and September 23, 2005 -- the 45-day cutoff prior to the November 8th General Election. Once that hurdle is jumped, we would have to convince somewhere near 30,000 voters to vote for a name change. The vote would be binding as a name change, and would probably scare the new commission into doing what we want, but would not be binding as a policy change. However, we thought that doing nothing was a less viable option. Our authority for the petition is found at RCW 53.04.110

If you live in the second port district and are willing to run for office, you're about 35 days late to begin raising money and supporters -- but call us anyway. The deadline for filing for office is still ahead of us, and a late campaign is better than no campaign. If you live anywhere in Thurston County and would like to collect petition signatures toward our name change petition, then call us. We would like to begin collecting signatures as early as the Procession of the Species. The number is 870-3127.