According to a report from County Executive candidate Joy Gilfilen, the County has - in a classic stonewall - summarily rejected the Restorative Community Coalition’s Request for an Investigation and Notice of Improper Conduct.  This was learned verbally today at the meeting of the Whatcom County Incarceration Prevention and ReductionTask Force, but the response is being processed by mail so details will not be available until after the election.  It is not known if the Task Force or the Ethics Commission actually considered the complaint, or if the County administration rejected it for them.

It appears a similar and expanded complaint filed by the Whatcom Civil Rights Project and sent to the County Prosecutor, State Attorney General and Public Disclosure Commission will also remain without response until after the election - when we can reasonably expect it to be similarly rejected.

The drive to build a regional FEMA-style detention center will resume after the election with or without the passage of the jail tax.  Citizens concerned with over-incarceration in Whatcom County will have to redouble their efforts even after the votes are counted.  Citizen outreach to the officials and agencies above will need to be resounding and substantial funds will likely need to be raised for the matter to be prosecuted in court after it is ignored by the responsible parties.

And who said your vote doesn't count?  Unfortunately it often counts too little and too late.  This is why political philosophers say the first rule is to vote the innies out.  When you've finished, you can start over.