PORT TOWNSEND — An announcement that the Jefferson County Republican Party plans to picket a Transit Authority board meeting on Tuesday over a sign has the chairman of the Transit Board calling for a moratorium on all public service signs.
“If it’s too much trouble to have to have free signs on the buses, then we should discontinue them,” said Chairman David Sullivan, a Democratic Jefferson County commissioner from Cape George who says that Jefferson Transit has bigger issues to be concerned about.
“It just makes it more important to call it quits for the whole thing. I mean everybody. It’s a real distraction for Transit right now.”
Jefferson County Republican Party supporters intend to picket Tuesday’s board meeting, where the board will consider posting county GOP signs on buses calling for cooperation with the U.S. Border Patrol — as well as hold a hearing on proposed fare increases.
The Republicans said late last month that the free public service announcements would answer American Civil Liberties Union signs — also free public service announcements — that offer adivce on what riders should do if Border Patrol agents ask them for identification.
The earliest time that the Transit Board could consider the request was Tuesday. The five-member Transit Board will meet at 1:30 p.m. at the Port Townsend Fire Station, 701 Harrison St.
“We are going to picket. We will have a demonstration outside the fire hall,” said county GOP Chairman Ron Gregory.
“It’s our First Amendment rights we’re taking about here. If they have a First Amendment right, we do, too.
“We will be there protesting and making some real simple remarks about our rights.”
Also on the agenda of the board meeting is a public hearing on proposed fare increases.
The fares are proposed to increase from $1.25 to $1.50 for an adult fare day pass, from 75 cents to $1 for a reduced fare day pass, from $20 to $24 for a full fare monthly pass, from $10 to $16 for a reduced fare monthly pass, and from $1 to $1.25 for dial-a-ride.
Sullivan proposes a moratorium on all public service signs on buses until the board can craft a policy.
“I am really disappointed with them for pushing this this far,” Sullivan said Friday. “This is one thing that a group does that ruins it for everybody.
“It’s basically a low priority right now.”
The ACLU signs, which are in English and Spanish, have been posted aboard 18 Jefferson Transit buses.
Gregory, a Port Ludlow contractor, said the county GOP recently contacted an attorney but will also ask for assistant from the same Seattle-based civil right organization that created the first bus signs.
“A letter is forthcoming to the ACLU,” he said Friday.
Review policy
Jefferson Transit Manager Dave Turissini said it would be appropriate to review the agency’s signs policy.
While advertising signs on the outside of buses and some small advertising signs inside the buses bring some revenue to Jefferson Transit, public service announcements are free to supporting groups, except for the materials used to make the signs.
Gregory said that the GOP-sponsored signs would constitute a simple response to the ACLU signs.
The ACLU signs are the result of Jefferson Transit officials wanting to make their buses a “safe haven” for riders. The transportation agency is not charging the ACLU for the space for the signs, one per bus.
Border Patrol officials have said they are interested in boarding buses that travel across county lines, such as those running between Sequim and Port Townsend.
This has created some tensions between the Border Patrol and those objecting to the increased Border Patrol presence.
GOP leaders have voiced support for the Border Patrol.
Border Patrol agents have not boarded public transit buses since checkpoints and other Border Patrol efforts to protect the U.S. border heightened on the North Olympic Peninsula since late last year.
The GOP-backed signs would state: “Please Cooperate if a Border Patrol agency questions you on this bus. Agents are doing their job. If you are questioned, be courteous. If you are not a U.S. citizen alwasy carry your immigration papers and please show them. Cooperation is always better than confrontation.”
The ACLU signs give riders three pieces of advice:
• If you’re a U.S. citizens, you don’t have to prove it.
• If you’re not a U.S. citizen an dare age 18 or older, you must show your immigration papers to federal agents.
• Everyone has the right to remain silent.
The sign titled, “Your Rights with Border Patrol Agents on this Bus,” advises riders they can contact ACLU at 206-624-2180 or www.aclu-wa.org.
