PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson Transit leaders are examining a new public service placards policy that was prompted largely by recent controversy over dueling signs about the Border Patrol in buses.
Signs created by both the American Civil Liberties Union and the Jefferson County Republican Party are now posted in different locations on the interiors of Jefferson Transit buses.
Transit General Manager Dave Turissini said Friday he has placed the public service placards draft policy on the agenda for the transit board’s April 21 meeting.
Board members David Sullivan and George Randels said they were uncertain if the matter needed immediate attention, seeing other issues — such as the temporary closure of the Hood Canal Bridge planned to begin on May 1, and a fare increase proposal — as being more pressing.
The meeting is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. the East Jefferson Fire-Rescue fire station at Lawrence and Harrison streets.
Turissini said the proposal was not much different than the criteria the bus company uses now.
‘Solidified policy’
“I just solidified the formal policy and tried to fill in the blanks,” Turissini said, describing the draft policy as based in common sense.
The proposed policy includes a three-month posting limit on public service signs, and gives Jefferson Transit the flexibility to move or remove signs to make room for paid advertising and other more timely public service announcements.
Transit Board Chairman Sullivan, a Democratic county commissioner from Cape George, said he thought the policy was a good start “but right now, we have other issues, like the bridge closure, to deal with.”
Randels, Port Townsend deputy mayor, agreed saying, ” If we’re busy with other things then I think we can wait.”
Randels and Sullivan were at odds during a March 17 meeting, with Sullivan proposing a moratorium on public service bus placards until the existing policy was re-examined and revised.
Randels, however, argued that such a move threatened free speech under the First Amendment.
He also questioned the need for a new policy saying the existing policy appears to be already working.
That led to the Transit Board voting 4-0, with Sullivan not voting, to remove the moratorium from its agenda.
Group pickets meeting
About 20 Jefferson County Republican Party supporters picketed that Jefferson Transit Authority board meeting, with county GOP Chairman Ron Gregory demanding that the party’s approved signs calling for cooperation with the Border Patrol be posted on transit buses.
The free public service announcements, Gregory said, was in answer to American Civil Liberties Union signs already posted in English and Spanish aboard 18 Jefferson Transit buses with the transit board’s approval.
Those signs apprise riders of their civil rights should Border Patrol agents board Transit buses.
The picketers carried signs in front of the Harrison Street fire hall before the meeting inside.
One side of the signs quoted the First Amendment to the Constitution protecting free speech and the other side the language of the county GOP’s proposed bus signs.
The GOP-backed signs 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 always carry your immigration papers and please show them. Cooperation is always better than confrontation.”
The ACLU-written signs already aboard Jefferson Transit buses 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.
The 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 or county GOP for the space for the signs, one each per bus.
The issue of Border Patrol signs has never come up at Clallam Transit, said Terry Weed, general manager, on Friday.
“It’s never been presented here as an issue.”
Clallam Transit public service signs are managed by an advertising agency, which allows a certain number of such signs along with paid signs, Weed said.
Border Patrol officials have said they are interested in boarding buses that travel across county lines to leave the Olympic Peninsula by ferry or car, such as on U.S. Highways 101 or 104 state Highway .
Border Patrol agents have not boarded public transit buses since 101 and 104 checkpoints and other Border Patrol efforts to protect the U.S. border took place on the North Olympic Peninsula since late last year.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
