To the editor:

Marti Anamosa’s reply to my letter to the editor concerning the Island County Democrats’ candidate endorsement meeting on June 9, gave me a good chuckle. Marti has been so tightly embedded with the Island County Democrat’s “inner sanctum” for so long that she can’t see the Democratic forest through the trees.

Let’s state some unspinable facts concerning the Island County Democrats.

In Island County, only PCOs (precinct committee officers) are allowed to vote at the candidate endorsement meetings.

Island County has 65 precincts. Only 16 precincts in Island County have a PCO elected by rank-and-file Democrats in that precinct. Nineteen precincts have no PCO representation at all, including many densely populated precincts. The remaining 30 PCOs have been appointed by the leadership of the Island County Democrats.

This translates to 75 percent of Island County precincts having leadership-appointed PCOs or no representation at all. Only 25 percent of Island County PCOs have been elected by rank-and-file Democrats in their precincts.

Any way Marti Anamosa tries to slice or spin the facts, this is not representative Democracy. This is absolutely not, as she phrases it “grassroots at its best.” A better word for it would be “appointocracy.”

The leadership of the Island County Democrats has decided to exclude rank-and-file Democrats from voting in the candidate endorsement meetings. In stark contrast, the Democratic leadership in counties in our states 40th Legislative District (all of San Juan County, the northwest part of Skagit County and the southern portion of Whatcom County) are giving all Democrats the chance to vote in their candidate endorsement meetings.

This is called inclusiveness. Inclusiveness is why I choose to remain a Democrat. Exclusiveness is a practice that belongs to the Republican Party, surely not the Democratic Party.

Craig Brant

Langley