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Within a couple of weeks, four people, the current members of the La Conner Town Council, will determine which one of the three citizens who have expressed their interest in serving will be selected to sit on council.

Usually, we rely on popular elections to determine who fills our legislative positions. That is not possible here because there is a vacant seat and it must be filled. So this particular “election” has four voters – the town council members. They will decide who will do the best job and who might best represent the majority of La Conner citizens.

Without a popular election, that latter question might just be a wild guess. However, in this situation there actually are data on Bill Bruch’s suitability for office in La Conner: How well did he do when he last faced La Conner voters in November of 2020 as a candidate for the state legislature? He received 212 votes, 30% of the votes 698 votes cast. His opponent, Dave Paul, received 486 votes, 70%. I have to believe that the La Conner voters knew the candidates and knew what they were doing in casting their votes.

There is another concern that influences his suitability for council. I believe the Washington voting system is efficient and has broad voter confidence in its results. Bill Bruch does not: He is chair of his party’s Election Integrity Committee which has serious concerns about the integrity of Skagit County, Washington state (and national) elections. I do not believe Bill Bruch could set aside highly partisan positions. But, even if he could, the citizenry who rejected him overwhelmingly last year, would have difficulty believing he is capable of doing so and confidence in our council would suffer if he was a member.

Sincerely,

Bob Raymond

La Conner