We are all used to hearing about big money in politics. Now it seems like big money has come to San Juan County politics. I first received a large glossy real estate advertisement-style postcard from the O’Day campaign. This was followed by an even glossier two-page flier for Stephanie O’Day. Then, there were the quarter-page advertisements in the Journal. This led me to wonder where the money was coming from. The answer was illuminating. Thanks to the San Juan islander I found that the majority of contributions to O’Day’s campaign, 82%, were from people not living on the island. Only 18% of the contributions to Stephanie O’Day’s campaign, which would include her own contributions, were from islanders. Stephanie O’Day’s campaign slogan is “protecting the island way of life.” The money tells a different story. I hope islanders will not fall for glossy advertisements paid for by outside money.

Laura MacGinitie Derevensky

San Juan Island