On October 7, 2010 the following letter was sent to Elyse Van den Bosch, Publisher of The Islands Sounder, The Journal of the San Juan Islands, The Islands' Weekly.
Dear Ms. Van den Bosch,
There have been a number of times I have felt the coverage given to my campaign in the Sounder was lacking at best. Although I do not have the time to cover all instances, I will focus on two major instances.
The first instance I would like to address deals with the coverage given to Deputy Nou’s and my separate meet and greets at the China Pearl in Friday Harbor. A reporter from the Journal, Richard Walker, attended Deputy Nou’s meeting and wrote an article of what he observed. This article was published in the Journal and carried by the Sounder. This article is still on the on-line Sounder. A week later the Journal covered my meeting at the China Pearl and published an article. This article was not carried by the Sounder.
The second instance I will address is regarding the forum at the Firehouse in Eastsound. The reporter who wrote the article made numerous errors and failed to report much of what was said.
I read the article when it was first published on the on-line Sounder and couldn’t believe that the reporter had Deputy Nou coming from Albuquerque. That type of error displayed the overall sloppiness of the article. For example not only did I find the “Albuquerque” error, but she also wrote that I said we have been using the shotgun approach for training the last 30 years. I would never say 30 years because I haven’t been here thirty years, I said for the past few years. Quite frankly, I don’t know where the 30 years came from. The second figure that was incorrectly stated by the reporter was that Albuquerque has 400,000 calls per month for service. I stated Albuquerque had 40,000 calls per month for service. For some these two mistakes may seem minor but in a race like ours, where most folks quickly scan an article it leads people to believe that I am reckless with my numbers and it will discredit me.
There was a question that dealt with what type of equipment does the department need to improve service. Deputy Nou answered this question first. He spoke about our radio system and how it was behind the curve and that he would like to have computers in the cars as his computer now is on his desk. He then gave an example of a traffic stop and how the lack of communication capability interfered with the arrest of a wanted person. My answer to this question was extensive and covered a number of areas. Your reporter only reported one topic that does not match the question she wrote at the top of the paragraph. Again, this gives the appearance that I couldn’t answer the question. When in reality, I answered the question by first talking about getting proper CSI equipment for the department, covering DNA collection and the need to have proper equipment to do so. I then explained our radio system and how we will have to cut our radio frequency band and the difficulties that will bring about and this will take place in November. I also spoke about how a few years ago the department looked into the possibility of putting computers in the deputy’s cars and why that exercise failed due to issues with the main land, the FC and Canadian authorities. In other words, I spoke about issues that Deputy Nou had no idea about because of his inexperience within our county. Of course, this was not brought out.
A firefighter then asked another question about the radios and the inability to communicate directly between the fire department and the Sheriff’s Office. I again explained the differences between our frequencies and how one agency is on a low band and the other is on a high band and that radios that can handle both frequencies are extremely expensive. I further explained that all command rigs have both radios so they can communicate and do so on a regular basis. Again your reporter did not report this. One would think that a reporter with a basic knowledge of the islands would realize that Deputy Nou’s statement that our EMS folks and Fire departments can’t communicate with our Sheriff’s office is incorrect. The fire departments and EMS are the same organization on Orcas and Lopez. The one island that is different is San Juan because the EMS and Fire departments are separate organizations. All command rigs have both radios plus we all use the same dispatch.
I hope this points out some of the concerns I have about the campaign coverage by the Sounder. I have worked with and spoken to many reporters over my thirty-five years of police work. I have always found it disappointing when a reporter has tilted an article one way or another because of inexperience, sloppiness or bias.
I know my answers to the many questions at the Orcas forum were comprehensive and in depth. I was approached by four different people that I did not know and they each basically told me that I had blow my opponent out of the water with my complete answers. The articles written by Meredith M. Griffith in both the Sounder and the on-line Sounder do not match what took place at the forum and make me look incompetent or at best weak.
Thank you for listening to my concerns.
Brent Johnson
My wife Lynne-Ann, daughter Lenora and I have lived in the San Juan’s since Sheriff Cumming hired me as Lead Detective eight years ago. I feel I am the best candidate for the job not only because of my experience but also because of my commitment to our community. You might recognize me from previous years handouts for the Safety Fairs on San Juan Island, yeah, I'm the guy helping the kids with the fire hose. I am co-coordinator with Fire Wise an organization that helps residents and neighborhoods assess their fire risks and then helps those same neighborhoods clear out debris and ladder fuel to make homes and the environment safer. I am the guy you may have passed on Beaverton Valley Road picking up trash along a two mile stretch with my family. You will see from my bio that I am a board member with Domestic Violence Sexual Assault Services and Chair of the SJC Veteran's Advisory Board and that I am involved in my home owners association. My commitment to community lead me to run for the office of Sheriff and I ask for your support.