Commentary
Green Reaper fills little-known public office

By Tim White Orcas
Green Party of Washington State

San Juan County, Orcas District cemetery commissioner Tim White Orcas, a.k.a. "The Green Reaper," distributed this report on his work in elected office to Washington State Greens in 2004.

It's your Green Reaper here to sketch out what cemetery districts are about, how easy they are to get elected to and what an opportunity they provide Greens for the most local and deepest of grassroots democracy and public service.

Cemetery districts are junior taxing districts-like port commissions, school, library and fire districts-supported by local property taxes. Each is governed by a board of three elected, unpaid, nonpartisan commissioners and a paid clerk. We do or hire just about everything. Our little Orcas district here in the San Juan islands has a budget of about $30,000 to maintain and operate the publicly owned, historic Woodlawn Cemetery. Some districts have budgets of hundreds of thousands.

My work as commissioner this past year has been an eye opener. I initiated the first public meetings of the commission, as required by the Open Public Meetings Act. The law had been ignored; it was like pulling teeth to get the others to agree to the first public and advertised meeting.
We have a new clerk and now even keep minutes. Community involvement and interest has, well, resurrected.

Paid work at the cemetery is being opened up to people other than the families of commissioners. We're pulling the noxious weeds, restoring the original roadfront picket fence and considering having young offenders do their community service on the grounds.

Tending to the graves of ancestors and predecessors can be a strong healthy draw into community connection and reconciliation. Seeing those old stones inscribed with the familiar names of local roads, lakes, creeks, schools, and schoolmates touches every young person I've walked through the cemetery.

If you're contemplating making a civic contribution by running for elective office but have limits on how much time and energy you can give, read through the Ten Key Values with end-of-life issues in mind. All the values apply to the microcosmic world of death, cemetery care, ancestor reverence and burials. I have discovered there‚s even an international "Green Burial" movement.

Most cemetery commissioner positions never appear on the ballot in Washington state. Why?

Once a junior taxing district is established, the commissioners are up for election every six years. When no one files, the incumbent is allowed to continue in office if she or he wishes. Here no one had ever filed for the positions since the establishment of the district in the early 1980s-not even the incumbents who set it up.

When no one files, nothing appears on the ballot and the incumbent is allowed to continue in office if he or she wishes. The public doesn't even know there is a cemetery district or that there are incumbents out there of 20 years or more, operating however they wish.

The incumbents "rolled over" when no one files don't get a new six-year term, however; they are up for election every odd-numbered year from then on. All three of the positions in Orcas District had this status when I looked into running in late summer 2001.

I filed (for free) on the last day possible. The incumbent didn't know until too late and didn't file, so I appeared alone on the ballot. The voter pamphlet published my picture and statement on greening our cemetery, and I won with 97.1% of the vote.

My only regret is that I didn't ask two other Greens to file for the other seats. We could be doing model public service.

If you think you might want to run, urge compatriots to file for the other seats. San Juan County's Election Supervisor was a tremendous resource and encouragement for me, and your county has one too. Call and ask if there's a Cemetery District and which offices are open for contesting this year. She or he may not be instantly aware of the provision that "roll-over" incumbents are up for challenge every two years, and you should press on this by finding out when the last time each of the commissioner positions was actually on the ballot.

To find out more about cemetery districts, see http://www.mrsc.org/subjects/parks/cemetery.aspx.
The Green Reaper, Tim White Orcas, can be reached at timwhite@rockisland.com or 360-376-5851.