FRIDAY HARBOR, WA–Friday Harbor mayor Ray Jackson today announced his intention to file as a candidate for San Juan County Council, Residency District 1.

Jackson made the announcement in an episode of “What’s Going On Around Here” on CNL2 TV in Friday Harbor.

The current District 1 County Council member is Christine Minney.  Her current term is January 2021 to December 2024.

Jackson announced his decision to file as a candidate today; however, official filing for candidates will be held May 6 through May 9.  The election will be held on November 5, 2024.

At approximately 11:35 a.m., Jackson said, “So as most people know here, I’ve been the mayor for the past two years. And I really appreciate it. I enjoy being the mayor. I think that having the ability to reach out to the public, and talking to individuals out and about town and not just in the town proper, but in the county as well. And listening to their problems and hopefully trying to find solutions… always been something that that I thought that was greatly needed.

I think being out there and talk with folks to get an ideal general sense of exactly the direction that you know, in my particular case, a town was going.  But there comes a time where, especially for me, I just turned 58 And you know, I’ve given a lot of thought and being a mayor, although it’s great, it’s kind of limiting on the things that you can do to impact not only just the town, but the island community in general.

And the election for the county seat is up for grabs this year. And although I have until 2025 for my term, to be to be mayor, at this time I feel that it’s now time for me to move a little bit further up to make more of a difference and a change.

And because of that, today, I’m going to formally announced and I’m going to throw my hat in the ring and go for the county council seat here in San Juan Island.

I’ve talked to a number of people and have conveyed my ideas. And, and I’ve heard theirs. The reaction that I’ve received, it’s been positive, haven’t really received anything negative.

Most of the people know me… I’m the same person that probably came to our house and hooked up their television service. We’ve had conversations more intimately than, you know, probably most people who come in and do those type of services. But I don’t mind that I think it was a great thing for me, I think having the ability to reach out and actually have that occupation that allows me to have that kind of relationship with my client base has helped me get to this point here, where I can say with confidence that I think that I can support and also represent the vast majority of the individuals that live here in our island community.

I think I could be more effective at getting as far as getting the word across and getting…their input used to better the community and get more involvement from the community.

I think that’s a big issue we have right now. There’s a big disconnect between the community and government. And we’re too small for that. Our community is our government. I mean, we work for you, we should be there and available when you need us.

And I think the general public has this feeling that there’s, that’s not happening. And so I’ve never had a problem with communicating with folks I’ve never had a problem with talking to individuals — walk down the street get stopped in the supermarket everywhere. They ask questions, I never shy away from them.

If I have the answer, I’ll give it to you. If I don’t, I’ll direct you hopefully to a place where you can. But from a local small town level, that’s one thing, but from a county level, that same concept can be implemented. And I feel and I’m confident enough to do that.

And so now in 2024, I think it’s the time for me to, like I said before, to announce my candidacy for the county council seat in San Juan.”

“What’s Going On Around Here” is a production of CNL2 TV.  It is a news and public affairs show which has streamed live every Tuesday since October 2023, except for a two week hiatus for the holidays.  Soon, the show will be expanded being streamed from once a week to streaming every weekday.  The program time will move from 11:00 a.m. to noon.