The community of Friday Harbor and all of San Juan Island should be embarrassed and ashamed of the termination of Joe Wheeler’s employment at the Port of Friday Harbor.

It’s no doubt that Joe’s accomplishments, relationships and qualifications have lead to his dismissal. I would ask all those employed with the Port of Friday Harbor to question their future and to speak up, like some already have, and bring to light this act of cowardice perpetrated by the Port Director Ted Fitzgerald. We need to acknowledge the sentiment of the staff, contractors and others associated with Joe’s role at the Port of Friday Harbor and question what has happened. The lack of oversight by the commissioners in this matter is frightening and needs to be questioned.

For the sake of our town, my only hope is that this mistake can be corrected before it is too late. People with talent and integrity like Joe Wheeler are hard to come by. [Port Director] Ted Fitzgerald has made a terrible error and should be held accountable. One can only wonder what other poor decisions are being made at this level with the inadequate supervision of the commissioners.

This is not acceptable.

Jason Harrison

Brown Island