Public commenters urge compassion on immigrants and unhoused while criticizing commissioners' rhetoric

Residents used the public-comment period at Tuesday’s Board of County Commissioners meeting to press for humane treatment of immigrants and people experiencing homelessness and to call for civil discourse among local leaders.

Linda Warren of Winlock said she believes elected officials should lead with compassion. “Swope has said things that bring harm to the immigrant and to the homeless,” Warren said, and she urged adherence to the larger moral imperative to "love thy neighbor." Shortly afterward an exchange occurred in which another speaker asked Warren to clarify the wording on a sign; that exchange was brief and the chair ended further response, saying Warren had used her three minutes.

Brandon Tucker, raised in Lewis County, told commissioners he has faced online insults after speaking publicly and asked Commissioner Sean Swope to engage in a civil, face-to-face conversation about political differences. “The way our country heals from this is not through violence, but through difficult, uncomfortable conversations,” Tucker said, and he asked whether Swope would “entertain a good faith conversation.”

Dan Minkoff of Packwood criticized recent actions he described as compromising community values for fiscal reasons. Minkoff raised two areas of concern: the county’s declaration as a non-sanctuary county and discussion of programs for people experiencing homelessness. He said that, in his view, changing local policies because of federal threats “encourages overreach by the federal government” and urged commissioners to “stand up for basic human values.” He also referenced Matthew 25 as moral guidance for treating strangers in need.

Comments in the transcript attribute positions and claims to the speakers themselves; the meeting record does not reflect a substantive policy response from commissioners during public comment beyond brief procedural interjections and a reminder about time limits.