Anderson Sticks To Traditional Oath At Ceremony Outspoken Commissioner Drops Plans To Use Own Words To Be Sworn In

New Stevens County Commissioner J.D. “Andy” Anderson got the jump on other Stevens County elected officials Tuesday, taking his oath of office an hour before everyone else.

But the sometimes controversial politician didn’t carry through with his plan to take a different oath from the others. He seemed to have made a New Year’s resolution to watch what he says and focus on county business.

“I’m going to try my best to represent all the people to the best of my ability,” he said.

Anderson caused a stir last week when he wrote his own oath and declared he wouldn’t take it in the Superior Court room. Other county officials speculated that Anderson, a constitutionalist who claims some state laws are invalid, wanted to avoid the traditional pledge to uphold state laws.

Some wondered whether he wanted to avoid the courtroom because of his cynicism about the judicial system.

Actually, Anderson said, he favors challenging unconstitutional laws instead of disobeying them. And he objected to the courtroom only because of its gold-fringed U.S. flag. The flag means “admiralty law,” not the U.S. Constitution, he said.

“I’ve never heard that before,” said Superior Court Judge Larry Kristianson, a Coast Guard veteran. “As far as I know, we are still a court of the state of Washington and not an admiralty court.”

Kristianson, who was scheduled to be in Republic later Tuesday morning, said he didn’t have time to administer a separate ceremony for Anderson or to research the legality of a non-standard oath.

In the end, Anderson got Superior Court Judge Fred Stewart to administer the standard oath at 7:15 a.m. in the county commissioners’ hearing room. Seven other newly elected and re-elected county officials took the same oath from Kristianson an hour later in the courtroom.

“I didn’t want any more controversy,” Anderson said.

Anderson said he is determined to avoid repeating the gaffe he committed a month ago when he cracked that the best thing to do with some of the Stevens County Counseling Center’s clients would be to “take them out and shoot them.”

He says he intended the comment to be a joke about drug abusers, but acknowledges it was improper.

Another issue that raises questions about Anderson is a lien he filed against his own Kettle Falls home earlier this year in an apparent effort to prevent the Internal Revenue Service from filing a lien. Anderson said he is concerned about IRS tactics, but pays his income taxes.

Anderson said he is not trying to distance himself from his more controversial associates, and he acknowledged loose contacts with groups such as the Militia of Montana. Still, he moved Tuesday to chart his own course.

When one of his supporters, Samuel Porter, urged the commissioners to get their legal advice from someone other than county Prosecutor Jerry Wetle, Anderson took exception.

“That may sound good, but it would cost the taxpayers more money,” he said.

Instead, Anderson called for county commission agendas to start spelling out the business to be conducted. He vowed to vote against any proposal for which department heads fail to provide written explanations at least a week in advance.