Rob Anderson expresses concerns regarding Indivisible Greater Vancouver

Rob Anderson
Reform Clark County

On July 9, Indivisible Greater Vancouver held its regular monthly meeting with several special guests, including three candidates for Clark County Auditor: Ty Stober, Sharon Wylie, and Mitchell Kelly. After listening to the session and reviewing the group’s published guide, I am deeply concerned about the extreme language it uses toward political opponents—and the fact that candidates for a nonpartisan office seem comfortable seeking their support.

Rob Anderson

The Indivisible guide repeatedly labels millions of Americans who support President Trump—or simply disagree with Indivisible’s agenda—as “fascists” and a “threat” (over 16 times). Actions against them are framed as “attacks” (over 14 times). Some call this the bedrock for rhetorical terrorism, not by promoting violence but by instead promoting the hatred that eventually finds expression, sometimes violent ones. The organization encourages supporters to “turn fear, anger, and grief into action.” They often spew pure hatred, especially toward our current president, but also to ICE officers, the FBI, Israel, Elon Musk, and the list seems to keep growing.

While strong emotions can drive activism, repeatedly demonizing fellow citizens does not foster meaningful dialogue. It deepens hostility and risks real harm. History shows where this path can lead—just look at Germany in the 1930s.

Indivisible does not explicitly encourage violence; however, there is only one short and soft reference to their nonviolence position throughout their 27-page guidebook. They do not denounce violence outright but merely state that “Nonviolent tactics—earned media, protests, civil disobedience—are more effective than violent resistance. Nonviolence is harder for authoritarians to justify suppressing without risking backlash.” Hardly a strong rebuke.

It’s almost as if they willfully sow the seeds of hatred and hope to make political gains from the outcome, no matter what might come as the result.

Our nonpartisan Auditor and three of the four candidates seemed to feel right at home.

The Auditor candidates’ presentations reinforced these concerns. Several spoke less like candidates for a nonpartisan office and more like advocates for a broader partisan agenda. Candidate Stober highlighted advancing gay marriage. Candidate Wylie tried to one-up him by emphasizing her work on feminism. Candidate Kelly focused somewhat on actual auditor duties by amplifying his bookkeeping and finance experience in the Auditor’s office, which was less pandering but still discouraging because they all sought Indivisible’s support and validation.

Auditor Greg Kimsey himself addressed the group, but I’ll address that next week because some surprising statements came from him to the Indivisible listeners.

Clark County deserves better than imported division and hate-filled rhetoric. Organizations like Indivisible should focus on policy disagreements civilly rather than painting millions of neighbors as enemies. Civic discourse requires respect, not rhetorical extremism. And nonpartisan auditor candidates should take more seriously that voters in Clark County don’t want politics injected into the Auditor’s office. Sadly, Kimsey has done enough for two lifetimes.

This week’s episode of Reformcast covers all this and more in my conversation with Auditor candidate Eileen Quiring O’Brien, in which she stated she wasn’t invited to the July 9th Indivisible meeting and would not have attended if she had. You can watch the episode here: Reformcast E22 – Eileen Quiring O’Brien, Candidate For Clark County Auditor

Rob Anderson

Clark County

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