LETTERS TO THE
Rights of
protesters are
too important
Editor, the Journal
Where is Inslee? The ques—
tion of the day. ‘
I sure feel for the shops
and people who live within
the six square blocks on Capi- ,
tal Hill. They must be terri-
fied and no one seems to care ’
about them. It’s all about the
“rights” of the protesters.
Val Reineman
Shelton
County looks
to hiring a
grant writer —
again
Editor, the Journal
During the hiring freeze of
2017, county commissioners
eliminated three staff posi—
tions so they could fill three
new positions in the Support
Services Department. As a
result, one of the employees
laid off was a highly quali-
fled and well-respected grant
writer and contract manager.
Some citizens questioned
the wisdom of eliminating a
revenue- generating position
during a budget crunch, but
those voices fell on deaf ears.
Cut to the June 8 com-
missioner briefing, wherein
the most important item on
the agenda was contracting
for grant-writer services.
Those who tuned into the
meeting heard Commis-
sioner N eatherlin say that
the county is missing out on
a lot of free grant money and
should hurry up and hire a
local grant writer like the one
they laid off. Commissioner
Shutty said he was unaware
of grants that could be used
to offset normal operational
expenses and questioned ap—
plying for grants that would
increase pressure on already
limited staff. And Commis-
sioner Trask took the oppor-
tunity to reveal an unsettling
lack of knowledge around the
purpose and process of hiring
a grant writer. .
These types of commis—
sioner discussions are all
well and good, but they need
to take place before pulling
the trigger on a national
outreach for grant-writer
services, not a month after,
while assessing respondent
qualifications, as was the
case here.
Hiring decisions need to be
influenced, if not guided, by a
professional human resources
director, which the county
no longer has. The current»
hodge-podge process is the
result of a 2014 restructuring
of operations that replaced
top-tier managers with lower
level loyalists, and it is the
same operational structure
responsible for an increase in
lawsuits, ballooning budgets
and more_long-term debt.
A poor operational struc-
ture is not the only reason
Mason County should con-
sider shifting to an alterna-
tive form of government, and
home rule is not a panacea
for all the county’s issues.
But operating by a charter
that was designed by the
community for the commu-
nity is a heck of a lot better
than being controlled by a
three-member board of com-
missioners operating without
guidance, oversight or guard—
rails.
Home rule charter: Gov—
ernment designed by the
people for the people.
Tom Davis
Shelton
Trump’s ,
ignorance
cost us big
Editor, the Journal
Once again President
Trump demonstrates that
his wants and needs (that of
being re-elected) are more
important to him than the
health and welfare of the
American people. Before the
first reported COVID—19 case
in the United States, Trump
ignored the advice from top
medical and science advisers
about the seriousness of the
virus and the steps to control A
it. And, he saw the virus’ V
negative effect on the econo-
my of infected countries. The
majority of those who voted
for Trump, self included, did
so because of the image he
was a great businessman
and would help improve the
economy. In reality, Trump’s
effect has been the exact op—
posite.
For three years Trump
consistently thumped his
chest bragging about our
great economy using in-
creased employment as an
indicator promoting the im-
age he was the reason for an
improved economy. Not true.
The economy began improv-
ing in 2008 and continued
to improve at a steady rate
up through 2019 and the
increase in employment dur—
ing Trump’s first three years
in office was less than the
increase during Obama’s last
three years. So, any negative
virus effect on the economy
would have a negative effect
on Trump’s re-election
chances. Thus, he chose to
pretend it would just magi-
cally disappear. .
And he is doing the same
today, downplaying the seri-
ousness of the current virus
status and the reason for it.
He wants a huge rally where
people attending must sign a
virus-related waiver. Which
is reasonable, in a way. After
all if you engage in hazard-
ous activity you should ac-
cept the risks. However, what
about those not participating
in the rally? One attends
Trump’s rally, gets the virus
there and then infects others
who never attended the rally.
Does Trump want them to
Thursday. June 18, 2020 Shelton-Mason County Journal — Page A—5
sign a waiver too?
Question: Had Trump lis-
tened to the experts (doctors
and scientists) advice would
the environmental shutdown
have been as severe? Maybe
just a phase three?
Finally, it takes a real
man to wear a mask.
Russell Fraser
Shelton
Team
mentality
should be
left to sports
Editor, the Journal
Howdy.
Right and wrong should
be the dominant goal for
evolution and all mankind’s
dreams.
I feel sorry for all the
good advice and herds that
now are caught up in this.
Stay with the team mental~
ity approach that is used in
America, especially with the
police and politicians. The
team mentality should be left
to sports.
We are a united people
or not and alternative facts
and the people that spout ‘em
should be flushed down the
toilet and given a dictionary.
The politicians and judges
might want to put it on their
top read.
The efforts from the past
condensed into words, made
into songs are the true Amer-
ica.
I live and love.
Peace out.
Born Free, God Only
Knows Where I’d Be Without
You, Brick in the Wall, Why
Can’t We Be Friends, Feel-
ings, Wonderful 'World, For
Your Love, Walking the Line,
Money, etc., etc.
John Haupt
Union
Democratic
Party has been
hijacked by
extremists
Editor, the Journal
Have the Democrats de-
feated their chances in the
November 2020 election? How
. have the far left groups like
antifa and Black Lives Mat-
ter sabotaged the Democrat
candidates?
The stench of burned
buildings, walking on the
broken glass from bricked
windows and the shock of
seeing gutted businesses is
hard to forget. Neighborhoods
trashed with no place to get
milk, eggs or a cigarette will
not set well with voters. The
trauma of protection aban-
donment has affected resi-
dents who again are buying
guns for self-defense. Actions
evoke and provoke reaction
(another letter). Voters won’t
forget.
Why allow days and days
of riots to continue without
calling in help to protect citi-
zens from rioters? One mayor
called police precincts and
directed them to stand down
essentially suggesting like
Nero, “Let my city burn.” One
mayor kicked the National
Guard from a hotel by refus-
ing to pay for their stay.
A murdered black man,
a demigod for Black Lives
Matter, has become liberals’
justification to raise millions
and millions of dollars to bail
out M01otov—cocktail-throwing
arsonists and out-of—state
organized rioters. Seriously,
give scholarships to the
children of fatherless homes
in black communities; help
drug rehab centers; create job
training programs. Do black
lives really matter to far-left
groups?
A black man was killed
defending his neighborhood
on Martin Luther King Drive
and he was ignored. That
man served his community
for decades as a policeman.
Celebrating a policeman is
not a politically correct nar-
rative since Black Lives Mat-
ters demonizes police. Rioters
burning a black man’s busi-
ness while chanting, “Black
Lives Matter” is disingenu-
ous.
Another example of dis-
ingenuous motives is grant-
ing political privilege for
gatherings of hundreds and
hundreds and thousands of
protesters during a pandemic.
Church services and gradua-
tion ceremonies were banned
because of city-dictated limits
of 10 people due to the COV-
ID-19 crisis. Limits were dog-
matically enforced by state
governors, including arrests.
Mayors condone hundreds
and thousands of protesters
unavoidable contact (political
privilege). The media goes
silent on COVID-19. Horrific
nursing home virus deaths in
blue states and now grandma
gets thrown under the bus as
protests heighten the threat
of a second virus outbreak.
The common man will re-
member the feelings of alarm
and of fear and of abandon-
ment when left to clean up
the destruction left from the
protests that blue state lead-
ers allowed to turn violent.
Failure to condemn orga-
nized, out—of-state (federal
offense) antifa thugs is a big
failure. Citizen trust is on the
line.
Cut the funding for police
is the recent Democrat solu-
tion. Logic would suggest that
is" a tool for anarchists rather
than a solution to control
riots. All the money in the
world won’t help with lead-
ership that lets their cities
burn. Democrats have defeat-
ed themselves. The Democrat
party has been hijacked by
extremists.
Peace in strength is
Trump’s motto. Thank God he
is a law and order champion.
Irene Graham
Union
We need a
leader with
a moral
compass
Editor, the Journal
This isolation by pandemic
has given me time to reflect
on what has been lost and
what has been gained.
A sense of outrage seems
to possess the land, outrage
against right-wing bigotry
and hatred, against racists
in America and racism. This
is a great and necessary
gain. ‘
‘ As to what has been lost:
I pray daily that come No—
vember this nation corrects
the past terrible error and
elects a leader with an honest
moral compass.
Gregory Dallum
Grapeview
What is wrong
with maskless
woman?
Editor, the Journal
Wow, about the lady in
front of me in the Medicine
Shoppe on June 10 without a
mask on. ‘
About that lady that
lady, staring at five staff, all
masked-up; me behind her
(well behind her) masked-up;
she passed a sign by the door
on the way in asking patrons
to wear masks.
I guess the lady in the
Medicine Shoppe missed the
sign, the one by the door on
the way into the store, the
sign asking that customers
wear a mask in the store.
I cannot help but wonder
what makes someone so com-
fortable flouting the rules;
ignoring the sign on the door;
ignoring the recommenda-
tions of the medical commu-
nity?
I wonder what makes
someone feel so comfortable
breathing in and breathing
out while the rest of us are
masked-up, because we are
concerned for the health of
everyone in our community.
I am not wearing the
mask because I have CO-
VID-19, I wear it because I
don’t know that I do not have
it!
All of us encouraged are
by our elected officials and
health care providers to wear
the mask.
So, to the lady in the Medi-
cine Shoppe, and to others
who don’t wear a mask in
public, what the hell is wrong
with you?
Seriously, what the hell is
wrong with you? '
Asking for a friend, ‘
' Katherine A. Price
Shelton
see LETTERS, page A—6
