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MS
Power push in Potlatch
A crew works on a new administration building for
the Cushman Hydroelectric Project in Potlatch. The
two Cushman dams are owned by Tacoma Public Util-
ities and supply electric power to the city on the other
side of Puget Sound. The stone structure behind the
workers is part of the power generating facilities of
the hydroelectric system.
County commission roundu.p:
Higher fees for
buildings, plans
Fees for building and planning on this proposal. Prior to the vote,
permits in Mason County are on
the rise. After a public hearing on
esday, January 9, the Mason.
bounty Commission voted unani-
mously to approve increasing cur-
rent fees in the department by 10
Percent.
Barbara Robinson, the county's
eputy director of community de-
Velopment, explained that this
increase will help the department
[und necessary services. An ear-
a report suggested revenue had
.alien short in the department
.Since the last fee rise of 2 percent
m 2004, while staff cost-of-living
Wages have increased about 3.5
percent each year in the last three
years.
bThis proposal initially came
eiore the board - then inc!uding
! :SnwDYc Y:ed 79.onsAt Ghai
tirae the commissioners decided
to postpone a decision in order
to allow staff to meet with repre-
sentatives of the Mason County
Home Builders' Associat!Onr: t
lSCuss their concerns. -
;he Olyrapla Master Bmlae
Though the original proposa
also included a 3 percent increase
1
in subsequent years in order
to continue maintaining neces-
sary revenues for services, staff
removed this section until the
county receives more comments
Robinson read into the record a
letter from Brandon Houskeeper,
government affairs director of the
Olympia Master Builders, speak-
ing in favor of the fee increase.
In other business on January 9,
commissioners:
• Scheduled a public hearing
for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January
23, to consider amendments to the
Belfair/Lower Hood Canal Water
Reclamation Facilities Plan, also
known as the Belfair Facility Plan.
They will consider establishing a
Limited Area of More Intense Ru-
ral Development along the North
Shore of Hood Canal.
• Authorized an agreement
with Washington State Univer-
sity in the amount of $208,528 for
the WSU Extension programs for
2007.
• Authorized an amendment to
an agreement with the Juvenile
Rehabilitation Administration for
Aggression Replacement Training
Clinical Consultation.
• Authorized John Keates, the
county's parks and trails director,
to request proposals for the Oak-
land Bay Park Master Site Plan
Design Services.
• Conducted a public hear-
ing and then rezoned 15.23 acres
north of Tahuya from its previous
zoning designation of Rural Resi-
dential 20 to Rural Residential 5,
as requested by John Hoff.
Shelton to hold talks
on urban growth area
The City of Shelton is holding
an open house to share informa-
tion about the proposed Shelton
Urban Growth Area Plan.
The open house will be from 6
to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, January
17, at the Shelton Civic Center,
525 West Cota Street. Property
owners, residents, business own-
ers and other interested parties
are invited to attend this meeting
to learn more about how the plan
was developed, ask questions and
provide comments.
The city is preparing to com-
plete the urban growth area plan
and adopt it as a new chapter in
the city's comprehensive plan.
The urban growth area plan will:
include goals and policies specific
to the urban growth area that pro-
vide guidance to decision-makers;
plan for orderly growth and de-
velopment; enable the cost-effec-
tive extension of city services; give
greater predictability to property
owners on the future use and en-
joyment of their property; and pro-
vide the city with a framework to
guide future annexation decisions
and extensions of public services.
Also under consideration are
refinements to the urban growth
area boundary that would result
in the removal of some lands from
the urban growth area. The city is
planning to adopt the urban growth
area plan by April of this year.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllllllll
IIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Benjamin Christopher Scott
was born on December 22, 2006
at Capital Medical Center in Olym-
pia to Colleen and Hari-Jodan
Scott of Tumwater. He weighed 6
pounds, 11 ounces and was 191/2
inches long.
Grandparents are John and
Linda McCallum of Edmonds and
Stephen Scott Sr. of Tumwater.
Great-grandparents are John and
Debbie McCallum of Seattle, Di-
ana Rogers of Kent and Martha
Pierson of Deepwater, Missouri.
Jason Kenneth Northness
was born on December 31 at
Capital Medical Center in Olym-
pia to Jaime and Eric Northness
of Shelton. He weighed 7 pounds,
4 ounces.
Cassie Lynn Muenchow
was born on December 30 at
Capital Medical Center in Olympia
to Meghan and Alan Muenchow of
Shelton. She weighed 7 pounds, 12
ounces.
Montana Paj6 Cain
was born on January 3 at Ma-
son General Hospital to Melanie
and Adam Cain of Shelton. She
weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces and
was 19 inches long. She joins Ga-
briel, age 8.
Grandparents are Rick and
Paula Wood of Shelton, Bryce and
Belinda Cain of Medical Lake,
Rick and Neva Peekham of Mc-
Cleary and Hal Studer of Shelton.
Great-grandparents are Daniel
and Barb Wadsworth of Grape-
view, Huck and Ernestine Strutz,
Ella Ray, Richard Wood, the late
Harvey and Caroline Pollock of
Shelton, Calvin and Ruth Cain of
Port Orchard and Morris Ray of
Battle Ground.
The following students
from Shelton have graduated
from South Puget Sound Com-
munity College in Olympia
and have received associate of
arts degrees: Kathryn Elise
Olin, Rebecca Joy Faust
and, Joanna Marie Col-
vin, James Scott Wallace,
also of Shelton, earned an
associate of general studies.
SHELTON
School District #309
BREAKFAST & LUNCH
I00tNtl
January 15-19
MONDAY: NO SCHOOL - MARLIN LU-
THER KING DAY
TUESDAY: Breakfast: Cold cereal, churro,
fruit or fruit juice, milk. Lunch: Five Star
Smart Bar: Main Line: Crlamy macaroni
and cheese, ham slice, chocolate milk.
Speed Line: Chicken burger with Thousand
Island dressing.
WEDNESDAY: Breakfast: Breakfast sau-
sage, bagel, fruit or fruit juice, milk. Lunch:
Five Star 5mart Bar: Main Line: Chili with
warm pretzel, happy birthday cupcake,
milk. Speed Line: C.heese sticks with
Marinara sauce.
THURSDAY: Breakfast: Pancake, sausage
link, fruit or fruit juice, milk. Lunch: Five
Star Smart Bar: Main Line: Turkey gravy
over mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce,
dinner roll, milk. Speed Line: Chicken
burger.
FRIDAY: Breakfast: Breakfast pizza,
fruit or fruit juice, milk. Lunch: Five
Star Smart Bar: Main Line: Cheese-
burger on a whole wheat bun,
French fries, chocolate milk. Speed Line:
Chicken burger with Thousand Island.
This menu sponsored by
LUMBERMENS
SHELTON
114 E. Cedar St. 360-426-2611
HOODSPORT
150 N. lake Cushman Rd.
360.877-6881
I know you better than you think I do.
I know you are itching fbr the year-end Coffeehouse
Investor portfolio returns. We'll save those for next week.
First, I could start off by congratulating you on the
outstanding job you did managing your portfolio this past
year, with returns in the double-digit arena. Heck, I could
pat you on the back to recognize the fine job you have
done over the past four years, with your portfolio showing
significant increases year after year.
I could make this an end-of-year feel-good column to
match the end-of-year feel-good report you will be receiving
from your stockbroker shortly, who will CERTAINLY be
patting himself on the back for the fine job he has done
managing your account.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you
take it), I am not in a feel-good mood. I am in a "wake-up-
and-get-real" mood.
The reality is that you are doing a lousy job managing
your portfolio. Downright miserable. And you don't even
know it. But I do.
I know you better than you think I do.
You think you had a good year in your common stock
portfolio this past year or four years?
Compared to what? The ten-year Treasury bond?
You are so busy with your life and so blinded by Wall
Street's glowing stock market reports that you have no
idea that your hodge podge portfolio of blue chip stocks
has underperformed the large cap benchmark by several
percentage points this year.
Feeling good about your stock market returns over the
past four years? Sure you are, but only because you possess
some vague notion that your common stocks are outpacing
your two-year CDs. Don't kid yourself. You have no idea
how your common stock returns matched up to a diversified
Coffeehouse-type equity index-fund benchmark, which, by
the way, has generated annualized returns of 21 percent
during the same forty-eight month stretch.
I am not bragging about and touting the Coffeehouse
portfolio because you and I both know those returns won't
last. I am just letting you know that I know that you don't
know what is going on inside your portfolio compared to
a benchmark. You are clueless. Why? Because you are
complacent. You are lazy. You think it doesn't matter.
Your account is on the plus side for the year, well north of
CD rates, and that is all that matters to you. The fact that
your common stocks aren't even coming close to capturing
the market's entire return is completely irrelevant to
you.
I listen to you whine about the high price of gas. I listen
to you bellyache about the increase in the price of a latte.
And yet you sit there in your lazy-boy chair and won't make
fifteen minutes worth of positive changes in your portfolio
that will probably save you hundreds of thousands of
dollars at retirement twenty years out.
How do I know that? Because I have taken the time
to run the numbers. For myself. Let me fill you in.
Underperforming a benchmark by three percentage points
annually over the next twenty years in my retirement
account is going to cost me so much that I can only laugh
in pain today.
Think you are a pretty good investor? Average at best?
You bet you are - average like the average American
who is too busy to put together a long term financial plan
because you don't want to deal with the hard truth that
you probably should be saving a little more and spending
a little less. I know you better than you think I do.
Last year, early on in this space, I challenged you to
keep track of your expenses, so at the end of the year you
could make some rational decisions on where your dollars
go - the first step in saving more and spending less. Were
you up to the challenge? I invited you to take up this
exercise of keeping track, not to constrict your lifestyle,
but to ACCENTUATE your life. Last January, I wrote,
I know you better than you think I do. Despite the many
challenges of building a successful portfolio for" your
retirement years, I know that deep down inside you DO
want to take personal responsibility for your financial &
emotional well-being. It is just that our lives are so darned
busy that we hardly know where to start. On top of that,
we abhor change and are a little bit complacent, especially
when things appear to be going our way.
If you can't look beyond the rose colored facade of your
portfolio and make a few positive financial changes in your
life for the New Year, who will do it for you? DON'T BE
AFRAID!!
Pacific Asset Management
Donald Gardner, CPA, CFW
(360) 426-8262
601 Railroad, Suite 400, Shelton
, DonaldGardnerCF ..... :.,
Thursday, January 11, 2007 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 9
MS
Power push in Potlatch
A crew works on a new administration building for
the Cushman Hydroelectric Project in Potlatch. The
two Cushman dams are owned by Tacoma Public Util-
ities and supply electric power to the city on the other
side of Puget Sound. The stone structure behind the
workers is part of the power generating facilities of
the hydroelectric system.
County commission roundu.p:
Higher fees for
buildings, plans
Fees for building and planning on this proposal. Prior to the vote,
permits in Mason County are on
the rise. After a public hearing on
esday, January 9, the Mason.
bounty Commission voted unani-
mously to approve increasing cur-
rent fees in the department by 10
Percent.
Barbara Robinson, the county's
eputy director of community de-
Velopment, explained that this
increase will help the department
[und necessary services. An ear-
a report suggested revenue had
.alien short in the department
.Since the last fee rise of 2 percent
m 2004, while staff cost-of-living
Wages have increased about 3.5
percent each year in the last three
years.
bThis proposal initially came
eiore the board - then inc!uding
! :SnwDYc Y:ed 79.onsAt Ghai
tirae the commissioners decided
to postpone a decision in order
to allow staff to meet with repre-
sentatives of the Mason County
Home Builders' Associat!Onr: t
lSCuss their concerns. -
;he Olyrapla Master Bmlae
Though the original proposa
also included a 3 percent increase
1
in subsequent years in order
to continue maintaining neces-
sary revenues for services, staff
removed this section until the
county receives more comments
Robinson read into the record a
letter from Brandon Houskeeper,
government affairs director of the
Olympia Master Builders, speak-
ing in favor of the fee increase.
In other business on January 9,
commissioners:
• Scheduled a public hearing
for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January
23, to consider amendments to the
Belfair/Lower Hood Canal Water
Reclamation Facilities Plan, also
known as the Belfair Facility Plan.
They will consider establishing a
Limited Area of More Intense Ru-
ral Development along the North
Shore of Hood Canal.
• Authorized an agreement
with Washington State Univer-
sity in the amount of $208,528 for
the WSU Extension programs for
2007.
• Authorized an amendment to
an agreement with the Juvenile
Rehabilitation Administration for
Aggression Replacement Training
Clinical Consultation.
• Authorized John Keates, the
county's parks and trails director,
to request proposals for the Oak-
land Bay Park Master Site Plan
Design Services.
• Conducted a public hear-
ing and then rezoned 15.23 acres
north of Tahuya from its previous
zoning designation of Rural Resi-
dential 20 to Rural Residential 5,
as requested by John Hoff.
Shelton to hold talks
on urban growth area
The City of Shelton is holding
an open house to share informa-
tion about the proposed Shelton
Urban Growth Area Plan.
The open house will be from 6
to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, January
17, at the Shelton Civic Center,
525 West Cota Street. Property
owners, residents, business own-
ers and other interested parties
are invited to attend this meeting
to learn more about how the plan
was developed, ask questions and
provide comments.
The city is preparing to com-
plete the urban growth area plan
and adopt it as a new chapter in
the city's comprehensive plan.
The urban growth area plan will:
include goals and policies specific
to the urban growth area that pro-
vide guidance to decision-makers;
plan for orderly growth and de-
velopment; enable the cost-effec-
tive extension of city services; give
greater predictability to property
owners on the future use and en-
joyment of their property; and pro-
vide the city with a framework to
guide future annexation decisions
and extensions of public services.
Also under consideration are
refinements to the urban growth
area boundary that would result
in the removal of some lands from
the urban growth area. The city is
planning to adopt the urban growth
area plan by April of this year.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllllllll
IIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Benjamin Christopher Scott
was born on December 22, 2006
at Capital Medical Center in Olym-
pia to Colleen and Hari-Jodan
Scott of Tumwater. He weighed 6
pounds, 11 ounces and was 191/2
inches long.
Grandparents are John and
Linda McCallum of Edmonds and
Stephen Scott Sr. of Tumwater.
Great-grandparents are John and
Debbie McCallum of Seattle, Di-
ana Rogers of Kent and Martha
Pierson of Deepwater, Missouri.
Jason Kenneth Northness
was born on December 31 at
Capital Medical Center in Olym-
pia to Jaime and Eric Northness
of Shelton. He weighed 7 pounds,
4 ounces.
Cassie Lynn Muenchow
was born on December 30 at
Capital Medical Center in Olympia
to Meghan and Alan Muenchow of
Shelton. She weighed 7 pounds, 12
ounces.
Montana Paj6 Cain
was born on January 3 at Ma-
son General Hospital to Melanie
and Adam Cain of Shelton. She
weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces and
was 19 inches long. She joins Ga-
briel, age 8.
Grandparents are Rick and
Paula Wood of Shelton, Bryce and
Belinda Cain of Medical Lake,
Rick and Neva Peekham of Mc-
Cleary and Hal Studer of Shelton.
Great-grandparents are Daniel
and Barb Wadsworth of Grape-
view, Huck and Ernestine Strutz,
Ella Ray, Richard Wood, the late
Harvey and Caroline Pollock of
Shelton, Calvin and Ruth Cain of
Port Orchard and Morris Ray of
Battle Ground.
The following students
from Shelton have graduated
from South Puget Sound Com-
munity College in Olympia
and have received associate of
arts degrees: Kathryn Elise
Olin, Rebecca Joy Faust
and, Joanna Marie Col-
vin, James Scott Wallace,
also of Shelton, earned an
associate of general studies.
SHELTON
School District #309
BREAKFAST & LUNCH
I00tNtl
January 15-19
MONDAY: NO SCHOOL - MARLIN LU-
THER KING DAY
TUESDAY: Breakfast: Cold cereal, churro,
fruit or fruit juice, milk. Lunch: Five Star
Smart Bar: Main Line: Crlamy macaroni
and cheese, ham slice, chocolate milk.
Speed Line: Chicken burger with Thousand
Island dressing.
WEDNESDAY: Breakfast: Breakfast sau-
sage, bagel, fruit or fruit juice, milk. Lunch:
Five Star 5mart Bar: Main Line: Chili with
warm pretzel, happy birthday cupcake,
milk. Speed Line: C.heese sticks with
Marinara sauce.
THURSDAY: Breakfast: Pancake, sausage
link, fruit or fruit juice, milk. Lunch: Five
Star Smart Bar: Main Line: Turkey gravy
over mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce,
dinner roll, milk. Speed Line: Chicken
burger.
FRIDAY: Breakfast: Breakfast pizza,
fruit or fruit juice, milk. Lunch: Five
Star Smart Bar: Main Line: Cheese-
burger on a whole wheat bun,
French fries, chocolate milk. Speed Line:
Chicken burger with Thousand Island.
This menu sponsored by
LUMBERMENS
SHELTON
114 E. Cedar St. 360-426-2611
HOODSPORT
150 N. lake Cushman Rd.
360.877-6881
I know you better than you think I do.
I know you are itching fbr the year-end Coffeehouse
Investor portfolio returns. We'll save those for next week.
First, I could start off by congratulating you on the
outstanding job you did managing your portfolio this past
year, with returns in the double-digit arena. Heck, I could
pat you on the back to recognize the fine job you have
done over the past four years, with your portfolio showing
significant increases year after year.
I could make this an end-of-year feel-good column to
match the end-of-year feel-good report you will be receiving
from your stockbroker shortly, who will CERTAINLY be
patting himself on the back for the fine job he has done
managing your account.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you
take it), I am not in a feel-good mood. I am in a "wake-up-
and-get-real" mood.
The reality is that you are doing a lousy job managing
your portfolio. Downright miserable. And you don't even
know it. But I do.
I know you better than you think I do.
You think you had a good year in your common stock
portfolio this past year or four years?
Compared to what? The ten-year Treasury bond?
You are so busy with your life and so blinded by Wall
Street's glowing stock market reports that you have no
idea that your hodgepodge portfolio of blue chip stocks
has underperformed the large cap benchmark by several
percentage points this year.
Feeling good about your stock market returns over the
past four years? Sure you are, but only because you possess
some vague notion that your common stocks are outpacing
your two-year CDs. Don't kid yourself. You have no idea
how your common stock returns matched up to a diversified
Coffeehouse-type equity index-fund benchmark, which, by
the way, has generated annualized returns of 21 percent
during the same forty-eight month stretch.
I am not bragging about and touting the Coffeehouse
portfolio because you and I both know those returns won't
last. I am just letting you know that I know that you don't
know what is going on inside your portfolio compared to
a benchmark. You are clueless. Why? Because you are
complacent. You are lazy. You think it doesn't matter.
Your account is on the plus side for the year, well north of
CD rates, and that is all that matters to you. The fact that
your common stocks aren't even coming close to capturing
the market's entire return is completely irrelevant to
you.
I listen to you whine about the high price of gas. I listen
to you bellyache about the increase in the price of a latte.
And yet you sit there in your lazy-boy chair and won't make
fifteen minutes worth of positive changes in your portfolio
that will probably save you hundreds of thousands of
dollars at retirement twenty years out.
How do I know that? Because I have taken the time
to run the numbers. For myself. Let me fill you in.
Underperforming a benchmark by three percentage points
annually over the next twenty years in my retirement
account is going to cost me so much that I can only laugh
in pain today.
Think you are a pretty good investor? Average at best?
You bet you are - average like the average American
who is too busy to put together a long term financial plan
because you don't want to deal with the hard truth that
you probably should be saving a little more and spending
a little less. I know you better than you think I do.
Last year, early on in this space, I challenged you to
keep track of your expenses, so at the end of the year you
could make some rational decisions on where your dollars
go - the first step in saving more and spending less. Were
you up to the challenge? I invited you to take up this
exercise of keeping track, not to constrict your lifestyle,
but to ACCENTUATE your life. Last January, I wrote,
I know you better than you think I do. Despite the many
challenges of building a successful portfolio for" your
retirement years, I know that deep down inside you DO
want to take personal responsibility for your financial &
emotional well-being. It is just that our lives are so darned
busy that we hardly know where to start. On top of that,
we abhor change and are a little bit complacent, especially
when things appear to be going our way.
If you can't look beyond the rose colored facade of your
portfolio and make a few positive financial changes in your
life for the New Year, who will do it for you? DON'T BE
AFRAID!!
Pacific Asset Management
Donald Gardner, CPA, CFW
(360) 426-8262
601 Railroad, Suite 400, Shelton
, DonaldGardnerCF ..... :.,
Thursday, January 11, 2007 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 9