February 10, 2011 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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On Friday, Mason County Commis-
sioner Lynda Ring Erickson testified be-
fore the Washington House's Local Gov-
ernment Committee. It is the opinion of
this newspaper that Erickson misled the
committee while garnering support for
House Bill 1478.
Erickson claimed that with "the
When questioned about the presented
amounts by the Journal on Tuesday
Erickson still did not know the amount
Mason County spent on legal notices.
The number is less than $35,000. The
Journal discovered this after a two min-
ute phone call to the county auditor's
office.
amount [Mason When presented
County] spent on HBt4~ with the accurate
these publications amounts, Erickson
we could keep the MQdifieS u li ation : shifted blame for her
auditor, the asses-
sor, the treasurers
r uire e s toau~ :i misinformation to the
Washington State As-
office open for two ]~1 ~~ sociation of Counties
hours a day, they
are now closed, and e~titie~ ~ i fo ti; n (WSAC), saying that
it provided the infor-
add full services, for mation. But Erickson
homeless teens, sits on the legislative
That amount was ~t~di~fi~es~d ~h~:i ::::~::::: : steeringcommittee
$153,895 according ~Uii~g ~ ~t~i of the WSAC and is a
to Erickson.
The bill Erickson ~ti~ ~ i!ii ii paStorganization.president of the
was testifying about gove~t ~e~ ~i~i ~ By our count, Er-
ickson misled the leg-
only pertains to re- islature once, was too
quired legal notice
publications in newspapers of record, lazy to fact check her information when
but the number Erickson presented was she presented it a second time, and has
supposedly all media spending by the defended her ignorance of the facts by
county, nearly 80 percent of which she passing the blame to the WSAC.
and her fellow commissioners already During Erickson's meeting with the
have the choice not to spend. Journal editorial board, she claimed
While presenting this informa- that "if' she made a mistake she was
tion, Erickson did not know the actual apologetic.
amount Mason County had spent on le- There is no "if' Commissioner Erick-
gal notices in 2010. After the committee son. You presented misleading informa-
questioned the validity of her numbers, tion to a Washington House Committee
she admitted she might not be compar- with the intent of promoting a bill that
ing "apples to apples." Erickson claims undermines the public's ability to keep
she later sent an e-mail to the commit- tabs on local government.
tee with an updated (but still incorrect) All of Mason County deserves an
amount of"about $60,000.' apology.
Streetlights out
and increase of
graffiti?
Editor, the Journal words fitact and address
Recently I read in the
Journal an article titled
"Dark nights with fewer
lights" explaining that Out on fateful John's 3,000 names and what's
phase one of the city's Prairie been done?
project to turn off selected It doesn't look so green
streetlights throughout to me Those who stayed they
the city in an effort to save bought air filters
money has been complet- Empty homes, the But something is way
ed. According to the ar- woods scraped bare out of kilter
ticle, 47 streetlights have A choking smog hangs When kids must play
been turned off as a re- in the air all sports indoors
sult of phase one. The city People tried to say, Now we're all prisoners,
commission is being asked "Please don't" of a sort
to approve phase two of Niceness didn't stop the
the project, which would smoke They're held in deten-
turn out an additional 36 tion, even now
streetlights. Eventually, a How were we to know, Prison inmates breathe
third phase plans to elimi- they say politicians feign air that's foul
nate another 24 street- dismay Is this an extra punish-
lights. Bellowing our dreams ment
Has anyone noticed the away for the inmates of a
sudden increase in graffiti Many had foretold this prison town?
spray painted all around day
town? Probably just a co- We were ignored, our
incidence. We gave up and moved questions shunned
Jim Killoran away Plans went ahead, the
Shelton Now to check on those damage is done
No longer
green
Editor, the Journal
Now its 2017
Back to see what's come
to be
who stayed I still remember the
Politicians had assured happy days
us When kids could go out-
Money, it will cure what side to play
ills us Now its 2017
Back to see what's come
We need revenue, they to be
cried Out on fateful John's
Then turned their Prairie
heads as people died It doesn't look so green
Give us back our peti- to me
tion
im
le
According to the Wash-
ington State Dept. of Social
and Health Services, Ma-
son County ranks poorly
in most every category
tracked, especially those re-
lating to health, economics,
high-risk profiles and acci-
dental deaths. Such statis-
tics are a dismal reflection
of our current priorities.
It would seem that
much of what works in our
County derives from car-
ing individuals moved to
participate in programs
like Mason County literacy,
S.O.C.K, Mason Matters,
St. David's outreach, Habi-
tat for Humanity, Immi-
grant rights advocacy, local
food banks and other social
aid efforts.
Clearly, there is no
shortage of good people
in our community, only a
shortage of good political
leadership.
From 2000 to 2006, our
County experienced one the
biggest and longest periods
of prosperity in its his-
tory, yet by 2008 we were
already mired in economic
hardship. That's what poor
leadership looks like in
dollars and sense; no plan,
no future. Just as with our
own, personal finances our
first course of action should
be to stop digging ourselves
into a hole. Yet, just last
week the BOCC authorized
over $108,000 for new
courthouse security (real
cost, about $150,000). In an
effort to save money, public
services are being cut and
streetlights turned off, but
two of our three County
Commissioners still find
ways to waste public funds
on programs of which there
iS no immediate need,
In this age of shifting
priorities our officials need
to back away from policies
that have failed not only
the public, but the business
community as well.
Tourism, timber, and
shellfish industries play an
important role in any eco-
' nomic recovery effort, but
our current path toward
biomass to power plants
will sharply curtail tour-
ism, jeopardize the shellfish
industry and use our for-
Tbm Davis
ests as fuel for the proposed
Adage and Simpson plants.
Make no mistake; imma-
ture trees are already being
harvested for that purpose.
As a result, future tour-
ism will likely be pushed
far north of Shelton, pol-
luted storm-water will
continue to attack the Oak-
land Bay shellfish and poor
forestry practice will result
in excessive erosion and a
nutrient starved ecosystem.
But it doesn't have to be
that way; there are other,
more viable options avail-
able.
Starting this year, eight
to ten thousand Baby-
Boomers will turn sixty-five
every day and this trend
will go on for the next
eighteen years; the larg-
est demographic with the
most personal wealth our
country has ever produced.
Many of these folks will be
looking to relocate to more
rural communities, but
few will want to live in the
shadow of towering smoke-
stacks emitting pollutants
from the incineration of
biomass.
The fact is, most people
prefer standing trees to
those going down the road
on the back of a truck,
which means forests are
a source of revenue even
before the trees are har-
vested.
If even a small fraction
of Boomers choose to relo-
cate to Mason County, the
economic benefits will be
dramatic, long lasting and
could easily result in put-
ting our financial house
back in order.
The timber industry
plays an important role in
this new paradigm, maybe
even the biggest role. My
wife and I moved here in
2005, partly because we
loved the idea of living in
an area where people used
local resources in a sustain-
able and responsible man-
ner. We viewed the Simp-
son train that periodically
stops traffic across Railroad
Avenue as an attraction,
and still do.
As a member of the first
wave of Boomers (1946),
we brought our money, our
enthusiasm, our skills and
our dreams to our new com-
munity; creating jobs as we
remodeled homes and de-
veloped property. No other
demographic embodies
the entrepreneurial spirit
more than Boomers. And
like many to follow, we also
have a need to contribute
to our community through
participation in volunteer
programs.
But biomass to power
plants will put an end to
that and to any possibility
of Shelton becoming a com-
munity that attracts new
people with new ideas. The
real tragedy is that we also
lose an opportunity for eco-
nomic growth from new en-
trepreneurial ventures that
would have brought more
employment opportunities
than could ever be gained
from the biomass industry.
Mason County can over-
come its challenges without
losing our identity, but we
need to diversify our eco-
nomic base if we are to ben-
efit from a rapidly changing
business environment.
'Adapt or Die' is the law
of nature as it is the rule of
capitalism; it matters little
if we like it, but it will mat-
ter greatly if we ignore it.
Now is not the time for
followers, but the time for
leaders with the courage
and vision to chart a new
course toward a more prom-
ising future. Let other com-
munities bite the hook bait-
ed with biomass, commit-
ting themselves to cycles
of poverty. Mason County
should heed the instinct of
the salmon our area is fa-
mous for and swim against
the current for the sake of
future survival. The old
gives way to the new; it
is simply how the world
turns, and those who come
to terms with it sooner than
later will prosper or fail,
accordingly.
I
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Shelton-Mason County
USPS 492-800
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