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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
February 10, 2011     Shelton Mason County Journal
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February 10, 2011
 
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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 • .... ....... ....... ........... 1 !i It ! r~ i: Shelton-Mason County USPS 492-800 She~ton-Mason County Joumal is a member of Washington Newspaper Publishers' Association. Rick Kennedy, publisher Dave Pierik, advertising manager Gaylene Wiseman, paginator, Harvey Morris, ad representahve Supplemental Tab designer Newsroom: POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shelton-Mason SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Jesse Mullen, editor Front office: County Journal, P.O. Box 430 Shelton, WA 98584. $37 per year for Mason County addresses, Kevan Moore, news editor Donna Kinnaird, bookkeeper Published weeklybyShelton-Mason County Journal, Inc. $51 per year in state of Washington but outside Dean Siemon, sports Margot Brand, circulation at 227 West Cota Street, Shelton, Washington Mason County, $61 per year out of state. Aria Shephard, North Mason, Cricket Carter, mailroom supervisor Mailing address: nO. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584 environment, reporter Telephone (360) 426-4412 -www.masoncounty.com Owned and published by Natalie Johnson, reporter Composing room: Periodicals postage paid at ~, Wathington She~ton-Mason County Journal, Inc Advertising: William Adams, graphics Page A-4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011 Koleen Wood, classifieds/legals Pressroom: Kelly Riordan, production manager Travis Miller press operator