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| February 18, 1971 Shelton Mason County Journal |  |
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February 18, 1971 |
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"The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to
agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating
authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide
what is good for the people to know and what is not good for
them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so
that they may retain control over the instruments they have
created."
How does that statement grab you?
If you agree with the premise and would like to see it
become a part of state law, you can help accomplish that
purpose by writing or phoning State Senator Gordon
Sandison and Representatives Charles Savage and Paul
Conner, signifying your support of Senate Bill 485, of which
the above statement is a part.
The bill, introduced last week by Senators Washington,
Greive, Bailey and Francis at the request of Lieutenant
Governor John Cherberg, provides for open meetings of all
public agencies, including the Washington State Legislature•
It would prohibit the secret meetings which have been
employed by many public bodies, including the legislature,
school boards, city, town and county councils and
commissions, special purpose districts, college and university
commissions and boards.
The bill is similar to legislation proposed ten years ago by
Washington's weekly newspaper publishers. That bill,
vigorously opposed by the University of Washington board of
regents and the Association of Washington Cities, died in a
secret meeting of a legislative committee. (That's the way the
old bill bounces.)
Secret meetings cause much of the distrust of public
bodies by the citizenry. The euphemisms used by elected
officials for those sessions - executive session, study session,
brainstorming session - cannot gloss over the fact that they
are conducting public business behind doors closed to the
public.
Cherberg's bill will have tough sledding in the Senate.
Nine members of the thirteen-member Judiciary committee,
where the bill now reposes, have already voted this session
against opening up legislative committee meetings. They
include the chairman of the committee, Senator Gissberg,
Vice Chairman Senator Dore, and Senators Durkan, Walgren,
Anderson, Atwood, Clarke, Twigg and Woodall.
If some of those names are familiar to you as back-room
powers, you have an idea of the problem. It will take a minor
miracle for the bill to pass the Senate if it comes out of
committee. Its chances in the House if the miracle should
occur are probably even dimmer.
But every citizen who believes that public business ought
to be conducted in public should make that view known to
his legislator.
There is a real push on in both chambers for the abolition
of secret meetings. So far, the black hats outnumber the
white hats, but pressure from voters could change that
situation, if nbt this session, then in subsequent years.
So, unhotster tlllgse ballpoints and fit¢a salvo in the
direction of Olympia.
We have had some unkind words, in the past, for adults
who insist that today's youngsters should conform to a set of
nineteenth-century rural America standards to which they,
themselves, did not adhere, although the mind-twisting
passage of time has convinced them they did.
Each day brings news of another latter-year saint who tells
the kids where it's at• The octogenarian, for instance, who
advises youngsters they will not live to be thirty if they do
the things he has conveniently forgotten he did at seventeen.
We have waited, impatiently, for someone who really
knows what he is talking about to appear on the scene.
It is with unbounded joy, therefore, that we present the
admonitions of a sage we uncovered while judging the entries
in a writing contest from an eastern state.
The author of the piece, in an attempt to uncover what
he termed "the root of the young generation's evils," asked
his community's leading citizen for the answer.
"Too much money, too much Leisure, not enough
discipline," was the reply• HIS recommendation for
disciplining those he described as "America's uncouth youth"
- the young social protesters and demonstrators - was
"Take those kids to the whipping post."
The reporter then presented a short biography of his
interviewee which clearly shows why he is qualified to
criticize youngsters who have too much money and too much
leisure.
"A couple more invasions and the President will have run out of
countries in Southeast Asia in which he promises we won't be used."
A Mason County father, at wit's-end over a problem for
which he can discern no answer, has written the following
account of his predicament. He hopes that private citizens
and public officials will write their solutions, if any they
have, to the Journal. We welcome comment on the subject
and will publish it in the Letter Box. - The Editor
What/ts : goal of most of today's teenagers? Their
rebellion, dope, laziness, and defiance of authority. The only
agreement they show is when they are given their own way or
something they want while not having to do anything in
return.
A person begins to think, a remembrance of the past,
possessing the knowledge and experience - ability to control
teenagers of today. Now a question becomes apparent :
what authority does Society have over today's teenagers?
Also, what authority or action may the law exercise in
correcting and/or controlling teenagers who are law violators
today? Based upon current experience, one word -
"NONE."
The following is a factual story - the experiences of one
girl, the worries of her family trying to live today by the
known rules of yesterday. The girl's name doesn't matter,
only what has happened.
She started life innocent like your child and all others.
She learned to be an obedient child, a good student, and a
credit to me and her mother. Then her world fell apart. She
got involved with the wrong crowd at school and in the
community. This change occured when she was only 14 years
old. From then to now, she has lived a life of hell when she
was not off in her dream world.
She was just past 14 when she became interested in boys.
She started running around, lying, and sneaking out at night.
Soon after she began sneaking off- the nights alone were
not enough - she began running away from home. She
started taking up with boys, even older men, going off for
days. And these ran into weeks. While she was gone, she was
introduced to drugs. After one of her degrading episodes, she
was returned home to a worried, but relieved mother and
myself. Our first-born was home again.
Knowing our daughter needed help, we sought assistance
from the officials of our state, guidance as to what could be
done to help our daughter and maybe stop it from becoming
a problem for someone else. But, this proved unfruitful. The
officials claimed they couldn't do anything- our daughter
hadn't broken any law.
At home, our daughter didn't improve. She still r ifl, awny
and took up with anyone who would give her what she
wanted. My wife and I, hoping to help her, we continued to
try and find a way to lure her from the life she had chosen. It
became a losing battle. She was suspended from school as a
bad influence on the other students. After many encounters
with the law because of her conduct, we increased our search
for help.
Always the answer was the same. Even after a year, plus,
the law still claimed she had not broken any law for which
they could do anything for her. They agreed, she had bent
the law somewhat, but that was all. She was placed on
probation with the understanding that if she got into any
more trouble she would be placed in a girl's school. This is a
joke and a laugh, as each and every teenager knows they can
do as they please and the law cannot touch a teenager short
of murder. Anyway, the statement keeps coming up - they
are teenagers and our hands are tied.
Finally, after many worried days and nights, we got our
daughter placed into a foster home. We hoped through this
action she would be away from the environment and vice she
had become used to. Our mistake. The foster home enforced
no control over her. She was again running the streets as she
pleased. The foster home situation didn't last long and she
ran away and was gone for two weeks and we never were
notified. She was finally returned home.
Everything was fine for about five months. She met this
nice boy and they wanted to get married. They both were
sincere. They were married and it lasted for three weeks. She
started hanging around with her old crowd and left her
husband. She got mixed up with dope and needed help but
)X:
e
SETS
Editor, The Journal I do it the day ~estin~
R e c e n t 1 y a b i 11 w a s The bookmobile isal:son "~
introduced, HB 297, which would So where do I go~ the
set up 12 regional library districts PublicLibrary "~]~dll be
in the state• This would make Pc" to W
books,pamphlets,.~ [o• w""
Shelton Public Library a part of have the informat~
The library ls~-
the Timberland Regional Library. . ,maageme
New b~dilnea pn
I ve used the Shelton Public standards . .-
Library for the past eleven years, the library oft u : -
gacn t<
since I was six years old. Now fiction and non-~^, ,i-
O~ UI tll
that I am in high school, I've wide variety of 3f two
found out that the library has a books. A person ca
great amount of information that that will appeal ti Fir s~
800 ac
is very useful to me when doing Shelton Library,was
reports and homework subscribes to -' "o"
• ne~ a~ L, U~
The Timberland Regional magazines and ~ r f~'
Library sends a bookmobile to records classiCa " ;'T'
' ck i..,tnu to
Shelton twice a month, stopping western, and ro
for half an hour or less at certain Shelton Library. Wl::r°u~
designated areas In that short sources of material~_'.i~e we"
t mo you f,o
the books you want. It usually The libra v~'ry gi ~od M~
takes longer than this to research good supply of e!~r ." ..
forbooks, and other materials, information to ~ehLnr~.'
I can t speak for all students, support the S.h~mberll
but I usually don't do a report Library It's your li~v ~e
• 'i -- ve~_
until a few days before it's due or ~th of d
I progral
.'~g and ]
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• " O ' ~ S WeD
Unsigned letters are again starting t P al, Fc
" the
editor" ' of them discuss" • s
s desk. Most is and
are of importance to our readers. ]1 b 1 a c
We solicit letters and are anxious to print
is our policy, however, that only signed
published•
We urge those who have sent in
correspondence to come in and sign their
they can appear in the Letter Box. More
needed on the editorial page.
wer~
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
our hands were tied because she was married.
What kind of law permits a 15-year old
streets, married or otherwise? We went to the
asked them to pick her up for we knew she
life if she was left to run with the boys and be
dope at the age of 15. They said she was married
was a classification of her own. She was
and an adult and they don't have a law to coveX
is still only 15 years old.
Then, longlast, it seemed help had come.
was picked up in a town south of our State
request, she was held for a few days, then
Olympia to juvenile officers. There she
herself to Western State for help. There she was
a few hours and it was decided our daughter did
help and she was released. Upon her release, it
hours until she was with her old crowd again.
How could any doctor possibly say this?
This story doesn't end here. It only
temporary break. Her mother and I wonder
this writing because she has again taken off to
and the Lord knows with whom.
How does a girl, when hooked on
requirement? They lie, steal, and give
possible to obtain the drugs they need.
Will your daughter or son be .next to
drug pushers, sex, and drinking just to line the
pushers? If I were alone, I could feel that I
but having spoken to other parents that have
problems such as I have cited above, their
same as mine. I ask, when will Society, when
put a stop to the use of drugs, allowing the
wild and do as they please.
Based upon past experience, the only
"Kids this is your era, as you well know,
you cannot do any wrong, your age protects
laws are there to see your rights are not
teenagers, this is your world, your time.
up as you please."
The austerity expert is a 73-year-old manufacturer who is
worth 50 million dollars. His limited leisure hours are spent
in a $250,000 swimming pool at his home, driving a Rolls
Royce for which he paid $50,000 and then spent $15,000
more fitting with a body of his own design, and shooting
animals in Africa and the western United States for trophies
with which to decorate the walls of his simple abode.
The austere home is decorated with art objects and
paintings by Rembrandt and Holbein. A bed given him by a
European dictator brightens one bedroom with its 25-carat
gold leaf headboard and another, a revolving circular bed
given him by a movie queen, dominates one of the many
other bedrooms.
Parents would be well advised to urge their children to
emulate this civic pillar. Point out to them that if they work
hard and save their money, they may, at 73, be able to
slaughter animals in Africa and sleep in a revolving circular
bed after a stimulating afternoon behind the wheel of a
565,000 automobile.
Explain to them, also, that it is important to choose the
right vocation. The hero of our story owns a business with an
annual sales volume of $17 million earned manufacturing,
among other things, missile launchers, tear gas, bullet-proof
vests and riot guns.
That should really turn on your kids•
By: ROBERT C. CUMMINGS
A cutoff date for introducing
bills always is established in the
Legislature to expedite the
progress of the session, but
invariably legislators use a simple
device to get around it.
This session isn't any
exception.
The device is to introduce
bills by title only, so that they
can be used at any time after the
cutoff date, by writing whatever
pertinent material that may be
desired under the tire.
By the 30th day of the
current session, 53 title-only bills
had been introduced in the two
houses. Twenty-seven subjects
were covered in the various bills.
It is a safe bet that by the
time the cutoff date rolls around
there will be tire-only mea/fitet¢
covering virtuaBy eveJy ~abjeet on
the statute books: .....
Handy Little Gadget
It is handy to have a vehicle
available for developing a possible
new solution to a knotty problem
Pacje4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, February 18, 1971
in the heat of the session after the
period for introducing bills has
expired.
It is much more convenient,
for instance, to take a "clean" bill
with only a title than to "scalp" a
measure which already has been
introduced, complete with related
but often highly different
material.
But the practice also lends
itself to abuse, by cluttering up
the legislative committees with
additional measures during a
period when time for considering
bills already before them is
limited - the very development
which the cutoff date is intended
to avoid•
Remedy Fails
This prompted the Legislature
a few years ago to adopt a rule
banning title-only bills, but the
rule didn't go far enough.
It specified that the bill also
must include at least one section
of the subject matter.
The result was a first section
which was just as broad as the
title.
A bill with a broad title such
as "relating to education," for
instance, would ~arry a first
section like this:
"The Legislature finds that
education is the responsibility of
the state."
It still left a "clean" bill under
which any matter relating to
education could be written.
The rule remains in effect, but
the required first section always is
so insignificant that such
measures continue to be
considered "title-only" bills.
Effective Maneuver
A more effective crimp on
this practice occurred in 1951,
when former Gov. Albert D.
Rosellini was minority leader in
the Senate. Rosellini had
introduced a number of title-only
bills "relating to public
assistance."
The Republicans took one of
these, carrying Rosellini,s name,
and wrote a relative responsibility
laW under the title, and made sure
the measure received appropriate
publici,y:
The next day, Rosellini's
protests on the floor of the
Senate could be heard in the
House chamber on the other side
of the building.
After letting Rosellini blow
off steam for about 20 minutes,
the Republicans "graciously"
withdrew their "amendment" to
the bill.
But this bit of horseplay
reduced significantly the number
of title-only bills that were
introduced in the Senate for
several sessions thereafter.
Horses and Bingo
Though Sen• Robert Bailey
doesn't expect his bill to abolish
horse racing to get any place, it
just might pass the Senate, under
certain circumstances.
Bailey introduced the measure
solely as an answer to Atty. Gem
Slade Gorton, whom he blames
for the crackdown on bingo
games throughout the state.
He reasons that if people can't
play bingo, they shouldn't beinitiatives, from 8
permitted to bet on horses, of the vote
Bailey, who is the majority presidential
caucus chairman in the upper referenda, from 4
chamber, has many sympathetic A House
ears on this subject in the Senate, w o u I d raise
as evidenced by the 39-9 vote by requirements even
which the members voted to per cent for
repeal the anti-lottery provision in per cent
the constitution. If of
If they can be sure the should get
measure will be killed in thevote required to
House, they might pass it, just to ballot, it is
stir up a few waves, would be
About Face By the time
Just about the time legislative b u d g e t s
leaders decided against tampering
with the initiative and referendum Representatives,
process, proposed constitutional unable to
amendments on the subject Even the
landed in both houses, leadership is
A Senate resolution (SJR 24) alternatives to
would abolish initiatives to the proposals, and
Legislature, permitting only Others in
initiatives to the voters; obviously caucus have
the result of the three initiatives shyness when asked
facing the present session, support it. At
It also would increase the appears there
signature requirements for votes to get it out