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C]ournal of Op" "
anaon:
Don't mine me
Another of those inevitable battles is brewing in Mason
County, the ones that occur because of the county's nonstrin-
gent planning regulations. It's always ironic to us when a group
of citizens in a county worshiping individual property rights
starts talking as if decisions on development should be made
for the good of the community.
The history of planning in this county - and it's being
repeated now as the debate over the Growth Manage-
ment Act rages - has always been one of contentious-
ness. Never has the community come together and
agreed on a comprehensive plan that would step on
some toes - those of landowners who want to exercise
their right to develop their property as they wish.
It's not really an "anything goes" policy, but it's about as
close as you can get to that. This is the type of county that
would attract clean industry such as a company handling old
transformers with PCBs in them, the type that has to put a
moratorium on establishment of sexually oriented businesses
until it can decide where it's going to allow them.
So a company proposes to develop a gravel mine on
McEwan Prairie, and it wouldn't be a little pit. Over a
period of 25 years at the 153-acre site, 4.6 million cubic
yards of sand and gravel would be extracted, or enough
to cover 53 square miles with an inch of material.
Many of the people who live in the area are concerned, and
justifiably so. There are many potential problems, including
the project's effects on wetlands, a critical aquifer recharge
area, wildlife and local wells, not to mention noise, air pollution
and gravel truck after gravel truck on local roads.
We understand those concerns and we're glad the peo-
ple are expressing them to county planners. The people
who bewilder us are the ones who are outraged, who be-
lieve a gravel mine has no place on McEwan Prairie,
who want the county to reject the project out of hand.
They remind us of people who move to our little logging
town, buy a house across from a beautiful stand of 80-year-old
fir trees and are outraged when the timber is cut, leaving ar
ugly pile of slash instead of a parklike setting. Harvesting tim-
ber is allowed here.
What the people on McEwan Prairie must keep in
mind is that mining is allowed there. Mason County
doesn't have zoning banning it. The county could have
zoning, but a majority of the citizens have never de-
manded it. In fact, they have shown disdain for it, be-
cause it would require great numbers of them to give up
certain development rights "for the good of the order."
The county has land-use designations, not zoning, and Mc-
Ewan Prairie is designated as a mining-friendly "rural" area. If
you look at a planning map of the county, you see that virtually
the whole eastern half of the county is designated as "rural,"
save for some blocks of long-term commercial forest lands.
Landowners have tremendous latitude, within the
county's development egUlations at:act as a safe,
guard, to develop their land. ..........
It's amazing to us how a planner can be two people at the
same time in the minds of citizens with different outlooks on
life. To one person, the planner is a worthless bureaucrat
armed with a book of regulations six inches thick who just
holds up development. To another person, the planner is a
pushover for developers who isn't doing enough to stop develop-
ment in the person's neighborhood.
Planners have responsibilities, an impartial role, to
review projects according to the rules on the books.
They can't tell a company applying for a mining permit
on property where mining is allowed to get lost. The
property owner has legal standing - property rights.
This is not to say the mine is going to happen just because
mining is allowed on McEwan Prairie. There is a process, a
long process, that must be followed to ensure that the mine
would not destroy the environment. If the mine's effects on the
environment can't be mitigated, it won't be approved. When the
Manke gravel mine was proposed, the process took six years
and approval included more than 70 conditions.
County planners want to provide assurance to resi-
dents that their interestswill be protected by the up-
coming process in which no stone, or piece of gravel as
it were, will be left unturned. They emphasize that the
process has just begun. They agree that the concerns
they've heard so far are very legitimate and must be ad-
dressed. The project is big enough that they have al.
ready ruled it needs an environmental-impact statement
(EIS) because of its potential effects. The scope of the
EIS has yet to be determined. When the scope is deter.
mined, Mason County Department of Community Devel.
opment Director Gary Yando expects to get together
with residents in the area, perhaps at someone's house,
to explain the process. He would like the applicant to
come to that meeting, too, so questions can be answered.
Then the EIS has to go through a draft and final phase.
Comments will be taken from all interested parties during the
drafting of the EIS. Then the planning commission will hold a
hearing on the proposal. It will make a recommendation to the
county commission, which will also hold a hearing before mak-
ing a decision. If either party isn't satisfied with the county's
decision, it can be appealed in court. And the applicant still has
to get a state mining permit and any other required permits
from state agencies.
Who pays for the EIS? The applicant. The EIS is draft-
ed by a consultant who works for the county but is paid
by the applicant.
There's a lesson in this battle over the mine. There will be
future battles unless Mason County's citizens change their
minds and opt for strict prohibitions on certain practices in
"residential" areas. County commissioners who have backed off
strict planning rules for decades aren't to blame for a mine be-
ing proposed on McEwan Prairie. They never had a mandate to
zone the county and bar mining there. Not until the populace
decides its paradise is being ruined will it demand tougher
rules, and we sense rlo move in that direction.
Some people look at zoning as a horrible infringement
on their rights. There's another way to look at it. People
could be assured when they bought a piece of property
that there would never be a mine or a junkyard in the
neighborhood. And when they sold it, they could sell
that assurance for a price. - CG
Page 4':- Shelion-Mason County Journal - Thursday, March 4, 1999'
i00eader$ ' C]ournal:
Few votes
Editor, The Journal. voter. They do not believe
Were you one of the nine? they will be paying for
0, YO'N Pioneer School District was de- school in Shelton if we
[J feated once more! Our attempt to one in our district.
pass the Pioneer high school and Our victory lies in
facilities bond lost by nine votes, our Pioneer families, you
|/1/ For over a year and a half, volun- take the time to registel
/
teers like myself have donated you are not already. At
hundreds and hundreds of hours of you aren't registered
and thousands of dollars to reach Nine of you forgot to vote.
the voting public. A majority of you forgot to mail in
that time and money has been This bond proposition is
spent on the retired, absentee the superintendent, nor
/ -' /m,, v°ter" This has pr°ven ineffective" administrati°n" It is f°r
Why? dren. Please remember
Somehow, this issue has pact that your "no" vote or
turned into more of a debate than "no show" vote has on your
a concern for our children's edu- It has a tremendous
€ cation and well-being. The two my son. And nine of you
things that our politicians talk his future.
Crab Chow's Bill of Rights
By DAVE BARRY
Lately there's been a lot of talk
about an Air Traveler's Bill of
Rights. This idea got a big push
in January when a snowstorm
forced some loaded planes to sit
out on the Detroit airport runway
for as long as eight hours, during
which several passengers were
eaten by wolves. This incident
provoked national criticism of the
airline involved, which I will not
identify here other than to call it
The Diametrically Opposite Of
Southeast Airlines. In its defense,
the airline issued the following
statement:
"We are experiencing mechani-
cal difficulties with our state-
ment."
I personally have had good
luck with Diametrically Opposite
Airlines, which - this is true - re-
cently flew me from Miami to
Traverse City, Michigan, via De-
troit, for free. I fully intended to
pay for the trip: I purchased what
I thought was a ticket, and I used
it to board the 'Miami-Detroit
flight. But wher I got to Detroit
and tried to board the Traverse
City flight, the gate agent told me
my "ticket" was not a ticket. She
then looked in her computer and
told me, quote, "You're not in the
system."
"But I'm here," I pointed out. It
was true. I was there.
"Well, there's no RECORD that
you're here," the agent said. She
called a supervisor, who checked
the computer and also concluded
that I was not there. I continued
to argue that I WAS there, but I
could tell they both believed the
computer. Finally, just to get rid
of me, they put me, with no tick-
et, on the flight to Traverse City,
where there was also no record of
my existence. I'm wondering if
this is what happened to Amelia
Earhart. All I know is, I was nev-
er charged for either leg of my
trip to Traverse City, which for
the record is a very nice tourist
destination, featuring an annual
ice-fishing festival, where this
year the most popular attraction
by far was - I swear I am not
making this up - a giant toilet
carved from ice.
But my basic point is that air
travel has become less and less
pleasant, as more and more pas-
sengers are being crammed into
planes that appear to have been
configured to transport bait. This
is why there is talk of an Air
Traveler's Bill of Rights, which
would require airlines to deter-
mine their fares on some basis
other than lotto drawings, and
serve food that is not made from
the same material as flotation de-
vices, and provide seats that al-
low for the possibility - however
remote - that some passengers
might have both arms AND legs.
As a frequent flyer, I am for
these basic rights, and would like
to see them expanded to include
the following:
1. A passenger has the right to
know that the pilot is alert and in
good physical condition. When
boarding the plane, the passenger
may check the pilot's reflexes by
challenging him to a game of
"slaps."
2. If the in-flight movie is The
Waterboy, and this has also been
the movie on the past four conse-
cutive flights that a passenger
has been on, the passenger has
the right to demand that the pilot
fly the plane into a mountain.
3. If a passenger is standing at
the ticket counter with some hid-
eously complex airline problem
that has caused the other airline
counter personnel to be sucked
over, one by one, until they are all
gathered in front of the problem
passenger, staring in bafflement
at the computer terminal, and
this has been going on for 25
minutes, then the passengers
waiting in line behind the prob-
lem passenger have the right to
emit a hoarse cry of rage, rush
forward in a mob and stuff the
problem passenger into the little
box that indicates the maximum
size of carry-on baggage.
4. If, during the flight, a pas-
senger hears a funny noise and
asks the flight attendant what it
is, the passenger has the right to
not be brushed off with some con-
descending statement such as
"that's a hydraulic compressor;
it's perfectly normal." The flight
attendant should just admit that
the plane is going to crash and
everybody is going to die. Like-
wise, during the preflight safety
lecture, the passenger has the
right not have the situation su-
gar-coated. "In the event of a wa-
ter landing," the flight attendant
should say, "you are Purina Crab
Chow."
5. Passengers changing planes
in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport
have the right to be provided with
some way to travel the average 17
miles to their connecting gates
other than walking or taking a
"tram" that travels at the speed of
fingernail growth and at one
point passes through Mexico.
Also, the Miami, Atlanta and De-
troit airports should be renovated
with nuclear weapons. The Den-
ver airport is nice but should be
moved to the same state as Den-
ver. The Boston airport should
also be moved to the same state
as Denver; that way it would be
easier to get to it from downtovn
Boston than it is now.
So those are my views on Air
Traveler's Rights. If you're a fre-
quent flyer, and you want to
share your thoughts on this topic,
I'd love for you to get in touch
with me. Unfortunately, there is
no record of my existence.
Impact fees are needed
Editor, The Journal:
Since our letter of November
1998 asking questions as to the
direction being taken by our city
of Shelton administration for the
future of Shelton, well, what we
found was more questions and
some facts.
Also, since November 1998 a
group has formed to watch and
learn what is really happening in
the city of Shelton. We are called
Concerned Citizens of Shelton/
Mason County.
Fact: We had a 24 percent in-
crease in our sewer rate this year
(an additional $7 per month). We
do not know how much it will
raise next year or each year till
What does a Mason
Transit rider say when
he gets on the bus and
the driver tells him how
much it costs to ride?
"Hey, no fare!"
I I
the year 2006. Bottom line, we do
not know how far in debt we will
go since the city of Shelton news-
letter of November 1998 stated
the sewer replacement and up-
dates will cost in excess of 23 mil-
lion dollars.
Fact: The city of Shelton was
told many years ago to update our
sewer system. Nothing was done.
All those years lost to be made up
under threat of fines by the De-
partment of Ecology.
Fact: Grants have not been ap-
plied for. Answer from city offi-
cials is that their grant writer is
tied up elsewhere and there are
not many grants available any-
way. So we don't try?
Fact: Our city administration's
answer to paying for updating our
sewer system is raise rates and
borrow money. Grants do not
have to be paid back; that money
usually comes from the federal
government which is our money
anyway. Also, we asked if the city
of Shelton is charging impact fees
on new businesses and housing.
We were told not yet, they are in
the works. Impact fees are used
to make new growth pay for the
added strain (impact) on our sew-
er, roads, schools, fire and police
departments, traffic and added
taxes.
Fact: Did you know that busi-
nesses are charged the same $5
per month for storm drain as your
and my home? Is this fair consid-
ering all the storm water run-off
from huge parking lots?
Fact: We are hearing that
much land will be annexed into
the city of Shelton very soon. If
we don't make new growth pay
for itself with impact fees, the
rest of us will keep paying until
we can't pay anymore.
A great concern is how will our
present city officials handle this
new growth. We must insist that
they use more equitable as well
as prudent policies, and soon.
We believe it is the duty of
Shelton city administrators to
protect the taxpayers from an ex-
cessive burden from growth.
All growth is not bad and all
growth is not good. We must
question and control the manner
of growth.
Concerned Citizens of Shelton/
Mason County have sought
guidance from neighboring cities
concerning their dealing with
growth. We have met with a
mayor, councilmen, past commis-
sioner and our legislators. We
also met with the Carnegie
Group, another group of people
concerned with growth. We have
and will pass all information we
gather on to our city officials.
We welcome new people that
share our concerns. Call 427-
1121.
Joyce Weber and Sandy James
Members of Concerned Citizens
of Shelton/Mason County
about, from the White House to
the Washington State Capitol, are
education and Medicare. That's
us, and that's you. Are we truly
that opposed to one another that
we can't remember or see into our
own futures?
No, our victory does not lie in
the hands of the retired, absentee
Recap of
Editor, The Journal:
Referring to the Journal article
on page one on February 25:
A recap of the meeting between
the county commissioners and the
growth management hearings
board:
First commissioner: "Didn't
you rule that rural areas are lim-
ited to resource-based use?"
Hearings board: "No, we did
not rule that rural areas are lim-
ited to resource-based use. We
said that the matrix of permitted
uses failed to meet Growth Man-
agement Act requirements that
rural areas of more intensive de-
velopment be subject to minimi-
Pioneer School
the high school an,
again on April 27. So noW,
again, and I will begin
Please vote on April
for our children.
zation and containment."
Second commissioner:
also said the law
sion of undeveloped
areas."
Hearings board: "We
rule that undeveloped
not be included in
We said that the
the rural centers must
tained to preclude allowing
pattern of low-density
Third commissioner:
did you guys go to
Clinton?"
c.W.
Not proved gui
Editor, The Journal:
Probably the best response to
the muddle-headed is silence, but
I feel forced to answer a misguid-
ed Hoodsport couple who said in a
letter to the editor last week
"...the Democrats in the U.S. Sen-
ate let the chief law-enforcement
officer of this country get away
with perjury and obstruction of
justice..."
It has always been my under-
standing that anyone accused of a
crime is innocent until proven
guilty. These charges were never
proved. Therefore the President is
innocent of such charges (this is
not to say the President is inno-
cent of sexual dalliance - he has
admitted that).
Yet our Hoodspo]
writers go On' to accuse
Democratic
"criminally corru
seem to us anyone who
proven charges to be
dence of a whole
tion is himself vic
statutes.
We in the Democratic
well as the "...66
American people looking
dawn..." can only praY
Hoodsport couple's en
ment.
Neal
Mason County
They're not
Editor, The Journal:
I am a fourth-grader at Bor-
deaux School writing in response
to what John Evan der Brook said
in an article in The Olympian,
that classroom computers are
toys.
I totally disagree with him.
The classroom
toys. Kids do work on
when their work is
play games - educ
too.
Caleb ]
Embarrassment
Editor, The Journal:
Embarrassing isn't it? Facts:
draft dodger! Admitted adulterer!
Proven liar! Womanizer! Obstruc-
tor of justice! Now, accused
rapist? What is next?
We think it is time
with a better positive
Bill and
William
u
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shelton-Mason
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Telephone (360) 426-4412
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II ' - UlIIIIII LIIIIflS'"
C]ournal of Op" "
anaon:
Don't mine me
Another of those inevitable battles is brewing in Mason
County, the ones that occur because of the county's nonstrin-
gent planning regulations. It's always ironic to us when a group
of citizens in a county worshiping individual property rights
starts talking as if decisions on development should be made
for the good of the community.
The history of planning in this county - and it's being
repeated now as the debate over the Growth Manage-
ment Act rages - has always been one of contentious-
ness. Never has the community come together and
agreed on a comprehensive plan that would step on
some toes - those of landowners who want to exercise
their right to develop their property as they wish.
It's not really an "anything goes" policy, but it's about as
close as you can get to that. This is the type of county that
would attract clean industry such as a company handling old
transformers with PCBs in them, the type that has to put a
moratorium on establishment of sexually oriented businesses
until it can decide where it's going to allow them.
So a company proposes to develop a gravel mine on
McEwan Prairie, and it wouldn't be a little pit. Over a
period of 25 years at the 153-acre site, 4.6 million cubic
yards of sand and gravel would be extracted, or enough
to cover 53 square miles with an inch of material.
Many of the people who live in the area are concerned, and
justifiably so. There are many potential problems, including
the project's effects on wetlands, a critical aquifer recharge
area, wildlife and local wells, not to mention noise, air pollution
and gravel truck after gravel truck on local roads.
We understand those concerns and we're glad the peo-
ple are expressing them to county planners. The people
who bewilder us are the ones who are outraged, who be-
lieve a gravel mine has no place on McEwan Prairie,
who want the county to reject the project out of hand.
They remind us of people who move to our little logging
town, buy a house across from a beautiful stand of 80-year-old
fir trees and are outraged when the timber is cut, leaving ar
ugly pile of slash instead of a parklike setting. Harvesting tim-
ber is allowed here.
What the people on McEwan Prairie must keep in
mind is that mining is allowed there. Mason County
doesn't have zoning banning it. The county could have
zoning, but a majority of the citizens have never de-
manded it. In fact, they have shown disdain for it, be-
cause it would require great numbers of them to give up
certain development rights "for the good of the order."
The county has land-use designations, not zoning, and Mc-
Ewan Prairie is designated as a mining-friendly "rural" area. If
you look at a planning map of the county, you see that virtually
the whole eastern half of the county is designated as "rural,"
save for some blocks of long-term commercial forest lands.
Landowners have tremendous latitude, within the
county's development egUlations at:act as a safe,
guard, to develop their land. ..........
It's amazing to us how a planner can be two people at the
same time in the minds of citizens with different outlooks on
life. To one person, the planner is a worthless bureaucrat
armed with a book of regulations six inches thick who just
holds up development. To another person, the planner is a
pushover for developers who isn't doing enough to stop develop-
ment in the person's neighborhood.
Planners have responsibilities, an impartial role, to
review projects according to the rules on the books.
They can't tell a company applying for a mining permit
on property where mining is allowed to get lost. The
property owner has legal standing - property rights.
This is not to say the mine is going to happen just because
mining is allowed on McEwan Prairie. There is a process, a
long process, that must be followed to ensure that the mine
would not destroy the environment. If the mine's effects on the
environment can't be mitigated, it won't be approved. When the
Manke gravel mine was proposed, the process took six years
and approval included more than 70 conditions.
County planners want to provide assurance to resi-
dents that their interestswill be protected by the up-
coming process in which no stone, or piece of gravel as
it were, will be left unturned. They emphasize that the
process has just begun. They agree that the concerns
they've heard so far are very legitimate and must be ad-
dressed. The project is big enough that they have al.
ready ruled it needs an environmental-impact statement
(EIS) because of its potential effects. The scope of the
EIS has yet to be determined. When the scope is deter.
mined, Mason County Department of Community Devel.
opment Director Gary Yando expects to get together
with residents in the area, perhaps at someone's house,
to explain the process. He would like the applicant to
come to that meeting, too, so questions can be answered.
Then the EIS has to go through a draft and final phase.
Comments will be taken from all interested parties during the
drafting of the EIS. Then the planning commission will hold a
hearing on the proposal. It will make a recommendation to the
county commission, which will also hold a hearing before mak-
ing a decision. If either party isn't satisfied with the county's
decision, it can be appealed in court. And the applicant still has
to get a state mining permit and any other required permits
from state agencies.
Who pays for the EIS? The applicant. The EIS is draft-
ed by a consultant who works for the county but is paid
by the applicant.
There's a lesson in this battle over the mine. There will be
future battles unless Mason County's citizens change their
minds and opt for strict prohibitions on certain practices in
"residential" areas. County commissioners who have backed off
strict planning rules for decades aren't to blame for a mine be-
ing proposed on McEwan Prairie. They never had a mandate to
zone the county and bar mining there. Not until the populace
decides its paradise is being ruined will it demand tougher
rules, and we sense rlo move in that direction.
Some people look at zoning as a horrible infringement
on their rights. There's another way to look at it. People
could be assured when they bought a piece of property
that there would never be a mine or a junkyard in the
neighborhood. And when they sold it, they could sell
that assurance for a price. - CG
Page 4':- Shelion-Mason County Journal - Thursday, March 4, 1999'
i00eader$ ' C]ournal:
Few votes
Editor, The Journal. voter. They do not believe
Were you one of the nine? they will be paying for
0, YO'N Pioneer School District was de- school in Shelton if we
[J feated once more! Our attempt to one in our district.
pass the Pioneer high school and Our victory lies in
facilities bond lost by nine votes, our Pioneer families, you
|/1/ For over a year and a half, volun- take the time to registel
/
teers like myself have donated you are not already. At
hundreds and hundreds of hours of you aren't registered
and thousands of dollars to reach Nine of you forgot to vote.
the voting public. A majority of you forgot to mail in
that time and money has been This bond proposition is
spent on the retired, absentee the superintendent, nor
/ -' /m,, v°ter" This has pr°ven ineffective" administrati°n" It is f°r
Why? dren. Please remember
Somehow, this issue has pact that your "no" vote or
turned into more of a debate than "no show" vote has on your
a concern for our children's edu- It has a tremendous
€ cation and well-being. The two my son. And nine of you
things that our politicians talk his future.
Crab Chow's Bill of Rights
By DAVE BARRY
Lately there's been a lot of talk
about an Air Traveler's Bill of
Rights. This idea got a big push
in January when a snowstorm
forced some loaded planes to sit
out on the Detroit airport runway
for as long as eight hours, during
which several passengers were
eaten by wolves. This incident
provoked national criticism of the
airline involved, which I will not
identify here other than to call it
The Diametrically Opposite Of
Southeast Airlines. In its defense,
the airline issued the following
statement:
"We are experiencing mechani-
cal difficulties with our state-
ment."
I personally have had good
luck with Diametrically Opposite
Airlines, which - this is true - re-
cently flew me from Miami to
Traverse City, Michigan, via De-
troit, for free. I fully intended to
pay for the trip: I purchased what
I thought was a ticket, and I used
it to board the 'Miami-Detroit
flight. But wher I got to Detroit
and tried to board the Traverse
City flight, the gate agent told me
my "ticket" was not a ticket. She
then looked in her computer and
told me, quote, "You're not in the
system."
"But I'm here," I pointed out. It
was true. I was there.
"Well, there's no RECORD that
you're here," the agent said. She
called a supervisor, who checked
the computer and also concluded
that I was not there. I continued
to argue that I WAS there, but I
could tell they both believed the
computer. Finally, just to get rid
of me, they put me, with no tick-
et, on the flight to Traverse City,
where there was also no record of
my existence. I'm wondering if
this is what happened to Amelia
Earhart. All I know is, I was nev-
er charged for either leg of my
trip to Traverse City, which for
the record is a very nice tourist
destination, featuring an annual
ice-fishing festival, where this
year the most popular attraction
by far was - I swear I am not
making this up - a giant toilet
carved from ice.
But my basic point is that air
travel has become less and less
pleasant, as more and more pas-
sengers are being crammed into
planes that appear to have been
configured to transport bait. This
is why there is talk of an Air
Traveler's Bill of Rights, which
would require airlines to deter-
mine their fares on some basis
other than lotto drawings, and
serve food that is not made from
the same material as flotation de-
vices, and provide seats that al-
low for the possibility - however
remote - that some passengers
might have both arms AND legs.
As a frequent flyer, I am for
these basic rights, and would like
to see them expanded to include
the following:
1. A passenger has the right to
know that the pilot is alert and in
good physical condition. When
boarding the plane, the passenger
may check the pilot's reflexes by
challenging him to a game of
"slaps."
2. If the in-flight movie is The
Waterboy, and this has also been
the movie on the past four conse-
cutive flights that a passenger
has been on, the passenger has
the right to demand that the pilot
fly the plane into a mountain.
3. If a passenger is standing at
the ticket counter with some hid-
eously complex airline problem
that has caused the other airline
counter personnel to be sucked
over, one by one, until they are all
gathered in front of the problem
passenger, staring in bafflement
at the computer terminal, and
this has been going on for 25
minutes, then the passengers
waiting in line behind the prob-
lem passenger have the right to
emit a hoarse cry of rage, rush
forward in a mob and stuff the
problem passenger into the little
box that indicates the maximum
size of carry-on baggage.
4. If, during the flight, a pas-
senger hears a funny noise and
asks the flight attendant what it
is, the passenger has the right to
not be brushed off with some con-
descending statement such as
"that's a hydraulic compressor;
it's perfectly normal." The flight
attendant should just admit that
the plane is going to crash and
everybody is going to die. Like-
wise, during the preflight safety
lecture, the passenger has the
right not have the situation su-
gar-coated. "In the event of a wa-
ter landing," the flight attendant
should say, "you are Purina Crab
Chow."
5. Passengers changing planes
in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport
have the right to be provided with
some way to travel the average 17
miles to their connecting gates
other than walking or taking a
"tram" that travels at the speed of
fingernail growth and at one
point passes through Mexico.
Also, the Miami, Atlanta and De-
troit airports should be renovated
with nuclear weapons. The Den-
ver airport is nice but should be
moved to the same state as Den-
ver. The Boston airport should
also be moved to the same state
as Denver; that way it would be
easier to get to it from downtovn
Boston than it is now.
So those are my views on Air
Traveler's Rights. If you're a fre-
quent flyer, and you want to
share your thoughts on this topic,
I'd love for you to get in touch
with me. Unfortunately, there is
no record of my existence.
Impact fees are needed
Editor, The Journal:
Since our letter of November
1998 asking questions as to the
direction being taken by our city
of Shelton administration for the
future of Shelton, well, what we
found was more questions and
some facts.
Also, since November 1998 a
group has formed to watch and
learn what is really happening in
the city of Shelton. We are called
Concerned Citizens of Shelton/
Mason County.
Fact: We had a 24 percent in-
crease in our sewer rate this year
(an additional $7 per month). We
do not know how much it will
raise next year or each year till
What does a Mason
Transit rider say when
he gets on the bus and
the driver tells him how
much it costs to ride?
"Hey, no fare!"
I I
the year 2006. Bottom line, we do
not know how far in debt we will
go since the city of Shelton news-
letter of November 1998 stated
the sewer replacement and up-
dates will cost in excess of 23 mil-
lion dollars.
Fact: The city of Shelton was
told many years ago to update our
sewer system. Nothing was done.
All those years lost to be made up
under threat of fines by the De-
partment of Ecology.
Fact: Grants have not been ap-
plied for. Answer from city offi-
cials is that their grant writer is
tied up elsewhere and there are
not many grants available any-
way. So we don't try?
Fact: Our city administration's
answer to paying for updating our
sewer system is raise rates and
borrow money. Grants do not
have to be paid back; that money
usually comes from the federal
government which is our money
anyway. Also, we asked if the city
of Shelton is charging impact fees
on new businesses and housing.
We were told not yet, they are in
the works. Impact fees are used
to make new growth pay for the
added strain (impact) on our sew-
er, roads, schools, fire and police
departments, traffic and added
taxes.
Fact: Did you know that busi-
nesses are charged the same $5
per month for storm drain as your
and my home? Is this fair consid-
ering all the storm water run-off
from huge parking lots?
Fact: We are hearing that
much land will be annexed into
the city of Shelton very soon. If
we don't make new growth pay
for itself with impact fees, the
rest of us will keep paying until
we can't pay anymore.
A great concern is how will our
present city officials handle this
new growth. We must insist that
they use more equitable as well
as prudent policies, and soon.
We believe it is the duty of
Shelton city administrators to
protect the taxpayers from an ex-
cessive burden from growth.
All growth is not bad and all
growth is not good. We must
question and control the manner
of growth.
Concerned Citizens of Shelton/
Mason County have sought
guidance from neighboring cities
concerning their dealing with
growth. We have met with a
mayor, councilmen, past commis-
sioner and our legislators. We
also met with the Carnegie
Group, another group of people
concerned with growth. We have
and will pass all information we
gather on to our city officials.
We welcome new people that
share our concerns. Call 427-
1121.
Joyce Weber and Sandy James
Members of Concerned Citizens
of Shelton/Mason County
about, from the White House to
the Washington State Capitol, are
education and Medicare. That's
us, and that's you. Are we truly
that opposed to one another that
we can't remember or see into our
own futures?
No, our victory does not lie in
the hands of the retired, absentee
Recap of
Editor, The Journal:
Referring to the Journal article
on page one on February 25:
A recap of the meeting between
the county commissioners and the
growth management hearings
board:
First commissioner: "Didn't
you rule that rural areas are lim-
ited to resource-based use?"
Hearings board: "No, we did
not rule that rural areas are lim-
ited to resource-based use. We
said that the matrix of permitted
uses failed to meet Growth Man-
agement Act requirements that
rural areas of more intensive de-
velopment be subject to minimi-
Pioneer School
the high school an,
again on April 27. So noW,
again, and I will begin
Please vote on April
for our children.
zation and containment."
Second commissioner:
also said the law
sion of undeveloped
areas."
Hearings board: "We
rule that undeveloped
not be included in
We said that the
the rural centers must
tained to preclude allowing
pattern of low-density
Third commissioner:
did you guys go to
Clinton?"
c.W.
Not proved gui
Editor, The Journal:
Probably the best response to
the muddle-headed is silence, but
I feel forced to answer a misguid-
ed Hoodsport couple who said in a
letter to the editor last week
"...the Democrats in the U.S. Sen-
ate let the chief law-enforcement
officer of this country get away
with perjury and obstruction of
justice..."
It has always been my under-
standing that anyone accused of a
crime is innocent until proven
guilty. These charges were never
proved. Therefore the President is
innocent of such charges (this is
not to say the President is inno-
cent of sexual dalliance - he has
admitted that).
Yet our Hoodspo]
writers go On' to accuse
Democratic
"criminally corru
seem to us anyone who
proven charges to be
dence of a whole
tion is himself vic
statutes.
We in the Democratic
well as the "...66
American people looking
dawn..." can only praY
Hoodsport couple's en
ment.
Neal
Mason County
They're not
Editor, The Journal:
I am a fourth-grader at Bor-
deaux School writing in response
to what John Evan der Brook said
in an article in The Olympian,
that classroom computers are
toys.
I totally disagree with him.
The classroom
toys. Kids do work on
when their work is
play games - educ
too.
Caleb ]
Embarrassment
Editor, The Journal:
Embarrassing isn't it? Facts:
draft dodger! Admitted adulterer!
Proven liar! Womanizer! Obstruc-
tor of justice! Now, accused
rapist? What is next?
We think it is time
with a better positive
Bill and
William
u
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