April 2, 1970 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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I
crowd, which filled the
r~l°~o[m the Mason County make holding a music festival in
the county even more difficult
"'"'~ monaay, heard thethan it would be under the
commissioner,s proposed
ance restricting and proposed ordinance, which was
• patterned after the one adopted
music festivals read. in Thursday County.
crowd of suggestions The commission took the
ordinance toproposed ordinance under
advisement and later announced it
would most likely be adopted at
the commission meeting Monday.
The commission, which had
been considering the adoption of
such an ordinance for several
months, started action after three
local residents appeared at the
commission meeting two weeks
ago and told the commission they
had heard that a 40-acre tract in
the Lynch Road area was being
considered for lease as a music
festival site.
The principal regulations in
the proposed ordinance for Mason
!ay, April 2, 1970
Published in "Christmastown, U.S.A.", Shelton, Washington. Entered as second class 20 Pages -- 2 Sections
14
'matter at the post office at Shelton, Washington 98584, under act of March 8, 1879.
Published weekly at 227 West Cote. $5.00 per year in Mason County, $6.00 elsewhere.
Ten Cents Per Copy
e
.ason
County Superior
lry Thursday evening
Johnson, 45, a
County resident
I Olympia, guilty of
eny through the
Stolen property.
act came at the end
trial on the charges
against Johnson
guns were stolen and was told by
Schultz that they were not.
He said he gave Schultz the
$40 and took the guns, which
were in a paper sack, and put
them up in the attic of the house.
He said the ceiling in the house in
which he was living was low, and,
he was able to put them up
without climbing into the attic.
He stated he put the guns in
the attic to keep them out of
reach, and, because he had had a
gun, some tools and a radio stolen
from the house at various times,
he wanted to make sure they were
safe since he was responsible for
them.
Asked if he had reported the
thefts from his home, Johnson
said he had not, since he believed
he knew who had taken them and it
(Please turn to Page 3)
had pleaded not
and has been
that time.
Y Sheriff Tom
testified to going to
after arresting
home of William
Shelton last Feb. 6.
said officers had a
for the Johnson
after a search, four
in the attic of
paper sack.
after his arrest,
at to the home with
showed them where
fth pistol, which
out, he had
as far as officers
e, was not stolen.
was Kenneth
ormer Shelton man,
• Inmate at the State
lary in Walla Walla.
arrested here last
Is turned over to
from where
the penitentiary or,
testified he had taken
guns to the Johnson
December, 1968
Were sold to Johnson
had been returned
:he State Penitentiary
be a witness in the
STUDENTS in Mrs. Neil Evander's fifth grade class at
Bordeaux participated in a dental hygiene project Tuesday.
Sponsored by the State Health Department in cooperation
with the Thurston-Mason Health District and the
Thurston-Mason County Dental Association, the project
included a demonstration on how to brush teeth and the
application of a therapeutic tooth paste by the students.
County were:
-A fee of $2,500 to be paid
at the time of application.
-Approval of the
Mason-Thurston County Health
Department for sanitary facilities.
-Approval of the Fire District
in which the site is located on fire
precautions.
-Bonds, which did not have
the amounts set but, x~hicn would
be graduated depending on the
number of persons attending,
starting with 0 to 10,000; 10,000
to 20,000; 20,000 to 30,000 and
for each additional 10,000
persons.
-Liability insurance with a
minimum of $100,000 bodily
injury coverage per person:
$300,000 bodily injury coverage
per occurence and $100,000
property damage coverage, with
Mason County named as an
additional insured.
-Employment of one
qualified peace officer for each
200 persons expected for crowd
control and one qualified peace
officer for each 400 persons
expected for traffic control, all to
be paid for by the applicant.
-Complete lighting for the
entire area, including both out of
doors and in buildings.
-No music between the hours
of midnight and 10 a.m.
-No one under 18 permitted
without the escort of his parents
or legal guardian.
No intoxieatiog liquor
Gov. Daniel J. Evans will
;pend most of the day in Shelton
~,pril 16, meeting with local
9fficials and speaking to groups
acre, it was announced this week
~y the Mason County Republican
~entral Committee.
He will speak to a joint
neeting of the Kiwanis and
Rotary Clubs at noon.
At 1:30 p.m. he will address
in assembly at Shelton High
~chool on "environmental
9roblems in Washington".
At 2:30 p.m., a tour of the
~impson Timber Co. facilities on
the waterfront here is scheduled
to 0e followed by a 4 p.m.
meeting with city and county
:ommissioners.
The Republican Central
o m mittee will sponsor a
allowed on the premises.
-Site to be 1,000 yards from
any school or church and 500
yards from any residence.
The crowd at the hearing,
with little exception, was strongly
in favor of the ordinance and
offered suggestions to strengthen
it.
Lawrence Gosser posed the
question as to why drugs were not
included in the section pertaining
to the ban on liquor.
Prosecuting Attorney John C.
Ragan stated that the possession
of drugs was illegal any place,
and, including them in this
section would do nothing to
strengthen the ordinance.
Shelton Fire Chief Allan
Nevitt suggested that in areas
where there is no rural fire
district, the Department of
Natural Resources be named as
the agency to issue a permit on
fire precautions.
Another suggestion was that
the approval of the site by the
Department of Game and
Department of Fisheries be
required also.
Attorney Glenn Correa and
Bill Kamin, Simpson Timber Co.
farm forester, both suggested that
the insurance minimums be raised
substantially because of the
dangers from fire in this county.
Only one questioning voice
was heard, that of Ray
Barrington, who was obviously
~paghetti dinner at 6:30 p.m. at
the Methodist Church at which
the governor will be the speaker.
Youth In Court
On Drug Charge
A Mason County juvenile,
who admitted having two lids of
marijuana in his possession in the
vicinity of a school, was given a
suspended committment to the
State Youth Authority and placed
under the supervision of Jerry
Seipp, special probation officer
here.
Arrangements were made for
the youth to live with his
grandmother and attend school in
another county.
there was another
when he went to
Son residence, but,
the person. The
other person was
attorneys.
were identified
three of them
Pawn Shop in
and one from
County Dec. 13,
two guns which were
which Larson
to Johnson were
shop and the
County.
that at the
he was living in
south of Shelton
at the mink
OWard the end
Lopeman,
as his wife's
Schultz and
home.
met Schultz,
and Lopeman
Lopeman told
wanted to
the guns as
z said he wanted
to California on
and would
a Week to get
I
stated he asked if the
lUllHIllllUllll
ury
The Mason County
Commission Monday approved a
revised road program for 1970
presented by County Engineer
J.C. Bridger.
In a letter to the commission,
Bridger pointed out that the
revision of the program was
necessitated by a reduction in the
county's gas tax allocation from
the state.
The allocation, Bridger said,
was reduced by 31 percent by a
change in the state's method of
computing the allocations.
The revision, he said, resulted
in Mason County being declared
as having a zero need factor.
The loss to Mason County, he
said, will be between $160,000
and $170,000.
Gentlemen:
"Submitted herewith is a
recommended revision of the
Mason County Road Construction
Program for 1970. This revised
program reflects deletions and
modifications previously
discussed informally with the
Board. This curtailment of
construction is necessitated by
the reduction in Mason County's
anticipated Motor Vehicle Tax
receipts.
"Attention is invited to
Director of Highways (State Aid
Engineer) letter of March 5, 1970
forwarding Allocation Percentages
for all the counties as revised and
effective March 1, 1970. The
Director of Highways, State Aid
Engineer, is required (RCW
46.68.120) to recompute the
Motor Vehicle Tax allocation
percentages for all counties every
two (2) years, effective on March
1. The allocation percentage for
Mason County was 1.40 for the
preceding two years, and the
1970 road budget was prepared
on this basis. Recomputation has
resulted in a new allocation
percentage for Mason County of
only 0.97; a reduction of nearly
31 percent. This means, simply,
that Mason County's 1970 Road
Budget must be reduced by
approximately $144,000.00 (for
the remaining ten months
beginning March 1.)
The State Aid Engineer is not
in any way responsible for this
reduction. The "Gas Tax
Formula" (RCW 46.68.120) is a
rather sophisticated and complex
formula which distributes the
Motor Vehicle Taxes to be spent
on county roads in the following
manner:
1. 10 percent is evenly
distributed.
2. 30 percent is distributed
proportionately on the basis of a
county's "Trunk Mileage'. (school
bus and mail routes) multiplied
by a predetermined annual cost
per mile.
3. 30 percent is distributed
proportionately on the basis of
the total number of rural vehicle
registrations plus 7 percent of the
city vehicle registration in the
county.
4. 30 percent is distributed
on the basis of "Need".
"This formula appears to have
provided an equitable means for
distributing the counties' share of
Motor Vehicle Taxes when it was
adopted in 1956 and for several
years thereafter. However,
coincident with the furor over
Judge Wright S,
Supreme Court Post
Superior Court Judge Charles
T. Wright said here this week he is
a candidate for the position on
the State Supreme Court being
vacated by the retirement of
Judge Frank Weaver.
Judge Wright has served the
Mason-Thurston County Superior
Court iudicial district for more
than 2i years. He was appointed
to the Superior Court bench to
succeed his father, Judge D. F.
Wright, on the elder Wright's
retirement.
He and his wife, Helen, make
their home at Union.
The judge is a native of Mason
County and practiced law here
before being appointed to the
Superior Court bench.
Judge Wright commented that
he has presided in courts in
almost every county in the state
as a vvisiting judge during his
years on the Superior Court.
Judge Weaver is retiring May
21 after 19 years of service on the
State Supreme Court.
property tax assessment ratios in
recent years the allocation
percentages for Motor Vehicle
Tax distribution have fluctuated
w ildly.
"A county's "Need Factor" is
defined in the statutes as the ratio
of that county's "Net Need"
divided by the sum of the "Net
Needs" of all the counties; the
"Net Need" of a county is
defined as the difference between
"Gross Need" and "Available
Resources". "Gross Need" is
defined as the product of Trunk
Miles times the Annual Cost per
Trunk Mile. "Available
Resources" is defined as the sum
of Federal Forest Funds available
for roads and the value of a
I 0-mill levy on all rural property
in the county as certified by the
State Tax Commission. Herein
appears to be the principal root of
all inequity in the current "Gas
Tax" allocation 12ercentages. For
the first time ever, the Tax
Commission has now computed
the resources of all the counties
using a 10-mill levy on 50 percent
of the Tax Commission's estimate
of the full value of each county's
rural property. The "Tax Freeze"
st atut_e now in effect which
(Please turn to Page 2)
perjury
County
trt Wednesday
Attorney
William E.
ormm Sh~ton
in the trial
Olympia, last
larceny
in
guilty of
held in
awaiting
was set at
Charles T.
a
THIS IS WHAT was left of a hay shed at the Bill 13esch
residence on Dickinson St. after a twister went through
shortly before I p.m. Tuesday. The twister picked the shed
up and droPPed the shattered wood framing andmetal roofina
a short distance. Several bales of hay which were under the
shed were not disturbed. A neighbor reported seeing the parts
of the shed being whirled by the twister above the tree tops
before they were dropped back onto the ground.
younger than most of those
attending the hearing. He asked if
this would apply to the Forest
Festival and the County Fair also.
The commission stated the
Festival was held in the city limits
and was not included and that the
fair was under the direction of the
county and was also not included
in the requirements.
One member of the audience
asked why an ordinance banning
music festivals from the county
could not be adopted and was
told such an ordinance would be
unconstitutional.
~~~~~~~~~~~~u~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Shelton Jaycees presented a resolution to the City Commission
at its meeting Tuesday night urging the commission to adopt the
half-cent sales tax and to strongly consider using the money from it to
upgrade the wage scale and benefits for city employees, particuiarily
firemen and policemen.
Mayor Frank Travis told the Jaycee delegation the soonest the tax
could be enacted would be July 1.
The commission is planning to hold a public hearing on the
proposed tax before taking action on it.
The commission stated it had not acted to get the tax imposed by,
April 1 because they believed it would be better not to rush into it
without public hearings.
RESOLUTION TO THE SHELTON CITY COMMISSION:
The major issue requiring resolution is the question of community
environment. Any citizen, regardless of orientation, desires his
community to be domestically tranquil and lawabiding. As the
socio-economic strata of the community advances, so must the
educational and professional qualifications of the public servant. We are
living in complex and demanding times, however, this must not be used
as an excuse to shirk our concentrated effort to correct any, and all,
inequalities and injustices in our governmental system.
We, the members of the Shelton Jaycees, strongly recommend the
adoption of the 1/2 of 1% City Sales Tax. The increased revenue
acquired from this measure should be partially, or wholly, earmarked
for: 1. Increases in City Employee wage and benefit schedules; 2.
Improvements, modifications or acquisition of equipment and facilities
used by the various departments within the City. As citizens of the City
of Shelton, we demand highly competent and professional City
Employees. This desired level of competency must be achieved to deal
with the ever-increasing complexity of our society. To achieve this
desired level of professionalism it will be necessary to incorporate wage
and benefit schedules along with adequate working facilities and
equipment to attract and satisfy this caliber of manpower.
Two areas which need immediate attention are the law enforcement
and fire departments. Due to the great increase in the cost of living,
most major and minor cities have found it necessary to make large
adjustments in wage and employee benefits to remain competitive. The
City of Shelton is far behind in meeting these necessary modifications.
Before continuing, it will be necessary to point some factual
information:
1. Within the last two years, Shelton has lost several highly qualified
police officers due to the lack of financial support. Salary ranges are
too far out of balance for firemen and law enforcement and other City
employees.
2. Under Federal auspices, trainee policemen can acquire additional
education in the Police Sciences to further upgrade himself and his
profession. No remuneration is presently offered in recognition of this
achievement. Officers with this background are prime candidates for
advanced and higher paying positions in other communities. The City
of Shelton is serving as a training center for other Washington cities.
This is doing the citizens of Shelton an injustice.
3. The employee benefits presently offered by the City of Shelton
are currently inadequate. The present life insurance coferage is only
$2000.00, approximately the amount necessary to cover the cost of
burial. If a police officer were killed in service to his community, his
widow and family would undoubtedly become financially deprived and
end up on the welfare rolls. Why should any man wish to subject
himself to perhaps a necessary but dangerous situation if his family and
their well-being were threatened?
4. Current medical allowances are painfully inadequate. Several
employees have incured large medical bills that are not covered by
insurance that could be covered by a more efficient group policy. We
are confident that the City Officials are aware of various coverages at
their disposal and will act to rectify these situations.
5. Several members of the Shelton police force have been compeled
to search out the possibility of employment elsewhere in the State. All
but one of the patrolmen have at least one and a half years of
expexperience and are in the process of attaining further education.
Unless the City shows some response to the needs of these men, we will
unfortunately lose them. The citizens of Shelton demand qualified city
employees. Many of these men are forced to "moonlight" during their
off-duty hours to pay their current living expenses. Is this necessary?
6. All of the police officers have expressed their satisfaction with
the department and a desire to remain in, and render service to the
Shelton community. We can no longer ignore the needs of these
valuable citizens. This is an all too real problem that requires a solution.
7. The Attorney General for the State of Washington, Slade Gorton,
has said that law enforcement administrators and public officials should
recognize the importance of qualified law enforcement personnel, and
they should consider salary and benfit combinations necessary to
attract and hold qualified officers.
8. The following is a list of present salary schedules for city
employees. It is plain to see that they are not equitable.
Shelton Police and Fire Dept.
Water meter reader (Shelton)
Disposal Operator (Shelton)
City Clerk (Shelton)
Garbage Truck Driver (Shelton)
Comparable local law enforcement:
Olympia Police Dept.
Lacey Police Dept.
Mason County Sheriff Dept.
Thurston County Sheriff Dept.
$575 to 630per mo.
$567per mo.
$614per mo.
$782per mo.
$626per mo.
$597 to 800 per mo,
$598 to 750 per too.
$550 to 700 per mo.
$568 to 750 per mo.
Community unskilled labor (no training reqd.) Starting wages:
Simpson sawmills $558 per too.
Simpson woods $650 per too.
In summation, the Shelton Jaycees recommend and urge the
adoption of the ~A of 1% City Sales Tax, and the increased revenue
derived be used for:
1. improvement and acquisition of needed facilities and equipment
for various City Departments;
2. incorporation of substantial wage and benefit schedules to retain
the current highly qualified City personnel.
The Shelton Jaycees respectfully request a written public statement
of acknowledgement and disposition of the mentioned problems.
Citizens and City Officials must not take the complacent attitude
that no one is concerned with the quality and competency of our City
employees. We must establish and maintain a level of incentive
necessary to attract and retain properly trained personnel. The
community must no longer operate as a small town with small town
ideals. We must join together to provide the best possible environment
for the future growth of our community. The Shelton Jaycees stand
ready to assist the Leaders of Shelton to plan a better tomorrow.
Respectfully sumitted this 31st day of March, i 970.
Robert Straehila - President Shelton Jaycees
Gary Plews - President Elect Shelton Jaycees