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| April 14, 2011 Shelton Mason County Journal |  |
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April 14, 2011 |
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Mason
Continued from page A-1
Commissioner District 1 saw the
biggest increase. I anticipated
the north end growing more."
Out of Mason County's neigh-
bors, only Thurston saw simi-
lar growth in the 20 to 25 per-
cent range, while Jefferson and
Pierce each grew between 10 to
19.9 percent, and Kitsap and
Grays Harbor lingered in the 0
to 9.9 percent growth range.
The fastest-growing county in
Washington was Franklin Coun-
ty in the southeast, followed by
Clark County down south and
Whatcom County up north.
In Mason Connty, nearly ev-
ery area saw growth -- more
than 2,000 people were added
to the population of all six Bel-
fair voting precincts (now up to
8,757 people), Union's popula-
tion increased by about 500 (now
1,834 people), Harstine Island
by 410 people (now 1,412) and
Hoodsport by 161 people (now
506).
The population of all 16 Shel-
ton voting precincts is now 9,834,
compared to 8,502 in 2000.
Some areas shrunk compared
to 2000 census data -- Potlatch
now registers at 111 people, down
from 314 in 2000, and Lilliwaup
and Tahuya also saw slight de-
creases, though Herr notes that
some of the precinct boundaries
might not be exactly the same as
they were 10 years ago.
The release of the census data
sets off the county's redistrict-
ing process, which will readjust
the county commissioner dis-
tricts and internal precincts to
reflect new population data and
registered voters.
In the next two weeks, the
County Auditor's Office will form
a redistricting advisory commit-
tee with one representative from
the Republican Party, one rep-
resentative from the Democrat
Party, one representative from
the League of Women Voters and
two non-partisan representa-
tives (one of whom will be from
the north end and the other from
the south end of the county).
The advisory committee will
be tasked with presenting a
plan to the county commission-
ers to redistrict the three county
commissioner districts based on
population as well as a plan to
redistrict the county's 57 voting
precincts based on registered
voters.
"Right now, the precincts are
drawn to reflect section, town-
ship, range," Herr said. "They
must also be by physical fea-
tures, like roads."
Last week, the state legis-
lature passed a law requiring
Washington voters to vote only
by mail, and within the law was
a caveat to increase the maxi-
mum number of registered vot-
ers allowed per voting precinct,
from 900 to 1,500.
Based on that, the county
may consolidate many of its vot-
ing precincts, Herr said.
The third step in the redis-
tricting process is working with
local districts to re-draw their
internal boundaries to reflect
accurate population: those dis-
tricts include the Ports of Allyn,
Dewatto and Grapeview; Mason
County Public Utility Districts 1
and 3; school districts Shelton,
Mary M. Knight, North Mason
dnd Hood Canal; and the Mason
County Legislative Authority.
Each jurisdiction is required
to reapportion its internal dis-
tricts based on population data
to ensure equal representation,
Herr said.
Those districts have eight
months after the receipt of cen-
sus data to prepare a redistrict-
ing plan to submit to the Audi-
tor's office with legal descrip-
tions and maps.
Shelton
Continued from page A-1
city's precincts," she said.
"We do not need 16."
Within the city of Shel-
ton alone there are 16 vot-
ing precincts split between
Mason County Commission-
ers Lynda Ring Erickson
and Jerry Lingle, some of
which have as few as 200
residents.
When looking at voting
precincts however, the au-
ditor's office looks at regis-
tered voters, not residents.
Shelton's smallest district
has only about 75 registered
voters.
Ring Erickson's city pre-
cincts, 1-3, 10-12 and 16,
grew the fastest of any in
the city, Herr said.
"Back in 2000 we had
polling sites and that's why
they (voting precincts) were
smaller, but now that we're
all voting by mail, we need
to consolidate them," Herr
said. "The state law is no
precinct can have more than
1,500 registered voters."
By the end of the redis-
tricting process, Shelton
should have three to four
precincts left, Herr said.
Census data for the city
of Shelton also shows that
total housing units have
increased by 444, from
3,403 to 3,857 from 2000 to
2010.
Occupied housing has in-
creased from 3,191 to 3,574
while vacant housing has
increased from 212 to 273, a
7.1 percent vacancy rate.
The census also breaks
down population by race.
According to the 2010 cen-
sus, 7,763 Shelton residents
identified themselves as
white. The second largest
percent of the population is
Hispanic or Latino at 1,893
followed by American Indi-
an or Alaskan Native, Asian
and Black or African Ameri-
can.
More detailed census
data should be available for
the city of Shelton during
the summer, Herr said.
The county has eight
months from the time it re-
ceived it's census data, last
week, to complete the redis-
tricting process. The Ma-
son County Auditor's office
plans to be done with plans
for the redistricting by No-
vember, Herr said. The re-
districting will not affect
the 201i elections.
Weapon
Continued from page A-1
of Grapeview. Herigstad is a five-foot-seven
white male that weighs 152 pounds with
brown hair and blue eyes.
"We are well on our way to concluding this
investigation, but we need anyone purchasing
the items from the two suspects to come
forward," said Detective Jeff Rhoades.
The swords, knives, stamps and coins were
recovered Monday night during the service of
two search warrants, but investigators have
only recovered a portion of the guns stolen
from the burglary.
Anyone that has information about the
case is asked to contact Detective Rhoades
by calling the sheriffs office at 427-9670,
extension 313.
Drath Herigstad
Fairground
Continued from page A-1
electrical upgrades in buildings beyond the original
eight.
But it's not just electrical problems that plague the
buildings. They also suffer from dry rot, Dobson said.
"There's a whole bunch of things that have been going
on with the fairgrounds - it's more than electrical," he
said.
While the expenditures to salvage the fairgrounds'
buildings for a few more years is necessary, Dobson said,
it's not easy.
The port takes in about $44,000 a year for renting out
the fairgrounds, and every year ends up spending about
$58,000 to keep the land and buildings up.
"The question is 'How do we get that money back?"
Dobson said.
Dobson said that the buildings at the fairgrounds will
undoubtedly be gone by the FAA's deadline in 2013, but
that the port is eager to work with organizations looking
to preserve a fairground in Mason County,
Dobson said that if a "corporate entity," rented the
current fairgrounds and showed an interest inbuilding a
new fairground after 2013, the port could help them find :,
new land.
"It's going tQ take an entrepreneur," he said. :
Q2." "Dad sits at home all day while
I'm at work. I'm afraid that he's just
wasting away. He can't do the things
he used to do and his friends are gone,
but he'd never go to a nursing home.
What can I do?"
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Shelton-Mason County Journal-Thursday, April 14, 2011 - Page A-7
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