June 16, 2011 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 1 (1 of 16 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
June 16, 2011 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
hI,l,l
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Year 125 -- Week 24 -- 7 Sections -- 54 Pages -- Published in Shelton, Washington -- $1
Journal photo by Natalie Johnson
Kenny Latimer •poke out
against the propsed county
fee for the boat launches
at Latimer's Landing and
Mason Lake.
By NATALIE JOHNSON per month and $400 per year for enforce," Ring Erickson said. access to this waterway for every-
each truck and trailer and $1,000 Several members of the Lat- one in the county," he said.
After two public meetings andper business with no limit on imer family, who built the original Other members of the public
much input from the public, the number of vehicles. Proposed rec- boat launch at the landing, testi- spoke in favor of the fee, howev-
Mason Couvty Board of Commis-reational fees were a $7 daily fee fled that it was their family's wish er, stating that with budget cuts,
sioners voted on Tuesday against and a $75 annual fee. to keep the launch free and public, county parks are the first to be for-
a proposal to create launch fees During the initial public hear- "We are about 13 of us here who gotten.
at public launches at Latimer's ing on the proposed fees, Corn- worked on the installation of the "The problem is that tax money
. Landing and Mason Lake. missioner Tim Sheldon expressed original park," Kenny Latimer is not being used for parks any-
The Mason County Parks and concern that the fee was actually said. "My father had a dream that more, they're the first thing to get
Trails Department introduced the a tax because the funds were des- people could have free access to cut - better to charge a fee rather
proposal for launch fees on May 17 ignated for the parks department, our waterway. We took so much than close parks," Susan Baker
to try to increase revenue for park but not a particular park. pride in not having to take money said. .
maintenance. "We received a legal opinionfrom the taxpayers." After hearing public testimony,
County parks director John from our prosecutor that it is a Latimer asked that park main- Commissioners Sheldon and Ring
Keates was not in attendance at fee," Ring Erickson said. tenance continue to be mostly vol- Erickson voted against the fee.
Tuesday's meeting, so Commis- Several members of the public unteer-based, as it has been in the Commissioner Jerry Lingle did
sioner Lynda Ring Erickson gave a asked how such fees would be en- past, rather than charge a fee for not attend Tuesday's meeting.
brief presentation on the proposal, forced, use of the ramp. "This is an activity I think you
The proposed fees for commer- "I still don't have an answer - I "I just ask that we pay atten- pay for with your property taxes
cial boaters were $15 a day, $75 don't think there was any intent to tion to how blessed we are to have and sales taxes," Sheldon said.
Pioneer
kid keep
eye on
Hood
Canal
By ARLA SHEPHARD
Before this school year,
nine-year-old Mason Kram-
er didn't know much about
Hood Canal and its marine
wildlife.
Now, he can tell you
whether an individual
salmon is male or female,.
he knows how to measure
the turbidity and pH of wa-
ter and he can spout several
bits of knowledge on octopi.
"It's like 'Oh my God,
I didn't know that about
those animals,~ said Kram-
er of his pre-third-grade
education. "It's kind of cool
to learn more about the ani-
mals in the sea. Like, I used
to not know about that crea-
ture and that creature?
Kramer's third-grade
class at Pioneer Primary
School has spent the bet-
ter part of this school year
keeping an =Eye on Hood
Canal," which is the name
of the project that teacher
Laurie McGovern began
this year with state grant
funding and support from
Taylor .Shellfish and Skee-
kum Rotary.
The students, with the
help of their teacher and
local biologists, have used
personal computers and
digital microscopes to study
Hoed Canal marine organ-
isms, they've visited sites
along Hood Canal and
learned how to identify tidal
zones and they've used their
hands to dissect salmon and
create clay sculptures on the
sea creatures of their choice.
"I'm always applying for
these opportunities," said
McGovern, who created a
blog to showcase the stu-
dents' achievements. "I
know that the technology
really inspires the children
and it engages them."
Emily Sanford, a
water resource educator
with Washington State
See Pioneer on page A-7
Journai photoby Donna Kinnaird
Bciaa u= BacEley, left, and IYavis Hanes present an award to outgoing Shelton School District Superintendent
Joan Zook during the Shelton High School Class of 2011 commencement ceremony on Saturday at Saint Martht's
University.
rt di
tor clea
of alle
ations
By NATALIE JOHNSON
A recent investigation conduct-
ed by the independent consulting
firm Seabold Group has appar-
ently cleared Port of Shelton Ex-
ecutive Director John Dobson of
wrongdoing in relation to rental
agreements and lease discussions
related to the port's fairgrounds.
On April 10, pert employee The-
resa Rebo sent an e-mail to all
three port commissioners alleging
that Dobson planned to gift public
funds by giving a less than market
value rent rate to John and Rachel
Hansen, of Northwest Event Orga-
nizers.
The organization ran the fair
in 2010, will run in 2011 and is in
talks with the port for a three-year
lease of the fairgrounds.
The pert commission responded
by retaining the Seabold Group
four days later, on April 14. The
port commission approved the
group's final report on the investi-
gation, dated May 31, by a vote of
two to one at a special commission
meeting on Tuesday.
"The investigator concluded
that no misconduct, conflict of in-
terest, or other than appropriate
actions as alleged by the employee
has occurred,: Commissioner Jay
Hupp said at the meeting.
Journal photo by Natalie Johnson
Commissioner Jay Hupp read a statement from the
Port of Shelton Commission on a recent independent
investigaton into allegations of misconduct on the part of
port Executive Director John Dobson.
Specifically Rebo alleged that treatment resulted from a close re-
Dobson offered the Hansens a less lationship with the Hansens, and
than market value price for leas- that all of these alleged activities
ing the fairgrounds. The lease is were kept secret from the board of
still in negotiations. The port com- commissioners.
mission approved a rental agree- According to the final report
ment for the fairgrounds with the from the Seabold Group, the
Hansens last month, delaying offi- group's investigator, Martha Nor-
cial discussion of the lease because berg, interviewed nine people,
of this complaint, including all three commission-
Rebo also stated in the original ers and reviewed numerous docu-
e-mail that Dobson chose to give ments and newspaper articles
up potential revenue for the port from two local newspapers. The re-
by leasing the property with a very port also states that Rebo did not
low rent, that the alleged special consent to an interview with the
investigator.
As to the first allegation, that
Dobson wanted to give the Han-
sens less than market value rent
for the terms of the lease. Those
terms are $3,000 per month for the
first year, $4,000 per month for the
second year and $5,000 per month
for the third.
According to the report, the pre-
vious lessee of the fairgrounds,
Mason County, paid $100 per year
plus five percent of the fair's profit.
The investigator found that in 2009
the county paid the port $7,000 in
rent. The first year of the Hansens'
lease would total $36,000.
Also, the investigator found that
the Hansens' rent for the fair this
year would be substantially more
than most other organizations that
have rented the fairground in the
last year.
As to the second allegation, that
the port could make more money
running the port itself, the investi-
gator found no evidence to support
that assertion.
"The issues [Rebo] raised with
[Dobson] and the rest ofthe team
had to do with her feeling that
she could run events as well as
the Hansens or any other event
organizer and the port would
See Port on page A-7
I
d