June 18, 2009 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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JOURNAL OF OPINION:
This is a fine season for
celebrations, graduations
and weddings.
Last Friday, more than
250 Shelton High School
seniors received their di-
plomas during the school's
100th commencement cer-
emony.
When the two long lines
of red- and black-robed
students marched into
the steamy Saint Martin's
University Pavilion in Lac-
ey, proud parents and fam-
ily members leapt to their
feet and cheered
and applauded
out their names.
"You have grown both
personally and academi-
cally," Principal Stacey
Anderson said. "Remem-
ber the obstacles you over-
came to be here tonight."
Teacher Ron Grinnell,
who has taught at Choice
for all 25 years of the alter-
native school's existence,
was the evening's keynote
speaker. "The goal of high
school is to prepare young
adults to be productive,
informed citizens of their
thunderously. It
made one's hair
BEHIND
stand on end. THE
Afterwards, in
the gloaming out- ,'~('~'~]~'~{::~~.~v--..--..~
side the pavilion,
the newly graduat-
ed students hugged
their relatives,
friends and each
other. Some chat-
ted on cell phones; others
mugged for the cameras.
Tears of joy streaked down
the cheeks of one woman,
as she dabbed unsuccess-
fully to stop their flow.
It was that kind of eve-
ning; a time for relief and
reflection. The students
could look back on many
long hours spent at school
and their parents could pat
themselves on the back for
the sacrifices they made
for their children.
Longtime SHS English
teacher Randy Baugh was
selected by the graduating
students to be the faculty
speaker and he delivered
a talk that gave kudos to
the students as well as a
caution to them about the
brave new world they were
heading to.
"What is your American
dream? What will success
look like for you?" Baugh
asked. He said he's had
five careers and the out-
look for the graduates is
they'll have six to eight ca-
reers during their lives.
On Thursday, Choice
High School held its
graduation ceremony in
the Shelton Civic Center.
Thirty-five Choice seniors
graduated and most of
them showed up to "walk"
during the commence-
ment, held before 500 or
more people.
The Choice graduates
wore black and purple
robes, the school's colors.
They walked down the
staircase from the second
floor as members of the au-
dience cheered and called
By
JEFF GREEN
community," he said. De-
veloping relationships
doesn't happen overnight,
it takes a lot of trust and
that's something done ex-
ceptionally well at Choice,
he noted.
The Choice staff has
eternal patience, he said,
"They keep telling kids
they can do it."
Several of the gradu-
ates overcame long odds
to earn their diplomas.
Chris Dods should have
graduated three years ago.
"If it wasn't for Choice, I
wouldn't have graduated,"
he said.
He came to Choice at a
fourth- or fifth-grade read-
ing level and through the
Read Right program, now
reads at the level of a col-
lege freshman. Dods plans
to study auto-body restora-
tion at Clover Park Tech-
nical College in Lakewood.
Dods worked full time
and took care of his father
through high school. He
was in Choice's Contract
Based Education program
and said without it, he
would have dropped out.
He received a $1,000 schol-
arship from the Yesteryear
Car Club.
"He struggled to get
things down on paper,"
said Cho added.
Jesse Matz stood inside
the civic center beaming
and taking in every mo-
ment of the graduation.
"It's such an amazing feel-
ing," he said. "Every sec-
ond," he said when asked
if he was enjoying the eve-
ning. "This is a big day for
READERS' JOURNAL:
Recycling important for county
Editor, the Journal:
I moved to Harstine Is-
land from Olympia several
months ago. I was excited to
live in a rural place, pleased
to have discovered such
a beautiful location, and
happy to be living in Ma-
son County since I've been
working here since Janu-
ary.
While I loved the curb-
side pick-up of mixed re-
cycling and composting in
Thurston County, I pleas-
antly readjusted to sorting
my recycling and toting it
to the recycling drop-off at
Highway 3 and Pickering.
The other day, I had been
driving around with recy-
cling in the trunk in my car
for several days when I final-
ly had time to stop and drop
it off at Highway 3 & Picker-
ing. I was extremely disap-
pointed to see this posting:
"Sorry Glass is No Longer
accepted at this Site." Not
only was the inappropriate
capitalization annoying, I'm
still driving around with my
recycling.
To be fair, the sign does
direct me to a drop-off site
open from 8-4 daily. Very
accessible for my 8-5 work-
day.
A June 10 New York
Times article described the
city of San Franciso's ef-
forts to send zero waste to
landfills by 2020. They are
starting to enforce manda-
tory recycling and compost-
ing laws, with a possible fee
of $1,000 for noncompliance.
The national trend is to in-
creasing recycling, making
it easier, more accessible to
people.
And Mason County is cut-
ting its recycling.
Perhaps John Mellen-
camp says it best, "If you're
not a part of the future,
~~::¢~:SheltoliMason County :
USPS 492-800
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shelton-Mason
County Journal, P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584.
Published weekly by Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc.
at 227 West Cota Street, Shelton, Washington
Mailing address: P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584
Telephone (360) 426-4412 • www.masoncounty.com
Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washington
everyone, not just me."
Matz should have grad-
uated from SHS last year,
but admits he got into par-
tying and it brought him
down. He turned his se-
nior project in one day late
in 2008 and was told he
couldn't walk in that year's
graduation so he lost heart
and quit.
He entered the Contract
Based Education program
at Choice and fell under
the sway of Fennel. "She
pushed me so hard. She
got me in gear," Matz said.
"I got my life completely
turned around."
"He kind of struggled to
get things done," Fennel
said. "He's really smart.
He would come in the eve-
nings. He would sit down
and just get to town. He
just got a fire under him
and got things done."
Fennel said she thinks
college will be good for
Matz, who loves to debate
and examine things close-
ly. Matz is thinking of at-
tending the University
of British Columbia, The
Evergreen State College,
Washington State Univer-
sity or other colleges. He
wants to be a physician.
Seventeen students
from Fennel's program
earned their diplomas this
year. "They have a lot of
things to overcome," she
said of students in the pro-
gram. "They really have to
start thinking about the
future. It's hard for them.
They live moment to mo-
ment."
There are a maximum of
30 students plus one teach-
er (Fennel) in the program.
"They come whenever they
can; some weekends, defi-
nitely nights," she said.
The students get a class
syllabus and it lists every-
thing they need to do, in-
cluding homework. At the
end of each month, Fen-
nel meets with each of her
students and they go over
what they did and what
they need to do to gradu-
ate.
"They come in for help
whenever they need it. I do
teach, it's more like orches-
trating," she said. The stu-
dents visit regional two-
year colleges and guest
speakers from the commu-
nity come to speak to the
students during the year.
This year, the students did
a lot of community service,
which looks good on their
college applications.
get out of the way." Mason
County, please be a part of
the future.
I'm not asking for curb-
side pick-up or curbside
composting (though, both
would be nice). I just want
to be able to drop off my
glass recycling at the High-
way 3 and Pickering drop
spot late on a Saturday af-
ternoon or at 6:30 p.m. on
my way home after work
or at 7 a.m. on my way into
work. I'll continue paying
for the gasoline to drive it
in. I'll continue hounding
my husband to separate
the garbage and recycling.
I'll even continue to take
my work recycling home
with me. Meet me in the
middle, Mason County.
Continue to offer glass re-
cycling at Highway 3 and
Pickering.
Kate Dugan
Harstine Island
Shelton-Mason County Journal
is a member of Washington
Newspaper Publishers'
Association.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
$37 per year for Mason County
addresses, $51 per year in state
of Washington but outside Mason
County, $61 per year out of state.
NIGHT MUSEUM
B,ATT'LE OF 114[
READERS' JOURNAL:
Healthcare 'facts' offered
Editor, the Journal:
Usually a letter to the
editor, no matter how out-
rageous, contains at least a
kernel of truth. The letter
by Sandy Tarzwell regard-
ing healthcare reform fails
to meet even that minimum
standard.
Here are the facts on the
current state of healthcare
in the United States. Of all
the developed nations of the
world Americans pay more
and receive fewer benefits
and inferior care.
American taxpayers al-
ready pay for the uninsured
Ms. Tarzwell - every time
an uninsured person goes to
the emergency room for care
it costs the citizens of Wash-
ington one thousand dollars
minimum. We also pay in
addition to outrageous pre-
miums every month billions
to fat-cat insurance corpora-
tion CEO's who have done
nothing but "watch over a
failing system.
Thirty percent of our
"healthcare" costs go to pay
profits for the stockhold-
ers of insurance companies,
which now specialize in de-
nying claims of policyhold-
ers.
The lie that Europeans
and Canadians must line up
for medical treatment and
can't pick their own doctor
is just that - a lie! The rea-
son the insurance industry
is propagandizing misin-
formed Americans like Ms.
Tarzwell is because they
stand to lose millions in
profits if President Obama
gets his way!
As P.T. Barnum said:
"There's a sucker born every
minute" and as Ms. Tarz-
well's letter proves the cor-
porate insurance bosses are
taking full advantage of it.
William F. Johnston
Hoodsport
Mental money
Editor, the Journal:
Our county commis-
sioners need to do their
job and raise our taxes.
I'm sure "the people"
will forget about the
1/10th of 1 percent tax
increase before the next
election. Are we assum-
ing people with mental
illness don't vote? Tak-
ing money from mental
health no matter how
little it is cannot be an
option. Calling it excess
founds does not change
what it was designated
for. Don't blame every-
thing on the economy
and take some credit
for the fine work you all
have completed up to
now.
Casey Carr
Shelton
Fire district controversy continues
Editor, the Journal:
At last the long-awaited
report from the Washing-
ton State Auditor's Office
regarding Mason County
Fire Protection District
No. 6 has been made pub-
lic. The primary Assertion
1 states, "A commissioner
voted on his spouse's em-
ployment as Deputy Chief
and her salary, in which he
has a beneficial interest."
The Results in the audit
report include the state-
ment "We conclude a Dis-
trict Commissioner had a
beneficial interest in his
spouse's employment as
Deputy Chief and her sal-
ary at the time he voted
on those two matters." The
District Commissioner is
Steve Grout who voted to
promote his spouse, Dee
Grout. Later in the Results,
the audit report includes
the statement "Further,
had the Commissioner
(Steve Grout) abstained
from voting for the promo-
tion, the motion would not
have passed because two of
the three Commissioners
were needed to approve a
motion and only one Com-
missioner able to vote on
this issue was present."
This finding renders moot
the promotion of Dee Grout
in February of 2008 and her
salary increase in March
of 2008. Dee Grout should
still be holding her original
position as Secretary to the
Chief at her old salary. To
date this action has caused
the taxpayers in Fire Pro-
tection District No. 6 over
$15,000.
Under the audit report
section FIRE DISTRICT'S
PLANS OF RESOLU-
TION, the response from
the District's Chairman of
the Board, Barbara Bodin
includes the statement
"The commissioner in ques-
tion (Steve Grout) felt that
the prenuptial agreement
in place at the time of the
vote provided sufficient au-
thorization for him to par-
ticipate in the vote." As the
audit report points out, the
prenuptial agreement in
place, dated May 1985, did
not make the spouse's earn-
ings separate property and
was not even signed. Not in
the audit report, but on a
similar matter, Steve Grout
in 2007 abstained (recused
himself) from voting when
his spouse, Dee Grout, was
promoted to the full-time
position as Secretary to the
Chief. Apparently at that
time Steve Grout did not
feel the prenuptial agree-
ment provided sufficient
authorization to vote on
matters involving his wife.
The Chairman of the
Board also states in her re-
sponse that a new "Sepa-
rate Property Agreement"
was put into effect. The
agreement was put into ef-
fect March 19, 2009 AFTER
both the vote to promote
Dee Grout and the vote to
increase her salary. Fur-
ther, the Chairman of the
Board, Barbara Bodin, ap-
parently makes an extraor-
dinary reach that this new
agreement makes every-
thing right when she says
"The added salary received
by the Commissioner's wife
during the brief period be-
tween pay raise and initia-
tion of the new agreement
was reimbursed to the Fire
District out of~the wife's
private bank account. No
financial gain was realized
prior to the initiation of
the new Separate Property
Agreement." This is tanta-
mount to closing the door af-
ter the proverbial horse has
already left the premises.
The bottom line is that
the promotion of Dee Grout
to Deputy Chief and her
salary increase for this new
position remains to this day
an unauthorized action.
Signing a post-vote Sepa-
rate Property Agreement
does not negate the fact
that the vote should never
have happened. As one of
the people who called in to
the State of Washington
Audit Hotline on this issue,
the only answer I would
find acceptable and reason-
able would be for the Fire
Protection District No. 6
commissioners to acknowl-
edge that the promotion
and salary increase for Dee
Grout is unauthorized and
require that Dee Grout re-
turn the excess pay to the
Fire District. The Chair-
man of the Board response
to the audit findings totally
misses the mark.
Don Minor
Union
We welcome
letters
RO. Box 430,
Shelton
Direct e-mail
letters to
dan@masoncounty.com
or
greg@masoncounty.com
J
Owned and published by Shelton-
Mason County Journal, Inc.,
Dan Mancuso, publisher, dan@
masoncounty.com.
Newsroom:
Gregory Skinner, managing editor;
Jeff Green, features, schools, Port
of Shelton; Mary Duncan, police,
courts; Chris West, sports;
Clinton Kendall, copy editor;
Kevan Moore, city government.
Advertising: Dave Pierik,
advertising manager; Harvey
Morris. Cheyanne Kelly, Belfair
Herald ad sales.
Front office: Donna Kinnaird,
bookkeeper; Margot Brand,
circulation; Cricket Carter,
mailroom supervisor.
Composing room: Diane Riordan,
supervisor; Koleen Wood, legals,
computer system manager;
William Adams, graphics.
Pressroom: Kelly Riordan,
production manager; Jon Hughes,
press operator; Travis Miller.
Page A-4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, June 18, 2009