June 30, 2011 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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By ARLA SHEPHARD
Mason County residents may
see themselves represented by
a different county commissioner
next year, depending on what re-
districting option the Board will
approve in the coming weeks.
The county's re-districting advi-
sery committee has been meeting
over the last two months to recon-
figure the county commissioner
districts, which is required follow-
ing the release of the 2010 census
population data.
On Tuesday, the committee se-
lected its top three options that
Mason County Auditor Karen Herr
will present to the Board at a brief-
ing open to the public at 10:30 a.m.
next Tuesday, July 5, in the com-
,. missioners chambers.
~e had some different ideas
that we thought might work, like
we tried splitting the City into
three, which didn't seem to work
out well,~ said Amber Cervantes of
the county's Elections department.
"One thing we wanted was to try
to alleviate one particular commis-
Dption 4 I ........................................................................................................................................................................................
I District 1 20387 . 12332
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii /iiiiiiiiiiiiiii] District 2 20012 10700
................................................. I District 3 20300 10309
ontio, 1
District 1 20074 10066
District 2 19873 10674
.................................................. District 3 20752 12601
sioner from covering an immense ton, Harstine Island and the Agate
amount of ground. We were trying area.
to even up the amount of cover- Under the same option, Corn-
age each commissioner had while missioner Tim Sheldon's District
maintaining pepulation." 2 would absorb the areas south
Under one option, labeled Op- of Shelton to include Matlock and
tion 1, Commissioner Lynda Ring Taylor Town and would relinquish
Erickson's District 1 would shift -- the entirety of North Mason, in-
from its current boundaries encom- cluding the North and South shores
passing the north part of Shelton, through to Union, to Commissioner
Harstine Island and the Case Inlet District 3.
communities of Grapeview, Allyn Since Commissioner Jerry Lin-
and Victor -- to cover all of Shel- gle lives in south Shelton, if this
option were selected, the commis-
sioners would need to appoint a
new representative from North
county to Commissioner District
3, and Lingle and Sheldon would
share District 2.
Under a second option, Option
4, Ring Erickson's district would
retain Harstine Island and pick up
all of North Mason from Sheldon,
~mcluding Mason Lake, while Lin-
gle would take over all of Shelton
and the Agate area and Sheldon's
district would include much of the
west part of the county down to
Matlock.
The committee's preferred op-
tion, Option 6-3, splits Shelton
between Sheldon and Lingle, with
L'mgle's District 3 to the south and
Sheldon's District 2 to the north to
include Agate.
Ring Erickson's district would
then still cover Harstine, Grape-
view and Allyn, and gain Mason
Lake, Belfair and North Shore.
Each option varies in population
and in the number of active regis-
tered voters per district (see chart).
If the commissioners select a
preferred option from next Tues-
day's briefing, a [public hearing
will be set. The new districts can-
not be approved until at least two
weeks after a public hearing and
would not go into effect until next
year.
The re-districting committee
also reduced the number of voting
precincts in Mason County from
57 to 36, and in Shelton specifical-
ly, from 16 precincts to just four.
State law now allows voting
precincts to include up to 1,500
registered voters (up from just
900), though a change in voting
precincts does not affect the aver-
age voter because the state now
requires all voting to be done" by
mail.
The re-districting committee
consists of nine members: two
members from the local Democrat-
ic Party, two members from the
local Republican Party, two mem-
bers from the League of Women
Voters, one member from the
County G.I.S. Department, and
two members from the Elections
Department.
Arcadia boat launch to close for repairs July 10
By NATALIE JOHNSON Beyond fixing the ten-year- about this at all - when people
old damage to the launch, Nee- drive on this they will be able
Ten years after a barge de- lands said that the work would to do it with confidence,~ Nee-
stl~yed much of the Arcadia add to the launch's size and lands said.
boat ramp the Squaxin Islandstability. Neelands said that the proj-
Tribe will begin repairs on the "We're widening the ramp ect is important, not just for
launch this July. and then the lengthening," he fisherman, but to preserve
The launch, located on Area-said "We couldn't find any re- the Arcadia launch, which is
dia Point, will be closed from cords, we're not sure if we're owned by the Squaxin Tribe
July 6 to August 31 for repairs, going any longer than it was.~ and is one of the few public
widening and lengthening of The project has the properboat launches in the county.
the boat ramp. permits through the Army The Mason County commis-
Squaxin Island Tribe con- Corps of Engineers, the Envi- sioners recently voted against
struction manager Dan Nee- ronmental Protection Agency boat launch fees at Mason
lands said that the launch is (EPA) for water quality, as Lake and Latimer's Land-
important to private as wellwell as through the Wash- ing, two county owned public
as commercial boaters in theington State Department oflaunch sites.
area. Transportation. The repairs "It's important to note that
• ~It'simportant to tribal fish- are funded by a senate appro- this boat launch is open to the
erman exercising their treaty priation from the federal high- public,~ he said. "There aren't
rights as well as commercialways fund. many of those left - Mason
fishermen,~ he said. :, "There's nothing amateur~:!iCounty is pretty good about
City surpluses
47 weapons
By NATALIE JOHNSON
The Shelton City Commission re-
viewed a resolution declaring 47 weapons
surplus. The Shelton Police Department
plans to trade in all but four of those
weapons in order to purchase 25 new
weapons for its officers.
~Fhe goal is to do it at zero cost and I
think I'm there," city Police Chief Dave
Eklund said.
While many of the guns were depart-
ment weapons, some of them were confis-
cated by the department.
The four guns set to be destroyed are
either broken, unsafe, or have no serial
number, Eklund said.
The commission placed the resolution
on its consent agenda and, will likely ap-
prOve it next.week:, ,=. ,,~ ....... .. ....
"Taking care of Morn and Dad
is becoming a full-time job. With
everything else I have to do, it s more
than I can handle now. But Dad made
me promise not to put him in the
nursing home. Can Alpine \Vay help?"
smrting July T,
Yes, Alpine Way can.
help, and for less than the
cost of the nursing home!
Your parents will have nurses
and assistants available
when needed. You will also
be pleased to see everything
from a beautician and a
chef to laundryservices and
security on-site.
If you'd like to free yourself up so that the time you spend with
Morn and Dad can be quality time, come and tour Alpine
Way. We'd love to treat you to lunch, show you our lovely
apartments, and answer all your questions.
Call Kathy Burbidge at
(360) 426-2600
for a free lunch and tour
900 West Alpine Way
Shelton, WA 98584
RETIREMENT APARTMENTS,
ASSISTED LIVING AND
ALZHEIMER'S SPECIAL CARE
www.encorecommunifies.com
Page A-2 - Shelton-Mason County Journal -Thursday, June 30, 2011
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