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00ournal of__Opinion: X You Readers 00ournal:
Real space case Growth act validl
because we have not been vig
in protecting our property -'
Now, with certain species ,X-01
mon apparently headed t0
extinction, we are belatedly'
Last week's unveiling of a preliminary concept for county
buildings in the courthouse complex was an intriguing look at a
facilities wish list, County officials wanted it made clear that it
was a very sketchy plan that still needs work before it can even
be called a proposal. Because we think a long-term plan is a
good idea, we look forward to the proposal.
As county government has grown over the last two
decades, its appendages have stretched farther and
farther from its body, the courthouse. A house is ac-
quired here, an office is picked off there, a piece of prop-
erty is taken off the tax rolls here, a building is put up
there. The Roman.numeralled satellites near the court-
house are up to IX. The piecemeal expansion means the
"courthouse campus" now spreads from Seventh Street
to Fourth and from Birch to Cedar.
The plan would appear to mean an end to the sprawl, a poli-
cy of going up instead of out in at least two multi-story build-
ings. That has to be a bit of good news to surrounding neigh-
borhoods. At least the residents there may see a halt to a dis-
turbing trend - offices creeping closer to them and changing
the historic districts in which they reside - although a concen-
tration of more employees in the existing space isn't going to
make neighborhoods around the edges more livable, just busier
and more congested. Some 220,000 square feet of space would
be added in five phases under the plan, meant to satisfy the
county's needs for the next 20 years.
A county commitment to downtown would improve
the odds for commercial downtown's revitalization. If
the plan was to head out of town to build a complex, as
was proposed a few years ago for a criminal-justice cen-
ter near the old dump north of Shelton, large numbers
of workers who frequent downtown businesses wouldn't
be around. While they aren't a major factor in any revi.
talization, their loss would hurt a downtown that is in a
"two steps forward, one step back" mode of recovery.
Major work is envisioned. In the first phase, a four- or five-
story building would be erected on the south side of Alder be-
tween Fifth and Sixth. The courthouse would be remodeled in
the third phase. In the fourth phase, two old credit union build-
ings between Fourth and Fifth on Cedar would be demolished
to make way for a multi-story criminal-justice center.
The jail would get immediate attention - an addition
and a remodel - in the first phase, It seems obvious to all
except those who don't mind stacking inmates like cord-
wood that the jail needs expansion. It is equipped for 65
guests and usually has 100 or more. People who want to
serve their time can't do it; instead they get on a waiting
list and then might sleep on the floor when the jail has
"room." Making the streets safe by putting offenders in
jail was part of the argument for the proposed bond is-
sue to build a criminal-justice center off Eells Hill Road.
Nothing has changed for the better to alleviate the jail
space problem since the bond's demise at the polls.
Under the plan, the Pritchard Building across Alder from the
courthouse and the cooperative extension building across from
the airport would be sold as county offices were consolidated.
Parking, a critical issue around the courthouse made more cru-
cial by any expansion, is addressed in the outline. County
workers who recently lost their free parking, citizens who drive
to the courthouse for business and jurors at the" courthouse for
long hauls have all expressed parking woes.
Now it's up to the county's facilities steering commit-
tee to develop more detailed drawings for proposed
buildings and explore funding options. So far the county
has acquired multiple parcels and buildings using funds
from its regular budget. Funding the five-phase future
project, with an estimated cost of $31.6 million, won't be
as easy. The proponents will face the usual tough sell for
the inevitable bond issue. The county's residents must
be convinced that it's for their convenience, their safety
and the efficiency of their government, not luxurious
digs for county employees and inmates.
Any countywide bond issue brings into play people who live
on the outer edges of the county and identify more with Kitsap,
Thurston and Grays Harbor counties than with the county
seat Strengthening convenient county services in outlying
areas such as those at the Belfair Substation should take just
as much precedence as building the courthouse campus.
There's an unhealthy "us versus" them" attitude among some at
the north and south ends of the county, and steps to build unity
can only help develop the feeling that everybody is in the court-
house improvement project together.
It looks like a monster project, but if it's a good propo-
sal, we hope the residents can support it. When the Shel-
ton School District developed its $30.milllon.plus bond
proposal to improve run.down facilities, it made a con-
scious decision to package improvements to many
schools as part of an overall plan. That's because the
plan falls apart if separate bond issues are run for each
building and the voters reject one halfway through the
program. As the county continues to grow, it's either fol.
low a long-range plan for facilities or continue the
piecemeal pay-as-you-go strategy.
-CG
uuuuuuuuu
eOM/l't F' USPS 492-800
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shelton.Mason
County Journal, P O. Box 430. Shelton, WA 98584.
Pubs,shed weekly by Shelton Publishing Inc. at 227 West Cote Street. Shelton, Washington
Mailing eddreee: P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584
Telephone (360) 428-4412
Second-class postage paid at Shelton, Washington
SUBSCRiPTiON RATES: $25.00 per year in-county address,
$3500 per year in state of Washington $45,00 per year out of state
Charles Gay, editor and pub,she;.-- NiIMeroom: Carolyn Maddux, managing editor; Steve
Patch, sports editor; Jeff Green, general assignment, city government, schools: Mary Duncan,
society editor, county government; Sun Hank)n, police, courts, Port of Shelton. Advertising:
Steplen Gay, advertising manager:, Dave Pterik, ed sales. Front office: Julia Orme, business
manager; Vtcki Kamtn, circulation; Donna Dooms, boOkkeeper; Krlsta Carter, office assistant,
Composing room: Diane Rlordan, supervisor; Margot Brand and Jan Kalllnen, paste-up;
Koleen Wood, typesetter and computer system manager; Kad Freer, computer ad layout and
computer system manager; Cynthia Moyer, proofreader. Pressroom: Robed Roddguez, pro.
duction foreman; Roger Lawson. darkroom: Kelly Rto rdan, pressman,
Page 4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, July 29, 1999
Wood chips from le bistro
By DAVE BARRY
I was getting ready to board an
early American Airlines flight out
of Miami, and they announced
that it was going to be "bistro ser-
vice." "Please pick up your 'bistro'
meal from the cart as you board
the plane," they told us.
! honestly wasn't sure what
"bistro" meant but it sounded
French, which I thought was a
good sign. French food is pretty
tasty, except for the snails, which
I do not believe the French actu-
ally eat.
I believe the French sit around
their restaurants pretending to
eat out of empty snail shells and
making French sounds of enjoy-
ment such as '/umme!" (literally,
"Yum!'). But when foreign tour-
ists order this "delicacy," the
waiters bring them shells that
still contain actual unretouched
snails, which the tourists eat,
causing the French people to duck
under their tables and laugh until
red wine spurts from their nos-
trils.
But other than that, French
food is pretty good.'So I had high
hopes when, on my way to the
plane, I stopped at the cart and
picked up a paper sack containing
my "bistro" meal I was hungry,
because I had not eaten break-
fast, because I had arrived at the
airport one hour early so that, in
accordance with airline pro-
cedures, I could stand around.
When the plane took off, I
opened my "bistro" sack. Here are
the items it contained: (1) a con-
tainer of yogurt, (2) a "breakfast
bar" made from compressed dried
wood chips, and (3) the greenest,
coldest, hardest banana I have
ever touched in my life. If I'd had
a mallet, I could have pounded it
straight into a vampire's heart.
So I didn't eat the banana. Need-
less to say, I also didn't eat the
yogurt. My guess is, nobody ever
eats the yogurt; at the end of the
flight, the airline people just col-
lect all the unused yogurts and
put them back into "bistro" sacks
for the next flight. There are con-
tainers of airline yogurt still in
circulation that originally crossed
the Atlantic with Charles Lind-
bergh.
I did eat the "breakfast bar,"
because if you're hungry enough,
you will eat wood chips. (That's
why beavers do it. There is no
way they.would gnaw on trees if
they ever found out about pizza
delivery.)
Anyway, the flight was sched-
uled to go directly to Houston, so
finally, after navigating around
the sky for a several hours, we
landed in: New Orleans. The pilot
said there was fog in Houston. No
doubt it was manufactured by the
Fog Generator, which every mod-
ern airport maintains right next
to the Banana Freezer.
They didn't let the passengers
off the plane in New Orleans, pos-
sibly for fear that we would run
away. So we just sat there for an
horn" or so, rustling our "bistro
meal" sacks and listening to our
stomachs grumble. Here's how
bad it got: A woman across the
aisle from me finally broke down
and ate her yogurt. I bet this
really messed up the accounting
when the airline food personnel
got ready to re-sack the yogurt for
the next flight ("Hey! There's one
missing!").
Anyway, we finally took off
again and landed in Houston,
where we dropped to our knees
and gratefully licked crumbs off
the terminal floor. So the story
ended happily, except for the nag-
ging question that remained
stuck in my mind: Why did the
airline call it "bistro service"?
When I got home, I looked up
"bistro"; according to my diction-
ary, it's a French word meaning
"a small wine shop or restaurant
where wine is served." The image
it conjures up is of a cozy little
place on a picturesque little street
in Paris, with candle-lit tables for
two occupied by lovers kissing,
drinking wine, enjoying French
food and laughing at snail-eating
tourists. Somehow, the airline de-
cided to use this word, of all the
words in the world, to describe
what was served on my flight.
Why? The answer is: market-
ing. At some point, American Air-
lines went to its Marketing De-
partment and said, "We're going
to stop serving real food to people.
and we need a good name for it."
Marketing people love this
kind of challenge. Their motto is:
"When life hands you lemons, lie."
And so they held a brainstorming
session, probably at a nice French
restaurant, and finally, after a lot
of wine, they came up with "bistro
service," which sounds a LOT bet-
ter, from a marketing standpoint,
than "a sack of inedible objects."
Giving things ridiculous names
is a key marketing tactic. That's
why the gambling industry, when
it became concerned that people
might think it had something to
do with gambling changed its
name to the "gaming" industry, as
if people go to Las Vegas to play
Capture the Flag.
But I think "bistro service" is
even better. It may be the best
marketing concept I have seen
since back in the 1970s, when Mc-
Donald's, which does not wait on
your table, does not cook your
fOod to order, and does not clear
your table, came up with the with
the slogan "We Do It All For
You."
With this kind of marketing in-
genuity, there is no telling how
far we can go. Perhaps some day,
when we board our airplane, we
will each pick up a box of dirt;
this will be called "haute cuisine
service."
We will take the box without
complaining. Because we are con-
sumers, and our motto is'"moo."
Union treated differently
Editor, The JournaL.
I am writing in regards to the
article written on "Nonunion sal-
ary increases" in the July 22
newspaper.
I was on the negotiating com-
mittee for the American Federa-
tion of State, County and Munici-
pal Employees bargaining Local
1504 union. We requested a sal-
ary survey be done for the union
members of this local. We were
denied that request and were ini-
tially told there would be no sal-
ary increases (0 percent) because
there was "no money" in the coun-
ty budget. We did finally receive a
2 percent pay increase which is
miniscule compared to the sala-
ries of the nonunion employees.
My question to the commis-
sioners is where did this money
suddenly appear from the county
budget to give the nonunion em-
ployees these considerable pay in-
creases which will cost the county
$95,200 or more in the year 2000?
I find it very perplexing that
Mr. Wright, the human resource
director, is getting one of the lar-
gest pay increases of the non-
union salaries of 18 percent. I un-
derstand that he is the one who
conducted the salary survey for
the nonunion salaries. He already
makes more money than our
elected officials who in my opin-
ion deserve an 18 percent pay in-
crease more than he does!
Our union conducted our own
salary survey with other counties
of comparable size and found that
we were underpaid from 6 to 16
percent. Mr. Wright agreed to
this fact but stated once again
that there vas "no money."
I was equally perplexed about
the fact that the commissioners
were receiving a 3 percent annual
pay increase but could not or
would not give union members
the same salary increase. Their 3
percent annual increase is an or-
dinance but they also did not do
anything to change the ordinance
for the upcoming terms of the
commissioners. In addition to
their monthly salaries the com-
missioners receive a $450 car al-
lowance each and every single
month for which they do not have
to account for how the money is
spent.
When are the commissioners
going to stop being unjust and un-
fair to the rest of the county em-
ployees who are union and bring
our wages up to par with other
comparable counties?
Marcie Lohmeyer
Shelton
Article untasteful
Editor, The Journal:
I am writing in regards to your
articles on the Morrissey trial.
The first article (July 15) I found
very tasteful. The second was not.
After speaking with the reporter
in the courtroom and explaining
to her the impact on a 14-year-old
to be named with this type of trial
would have, I expected more re-
spect than we were shown.
Molestation is devastating to a
young teen, Having to talk about
it in public is even more devastat-
ing. Why would anyone add pur-
posely to that devastation for the
entertainment and curiosity of
strangers?
I know that you have a duty to
report the news, but this can be
done without becoming a tabloid.
There is also the right to privacy.
They say it takes a village to
raise a child. I am very disap-
pointed that The Journal is not
willing to do what they can to
help.
What could be more humiliat-
ing to a young woman than to see
a part of her life she is trying to
forget in print for all the world
and her classmates to see. The
Journal used poor judgment and
even poorer taste in this matter.
Peggy Morrissey
Shelton
Editor, The Journal:
Ed Moats is simply mistaken
when he argues that the state's
Growth Management Act is un-
constitutional (Journal, July 22).
Both Mason County and Chelan
County have made such an argu-
ment to the appellate courts, who
have rejected it.
Still, even if Mr. Moats were
persuaded that the act really is
constitutional, I doubt that he
would be any happier with this
state's efforts to control urban
sprawl, conserve resource lands
and protect critical areas. Moats
feels that the act allows a wrong-
ful taking of private property.
Like Moats, I also believe firm-
ly in property rights. When the
homeowners' association where I
own property acted arbitrarily
and without authority against
me, I resisted. When the local su-
perior court ruled only partly in
my favor, I took one issue further,
to the court of appeals, where I
prevailed aider a long struggle.
But property rights do not con-
sist of a property owner's right to
do whatever he pleases with his
property. Even Moats should see
that what one man does in enjoy-
ment of his property can adverse-
ly affect others' enjoyment of
their property.
The streams that flow through
private property do not belong to
the owners of the streambanks.
They are public property, belong-
ing to all of us. No owner of
streamside property is entitled to
injure the stream, its functions
and values, without permission of
its owners, the rest of us.
Yet, historically streams and
their fish have been devastated
serting our property rights J
asking that streambank oW$
not degrade the streams the,1
of us own. Belatedly, too, Ioc$:
dian tribes are demanding
their property rights guarat
under treaties be respected.
s The Growth Management l
i an effort to balance the
of all property owners an
maintain the quality of life I
makes any of our properti#
places to live. Moats does not
the fact that e act gives
ings boards the authority to,
disputes involving interpre
of the act. If these boards had
last word, I would agree €
him. But they do not.
boards, like such local board,
the board of equalization, 0
relatively expeditious deci
following procedures that l
nonlawyers a much better oi$
tunity to be heard than do.
courts. But the decisions of t
boards are always subject to
view by courts, beginning
the local superior court.
Moats has a constitutiO
right not to have his pro.
taken without just compenSS
This right is enforceable t
the courts if it were ever ig
by the hearings boards. B u
question is: Does Moats have
gitimate claim to be compe
for a taking of his propert
rather, is he laying claim to
which is not his?
John
Harstine Is#
Buffering truth i
Editor, The Journak
Someone once said that read-
ing a newspaper was a good way
to learn a number of things that
simply weren't true, and this
would certainly be the case if you
believed all the arguments offered
against stream buffers. Commis-
sioner Mary Jo Cady would have
to head the list of examples, sug-
gesting that we read Report from
Iron Mountain, but apparently
unaware that the Report is a
hoax, intended as a parody of the
paranoid.
Our next example would be
Senator Sheldon, who says
streams that don't flow all year
shouldn't be regulated, an idea
that would remove protection
from the Tahuya River, and possi-
bly end the vigorous salmon
spawning I watched there last fall
in a stretch that was dry in Au-
gust. This is a pretty clear exam-
ple of how regulation can help the
salmon, while leaving the matter
to Senator Sheldon might result
in a further decline.
As for the very smallest land-
owners that Senator Sheldon
claims to defend, they might fare
as poorly as the salmon under his
protection. Short-platting is the
penny-stock market of American
real estate, and some of these
owners would be glad to see their
property become valuable to
neighbors who wanted more land.
Others should be glad if their
neighborhood doesn't become so
overbuilt that they share each
other's sewage and pollute the
whole river when it floods. Small-
holders who wish to enjoy the
density bonus can do so by incor-
porating as a cooperative or con-
dominium, and planning their im-
provements together, as so many
have done before them.
Another reader thinks the sal-
mon did just fine in spite of heavy
logging in the '20s and '30s. How-
ever, the actual pack records
show that the pack for the North
Pacific peaked in the first two
decades of the century and de-
clined for many years aRer.
Next we have the idea that the
salmon have declined in spite of
vigorous stream protection over
the past 20 years. The sad fact is
that wooded areas I camped in
during the '60s are now clearcuts,
the shaded streams are now sun-
bathers' paradises, and the indus-
trial estuaries have a silty bottom
of toxic muck. Anyone who's lived
here for 50 years knows that dou-
bling the population has decimat-
ed the salmon habitat.
Maybe the strangest idea ad-
vanced is that anyone living next
to a river would want to cut down
the trees. This is a riparian law
state, and that means that if you
cut your trees and the river
closer to you, you have just
the land beyond the center d
river, possibly forever. You
also earn the special bon I
having your land added to'
"National Flood Database .
being requii,d b pay $400 a'
for "flood insurance" for th
of your life. This is a private
ness run by the insurancet:|c0l]
nies, and once you're on
there's not too much you c ®
about it.
Finally, a host
there was confusion about
er protecting streams
salmon. Could these be
people who said global
was just a theory? Before
folks get too worked up
"government takings"
recall that "civil forfeiture
veloped by anti-dru
Brad Owen has made that s
letter. If the government
what you have, there is
case law not allowing
take it.
If we look back throug
history and that of Engine|
often find that law chaag.
just this way. The people 0i
son County reelected Brad U]
for 20 years, giving him
power, and he used this
create "civil forfeiture," a
evasion of the Bill
ever, "what goes
around," and if an
majority in the future
form of law to seize
Mason County, who are
to blame?
The only people who
sense to me were the
who have spent so much ti
dying and working with
they have actually
tials - the biologists. They
the streams should be
and based on my 50
ing by or on the waters
Sound, I'm inclined to agree
Cal c
trol i
trodd
raaial
la a
00ournal of__Opinion: X You Readers 00ournal:
Real space case Growth act validl
because we have not been vig
in protecting our property -'
Now, with certain species ,X-01
mon apparently headed t0
extinction, we are belatedly'
Last week's unveiling of a preliminary concept for county
buildings in the courthouse complex was an intriguing look at a
facilities wish list, County officials wanted it made clear that it
was a very sketchy plan that still needs work before it can even
be called a proposal. Because we think a long-term plan is a
good idea, we look forward to the proposal.
As county government has grown over the last two
decades, its appendages have stretched farther and
farther from its body, the courthouse. A house is ac-
quired here, an office is picked off there, a piece of prop-
erty is taken off the tax rolls here, a building is put up
there. The Roman.numeralled satellites near the court-
house are up to IX. The piecemeal expansion means the
"courthouse campus" now spreads from Seventh Street
to Fourth and from Birch to Cedar.
The plan would appear to mean an end to the sprawl, a poli-
cy of going up instead of out in at least two multi-story build-
ings. That has to be a bit of good news to surrounding neigh-
borhoods. At least the residents there may see a halt to a dis-
turbing trend - offices creeping closer to them and changing
the historic districts in which they reside - although a concen-
tration of more employees in the existing space isn't going to
make neighborhoods around the edges more livable, just busier
and more congested. Some 220,000 square feet of space would
be added in five phases under the plan, meant to satisfy the
county's needs for the next 20 years.
A county commitment to downtown would improve
the odds for commercial downtown's revitalization. If
the plan was to head out of town to build a complex, as
was proposed a few years ago for a criminal-justice cen-
ter near the old dump north of Shelton, large numbers
of workers who frequent downtown businesses wouldn't
be around. While they aren't a major factor in any revi.
talization, their loss would hurt a downtown that is in a
"two steps forward, one step back" mode of recovery.
Major work is envisioned. In the first phase, a four- or five-
story building would be erected on the south side of Alder be-
tween Fifth and Sixth. The courthouse would be remodeled in
the third phase. In the fourth phase, two old credit union build-
ings between Fourth and Fifth on Cedar would be demolished
to make way for a multi-story criminal-justice center.
The jail would get immediate attention - an addition
and a remodel - in the first phase, It seems obvious to all
except those who don't mind stacking inmates like cord-
wood that the jail needs expansion. It is equipped for 65
guests and usually has 100 or more. People who want to
serve their time can't do it; instead they get on a waiting
list and then might sleep on the floor when the jail has
"room." Making the streets safe by putting offenders in
jail was part of the argument for the proposed bond is-
sue to build a criminal-justice center off Eells Hill Road.
Nothing has changed for the better to alleviate the jail
space problem since the bond's demise at the polls.
Under the plan, the Pritchard Building across Alder from the
courthouse and the cooperative extension building across from
the airport would be sold as county offices were consolidated.
Parking, a critical issue around the courthouse made more cru-
cial by any expansion, is addressed in the outline. County
workers who recently lost their free parking, citizens who drive
to the courthouse for business and jurors at the" courthouse for
long hauls have all expressed parking woes.
Now it's up to the county's facilities steering commit-
tee to develop more detailed drawings for proposed
buildings and explore funding options. So far the county
has acquired multiple parcels and buildings using funds
from its regular budget. Funding the five-phase future
project, with an estimated cost of $31.6 million, won't be
as easy. The proponents will face the usual tough sell for
the inevitable bond issue. The county's residents must
be convinced that it's for their convenience, their safety
and the efficiency of their government, not luxurious
digs for county employees and inmates.
Any countywide bond issue brings into play people who live
on the outer edges of the county and identify more with Kitsap,
Thurston and Grays Harbor counties than with the county
seat Strengthening convenient county services in outlying
areas such as those at the Belfair Substation should take just
as much precedence as building the courthouse campus.
There's an unhealthy "us versus" them" attitude among some at
the north and south ends of the county, and steps to build unity
can only help develop the feeling that everybody is in the court-
house improvement project together.
It looks like a monster project, but if it's a good propo-
sal, we hope the residents can support it. When the Shel-
ton School District developed its $30.milllon.plus bond
proposal to improve run.down facilities, it made a con-
scious decision to package improvements to many
schools as part of an overall plan. That's because the
plan falls apart if separate bond issues are run for each
building and the voters reject one halfway through the
program. As the county continues to grow, it's either fol.
low a long-range plan for facilities or continue the
piecemeal pay-as-you-go strategy.
-CG
uuuuuuuuu
eOM/l't F' USPS 492-800
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shelton.Mason
County Journal, P O. Box 430. Shelton, WA 98584.
Pubs,shed weekly by Shelton Publishing Inc. at 227 West Cote Street. Shelton, Washington
Mailing eddreee: P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584
Telephone (360) 428-4412
Second-class postage paid at Shelton, Washington
SUBSCRiPTiON RATES: $25.00 per year in-county address,
$3500 per year in state of Washington $45,00 per year out of state
Charles Gay, editor and pub,she;.-- NiIMeroom: Carolyn Maddux, managing editor; Steve
Patch, sports editor; Jeff Green, general assignment, city government, schools: Mary Duncan,
society editor, county government; Sun Hank)n, police, courts, Port of Shelton. Advertising:
Steplen Gay, advertising manager:, Dave Pterik, ed sales. Front office: Julia Orme, business
manager; Vtcki Kamtn, circulation; Donna Dooms, boOkkeeper; Krlsta Carter, office assistant,
Composing room: Diane Rlordan, supervisor; Margot Brand and Jan Kalllnen, paste-up;
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Page 4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, July 29, 1999
Wood chips from le bistro
By DAVE BARRY
I was getting ready to board an
early American Airlines flight out
of Miami, and they announced
that it was going to be "bistro ser-
vice." "Please pick up your 'bistro'
meal from the cart as you board
the plane," they told us.
! honestly wasn't sure what
"bistro" meant but it sounded
French, which I thought was a
good sign. French food is pretty
tasty, except for the snails, which
I do not believe the French actu-
ally eat.
I believe the French sit around
their restaurants pretending to
eat out of empty snail shells and
making French sounds of enjoy-
ment such as '/umme!" (literally,
"Yum!'). But when foreign tour-
ists order this "delicacy," the
waiters bring them shells that
still contain actual unretouched
snails, which the tourists eat,
causing the French people to duck
under their tables and laugh until
red wine spurts from their nos-
trils.
But other than that, French
food is pretty good.'So I had high
hopes when, on my way to the
plane, I stopped at the cart and
picked up a paper sack containing
my "bistro" meal I was hungry,
because I had not eaten break-
fast, because I had arrived at the
airport one hour early so that, in
accordance with airline pro-
cedures, I could stand around.
When the plane took off, I
opened my "bistro" sack. Here are
the items it contained: (1) a con-
tainer of yogurt, (2) a "breakfast
bar" made from compressed dried
wood chips, and (3) the greenest,
coldest, hardest banana I have
ever touched in my life. If I'd had
a mallet, I could have pounded it
straight into a vampire's heart.
So I didn't eat the banana. Need-
less to say, I also didn't eat the
yogurt. My guess is, nobody ever
eats the yogurt; at the end of the
flight, the airline people just col-
lect all the unused yogurts and
put them back into "bistro" sacks
for the next flight. There are con-
tainers of airline yogurt still in
circulation that originally crossed
the Atlantic with Charles Lind-
bergh.
I did eat the "breakfast bar,"
because if you're hungry enough,
you will eat wood chips. (That's
why beavers do it. There is no
way they.would gnaw on trees if
they ever found out about pizza
delivery.)
Anyway, the flight was sched-
uled to go directly to Houston, so
finally, after navigating around
the sky for a several hours, we
landed in: New Orleans. The pilot
said there was fog in Houston. No
doubt it was manufactured by the
Fog Generator, which every mod-
ern airport maintains right next
to the Banana Freezer.
They didn't let the passengers
off the plane in New Orleans, pos-
sibly for fear that we would run
away. So we just sat there for an
horn" or so, rustling our "bistro
meal" sacks and listening to our
stomachs grumble. Here's how
bad it got: A woman across the
aisle from me finally broke down
and ate her yogurt. I bet this
really messed up the accounting
when the airline food personnel
got ready to re-sack the yogurt for
the next flight ("Hey! There's one
missing!").
Anyway, we finally took off
again and landed in Houston,
where we dropped to our knees
and gratefully licked crumbs off
the terminal floor. So the story
ended happily, except for the nag-
ging question that remained
stuck in my mind: Why did the
airline call it "bistro service"?
When I got home, I looked up
"bistro"; according to my diction-
ary, it's a French word meaning
"a small wine shop or restaurant
where wine is served." The image
it conjures up is of a cozy little
place on a picturesque little street
in Paris, with candle-lit tables for
two occupied by lovers kissing,
drinking wine, enjoying French
food and laughing at snail-eating
tourists. Somehow, the airline de-
cided to use this word, of all the
words in the world, to describe
what was served on my flight.
Why? The answer is: market-
ing. At some point, American Air-
lines went to its Marketing De-
partment and said, "We're going
to stop serving real food to people.
and we need a good name for it."
Marketing people love this
kind of challenge. Their motto is:
"When life hands you lemons, lie."
And so they held a brainstorming
session, probably at a nice French
restaurant, and finally, after a lot
of wine, they came up with "bistro
service," which sounds a LOT bet-
ter, from a marketing standpoint,
than "a sack of inedible objects."
Giving things ridiculous names
is a key marketing tactic. That's
why the gambling industry, when
it became concerned that people
might think it had something to
do with gambling changed its
name to the "gaming" industry, as
if people go to Las Vegas to play
Capture the Flag.
But I think "bistro service" is
even better. It may be the best
marketing concept I have seen
since back in the 1970s, when Mc-
Donald's, which does not wait on
your table, does not cook your
fOod to order, and does not clear
your table, came up with the with
the slogan "We Do It All For
You."
With this kind of marketing in-
genuity, there is no telling how
far we can go. Perhaps some day,
when we board our airplane, we
will each pick up a box of dirt;
this will be called "haute cuisine
service."
We will take the box without
complaining. Because we are con-
sumers, and our motto is'"moo."
Union treated differently
Editor, The JournaL.
I am writing in regards to the
article written on "Nonunion sal-
ary increases" in the July 22
newspaper.
I was on the negotiating com-
mittee for the American Federa-
tion of State, County and Munici-
pal Employees bargaining Local
1504 union. We requested a sal-
ary survey be done for the union
members of this local. We were
denied that request and were ini-
tially told there would be no sal-
ary increases (0 percent) because
there was "no money" in the coun-
ty budget. We did finally receive a
2 percent pay increase which is
miniscule compared to the sala-
ries of the nonunion employees.
My question to the commis-
sioners is where did this money
suddenly appear from the county
budget to give the nonunion em-
ployees these considerable pay in-
creases which will cost the county
$95,200 or more in the year 2000?
I find it very perplexing that
Mr. Wright, the human resource
director, is getting one of the lar-
gest pay increases of the non-
union salaries of 18 percent. I un-
derstand that he is the one who
conducted the salary survey for
the nonunion salaries. He already
makes more money than our
elected officials who in my opin-
ion deserve an 18 percent pay in-
crease more than he does!
Our union conducted our own
salary survey with other counties
of comparable size and found that
we were underpaid from 6 to 16
percent. Mr. Wright agreed to
this fact but stated once again
that there vas "no money."
I was equally perplexed about
the fact that the commissioners
were receiving a 3 percent annual
pay increase but could not or
would not give union members
the same salary increase. Their 3
percent annual increase is an or-
dinance but they also did not do
anything to change the ordinance
for the upcoming terms of the
commissioners. In addition to
their monthly salaries the com-
missioners receive a $450 car al-
lowance each and every single
month for which they do not have
to account for how the money is
spent.
When are the commissioners
going to stop being unjust and un-
fair to the rest of the county em-
ployees who are union and bring
our wages up to par with other
comparable counties?
Marcie Lohmeyer
Shelton
Article untasteful
Editor, The Journal:
I am writing in regards to your
articles on the Morrissey trial.
The first article (July 15) I found
very tasteful. The second was not.
After speaking with the reporter
in the courtroom and explaining
to her the impact on a 14-year-old
to be named with this type of trial
would have, I expected more re-
spect than we were shown.
Molestation is devastating to a
young teen, Having to talk about
it in public is even more devastat-
ing. Why would anyone add pur-
posely to that devastation for the
entertainment and curiosity of
strangers?
I know that you have a duty to
report the news, but this can be
done without becoming a tabloid.
There is also the right to privacy.
They say it takes a village to
raise a child. I am very disap-
pointed that The Journal is not
willing to do what they can to
help.
What could be more humiliat-
ing to a young woman than to see
a part of her life she is trying to
forget in print for all the world
and her classmates to see. The
Journal used poor judgment and
even poorer taste in this matter.
Peggy Morrissey
Shelton
Editor, The Journal:
Ed Moats is simply mistaken
when he argues that the state's
Growth Management Act is un-
constitutional (Journal, July 22).
Both Mason County and Chelan
County have made such an argu-
ment to the appellate courts, who
have rejected it.
Still, even if Mr. Moats were
persuaded that the act really is
constitutional, I doubt that he
would be any happier with this
state's efforts to control urban
sprawl, conserve resource lands
and protect critical areas. Moats
feels that the act allows a wrong-
ful taking of private property.
Like Moats, I also believe firm-
ly in property rights. When the
homeowners' association where I
own property acted arbitrarily
and without authority against
me, I resisted. When the local su-
perior court ruled only partly in
my favor, I took one issue further,
to the court of appeals, where I
prevailed aider a long struggle.
But property rights do not con-
sist of a property owner's right to
do whatever he pleases with his
property. Even Moats should see
that what one man does in enjoy-
ment of his property can adverse-
ly affect others' enjoyment of
their property.
The streams that flow through
private property do not belong to
the owners of the streambanks.
They are public property, belong-
ing to all of us. No owner of
streamside property is entitled to
injure the stream, its functions
and values, without permission of
its owners, the rest of us.
Yet, historically streams and
their fish have been devastated
serting our property rights J
asking that streambank oW$
not degrade the streams the,1
of us own. Belatedly, too, Ioc$:
dian tribes are demanding
their property rights guarat
under treaties be respected.
s The Growth Management l
i an effort to balance the
of all property owners an
maintain the quality of life I
makes any of our properti#
places to live. Moats does not
the fact that e act gives
ings boards the authority to,
disputes involving interpre
of the act. If these boards had
last word, I would agree €
him. But they do not.
boards, like such local board,
the board of equalization, 0
relatively expeditious deci
following procedures that l
nonlawyers a much better oi$
tunity to be heard than do.
courts. But the decisions of t
boards are always subject to
view by courts, beginning
the local superior court.
Moats has a constitutiO
right not to have his pro.
taken without just compenSS
This right is enforceable t
the courts if it were ever ig
by the hearings boards. B u
question is: Does Moats have
gitimate claim to be compe
for a taking of his propert
rather, is he laying claim to
which is not his?
John
Harstine Is#
Buffering truth i
Editor, The Journak
Someone once said that read-
ing a newspaper was a good way
to learn a number of things that
simply weren't true, and this
would certainly be the case if you
believed all the arguments offered
against stream buffers. Commis-
sioner Mary Jo Cady would have
to head the list of examples, sug-
gesting that we read Report from
Iron Mountain, but apparently
unaware that the Report is a
hoax, intended as a parody of the
paranoid.
Our next example would be
Senator Sheldon, who says
streams that don't flow all year
shouldn't be regulated, an idea
that would remove protection
from the Tahuya River, and possi-
bly end the vigorous salmon
spawning I watched there last fall
in a stretch that was dry in Au-
gust. This is a pretty clear exam-
ple of how regulation can help the
salmon, while leaving the matter
to Senator Sheldon might result
in a further decline.
As for the very smallest land-
owners that Senator Sheldon
claims to defend, they might fare
as poorly as the salmon under his
protection. Short-platting is the
penny-stock market of American
real estate, and some of these
owners would be glad to see their
property become valuable to
neighbors who wanted more land.
Others should be glad if their
neighborhood doesn't become so
overbuilt that they share each
other's sewage and pollute the
whole river when it floods. Small-
holders who wish to enjoy the
density bonus can do so by incor-
porating as a cooperative or con-
dominium, and planning their im-
provements together, as so many
have done before them.
Another reader thinks the sal-
mon did just fine in spite of heavy
logging in the '20s and '30s. How-
ever, the actual pack records
show that the pack for the North
Pacific peaked in the first two
decades of the century and de-
clined for many years aRer.
Next we have the idea that the
salmon have declined in spite of
vigorous stream protection over
the past 20 years. The sad fact is
that wooded areas I camped in
during the '60s are now clearcuts,
the shaded streams are now sun-
bathers' paradises, and the indus-
trial estuaries have a silty bottom
of toxic muck. Anyone who's lived
here for 50 years knows that dou-
bling the population has decimat-
ed the salmon habitat.
Maybe the strangest idea ad-
vanced is that anyone living next
to a river would want to cut down
the trees. This is a riparian law
state, and that means that if you
cut your trees and the river
closer to you, you have just
the land beyond the center d
river, possibly forever. You
also earn the special bon I
having your land added to'
"National Flood Database .
being requii,d b pay $400 a'
for "flood insurance" for th
of your life. This is a private
ness run by the insurancet:|c0l]
nies, and once you're on
there's not too much you c ®
about it.
Finally, a host
there was confusion about
er protecting streams
salmon. Could these be
people who said global
was just a theory? Before
folks get too worked up
"government takings"
recall that "civil forfeiture
veloped by anti-dru
Brad Owen has made that s
letter. If the government
what you have, there is
case law not allowing
take it.
If we look back throug
history and that of Engine|
often find that law chaag.
just this way. The people 0i
son County reelected Brad U]
for 20 years, giving him
power, and he used this
create "civil forfeiture," a
evasion of the Bill
ever, "what goes
around," and if an
majority in the future
form of law to seize
Mason County, who are
to blame?
The only people who
sense to me were the
who have spent so much ti
dying and working with
they have actually
tials - the biologists. They
the streams should be
and based on my 50
ing by or on the waters
Sound, I'm inclined to agree
Cal c
trol i
trodd
raaial
la a