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YOURHALEDITORIAL
Remembering
Charlies
Charlie Savage. The name may not
ring many bells today, but there
was a time when it was a bell-
ringer in Mason County and the state
Legislature.
His name comes to mind at this
election-season time because Charles R.
Savage was an election veteran. Ballots
spanning five decades carried his name.
He didn't always win, but he always
tried. And he won enough times to rep-
resent Shelton and Mason County for 13
terms in the state House of Representa-
tives. In those 26 years in the House,
Charlie won a lot of friends and, so far
as we know, not a single enemy.
Charlie Savage
D was a friendly guy.
His presence in the
stately House cham-
ber was a comforting
reminder that good
people served here,
people whose folks
at home would send
them to Olympia time
By JOHN and time again.
KOMEN He first served in
1939. His last session
was 1975. He died Jan. 14, 1976. His
name was so familiar and comfortable
to the home folks that his daughter was
appointed to serve out the remainder of
his term.
If Charlie Savage was perhaps seen as
the quiet possessor of the House cham-
ber's institutional memory, another small
town Charlie would come to Olympia,
serve in the House and rise swiftly to
leadership. This was Charles W. Hodde,
a potato farmer from Colville who quickly
rose to become Speaker of the House.
First elected in 1939, then defeated in
1941, like Charlie Savage, Hodde didn't
give up, ran again in 1943 and won. By
1949, Charlie Hodde was House Speak-
er, a position considered second in power
and influence only to the governorship.
It was said he ran the House with an
iron hand, but it was an affable hand.
He had a great sense of fairness, and it
won him gratitude and admiration from
both Democrats and Republicans.
Hodde was speaker again in 1951: In
1952 he ran for the Democratic Party
nomination for governor. He lost, but his
long career and service to state govern-
ment was just beginning.
What Hodde had in abundance, be-
sides his affability, was wisdom. It was
wisdom derived from common sense, not
formal education. Add in humility, clear-
minded judgment, a willingness to listen
as well as advise, and you had in Hodde
a resource that served his state until his
death in 1998 at age 92.
Governors sought out Charlie Hodde
for advice and often tapped him for tough
duty and appointed him to run difficult
state agencies. Gov. Albert D. Rosellini,
the man who defeated him in 1952, named
Hodde to fix an embattled Department of
General Administration. He fixed it.
Other governors, Republican as well
as Democrat, turned to Charlie Hodde
for service as well as advice. Probably
his greatest challenge was his appoint-
ment as director of the state Depart-
ment of Revenue by Gov. Dixy Lee Ray.
Unlike Hodde, Gov. Ray was not known
for affability. But with Hodde, then 70,
she found someone whose judgment she
seemed to trust.
One columnist suggested Hodde was
Gov. Ray's jewel. "Charles W. Hodde is
a wise old veteran," he wrote. "The only
surprise, and disappointment, would be
if she failed to recognize what a valu-
able resource she has in her director of
revenue."
Later, in his 80s and 90s, Charles
Hodde was venerated as the wise man
of Washington state. He became a fix-
ture at the Legislative Building, holding
court over coffee in the cafeteria, talking
politics and governance with elected of-
ficials, legislators and reporters.
Hodde, a wise man for Washington
state.
One has to wonder whether the mad-
tle fits anyone in Olympia today.
• John Komen, who lives on Mason
Lake, was for 40 years a reporter and
editor, TV anchorman, national TV
network correspondent, producer, colum-
nist, editorial writer and commentator.
His column, Komen Comment, appears
each week in the Shelton-Mason County
Journal.
Watch for school children near the roads the street, especiaUy ifthere are no side-
walks;
• Slow down. Watch for children playing
Now that Labor Day has come and bus accidents this year. or congregating near bus stops;
gone, fall has unofficially kicked off According to the National Highway Traf- • Be alert. Children arriving late for the
in Mason County. tic Safety Administration (NHTSA), about bus may dart into the street without look-
While we may now be thinking of foot- 140 school-bus related fatalities take place ing for traffic;
ball, hunting or falling leaves, we encourage each year in the United States. The major- • Yellow flashing lights mean the bus is
residents to keep school children's safety in ity of those take place between 7-9 a.m. and preparing to stop; red flashing lights mean
mind. between 3-4 p.m. -- the usual hours chil- children are getting on -- don't pass the
Fall marks the time of year when chil- dren a~e catching the bus. school bus.
dren head back to class. Since we live in .a While that number is not shocking con- Parents, you can help your children by
mostly rural community, a large percentage sidering how many students catch a ride passing on these safety tips:
of students catch the bus each morning, each day, it's still something to keep in • Students: get to the bus stop at least
Let's make sure we keep our eyes peeled mind. We understand that accidents hap- five minutes before the bus arrives;
for youngsters as we make our way to work pen, but it never hurts to follow a few easy • Be sure the driver can see you if you
or run our daily errands. We may have got- tips, especially if you live or regularly drive have to cross the street;
ten out of the habit of obeying school speed by a bus stop or school: • Never walk behind the bus.
limit zones during the summer. Let's make • According to the NHTSA, drivers For questions or information regarding
sure we don't have to report on any school should watch out for children walking in School bus routes, contact your local school.
New chairman
sought
Editor, the Journal
In my opinion, John Gunter's
letter to the editor last week is
somewhat scurrilous and bla-
tantly inappropriate. As chair-
man of the new Belfair UGA
Advisory Committee, he's appar-
ently using his coveted position
to publicly berate and smear
a candidate for Mason County
Commissioner. Is that in his
advisory committee job descrip-
tion?
Mr. Gunter needs to read
the "Mason County Boards and
Commissions Handbook" com-
piled by Mason County Central
Operations in March 2012. It
clearly states advisory group
members are appointed to rep-
resent the public at large. They
make important recommen-
dations about Mason County
folicy. All their recommenda-
ons and advice should reflect a
onsensus of the majority of the
3elfair UGA Committee.
He may be using the forum
~f this advisory group to oppose
. candidate for public office and
,xpress his own personal politi-
cal opinions. Does his political
recommendation reflect a clear
majority consensus of the Belfair
UGA Advisory Committee?
I believe it's wrong to use his
relationships and privileged
communications with Mason
County Commissioner Steve
Bloomfield, Barbra Atkins as
head of community development
and Shannon Goudy clerk of the
Mason County Commissioners
to publicly demean any Mason
County citizen.
I also believe it's inappropri-
ate to publish any internal com-
mittee emails and working docu-
ments before they are approved
by the committee. Only finished
recommendations to the Mason
County Commission should be
published and only as presented
to the commission.
John Gunter would do himself
and our community a favor by
resigning as chairman before
he mires this committee in un-
wanted and unnecessary politi-
cal battles.
Bob Harris
Belfair
Letter writer
slings mud
Editor, the Journal
In John Gunter's latest attack
rant against Randy Neatherlin,
published by the Journal, he
makes several false claims, ac-
cusations and misleading state-
ments in an attempt to use his
position as chair of the Belfair
UGA Committee to further his
own biased and political ends.
I attended this Belfair UGA
meet'mg and will clear up some
of these falsities and will ex-
plain why Randy is an absolute
benefit to the citizens of Mason
gave any "advice" to John during
the meeting. The people attend-
ing simply pointed out several
times that the committee mem-
bership had fallen below the
commission's required number of
"no less than seven" members in
order to comprise the committee.
Randy only made a few com-
ments during this meeting and
only to question facts presented
by a county resolution. This
number was set by the Mason
County Board of Commissioners
in the resolution establishing
this committee. It is in the reso-
lution, black and white, and the
attendees repeatedly questioned
whether the members could
continue to take action unless
they had the required numbers.
According to John, the commis-
sioners told him personally that
he could proceed as if they had
a valid committee. However,
no amendments to the resolu-
tion decreasing the minimum
membership had been approved.
Neither Randy nor I gave John
"wrong information." Everything
that was pointed out to John
during this meeting is found
within county and state docu-
' ments.
In his letter and at this meet-
ing, John discussed hax4ng.a
quorum allowing him to proceed.
However, John was the onl~
person discnssing a quorum.~ The
definition of a quorum is: T~
minimal number of officers and
members of a committee or orga-
nization, usually a majority, who
must be present for valid trans-
action of business. The citizens
at this meetingwere questioning
the existence of the committee,
not whether they had a quorum.
How could they have a quorum
if the committee itself was non-
existent at this time due to their
failure to meet the resolution's
requirements? Again, John false-
ly accuses Randy of disputing
this when John was actually the
only one in that room that could
not understand that without a
committee there is no quorum.
John goes on in his latest at-
tack to accuse Randy of being a
bully. In the few times Randy
questioned the committee he
raised his hand and waited to
be recognized by the committee.
He was exceedingly respectfifl.
He never spoke over anyone, as
John purports. Randy partici-
pates in a multitude of commit-
tees and organizations within
our community. Anyone who has
ever attended a meeting where
he participated knows that he
treats all guests and members
with the utmost respect. Ev-
eryone at this meeting treated
each other with respect, with the
exception of John himself, who
apologized to me personally af-
terward in front of witnesses for
his curt responses to one of my
questions during the meeting.
As to Randy forcing the meeting
into an abrupt adjournment, the
truth is that this meeting went
on for more than two hours. No
one forced anything, the commit-
toe itself made the decision to
adjourn.
Finally, John questions
Randy's knowledge on the pro-
I have personally seen Randy
chair meetings. He has terrific
knowledge of Robert's Rules of
Order and the recent Mason
County Boards and Commis-
sions Handbook and strives to
always follow the rules when
participating in a meeting of any
type. He does not, as John does,
attempt to dictate to his fellow
members nor does he go over
their heads repeatedly to have
private discussions with county
employees.
Randy listens to all sides of
an argument. He does his home-
work on rules, regulations and
issues. Most importantly, no
matter which capacity he is act-
ing in at the time, Randy chooses
to discuss all matters with his
fellow members/community be-
fore disbursing information to of-
ficials and ne@spapers. He truly
understands that he is a mem-
ber of a group, not the only one
with a valid opinion. He never
uses a committee to further his
own personal agenda. He works
for and respects his community
above all else. John should at-
tend one of many meetings Ran-
dy participates in to see how a
meeting should properly be run.
At the very least, Gunter should
issue a public apology to Randy,
all attendees of this meeting and
his fellow committee members
for his statements and complete
disrespect.
Jennifer Hines
Belfair
Get familiar
with lake
document
Editor, the Journal
I am writing in reference to
letters in the Aug. 30 edition
expressing concerns over Green
Diamond's proposal to create 49
parcels, some or all on a portion
of Lake Nahwatzers waterfront.
There is no question Lake Nah-
watzel is a unique body of water
to those who currently live or
vacation there. Of the many ex-
isting waterfront lots, more than
90 docks have been installed,
attesting to the use and enjoy-
ment people have of that body of
water.
Included in these are water-
front lots and docks owned by
the two writers. One writer's 15-
acre parcel is described in a 2008
Habitat Management Plan as
being "either wetlands, stream
or located within wetland and/or
stream buffers." Through vari-
ances, an enlargement of the ex-
isting home, a garage and septic
system were allowed. Recently a
dock for enjoyment of the water
was installed. Within the 300-
foot cove where the other writer's
vacation home is located are six
docks, one presumably used by
his family while vacationing at
their Lake Nahwatzel vacation
home, located on 1.5 acres.
As both writors note, water-
front property in Mason County,
rent regulations are in place to
help ensure it remains so. Septic
systems on waterfront property
are required to be maintained in
order to prevent nutrient loading
or pollution of adjacent water
bodies. Docks should be designed
to have minimal impact on the
aquatic environment. This does
not mean someone who owns
waterfront property should not
be able to develop that property,
only that it be done so within the
current regulations that exist.
It is why Diamond Resource's
proposed waterfront parcels will
have to be far larger than those,
which currently exist, perhaps
as large as 5 acres each. It is
why septic systems will be of
new designs and placed farther
back from the shoreline. It is
why community docks will be
encouraged instead of one dock
per parcel. So doing will help to
preserve the shoreline habitat
while at the same time will allow
for reasonable development and
enjoyment of Lake Nahwatzel.
These regulations are found
in the current Shoreline Man-
agement Program, which is now
being updated and is nearing
its final form. It will control how
waterfront property and associ-
ated tidelands are developed, I
would strongly encourage any-
one who has concerns as strong
as those expressed by Lake
Nahwatzel shoreline residents to
become familiar with that docu-
ment, and more importantly,
become involved in the update
process now underway. It will
be the expression of how Mason
County's citizens want shoreline
development to occur.
Jules Michel
Portland, Ore., Shelton
Neighbors
helping
Editor, the Journal
This letter is in response
to the possible merger of the
Brockdale area to Mason Coun-
ty Fire District 6. I think it's
admirable that Mike DeCapua
and Trevor Severance are wor-
ried about the citizens of Fire
District 9. So if Fire District 9
is so incompetent why aren't
they petitioning for all of Fire
District 9? I live in the Skokom-
ish Valley. There is also the
Skokomish Reservation and
the California Road area. What
about us? It's nice that De-
Capua and Severance want to
protect themselves in their area
and I think it's interesting that
they want to incorporate the
area that has the most tax base
and the most expensive homes.
It's also interesting to know
the only way Fire District 6
and Fire District 11 can merge
together is to get the Brockdale
area. Neighbors helping neigh-
bors? Not really. It's'two neigh-
bors helping themselves.
Shelton-Mason County 11 | County. cedures and rttles for county whether on Lake Nahwatzel or Nancy Leister
I~ 1~ ~aTb~:~ ~ [[[: No one including Randy, committees and public meetings Puget Sound, is special. Cur- Shelton
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Published weekly by Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc. $51 per year in state of Washington but outside Gordon Weeks, reporter Front office: Mary Northover, press assistant
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Page A-4- Shelton-Mason County Journal- Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012
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