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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
September 6, 2012     Shelton Mason County Journal
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September 6, 2012
 
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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 ...... .... Shelton-Mason County Journal is a member of Karl Sleight, publisher Advertising: Composing room: usPs 492-800 Washington Newspaper Publishers' Associaffon. Dave Pierik, Sr. Acct. Executive William Adams, graphics Newsroom: Sharee Miller, ad representative POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shelton-Mason SUBSCRIPTION RATES" Adam Rudnick editor Maggie Burdick, ad representative Pressroom: County Journal RO Box 430 Shelton WA98584 " ' ...... $37 per year for Mason County addresses, Natalie Johnson, reporter KelliAlexander, ad representative Kelly Riordan, production manager Travis Miller, press operator 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 at 227 West Cota Street, Shelton, Washington Mason County, $61 per year out of state. Emily Hanson, sports reporter Donna Kinnaird, bookkeeper Mailing address: RO. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584 Margot Brand, circulation Telephone (360) 426-441,2 *www.masoncounty.com Owned and published by Cricket Carter, mailroom Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washington Shelton-Mason County Joumal, Inc supervisor Page A-4- Shelton-Mason County Journal- Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012 I i I Iii I