Notice: Undefined index: HTTP_REFERER in /home/stparch/public_html/headmid_temp_main.php on line 4394
Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
September 20, 2012     Shelton Mason County Journal
PAGE 4     (4 of 20 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
 
PAGE 4     (4 of 20 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
September 20, 2012
 
Newspaper Archive of Shelton Mason County Journal produced by SmallTownPapers, Inc.
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information
Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader




20URNALE DITORIAL KOMENCOMMENT Don't take freebie parking for granted or those who live in Shelton or visit this Western Washington city, there's one distinctive asset: There are no parking meters in Shelton. You park your vehicle free along historic Rail- road Avenue or any street in downtown Shelton. You have business at the credit union or the bank? You could use one of their spa- cious, handy parking lots. But, why? Usu- ally you can find a handier parking plaCe, just three steps from the credit union lobby, maybe two strides from the bank's front door. Meter free, of course. Shelton drivers have become accus- tomed to this freebie. Most don't give it a thought. Until, that is, they go to another town. Olympia, for instance. Now parking in Olympia's downtown business district is in- LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR credibly complicated. Drive one of the main thoroughfares and you immediately see rows of carefully marked parking spaces on both sides of these business streets. By JOHN No problem, the driv- er figures. Just find an KOMEN empty spot, pull in and put a coin or two in the meter. Easy. But not so fast, dude. There is no meter, just large signs on tall posts ordering you to pay at a centrally located parking pay station. So where is it and what does this pay station look like? Puzzled by the task, mo- torists new to the ordeal frequently ask pedestrians or bystanders for directions. If the motorist is lucky on the first try at finding someone knowledgeable enough to have the answers, he's pointed to a 5-foot- tall fixture equipped with a strange look- mg apparatus. It is located curb-side mid-block, and upon examination, the motorist reads that this device issues a parking permission slip. Insert money and you will get the u'easured permissiou slip. But quarters only, please, or your credit card, The de- ~,ce ~s not equipped to take dollar bills. Those who lack quarters are frequent visitors through the doors of adjacent business establishments. These business people have learned to have a ready stash of quarters on hand to exchange for paper money for coinless would-be parkers. Now armed with quarters, you're back to the meter station. Four qluarters for an hour, a quarter for 15 minultes. This is a real bargain in the expensive capitol city. But, hold on, the instructions say you can get the first 15 minutes free! Just "punch the button twice" and you'll get a slip of paper saying you can park free for the next 15 minutes. Now if you are going to be there 15 minutes or less, it's a no-brain- er. Get the free minutes! So where's the "button"? There's maybe three or tbur "button" appearing thingies on the thee of the device. You punch them all, twice, but nothing happens. So, back to asking a citizen on the street: "Where's the 15-minute free button?" Well, it's not exactly a button. It's a small rocker-lever-like device. Actually there are four of them, each denoting the amount of time you intend to park and the amount of quarters you intend to insert. Except tbr the "button" for the free quar- rel' hour, of course. So you tbllow the citizen's guidance, press the free-15-minute button/lever, twice, as the instructions require, and, Wow! Out pops a piece of paper printed with the exact time of day. And on that piece of paper is also the exact time at which your 15 minutes will expire. You do have a simpler choice. You can go right around the cornet' and park at a spot equipped with the old standard park- ing meter. Just insert your coin, presum- ably dimes an~t nickels as well as quarters, pay fbr the an{ount of time your car will be parked, and go about your business. It's understood the locals really prefer these old-fashioned parking meters, rather than the new-tangled devices with their technical modernity. it's enough tbr the uninitiated newcom- er to long fbr the free streets of Shelton. • John Komen, who lives on Mason Lake and seldom visits Olympia, was for 40 years a reporter and editor, TV anchor- man, national ~ network correspondent, producer, columnist, editorial writer and c°mmentat°r'His column, Komen Com- ment, appears each week in the Shelton- Mason County Journal. Shelton-Mason County Fireworks ban needs more discussion n Monday, the Shelton City Com- Imission decided to hold offon a decision to ban the sale and use of fireworks within city limits. City commissioners, citing lack ofpubhc input, postponed taking action until Oct. 1 on the proposal, which critics say would hurt local fireworks vendors and send customers to tribal reservations for their purchases. We agree that more research and input are needed before the commission takes action on this proposal. While enacting city laws that hurt small businesses - namely local vendors who sell state-approved fireworks -- are a concern, we thi'~k the bigger issue is with enforcement. If enacted, the Shelton Police Depart- ment, which already has lost staffing dur- ing the past few years due to budget cuts, will be responsible for enforcing the ban. We don't think it's very realistic for a small city police department to spend its time driving around listening and watching for fireworks when it is already stretched thin responding to domestic altercations, appre- hending burglars and thieves and working to keep drugs offthe streets of Shelton. We think that supporters of a ban have their hearts in the right place. According to a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commis- sion study, fireworks-- illegal and legal -- caused an average of 200 people per day to go to the emergency room with fireworks related injuries between June 17 and July 17, 2011. We are also keenly aware of the poten- tial damage wild fires started by irrespon- sible use of fireworks can have on a com- munity. The commissioners are tasked with cre- ating laws and ordinances that help build a better community and we applaud them for their efforts. But we strongly urge them to consider the impact this, and every, or- dinance will have on the agencies charged with enforcing them. It does little good to put an ordinance in the books ffthere are no resources available to enforce it. Haigh questioned Editor, the Journal On Kitsap Sun's editorial review video of the candidates, Rep. Kathy Haigh of the 35th Legislative District (Mason, Kitsap, Thurston) lied on cam- era about the Fund Education First Bill, which was brought to her committee where it never saw the light of day again. She claimed it wasn't brought to her committee and that flit was she would have voted tbr it. A little fact checking proves that it was killed in her committee; she bed the people. Education costs more and more every year. with less and less results to show for it. During Haigh's time as a chair and member of Education and Education Appropriatton & Oversight, education has suf fered through mdhnded man- dates, lack of funding and lack of success Dm~ Gntle:y thlty supported endi~,e, :~di",d~,d mandates that hurt our schools. He sup- ported Fund Education First stating that it's the Legisla- ture's job to hdly fund educa- tion and that education gets the first dollar, not the last dollar. He says that framing education first and adequately is the con- stitutional role of Washington state government. Haigh said she wouldn't cut from educa- tion, mid then did exactly that. Griffey often quotes Henry Ford, "Don't find a fault, find a remedy." It's not about Repub- bean vs. Democrat with him. It's about solutions. It's time we funded education first. It's time to put schools before party interest. It's time to elect hon- est people. It's time to elect Dan Griffey and restore Washington now! Travis Couture Belfair Basic ed. definition Editor, the Journal The Supreme Court requires funding of basic education. Cur- rently, basic education codifies 19th-century school-year length and addresses transportation issues. It fails to address cur- riculunL classroom eqmpment, books, teacher qualifications or high school graduates unable to enter college without taking bonehead courses. Kathy Haigh, 35th District legislator and house education chair, is one of four people re- sponsible for statewide educa- tion standards, policy and ac- countability, yet has done little to define basic education. Many schools in her district are below state average according to an Olympian newspaper article of Aug. 30 The Public Disclosure Com- mission (pdc.wa.gov) data- base shows she collected over $30,000 in political contribu- tions from educators in 2012. Her re-election contributions by source are: 1. $7,700 from public em- ployee unions 2. $8,300 from education unions 3. $11,900 from education administrators 4. $2,400 from education vendors With these campaign contri- butions, who is Haigh beholden to? WashingtonVotes.Org shows what bills she intro- duced, supported, ignored or opposed during 2011-2012 bien- nium. Six examples: 1. HB1849: Introduced: Cre- ated Washington State Educa- tion Council, but excluded tax- payers and parents. 2. HB1412: Supported: Low- ered math standards required for graduation. 3. HB2065: Supported: Al- ternative Learning Experience (ALE) which negatively impacts home schooling. 4. HB2019: Supported: Mov- ing cigarette tax revenue fi'oni education to the general fired. 5. HB2533: Igngred: Fund Education First bill was sent to Haigh's committee. She denies ever seeing it. A video on You- Tube confirmed she received it. WashingtonVotes.Q~'g con- firmed this transfer. 6. HB1593: Opposed! ~- lowed non-teachers to get teaching credentials based upon their subject matter expertise. Bill passed 79-18. Haigh seems to support only bills approved by unions. Education unions oppose the Charter School Initiative. Where does Haigh stand on this initiative? Haigh supports teacher union bosses while Dan Griffey supports teachers. Haigh sup- ports overpaid and unnecessary administrators while Gnffey Supports taxpayers. Haigh sup- ports the educational bureau- cracy while Griffey supports the parents. Most importantly, Griffey supports students. Education does not need unionized teachers; it needs dedicated teachers. Education does not imed more money; it needs leaders willing to develop sound, 21st-century concepts of '%asic education" in the face of vigorous opposition from public employee unions. Education needs Griffey. Haigh se~wes special inter- ests rather than her constitu- ents. Education should focus on children need, not union greed. Even Democrats should vote for children rather than political affiliation. Replace Haigh with Griffey to solve these tough tasks or continue to expect and accept educational mediocrity tbr your kids. Ardean A. Anvik Elma (Star Lake) Money, success not the same Editor, the Journal I am so tired of the Republi- cans who define "success" only as having stored up large piles of money. They include people who are "successful" but who do not make anything or provide any seiwice; they merely make money with money. Often, like Mitt Romney, they stash large piles of money in offshore tax havens letting it just sit there along with the estimated $30 trillion in such accounts stashed there by the world's wealthiest people. Their success does not include, for example, people who write bestselling books or athle/es who win gold medals. They don't include teachers who open children's minds to the wonders of the universe or doctors who toil long hours to save lives or airplane pilots who deliver thousands safely to their destinations. Neither do they include the linemen or women who brave storms in the dark of night to re- store your power or firefighters who risk their own lives every day to save others. They don't include people who write and play beautiful music or judges who deliberate long hours to de- liver justice or the local farmer who provides fresh food. No, Republicans of the Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan club don't include any of us who happen to think there is good and reward' ing work to be done and roll up our sleeves and do it, day after day, with competence and (of- ten) compassion. I am sick of selfishness and of people who talk as if that is a virtue. It's not. Norma Bayes Belfair Port not to blame Editor, the Journal We need to thank the Port of Shelton Commission for making a decision regarding disposition of the county fair facility. Some won't like it; most won't under- stand it, but at least, after years of beating this issue to death, a decision has been made. As it stands, the property south of the runway will be dosed to parks and recreation use ef- fective the end of 2013 and a new site will need to be found. The issue has been on the port agenda at times going back 10 or more years, and each time it has been discussed, the FAA's position has been the same: the property will revert to aviation purposes at the close of the lease. The Board of County Commissioners, whose job it is to provide suitable facilities, have had more than enough time to relocate it but have done nothing. Those who feel slighted by the close of the facility need to express their displeasure to the county commission and not the port. The port's job is to pro- vide industrial and transporta- tion facilities and an .airport is a transportation facility. So don't pick on the port or the FAA. The FAA has attended more than one pubhc meeting and has made it clear the lease will not be renewed and the facility will close at the end of 2013. The need to relocate has been resolved for some time. The question debated lately at port meetings has been the feasibility of asking the FAA for an extension of time on top of the extension granted three years ago. The FAA, citing lack of evidence of a relocation effort by the county, has declined. And so the port commission will turn the problem over to a reloca- tion committee and the Board of County Commissioners to deal with. The fair facility is not and never has been the port's business and cannot become the port's business. The port is not a countywide entity. There are five separate ports in Mason County. What happens from here on is a countywide problem and therefore needs to be man- aged by the Board of County Commissioners. Norm Eveleth Shelton Editor, the Journal Re: President Obama's re- mark (%rou didn't build that, somebody else did") shows he doesn't understand that the money for all those things he .... hsts comes from taxes. How do people pay taxes? They earn money in a job someone else created or create a business themselves. Only jobs in the private sector count because all government jobs are supported by taxes. Thus, only the private sector is creating real wealth and paying the taxes that are building the societal infrastruc- ture that comes about through society organizing through gov- ernmental entities. So, he is clueless about the real source of wealth creation. How could he be otherwise? He has never held a real job at a company that has to make a profit to survive and grow. Further, in an article he argued that he just used the wrong syntax but his point was cor- rect. No, it was not correct. The small bus'mess owner and all other businesses and en- trepreneurial actions that gen- erate income and wealth are the ones who '%uilt that," including the schools, roads, bridges, etc., and everything else he referred to as not being built by the small business owner, basically the entire private sector. The taxes paid by the private sector did build that. Government is necessary but it does not create real wealth, All wealth is created by the private sector business people and en- trepreneurs acting in their own self-interest. His economic igno- rance is shockingly abysmal. His policies are strangling the very people who "do that" with mas- sive overregulation, Obamacare and burgeoning, rule-making, unelected, not-accountable-to- the-people bureaucracy. Paul Everett Shelton See Letters on page A-5 USPS 492i800 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) 426-44t2 • www.masoncounty.com Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washington ;helton-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. Owned and published by Shelton.Mason County Journal, Inc Kari Sleight, publisher Newsroom: Adam Rudnick, editor Natalie Johnson, reporter Gordon Weeks, reporter Emily Hanson, sports reporter Advertising: Composing room: Dave Pierik, Sr Acct, Executive William Adams, graphics Sharee Miller, ad representative Maggie Burdiek ad representative Pressroom: Kelfi Alexander, ad representat ve Kelly Riordan, production manager Travis Miller, press operator Front office: Mary Northover, press assistant Donna Kinnaird, bookkeeper Margot Brand, circulation Cricket Carter, mailroom supervisor Page A-4- Shelton-Mason County Journal- Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012