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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
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Newsroom:
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supervisor
Page A-4- Shelton-Mason County Journal- Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012