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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
September 22, 2011     Shelton Mason County Journal
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September 22, 2011
 
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I Thursday, September 22, 2011 Week 38 The Voice of Mason County since 1886 Published in Shelton, Washington By NATALIEJOHNSON Sawyer, PUD 3 Commission Chair Linda Gott and Brett Bishop, a shell- A three-member panel interviewed fish grower and fire commissioner for 15 applicants for the open CountyDistrict 4, asked each applicant what Commissioner seat for District 3 on assets they had, what experience they Monday afternoon, had with Robert's Rules of Order, what "There are big shoes to fill in this de- they understood the time commitment cision," said applicant Terri Jeffreys. of a commissioner to be and what is- Each applicant had 15 allotted min- sues they thought were important. utes to answer questions and make a The applicants were also allowed a personal statement, two-minute comment period to broadly The Mason County Commission explain theirqualifications. needs to appoint a commissioner to re- While the panel conducted the in- place Commissioner Jerry Lingle, who terview, they will only make recom- died unexpectedly in August. mendations to the county commission. The panel, consisting of tbrmer Ma- Commissioners Tim Sheldon and Lyn- son County Superior Court Judge Jim da Ring Erickson will soon make an appointment. "I'll be prepared to make a choice on Oct. 4 at our commission meeting," Sheldon told the Journal. The 16 applicants included both veterans and newcomers to county politics. Brian Avery, who recently ran for port commissioner and was eliminated in the primary, spoke first. "If you choose me for the position, you'll get somebody who will give their whole heart and soul for the job," he said. Several candidates spoke of wishing See Candidates on page A-5 Journa pnoto o~ Natalie Johnsor A three-member panel interviewed 15 applicants including Terri Jeffreys, right, for the vacant commission seat for district 3 Monday. Davis makes bid for state rep By ~VAN MOORE Rural Thurston County resident Jeff Davis, 43, has announced his candidacy for State Representative in the 35th District. Davis is seeking the posi- tion currently held by Rep- resentative Fred Finn, who has indicated he will not seel~ re-electi0n next year~ "We know that these are challenging and uncertain economic times for all of us," Davis said. "We must work together to come up with solutions on how to put people back to work in our state." Davis, Jeff a Demo- Davis crat, is an elected commis- sioner at the Port of Olym- pia, where he has overseen increased use of port proper- ties, resulting in an increase in bo{h revenue and employ- ment. He is a member of the Thurston County Economic Development Council and a trustee of the chamber of commerce. Davis said he will focus on working collaboratively with local business owners and citizens to produce good paying jobs and enhancing the education system. Da- vis said he will also work on "preserving the health and beauty of our natural resources for future genera- tions while sustaining our timber, shellfish and other resource-based industries." In his announcement, Davis also highlighted fis- cal responsibility "by living within our means as a state an.d producing a budget that reflects our highest ideals." Davis, a father of three, resides on a small farm, where he occasionally en- joys raising livestock. Grow- ing up in a small town along the Columbia River, Davis is a lifelong resident of the Northwest and a graduate of the University of Oregon with a degree in political science. See Davis on page A-7 8111!!!1!!¸11!!1!¸!!1112 arou A spider and its web catch some last-of-summer sunshine in downtown Shelton on Tuesday of several similar arachnids spotted during a short stroll before dusk. State re-districting plans may split Mason County, 5th District By NATkLIE JOHhlSON makes the 35th The Washington State Redistricting Commit- (district) a much more tee released four proposed plans for both con- gressional and legislative districts this month, ~ which all propose changes to the Sixth Congres- r~ ral d str ct/' sional District and 35th Legislative District. Each member of the four-person committee Mason County. presented a different map, giving in some cases In the four proposed legislative maps, the wildly different viewpoints, for the future repre- 35th District, which surrounds Mason County, sentation of Mason County. also sees some changes. Two congressional plans, one by former U.S."I think all of the maps would take the city of Senator Slade Gorton and one by former state Bremerton out of the 35th district," said Wash- legislator Tom Huff, both Republicans, keepington State Senator Tim Sheldon, who rep- the sixth district, represented by Congressman resents the 35th District. "It makes the 35th a Norm Dicks, and Mason County relatively whole, much more rural district - it would make it larg- However the congressional plans by former er and more rural." Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis and Dean Fos-In Ceis', Foster's and Gorton's plans, the city ter, former chief of staff to ex-Governor Booth of Bremerton would move to the 26th District, Gardener, both Democrats, split Mason County but in Huffs plan, Bremerton stays within the between the sixth and 10th districts. 35th District. In Ceis' plan, much of North and West MasonDespite the changes included in both the pro- County would remain in Dicks' sixth district, but posed congressional and legislative maps, Shel- the City of Shelton and the southeast corner of don cautioned against assuming that any one of Mason County would land in the 10th district, the maps would be chosen in its entirety. along with North Thurston County. "This will be the 3rd time I've been through In Foster's plan, the 10th district would ex- redistricting ... Experience tells me the first go pand to take over much of the current sixtharound is a political card that's being played," district, encompassing North Thurston County, he said. North and the west half of Mason County andThree of the four committee members need to Pacific, Grays Harbor, Jefferson and Clallam agree on a map, or a combination of several, in Counties. order to approve a redistricting plan. In this plan, the sixth district would moveThe deadline for the committee to decide on east to cover all of Kitsap County, East Jefferson new congressional and legislative districts in County and Shelton and the Southeast corner of Washington is Jan. 1, 2012. Journal photo by Kevan Moore evening. This is just one Jobless rates still • on the rise Mason County now at 10.5 percent By KEVAN MOORE Mason County's unemploy- ment rate went up slightly in the month of August. According to figures just out from the Washington State Employment Security Depart- ment, Mason County's unem- ployment rate for the month of August was 10.5 percent, a 'full point higher than the state average of 9.3 percent, and slightly up over July's adjusted local figures. Mason County's unemploy- ment rate for the s&me time period last year was 10.9 per- cent From July 2011 to August 2011, Washington State added 3,800 jobs on a seasonally ad- justed basis. The private sec- tor gained 4,200 jobs over the month and the public sector shed 400 jobs. See Jobless on page A-7