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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