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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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]OURNALEDITORIAL Trees on the chopping block should be removed for safety We're happy to see the City of that needs some sprucing up.ation that the Doug Iir's root sys- Oddly enough, though, we gotdowntown highlight. Shelton and the Shelton Mason A rotted cedar tree, a danger- tem poses to pedestrians using the a last-minute letter here at the While Christmas Town USA County Chamber of' Commelce ous Douglas fir and a scrappy sidewalk and the inevitability that Journal this week by a reader will have a few less trees in the working tegether an plans to looking pine are on the chopping one or more of the trees could come opposed to removing the trees, heart of downtown, the chamber make improvements at the corner block and a monmnent sign and down and hurt or kill someone. Quite frankly, that was our first and city will do their best to make of First and'Railroad, pretty landscaping are on the way. In addition, the city official reaction as well. We're still not sure the new space helps provide A chamber subcommittee called On one hand, we'll be sad to see working on the project with the thrilled about the idea of bringing a world-class welcome to those the 8heltan Alhance [br Viable the trees go. Contrary to being an chamber says that not a single down the trees, but understand visiting the downtown retail core Economic Revitalization ~ SAVER) eyesore, we quite like them. But, we person has contacted him to raise the reasoning behind it and hope and that's something we can get identilied the corner a.~ a place also recognize the dangerous situ- an objection to falling the trees, that the new corner will be a new behind. LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR" ; ;ill: i i;i;: !(ii ii!i:ili!il;i i~iiiii;iiii:;i!iii ii i~!il; i i;i!ii; ;iiiiiiii!;ii!;iiiii;i;iiii!:i;!! i:i; !i!ili;i!ii:!ii!i:;i i~ i i ;i~ii;ili;i;i;iii!i;iiiil;i~ !ii;[iiiii;;i:!~iiiiii i li~iii :iiiiiiiii;iiiil)ii;~;i[i;iiii[ii!iiiiii i iiiiiii i iiiiiiiii!ii!iiiiii;i~ i ii[iii;iii!i;iiiii!i!iii!ii i!i[} [~!iii!!!ili!iiil;!i[iiiii!;)ii i ii[i!i !iii!;i;il i iiiiii;ii[iii[iii!i!iiiiiiiiiiiii! ii[!!i i!iii!; ill ;!ii{!iiiii!iii!!;iiii !i;iiiiiii!iiii{iiiiiiiiiiii[i!iiiii!iiiii !ii~ii[iiii! i i{iiiiiiii!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~!ii{iliiii!iiiiiiiiiii;iiiiiiiiii i iiiii;i!i i i!i!i[i!i i iiiii!i!i;i!i [i;[;i!i!i!i;!!iiiii!iiiii;ili!i!i!i;i!i!i;ii i ii;ili; i ii;i!ili Vote to change leadership in the city Editor, the Journal I have lived in the conl- mmfity fbr many years and it saddens me that more people don't get involved to help bet- ter ~t. In mt m erage election ouly about 50 percent of the registered voters exercise their right t~) vote and because of that about 50 percent of the people control the destit ~y o/ our cufnln ulitLy It really distresses me that tile last elecUon we saw im provement to sidewalks and streets nero the (?ivic Center between 6th and 7th Street on Cota Avenue. It was nice t() see s(lllll~thiltg (]~Ht(. with OlU intiastructure, bill untbl~tu, tlattdy non(~ of'the work that was (lone tu [lit)s(* 4reets and sidewalks meets the minimmn shm(hwd reqmrem(mts set by the (JiV ot Nhelton. They would have rvquired a privato individu,d or coJ iLl actor to meet a higher standard than they h(fld themselves to New m ~otller eh,ction yem ha~ rolled aro,md and we see that the ( '.ily ot'Sbelton is hwolw,d in street progTams and again the rock sub-baue doesll't met the IIHnlIIIUIII standards set tw the city. The cit3 enlbrces these minmmm stal Idards wtRff lever another entity does work within the city because they say that the standards will assure the citi- zens that the work will hold up to the use and ,'educe the city's tuture maintenance cost. Why is it that the city can do work and not be held accountable to their own standards? the these standards too tfigh? Why is it that the city is repah'ing Iku'ner Avenue within months after it was worked on in rela- uonship to the pump station? Was that work inadequate? Why is it that the sidewalks at Wallace-Kneeland Boulevard. were torn out and handicap access iustalled? Why weren't the handicap accesses put m when the original project was done just last year'? Why weren't the sidewalks redone on the south side of Lumber- man,s when the street was repaved as result of the down- town sewer' project'? All these questions should be asked by the citizens when the go to the voting booths. Do you want the people control- I. N the City ot Shelton to con- tinue or is it time for a change? I wonder if the voters of Shelton understand that if Dawn Pmmell is voted in as mayor that she will have to resign her position as commis- sioner of public works and the council will appoint someone to replace her. This means that everything will remain the same in the city, with no fresh approach to resolving the problems that we face. Major street repairs dur- ing an election year does us no real good because what we need is some kind of'continu, ous program with standards that everyone has to tbllow. 1 believe that the City of Shelton is h, need of fi'esh leadership. Kelly Bueehel Shelton Support Johnston for fire board Editor, the Journal I first met Dave Johnston severn years ago when I called for assistance with home computer problems. While I remain very im- pressed with his superior technical skills and his excep- tionalc.entse ice, overthe !i! i i !!ii !iiil ! i impressedYears I have beeneven mOrewith his comnmnity ~ ~~i ~i~i ~a ~~i~ ~i i~i~ leadership and personal quali- ties. Dave Johnston is a man ofimpeccable character and ~i ~bli~ I~f~ ~f dardsintegrity'Hishighm°ral stan-and ethics complement libelous communityhis longrecordofdedicatedservice,should Dave Johnston's neighbors o heJoarnal : : who are served by Fire Dis- trict 6 are fortunate to have a commissioner of such high integrity and professionalism. Those served by and protected by Mason County Fire district 6 should retain Dave Johnston as their cominissioner. Jim Sin~s Shelton Wave goodbye to Editor, The Journal As we pass the Douglas fir and western red cedar at 1st and Railroad, I wonder how many days these quintessen- tial Shelton icons have on the Earth. Well, on Earth as ~ees, not as some small cants m the mill yard further up Railroad Ave. Much hoopla has been made about the updating of this corner with movers mid shakers all agreeing, '%eir days are numbered." Gonna make Shelton an "uptown corneF' right there, give us a face lift. Well, okay, nothing wrong with face lifts, for the right reasons. I wonder about the reasons here. I doubt that these trees are diseased. In tree years, they are hardly old enough, way less than 100 years. There are no tell-tale signs of disease here now as purported. There are healthy leaders pointing straight up to the sky. No bare spots where branches should be. Many a tree has come to the whim of a chain saw by the mere declaration of illness. Roots raising the sidewalks, not any damage visible here now or yet, sidewalks look sure-footed m~d flat. It's a nice native corner, lots of small towns would cherish as the emblem of their past and present right there for all to see, driving by. This is, for most of us, most of the year, basically a drive by corner, much as the aforementioned movers would want to make it otherwise. It sometimes is all that folks ever see of 8helton. With so many other glaring insufficiencies in carmg for the image of Sl4elton, the first thing on the list is to tear up, cut down and remove the two trees that say, "We are a tbrest community and proud of it," in the most prominent spot in the enth'e town. Gonna put a silk purse on the sow's ear of First Street as soon as we are able. If'I were driving through 8helton, I would be more en- ticed to step for a visit if'my impression of Shelton were not the blocks and blocks of street blight on First Street. I doubt a fancy monument sign invitation on this corner would make me think to traverse fur- ther down Raih'oad Avenue. to stop for a while. And for those in the quick twist about removing these trees, if done right, there might be room for that same sign without getting out the chahi saw. Have a wave bye, bye to a professional, functional and your Shelton tree heritage efficient school board in part- while you still can. Evergreen nership with the community, and beautiful year round, you staff, families and students, will surely miss them when ensuring that the goals, vi- they are gone forever, sions and initiatives best serv- Sally Burtcher ing the students of the Shelton SheltonSchool District are met. Having served eight years on the school board myself, as well as many countless hours over the part 25 years spent Ri h volunteering in our schools C , and different support orga- Donaldson nizations, I have tried to be aware of the issues, both good and bad that effect our educa toschool tional systems here in Shelten Over the past two years, it has not been easy to maintain the high level of educational excellence desfired with all the budget cuts predicted by our Editor, the Journal current financial situation. Recently, many of'the com- This is why, more than ever, munity had the opporttmity to we need a school board with hear the honorable Judge Ben members who are dedicated, Settle speak at the commemo- capable and have the desire to rative for Sept. 11. Judge . work for our children with no Settle gave a very good speech, personal agendas, no personal What struck home to me were egos, no personal vendettas his words about our need for and no other mission other a vital and robust educational than the welfare of the Shelton system and how important School District, its students it is to us to have "Strong and staff. schools, strong community, We need to be, in Ben strong nation." Settle's words, "an informed The Coalition for School electorate." The coalition urges Board Excellence is an ever- you to be informed. expanding group of business The collation for School and community members, Board Excellence has endorsed educators, adininistrators and candidates Caroline Rich, Dis- families in the Shelton School trict I and Sharon Donaldson, District. At-Large District 2. Our mission is to support Holly Sharpe Shelton WORDONTHESTREET What do you think of the county's commission and what qualities do process to replace Jerry Lingle on the you think it should look for in a cand county idate? Amanda Johnson Sharon Tibbits Carl Anderson Lorraine Jager "[ wm~t somehody who is personable with everyday people, not just people invovled in goven~nent, but someone who can reach out." "The candidates had better be honest." "I know that the other county commis- "They should look for honesty stoners are selecting someone, and I'm ness, as far as I'm concerned." sure they'll do a fine job." and Nir, Shelton-Mason County USPS 492-800 She~ton-Mason County Journal is a member of Washington Newspaper Publishers' Association. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shelton-Mason SUBSCRIPTION RATES: County Journal, nO. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584. $37 per year for Mason County addresses, Published weekly by Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc. $51 per year in state of Washington but outside at 227 West Cota Street, Shelton, Washington Mason County, $61 per year out of state. Mailing address: nO. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584 Telephone (360) 426-4412 * www.masoncounty.com Owned and published by Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washington Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc Jesse Mullen, general mgr. Advertising: Dave Pierik, advertising manager Newsroom: Harvey Morris, ad representatwe Kevan Moore, managing editor Aria Shephard, North Mason, Front office: environment, reporter Donna Kinnaird, bookkeeper Natalie Johnson, reporter Margot Brand, circulation Emily Hanson, sports rep.orter Cricket Carter, mailroom Adam Rudnick, copy editor supervisor Composing room: William Adams, graphics Koleen Wood, classifieds/legals Becky Corr, typing Pressroom: Kelly Riordan, production manager Travis Miller press operator Page A-4 -- Sheltor>Mason County Journal - Thursday, September 22,2011