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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Questions
for the chief
Editor, the Journal, .
I have a lot of questions about the
demonstrations in Shelton. These
questions will be asked of the one
person who has been the most quiet,
police Chief Darrin Moody. Does a
demonstration in the streets of Shel-
ton need a permit? If yes, who issues
it, and who has the final say if OK’d?
Can a permit be denied for any rea—
son? If yes, what are those reasons?
You brought in help from the county
sheriff and the Washington State Pa—
trol. Does this mean that you thought
the demonstrations would overwhelm
your police department? If yes, why
would you issue a permit for either
side if you thought it would be un-
safe to the general public? Can you
give me any reason that you or your
department would call for untrained
armed citizens to show up in town to
give you backup? Should the citizens
of Shelton feel safer with these un-
trained armed citizenson business
rooftops watching our every move?
Do you feel the only way to feel safe
in your city is to carry a firearm? Can
you describe any and all damage to
Shelton that the BLM demonstrators
have caused so far? By being silent
after the fact, does that not condone
the armed untrained citizens being on
the streets of your city? Last but not
least, since Back the Blue was here to
protect your department ——
their own words — if you had ap-
proached the leaders of this move-
ment and asked them to leave their
firearms in their vehicles, do you
think they would have done it? The
old saying, it never hurts to ask?
This Blue Dog Democrat owns
eight firearms. The least of my
worrles is someone coming up my
driveway to take them away..Why?
Because of the last ruling of the Su-
preme Court of America that clarified
that. the Second Amendment pertains
to every individual American citizen.
The only way that can be changed
is if we as Americans put it on the
ballot and vote to give them up. This
Democrat never sees that happening
on his watch. Quit being one of those
stupid uneducated people Ardean An-
vik talks about. Blue Dog Democrat
seeking answers today. I remain Bert
Mullen.
Bert Mullen
Shelton
Industry ruins
our nature
Editor, the Journal, ,
One small step for‘man, one giant
leap for mankind: .
Let’s face it, the best parts of Ma-
son County are those people haven’t
screwed up yet.
N 0 one moves to a ruralcommu-
nity to be closer to dirty air, heavy
traffic and polluting industries. They
come to get away from those things.
The people who benefit our commu-
nity are those who add to its quality
of life because they value a rural life
and a clean environment.
But that’s not what’s happening
because we keep electing people who
seem to care only about attracting in-
dustry, even when doing so does more
environmental harm than it does eco—
nomic good. Where we see shorelines
and mountains they see smokestacks
and surface mines. Where we see
parks and naturally occurring forest,
Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020 Shelton-Mason County Journal — Page A-5
Journal Letter Policy
The Journal encourages original letters to the editor of local interest.
Diverse and varied opinions are welcomed. We will
not publish letters that are deemed libelous or scurrilous in nature. All
letters must be signed and include the writer’s
name, address and daytime phone number, which will be used for verification
purposesonly. All letters are subject to
editing for length, grammar and clarity. To submit a letter, email
editor@masoncounty.com, drop it off'at 227 W. Cota St., v
or mail it to RC. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584. ' '-
they see parking lots and tree farms.
They think they’re bringing jobs to
the county, but all they’re bringing is
environmental blight.
There’s a responsibility that comes
with natural-resource-based econo-
mies. It’s to respect and protect the
environment from which it draws.
Ten years ago, we dodged a bullet,
with ADAGE, and it cost a lot of .
people a lot of time, effort and money
to hold onto what we have. But once
again, our local officials have put us
on the wrong path by supporting an
industry that takes from the natural
world and gives back pollution.
Right now, Pacific Northwest Re-
newable Energy, in cooperation with
Mohegan Renewable Energy LLC, is
moving forward with plans .to build a
monolithic wood pellet manufacturing
plant in Mason Cormty for the pur-
pose of supplying the Asian market
with an endless supply of dirty fuel
for their energy-generating incinera-
tors. Past examples of such ventures
show these companies start out using
waste wood biomass to form wood
pellets but soon turn to harvesting .
whole trees. dogwoodalliénceorg/wp-
content/uploads/2012/11/Whole-Tree-
Wood-Pellet-Production-Reportpdfi
If this wrong-headed plan is a1?
lowed to come to fruition, our commu-
nity will lose the most valuable natu-
ral resource it has to offer: our‘rural
character. Without that, our quality
of life will be no better than that of
people living in Seattle or any other
urban municipality. '
While the entire world is looking
for clean-energy alternatives, Mason
County officials are tumbling us back
into the business of dirty fuels.
Call 360-427-9670, ext. 419, and
tell county commissioners to protect
our rural lifestyle by withdrawing ,
their support for the Mohegan project.
And while you’re at it, call Mohegan
Renewable Energy at 855-324-9621,
and tell them that burning wood
pellets on an industrial scale is not
cleaner than coal, not sustainable and
not carbon neutral.
Tom Davis
Shelton
Protest ugliness
disgusts
Editor, the Journal,
I feel compelled to write this letter
after seeing the videos of the BLM
demonstration and the Back the Blue
protesters on the streets of Shelton
on Sept. 6. The videos _of the ugliness
disgusted me, followed up by social
media posts and comments, and fi—
nally a few of the letters to the editor
in the Sept 10 edition of the Shelton-
Mason County Journal tipped the
scales, I had to write.
While I appreciate and support
the people who genuinely wanted to
protect our town from riot behavior,
damage and looting like we’ve seen
happen in the big cities, the display
by some of the participants was gross,
disgusting and in my opinion crimi—
nal. If this group truly wanted to
“back the blue” as they claim, they
would have staged themselves around
the town and quietly stood by in case
they were needed. Fortunately, they
were not needed. I saw many an-
tagonizing the BLM demonstrators,
telling them to “go home” (uh, they
are home), spitting on teenagers and
following the BLM marchers in a very
intimidating and threatening way.
There was much more ugliness that
I am describing but I know I am only
allowed a certain number of words
here. The BLM demonstrators were
peaceful, and they were met with
hate. Pure, evil hate.
Interestingly, these gun-toting
bullies (for the most part) are not the
people you see around town helping
on a regular basis. If fact many of
them I did not recognize at all. Were
theyfrom out of town? From Face-
book posts prior to the event, it was
clear the so-called BTB group was
hoping for a day of unrest. If you re-
ally care about our town, show up
when there is not a protest, show up
when sporting your weapons is not
necessary, show up for fundraisers
and civic events. Do not be a poser
and only show up when you have your
big gun so you can feel like a big man.
Here’s the deal people get all
mad at BLM demonstrations (antifa,
rioters and looters are not the BLM
folks I’m talking about) but when the
NFL players peacefully demonstrate
for racial equality, the same people
get all mad at that too. The fact you
are mad at these movements means
you are racist, and you just want
these people of color to sit down and
be quiet. Guess what? Protests and
demonstrations are not meant to
make you feel comfortable, they are
meant to bring to light the plight of
those demonstrating. What happened
to empathy? Why can’t you stop and
listen to what they are trying to tell
you? Why does an 11-year-old black
kid need to carry a sign that says,
“When did I go from cute to a threat?”
I am sad there are so many people in
Mason County have shown their true
colors and it is not pretty.
Definition of a racist: “a person
who shows or feels discrimination or
prejudice against people of other rac-
es, or who believes that a particular
race is superior to another.” I realize
I’m probably not going to change the
mind of a racist, especially the ones
who cannot see they are racist but if I
don’t speak my mind, I’m complacent,
,if you know me then you know com-
placent is not my style.
Lisa Brengan
Shelton
Hello,.Sen.
Sheldon?
Editor, the Journal,
I’ve contacted Sen. Tim Sheldon,
who sits on the state’s transportation
committee, but still have not heard
back, even after last week’s letter to
the editor.
Sen. Sheldon: many of your con-
stituents and citizen groups know that
you’ve been blocking a clean
fuels bill, so we’d like to hear your plan
to address climate change. Please
consider the positive impacts to our
community of proposed nonpartisan
legislation for a Washington “CO2 fee
and dividend” bill. Besides the posi—
tive income of $543 per year to an av-
erage Shelton family of four, because
wealthy families use about times
more fuel, this bill would help to ad-
dress .our upside-down tax structure.
According to the Washington Budget
and Policy Center, poorer folks pay
a higher percentage of their income
toward taxes than richer residents.
Average citizens in Mason County pay
12.4% of their income toward taxes
while a wealthy person, making over
$545,900 (the 1%), pays about 3% of
their income toward taxes. In last
week’s letter to the editor we saw how
wealthy folks would pay more under
a proposed “CO2 fee and dividend”
bill while needier folks would not only-
pay less, but actually receive a regular
yearly income supplement, similar to
Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend.
This would help balance our state’s
inequitable tax structure.
If you won’t agree to this plan,
please provide an alternative. Even if
your plan doesn’t help us older voters,
please consider our kids and grand-
kids. Will they look back on our (baby
boomer) generation’s legacy as short-
sighted, selfish and individualistic, or
as selfless patriots like our parents
(the silent generation) who fought in
World War II to defend democracy? A
couple years ago the Republican party
attacked my legislative campaign by
saying “Daggett wants a $0.50/gallon
gas tax,” which was not true, so I’d like
to know your solution if you won’t vote
for this dividend approach.
Dave Daggett
Shelton
HealthshoUldn’t
be a commodity
Editor, the Journal,
I have seen a number of letters
claiming that Democrats want Ven-
ezuelan socialism. I am a Democrat
.and retired military member. I am for
universal health insurance. I am also
for policies that rebalance the distri-
bution of wealth away from the top.
Canada, Germany, Denmark and
host of other nations do this. Yet they
have capitalist economies. Capitalism
has no problem with the idea that
some things are utilities, not commod-
ities. Health care is one of them.
I also submit that concentrations of
wealth at the top of your society does
not preserve a functioning republic.
It creates an aristocracy. That does
not favor a stable, democratic society.
In fact, it is the best way to get the
very thing that the red-baiters fear, a
. dictatorship of either the right or left.
There is only one way to break up an
aristocracy. and maintain a democ—
racy. The British figured it out. You
tax them. The wealthy will hate it.
But they will still be around and they
’ will still be wealthy. Maybe not as
wealthy. But they will be just fine.
Andrew Makar
Hoodsport
see LETTERS, page A—B