October 4, 2012 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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Journal photo by Gordon Weeks
Ed Johnston, whose wife Maxine has sold "safe and sane" fireworks on First Street for 30 years, on
Monday presented the Shelton City Commission with a petition signed by more than 70 residents
who oppose banning the sale and use of fireworks. But the commission passed the ban by a 3-0 vote,
and it takes effect in one year.
Fireworks
Continued from page A-I
But Shelton resident Ed
Johnston, whose wife Max-
ine has sold "safe and sane"
fireworks on First Street
for 30 years, presented a
petition signed by more
than 70 residents opposing
the ban. He asked the com-
missioners to base their
votes on "patriotism, com-
mon sense and tolerance."
"A little tolerance is not
too much to ask," Johnston
said.
Banning "safe and sane"
fireworks in the city will
lead residents to drive to
First Nations reservations
to buy fireworks that are
"unsafe and insane," John-
ston said. He pointed out
that all five residents who
spoke at the Sept. 17 com-
mission meeting opposed
the ban.
His remarks were sec-
onded by George Rickle,
whose group the Mason
County Republicans is
one of six civic groups who
last year sold fireworks at
stands in the city. He said
the commission is ignoring
the needs of people "in the
middle" who sell fireworks
to raise some extra money
for things such as college
tuition for their families.
"People come and testi-
fy, and we don't get heard,"
he said.
But Shelton Mayor
Gary Cronce said he was
casting his vote not on
his own view of fireworks,
but on the views he hears
from residents on his daily
walks.
"We don't base our opin-
ion on just who speaks ...
that's five people out of
10,000," he said.
Commissioner Mike O1-
sen said he heard from
more people who support
the ban. Pannell added
that many residents told
her "the noise inside the
city is getting out of hand."
After the votes were
cast, Rickle told the au-
dience the decision is "a
rigged deal" as he walked
out of the room. "This is
not a democracy," John-
ston announced as he also
left the commission cham-
bers.
Offender
Continued from page A-1
and reoffended eight months af-
ter his release.
He was sentenced to 20 years
for his second rape conviction in
1978.
He was paroled in 1994 after
serving 16 years.
Before being arrested in
August, Honore had been on
the run from law enforce-
ment since December 2001,
when he absconded from
the Oregon State Police Sex
Offender Registration Pro-
gram.
Honore is listed as a level 3
sex offender because the Ma-
son County Sheriffs Office
believes he is at a high risk to
reoffend.
Debates
Continued from page A-1
to a question, a one-minute
rebuttal and a one-minute re-
sponse to that rebuttal.
The debate began with
candidates for commission
District 3 including Terri Jef-
freys (I) and Ross Gallagher
(D).
District 3 includes Shel-
ton, Agate, Oakland Bay and
the Timberlakes areas.
Gallagher and Jeffreys
fielded questions about the
issues of public safety, prop-
erty taxes and balancing the
county's budget.
In a question about fund-
ing for public safety, Jeffreys
commented on the perfor-
mance of the Mason County
Sheriffs Office.
"Investigation needs to
be picked up a bit. We have
a very high unsolved crime
rate," she said.
Jeffreys said she would
work to institute perfor-
mance measures in the sher-
iffs office if elected.
Traditionally, the Mason
County Board of Commission-
ers approves the sheriffs office
budget, but does not manage
its operations or set policy.
The Candidates also an-
swered questions about gov-
ernment transparency and
accountability and funding
for road projects.
Gallagher said roads in
Mason County "are some of
the best maintained roads in
the state."
Jeffreys stated that only
public health functions such
Journal photo by Natalie Johnson
Candidates for Mason County commissioner for District 2 Tim Sheldon
(D) and Roslynne Reed (D) participated in a debate Thursday evening in
Belfair.
as immunizations, food han-
dler cards and septic moni-
toring should be funded by
the county's general fund. All
other public health functions,
she stated, should be funded
by sources such as grants.
Candidates for District
1, Denny Hamilton (D) and
Randy Neatherlin, who
states no party preference,
answered questions next.
District 1 includes much
of the north end of the coun-
ty, from Pickering north
to Belfair on State Route
3 and across Hood Canal
to Twanoh, Dewatto, Tiger
Lake and Tahuya.
Hamilton and Neatherlin
answered questions on the
future of Urban Growth Ar-
eas (UGA) in Mason County.
Both candidates brought up
the Belfair sewer project.
'%Ve cannot have growth
inour UGA if we don't have
infrastructure," Neatherlin
said. 'We have to be aware of
keeping it affordable."
Hamilton said the project
was "much bigger than it
needs to be," and that more
users need to hook up to
make it function properly.
'~ou can't unring that
bell," he said. "The pain of the
sewer is with the individual
residences."
Hamilton also suggested
that the county' commission
should have a plan for the fu-
ture to prioritize infrastruc-
ture projects.
Neatherlin rebutted that
statement, pointing out that
Mason County does have a
comprehensive plan, which
is updated annually by the
county commission and re-
viewed regularly by the Ma-
son County Planning Advi-
sory Commission.
The liveliest of the three
debates was between Dis-
trict 2 candidates Tim Shel-
don and Roslyrme Reed, both
Democrats, who answered
questions last.
District 2 includes much
of the west side of the county,
including Hood Canal and
Lake Cushman, Potlatch, the
S kokomish Valley, Dayton,
Matlock and Kamilche.
Sheldon and Reed sparred
over topics ranging from bud-
get priorities, to advisory
committees to the morale of
county staff to the logic of im-
pact fees and management of
county planning and permit-
ting offices.
%re are still in a recession.
It is the biggest recession
since the 1930s," Sheldon, the
race's only incumbent, said.
"I've been a prudent voice for
budget management."
Reed said advisory com-
mittees would be more use-
ful to the county commission
if the citizens on those com-
mittees were trained to make
recommendations on the
specific issues they were con-
sidering, such as stormwater
management or planning.
She also criticized Sheldon
for his attendance at county
meetings.
"I was attending more
meetings than you were and
that didn't make sense," she
said.
Sheldon threw in several
jabs of his own, including re-
peatedly admonishing Reed
for giving vague, anecdotal
answers in response to the
questions.
A second debate has been
scheduled for legislative can-
didates with doors opening
at 6 p.m. Oct. 11 at Hawkins
Middle School. The debate
is scheduled to begin at 6:45
p.m. and run until 9 p.m.
Candidates running for
the 35th Legislative District
position 1, including Kathy
Haigh (D) and Dan Griffey
(R), and position 2 including
Drew MacEwen (R) and Lyn-
da Ring Erickson (D), have
confirmed that they will at-
tend the event.
Candidates for the 6th
Congressional District, Bill
Driscoll (R) and Derek Kilm-
er (D), were invited but will
no,t attend the event.
Goldsborough
Creek
Apartments
is accepting wait
list applications for
seniors ages 62 and
better. HUD subsidized,
controlled access,
garden setting, minutes
from downtown
shopping. Non-Smoking
Property. 23 1-Br. and
one 2-Br. 303 S 7th St.,
(306) 426-3903
15634
.Panasonic
.Energizer
.Duracell
Development
Continued from page A-1
water resources, plants
and animals, environmen-
tal health, energy and
greenhouse gas emissions
and aesthetics. Needed
public services and utili-
ties such as fire protection,
emergency services, police,
schools, and sewer and wa-
ter also will be examined.
About 50 residents at-
tended a presentation on
the development Sept. 26
at the Shelton Civic Cen-
ter. They expressed con-
cerns about possible dam-
age to the shallow aquifer,
traffic congestion, water
runoff toward downtown
and the proposed expan-
sion of lanes on U.S. High-
way 101 near the develop-
ment.
One resident questioned
the idea of expanding the
lanes of U.S. Highway 101
for 2 or' 3 miles near the
exit to the proposed devel-
opment.
"A five-lane highway in
the middle of nowhere -
that doesn't make sense to
me," she said.
Shelton resident Tom
Davis urged Hall Equities
to hire local workers on the
project, and to donate land
to establish a YMCA. He
also encouraged them to
build high-quality homes.
"We don't just want to
attract people looking for
low-cost affordable housing
... make them attractive to
a broad range of people so
they can add to the commu-
nity," he said.
But even residents who
voiced environmental con-
cerns about the develop-
ment said they are excited
about what it can bring to
the community.
Shelton resident Kim
Russell said he is con-
cerned about who will be
accountable for water run-
off from the development
in 20 or 30 years. But as
for the economic promise of
the development, "start the
shovels immediately," he
said "We've needed some-
thing like this for years."
A Belfair resident en-
couraged the developers to
opt for solar power where
they can, such as power-
ing the streetlights, and
to create walking trails
that will connect Shel-
ton Hills to surrounding
neighborhoods. He said he
is excited that the project
includes plans for senior
housing.
Hall Equities has owned
the land Outright for six
years. The real estate in-
vestment/development/
management company has
been working to entice po-
tential retail tenants for
years, and has launched a
statewide marketing pro-
gram to attract businesses,
Farrell said.
"Hall is very committed
to this project," said Far-
rell. "We've been working
on this for seven years.
We're here for the long
haul."
Near the entrance to
the development off East
Wallace Kneeland Boule-
vard is Goose Lake, which
is owned by the Rayonier
Corp. Rayonier Corp is
working with the state
Department of Ecology to
clean up the lake, Farrell
said.
The process of transfer-
ring ownership of the lake
to the city is not linked
to the clean up grant, but
would be the outcome of a
three-party agreement in
the near future between
Hall Equities, Rayonier
and the city, Goins said. A
buffer is placed around the
lake from the development,
and the city is looking at
establishing walking trails
and docks for public use,
The lake "will provide a
nice backdrop to the devel-
opment," said Goins.
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Shelton-Mason County Journal-Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012 - Page A-7