October 6, 2011 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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Letters
Continued from page A-4
plan, in one year OBJH staff
was able to improve scores
in 20 of 21 identified areas,
several of those improvements
were over 10 percent. During
this process, the board dlso
set three strategic academic
goals for the district; refiding
achievement, math achieve-
ment and graduation rates.
There were improvements in
reading and math achieve-
ment and they came dose to
reaching their set goal of 80
percent with a graduation rate
of 79.4 percent, i
The current board has
endeavored to include the
community, administrators,
faculty, parents and students
through those groups input
in the new strategic plan, su-
pe~tendent search and the
three-year levy plan, which
passed with a 63 percent ap-
proval. They were able to
avoid a reduction in forde and
layoffs for both budget dycles
for most areas in the district.
The cmTent board has shown
fiscal responsibility to you, the
taxpayer, by building the dis-
trict reserve fund to just over
5 percent to offset future state
and federal budget cuts.
Finally, we have members
who refuse to be yes men.
They represent you, the citi-
zen. They respect the opinions
of other board members, creat-
ing an atmosphere of honest,
healthy open debate. For these
reasons, my vote will be cast
for Sue McCausland and Gene
Crater. i
are living on a scale equal to
those in the countries where
the manufacturing jobs are
now being sent.
Speaker Boehner sounded
so desperate. I, being naturally
generous, did tape two pennies
to his request and filled out his
survey indicating just exactly
how I think, rm afraid he will
feel my responses to his survey
aren't quite as helpful as the
two cents.
'~ Charles 1. Winne
Hoodsport
Johnston
should not
be commish
today. During Dave's short,
24-month term as an appointed
official, I've witnessed a change
in the depm~ment, which has
been astonishing. More services
to the public and openness in
the public meetings than in the
past 16 years. Reduced response
~nes and in station staffing
24/7, on weekends at this time,
advanced certified training
and increased professional-
ism; issues which could have
been implemented before now.
Clearly, Dave is working with
two commissioners collectively
to produce high quality se~ice
to the citizens of fire district 6.
Vote for Dave, he's worldng
for you; not because he has to,
but because he wants to.
Harold Parks
Hoodsport
Editor, the Journal
I am writing today to express
my concern regarding Mason
County Fire District 6 F~re
Commissioner Dave Johnston
and his ability to represent the
citizens of Union. I am a regular
attendee at the commissioner
meetings and have consistently
witnessed Commissioner Dave
Johnston show poor judgment
on issues vital to the Union fire
department. Commissioner
Dave Johnston has zero experi-
ence in the fire service, which
has proven to be a significant
liability in his decision malting.
Commissioner Dave Johnston
was appointed to fill a term
left vacant due to an elected
commissione£s resignation.
In his two years of service he
has shown a nature to argue
with the public, speak in half-
Vote Whitman
Editor, the Journal
I am afire guy. Itwas my
pleasure to enjoy a 25-year
career in the fire service here
in our beloved Mason County.
The final 11 years of my career
were served as the fire chief of
Mason County Fire District 6.
I mention this only to point out
that I have a fab- amount of
understanding and experience
with regard to the operational
needs of a fire department.
The citizens and taxpayers
of Fire District 6 have another
decision to make in this No-
vember's election regarding
the leadership provided by the
board of fire commissioners.
I have weighed the options
carefully, and happily lend my
Lone K. Vrabel truths and take full credit for endorsement to Tim Whitman
Shelton others' hard work• The citizens for Mason County Fire District
i of Union deserve a fire commis- 6 fire commissioner.
Socialism: signer who is a positive influ- The exis~g fire district 6
ence and prepared to put the board of commissioners lacks
needs of the community first, real world experience as it
isn't
I.-'11-" n
pertains to real world fire
t~llllntj Chris De Capua department operations and
leadership. With a strong core
the nation Union groupofvolunteerfirefighters
and two highly motivated and
Editor, the Journal enthusiastic chief officers, our
fire department has the ingre-
House Speaker John Beeh- clients to advance fire district
ner sent me a letter that really Johnston 6 to a level of service unheard
insulted my intelligence. His of in the volunteer fire service.
opening sentence thanked The missing piece of the puzzle
me for helping him to unseat Editor, the Journal however, is appropriate fire
Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I~e then knowledge and eXperience
indicated I was "one of the few Even though I don't live in within the board of commis-
loyal Republicans" in Mason Union, I spend a great deal of signers.
County and the only one in my my time there working on dif- Tim Whitman possesses
unique voting district, Hood- ferent projects for my church those characteristics ofknowl-
sport, to receive his survey and and mysel£, edge and experience. Tim made
The other day I was en- a career of the fire service in
request for a donation.
I'm well into my 80s ~mdgaged in a conversation about which he devoted in excess of
I have, quite oi~n, pleaded fire d~partment leadership 30 years to the citizens of Ed-
senility, but I have neve~ voted and the composition of its mends, where he finished his
Republican, the party of corpo- governing body, the board or career at the rank of assistant
ratism, Mussolini's term. commission. A~r 50 years of chief. He rose through the ranks
More than 80 percent of watching our government fail and studied the many nuances
repeatedly to prowde goods of both operational needs and
Americans depend on wages
for the biggest part of their and service to the public, it has administrative needs neces-
income. Anybody that can't see been refreshing to see someone sary to ensure the success of his
the threat ofCorporatism to a who genuinely cares about ser- department. Mr. Whitman is a
decent life standard for t~ose vice .~elivery to the public, proven fire service leader.
citizens should go back in his- This is why rm writing this Many of us in Union know
tory and learn what the right letter m all ofthe readers of Tim on a personal level by vir-
to use collective bargaining, this paper. Dave Johnston is a tne of his many volunteer activi-
labor unions, has done for that manager; not a fireman. Even ties throughout the community.
segment• During the period though he's a Viet Nam vet and We also know him as a hard-
covered by Ralph Chapifl's a medic (EMS is 80 percent of working, stand-up kind of guy
book '~¢obbly" any thought fire department service), he's that we can count on in a pinch.
against corporate rule was au- not a fireman. He's educated Please help me put the best
tomatically termed communis- and skilled in public sector man for the job where we need
tic and, in many cases, resulted management; human resources him by voting for ~iim Whitman,
in brutal retaliation. Now any and risk management. That's Mason County Fire District 6
thought against corporate rule why be needs to be retained. Board of Commissioners.
is ca~l,, ed "nation-killing social- Firemen are trained, trained
ism: ! and t~ained to fight fires, notRichard/k Heinrich
One could wonder ffthe cur- litigation or risk management Fire Chief/Retired
rent downturn won t level off or any of the thousands of gov- Mason County Fire
until the 80 percent segment of ernmental issues our elected District 6
the people who work for wages officials are confronted with Union
Fairgrounds need tenants
By NATALIE JOHNSON Fair Association to become a 501(c) 3 nonprof-
it and take over the lease of the fairgrounds.
Anyone want to rent a slightly used set of As of a fair board meeting Wednesday night,
fairgrounds? Dobson said those efforts have been unsuc-
Since the Port of Shelton took over control cessful.
of the fairgrounds in February 2010, it has Dobson said he would do everything in his
been trying to entice a non-profit organiza- power to find a party to take over the lease
tion to lease the grounds until the Federal and management of the fairgrounds.
Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandat- Port Commissioner Jay Hupp expressed
ed that the port convert the land to awatmn frustration at the lack of progress in the mat-
use in 2013. ter.
The port has done 'extensive wor~ to the Until another organization can take over
fairgrounds over the last almost two years, the fairgrounds for a few years the port will
including tearing dowfi two buildings and re- continue to do upkeep and maintenance on
doing elect:%al work in several others, the slightly dilapidated fairgrounds.
This year alone, port Executive Director
John Dobson said the port could lose as much
as $16,000 on the fairgrounds.
John and Rachel Hansen, who put on the
fair with their company, Northwest Event
Orgamzers. for the la#t two years, planned
to rent the fairground for 2011, 2012 and
2013, but decided against running the fair
again after facing pul~lic opposition.
The port has encour&ged the Mason County
The commission directed Dobson to con-
tinue working toward finding a nonprofit to
take over the fairgrounds.
In other port news, Port of Shelton will
begin to put together its 2012 budget. Dob-
son said port staff plans to give a formal
budget presentation at the Nov. 1 commis-
sion meeting, have a public hearing on Nov.
15 and bring the budget to Mason County
on Dec. 5.
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Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, October 6, 2011 - Page A-5