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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
October 15, 2020     Shelton Mason County Journal
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October 15, 2020
 
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Page A—1 4 Shelton-Mason County Journal Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020 Candidates square off in chamber debate By Gordon Weeks gordon@masoncounty. com Public safety, the pandemic, job creation and con- version therapy were among the topics discussed at a candidates forum Oct. 8 by the Shelton-Mason Chamber of Commerce, the North Mason Chamber of Commerce, and MasonWebTV. The 2 1/2-h0ur event pitted Mason County Com- missioner Randy Neatherlin against challenger Ted Jackson for District 1; 35th District, Position 2 Rep. Drew MacEwen against Darcy Huffman; 35th. District 35, Position 1 Rep. Dan Griffey against Colton Myers; and 10th U.S. Congressional District candidates Marilyn Strickland and Beth Doglio, both Democrats. Unlike the U.S. presidential debate the week be- fore, the candidates were not able to interrupt each other; their microphones were cut ofi‘ when their time expired. NEATHERLIN AND JACKSON Neatherlin, an independent, has been on the Board of Mason County Commissioners since 2013. Jackson, a Republican, is a Port of Allyn commis— sioner and the executive director of United Way of Mason County. Neatherlin stressed his experience, including six years as a Port of Allyn commissioner and as the current chair of the county commission. “I’ve been involved in everything that was hap- pening since I got here back in the ’705,” Neatherlin said. Jackson touted his 30 years in law enforcement. “I’ve seen the unobstructed View of what is going on in Mason County and the challenges we have in Mason County,” he said. The two were asked how the county can balance the needs of public safety versus the limitations of the county budget. “That’s always the hardest job in this position,” Neatherlin said. “There’s never enough money.” Neatherlin pointed out the county spends $14 million a year on its sheriffs department, and no deputies or corrections department employees were laid off during budget cuts. “There’s going to be limitations and costs and we’ve just got to balance them,” he said. Jackson said his experience in law enforcement can better balance the needs of public safety and fi- nancial limitations. “I’m the only one who has managed a police de- partment, that’s ever worked in a police department and understands the cost of training,” he said. GRIFFEY AND MYERS Griffey, a lifelong Mason County resident who works as a lieutenant firefighter EMT, is in his third term as a representative as a Republican. Myers, a Democrat, is a senior health policy an- alyst for the state Health Care Authority.,He has never held office. “The reason I’m running is simple —— for too long, our district has been lefi: behind and taken for grant— ed by ineffective leadership,” Myers said. Griffey pointed out he is the House of Representa- tive’s Republican whip, which means he “marshals people to vote.” The candidates were asked to name one policy, requirement or initiative they would immediately revoke or initiate, given the chance. Griffey said he would suspend the Growth Man- agement Act, while keeping zoning requirements in place and protecting critical open space. Myers said he would help create a state savings account for children, also known as baby bonds, sim- ilar to one Nevada has enacted. The candidates also asked questions of each oth- er. Myers, who is gay, asked Griffey why he voted in 2018 against banning conversion therapy despite the fact it has been debunked by the scientific com- munity as ineffective and creates long-term psycho- logical harm. “Sometimes you want to be able to remove your vote,” Griffey replied. “On this one, it was wrong; it was a misvote. I’ve since been educated on what the LGBTQ community has been put through on these therapies. When we looked through it, it looked like there were limits on a parent being able to take their kids who were confused, or thought they were con— fused, at least to a counselor, to at least some talk therapy. I was wrong. I was wrong on that vote and I do not in any way, shape or form support torture.” MACEWEN AND HUFFMAN MacEwen, a Republican, has represented the 35th District since 2013. He is president of Falcon Financial Inc., a managing partner of Mountain Lakes Capital Management, and a partner in Smok- ing Mo’s Restaurant and The Dock. Huffman, a Democrat, hasn’t held public office. She worked for 25 years in banking, finance and risk management, and for the past nine years has been the resource and communication director for the Lu- theran Church of The Good Shepherd in Olympia. MacEwen touted his business ownership “that’s given me a great hands-on experience.” He also pointed out the infrastructure dollars he has helped bring to the district that includes the North Mason sewer extension. He said he is proud to reach across the aisle in Olympia to work on bipartisan efforts. “My track record speaks to that loudly,” he said. “If you want rural Washington, the 35th District, to be heard, you need to put somebody in that room where decisions are being made,” Huffman said. “It doesn’t do any good to stand outside the room and shout at the top of your lungs, ‘No, no, that’s not good for my district.’ ” STRICKLAND AND DOGLIO Strickland was on the Tacoma City Council from 2008 to 2009, and was mayor of Tacoma from 2010- 2017. She also was the president and CEO of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. Doglio is a state representative for District 22, which includes Olympia, Tumwater, Lacey and north Thurston County. Both candidates are Democrats. They agreed the corporate tax structure should be reformed. They also agreed that getting control of the COVID—19 pandemic and bringing people back to work are the top two priorities to help the economic recovery in the district. Doglio said that as a legislator, she helped bring $233 million in projects to the district, including money for the Shelton YMCA, which is under con- struction. Strickland said that when she announced her candidacy in December, 'she visited Shelton and met with members of the Shelton;Mason County Cham- ber of Commerce. “When I look at Shelton and Mason County, I see opportunity in health care, in telemedicine, in man- ufacturing” to revive the local economy, she said. Fire 11 seeks new truck; Fire 12 levy on Nov. 3 ballot __________________=fi:_ By Justin Johnson justin@masoncounty. com Mason County Fire Protection Dis- trict No. 11 is asking voters to approve money for a new primary fire trick. The district, which covers Island Lake and areas to the immediate north and south of Sanderson Air Field, has a general obligation bond measure on the Nov. 3 ballot for an aggregate principal amount of no more than $371,000. The district projects the bond —— which requires a 60 percent super ma- jority to pass — to be about $0.35 per $1,000 of assessed property value for continued from page A-3 PUD PLAYS HOPSCOTCH WITH POWER OUTAGES Mason Public Utility District 3 re- ported new power outages minute by minute, first noting widespread out- ages on the Tahuya Peninsula at 9:59 a.m., before tweeting at 10:36 am. about a second outage affecting cus- tomers along South Shore Road (state Route 106), East Rasor Road, Alder- wood Road, Cedar Street and their connecting road. Although power was restored to most of the Tahuya peninsula by 11:15 a.m., the PUD reported new outages on the far side of Mason Lake and Daniels Road at 1:34 p.m. The restoration of power to State Route 106 at 2 p.m. was followed by the need to attend to Lake Limerick near Penzance and Harstine For- no more than six years. According to a release by’the dis— trict, its main fire engine is 21 years old. The normal life span of a similar class A fire truck is 10 to 15 years. “Even though we have taken great care of our primary fire truck, the maintenance issues and cost continues to increase yearly,” the release states. “It is hard to find some parts for the fire engine since it is 21 years old.” The district says a new truck will last 15 to 20 years and will save money in its annual budget by reduc- ing costs spent on maintaining the current truck, allowing it to use that money for other needs. Winds: Power crews fight to est, but power was restored to North Shore Road past Tahuya Town at 2:17 p.m. . The Daniels Road and Lake Lim- erick outages were likewise restored ‘ by 4:10 p.m., but by 4:30 p.m., the PUD tweeted, “It can feel as if we’re working backwards” because it had customers out in Benson Lake, Mason Lake, Trails End, South Shore Road, Twanoh Heights and North Shore Road before Tahuya. By 4:53 p.m., the PUD had added Deer Creek, Bayshore, Johns Prai- rie Road, Mason Lake Road, Catfish Lake, Mikkelsen, Lake Limerick, Em— erald Lake and surrounding areas to its list of customers without power. Mason County Public Utility Dis- trict I hardly fared better than its counterpart, with trucks rolling out to Skokomish Valley Road at 3:47 p.m., as well as Route 106 by 3:54 p.m. “Each year we wait to purchase a new fire truck, the cost by manufac- turers increases by 7% to 10%, costing us and you, the tax payers, more mon- ey,” the district wrote. “By purchasing now, we can save up to $50,000 on the cost of a new primary truck.” The district also wrote that it is only asking voters to pay for a portion of the cost of the truck. The remainder will be paid by the district’s reserve account. “We knew the day would come that we would need to purchase a new primary fire truck, so we have been setting aside funds to assist in the purchase.” ' Fire 12 EMS levy ‘y Mason County Fire Protection District 12, which covers Matlock and most of the southwestern por- tions of the county,.is seeking to pass an Emergency Medical Services regular property levy on the Nov. 3 ballot. The proposed levy would not ex- ceed $0.45 per $1,000 assessed value for six years, beginning collection in 2021, according to the text related to the ballot measure. The levy requires a simple major- ity of 50 percent plus one to pass. stay in’ front of outages The PUD confirmed an outage in Alderbrook at 4:21 p.m., and while it was able to identify the culprit of the Skokomish Valley Road outage as a downed tree by 4:33 p.m., the PUD noted that the power pole was bro- ken, so it would require at least a few hours to clean up the road and set up a new pole. As of 4:46 p.m., the PUD was pa- trolling the transmission line to de- termine why Alderbrook and Union Weren’t getting their power, and tweeted, “It started out small and something else in the wind took the whole distribution line out.” By 5 p.m., the PUD reported a failed transformer at the Twin Totems store on the Skokomish Reservation, and between 5:30 p.m. and 5:45 p.m., the PUD attempted to reenergize the line in Alderbrook and Union, which it warned its customers might cause their power to go on and off. This appeared to restore power to Alderbrook and Dalby Road by 5:42 p.m., but the PUD acknowledged it would probably still need half an hour to an hour longer to restore power to downtown Union and parts of Route 106. The PUD reported that “most of Union” should be back in service, ex- cept for those customers along Route 106, and confirmed that the Skokom— ish Valley Road had been cleared, but nonetheless estimated it would take four hours to finish setting the power pole and getting everyone back online for the latter area. By 6:20 am. Wednesday, power had been restored to most custom- ers and line crews were visiting the remaining “small scattered outages” to get their power turned back on, ac— cording to the PUDvl.