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Page A-4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016
KOMEN COMMENT
Save McNeil Island for peo-
ple, not sex predators.
It is an astonishing
waste and misuse of this pre-
cious Puget Sound jewel that it
remains a penal colony. McNeil
Island's use as a prison to hold
a few dozen sex-crime
convicts is an insult to
the park-loving, law-
abiding people of the
state.
"That lovely isle in
the heart of the South
Sound." So went the
poetic description by
Bill Barker of Shelton.
That was a year ago By JOHN
in a letter he wrote to KOMEN
a Tacoma newspaper.
And still nothing has
changed.
McNeil Island remains a
prison island, and so it has been
used and abused for more than a
century. Here are 4,409 acres of
open space and 12 miles of pris-
tine shoreline right in the center
of populous Puget Sound. And
the public is denied access.
Promises to preserve McNeil
Island as a park for the enjoy-
ment of the millions jammed
into the crowded I-5 corridor
have never been kept. Each year
the Washington Legislature is
reminded of its abysmal failure
to add the island to the state
parks system.
The promise was made 36
years ago to remove the prison
onus from historic McNeil Is-
land. It was nearly 40 years ago
the federal government finally
shut down the infamous peni-
tentiary.
The island was turned over,
gratis, to the state of Washing-
ton, providing at last an open
door toward public use. But the
state, faced with a shortage of
cells to house a growing num-
ber of criminals, .first used the
decrepit prison as a temporary
state penitentiary.
It was a way for the state
to sidestep political volleys of
nimbyism. Full-blown "not in
my backyard" protests erupted
each time the state suggested a
possible site for a new prison. So
they took the easy way and kept
the island as an out-of-sight
prison colony.
Even so, the state had to real-
ize the park potential presented
by the defunct federal island
penitentiary. A governor's task
force was appointed to outline
the island's potential for public
use. And in 1980 it published
its report that declared McNeil
Island represented "a natural
resource irreplaceable
at any price."
It was clear, said the
report, "McNeil Island
is truly a unique place
that the citizens of the
state of Washington can
enjoy in its natural set-
ting for generations to
come."
The promise was
made -- McNeil Island
should be a state park.
It is a promise that has
not been kept.
The use of the island as a full-
scale state penitentiary was long
• ago discarded. Millions of dollars
of taxpayers' money had been
spent to upgrade the old federal
prison for temporary state use.
The convicts were moved out,
and the investment in tax dol-
lars were wasted.
Still remaining on the island
is a small sexual predators unit,
a Special Commitment Center,
to house sex offenders deemed
not trustworthy to be released
on parole. So 4,409 acres of the
public's prime waterfront prop-
erty is left to the exclusive use of
convicted sex predators.
Here the "nimby" phenom-
enon should rightly come into
play an eyesore prison? "Not
in my backyard," would be the
South Sound response. A park
for the people? You bet.
In this space a year ago,
Washington's legislators were
challenged to meet the state's
promise and transform Puget
Sound's Alcatraz into the crown
jewel of state parks. The chal-
lenge is still there as Washing-
ton's lawmakers prepare for
their 2017 session.
• John Komen, who lives on
Mason Lake, was for 40 years
a reporter and editor, television
news executive and anchorman,
national network TV news cor-
respondent, producer, columnist,
editorial writer and commenta-
tor. His column, Komen Com-
ment, appears each week in the
Shelton-Mason County Journal.
JOURNAL EDITORIAL
Some high-profile political candidates
continue to claim widespread voter
fraud is threatening to undermine
this year's general election.
Those candidates, most notably Don-
aid Trump, continue to spread ideas that
elections are "rigged" and predetermined
by government officials. Trump even said
during the most recent presidential debate
that he might not accept the outcome of the
presidential race if he doesn't win.
While we understand supporters of
either political party, Republican or Demo- "
crat, will vote for the candidate who they
think would do the best for the country --
or city, state or district -- we can't condone
comments made by candidates who imply
or state that our entire democratic process
somehow favors one candidate or party
over the other.
Kim Wyman, the Washington Secretary
of State, called the rhetoric "irresponsible
and threatens to undermine voter confi-
dence on the most basic foundation of de-
mocracy."
Wyman, a Republican, went on to say
every eligible ballot will be handled secure-
ly, and tabulated carefully and accurately.
Closer to home, Mason County Audi-
tor Karen Herr told Journal reporter
Michael Heinbach last week that her
department is there to answer any ques-
tions you may have about the voting pro-
cess -- to us, that means that if you're at
all skeptical about the process, give her
office a call.
"We want to make sure every eligible
voter has that opportunity to vote," she
said.
We know many Mason County residents
are skeptical of our politicians and how our
government officials spend our money. You
should be it's your money.
But anyone who has volunteered to
serve as an election judge knows that
charges of a "rigged system" are laughable.
Our hard-working election officials --
county, state and otherwise take pride
in the work they do to ensure that our elec-
tions are accurate.
Small, isolated instances of voter fraud
across the United States, as well as inaccu-
rate rhetoric, shouldn't keep you from your
civic responsibility to vote.
Your vote does matter. It's the founda-
tion of our free society.
SHELTON-MASON COUNTY
USPS 492-800
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Meson
County Journal, Re. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584.
Published weekly by the Mason County Journal
at 227 W. Cota St., Shelton, Washington.
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Telephone: (360) 426-4412
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Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc.
Publisher: Tom Mullen
Newsroom:
Adam Rudnick, editor
Gordon Weeks, reporter
Brianna Loper, reporter
Michael Heinbach, reporter
Alexandria Valdez, sports reporter
Advertising:
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Front office:
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To submit a letter to the editor,
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