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Thursday, November 3, 2011
-- Week 44 -- The Voice of Mason County ~ince 1886 i Published in Shelton, Washington -- $1
By NATALIE JOHNSON
The Mason County Board of Commis-
sioners approved a one-tenth of 1 percent
sales tax increase for mental health and
substance abuse issues on Tuesday.
The commissioners voted 2 to 1 to ap-
prove the tax. making Mason County the
18th Washington county to do so.
"It's not going to generate a huge amount
of revenue," said Laura Porter, former
county commissioner and mental health
advisory board member. "What it can do ...
is help you manage and reduce costs to the
justice system."
Commissioners Lynda Ring Erickson
and Steve Bloomfield voted in favor of the
tax, while Commissioner Tim Sheldon vot-
ed against it.
The county can begin collecting the ad-
ditional revenue, which is estimated to
amount to between $400,000 and $600,000,
in April 2012. Mason County Public Health
will manage the tax and programs created
by it.
The mental health tax advisory board
recommended that the county approve the
tax and focus on programs like therapeutic
courts for families to help reduce substance
abuse and mental health problems span-
ning generations and increase the availabil-
ity of mental health professionals in jails.
Sheldon has been vocally opposed to the
tax since it was first proposed. During Tues-
day's meeting Sheldon admonished Public
Health Director Vicki Kirkpatrick for advo-
cating in favor of the tax.
Sheldon also voiced concern about over-
sight of the tax and programs created by it
and asked how Public Health would monitor
progress. He asked how the county would
know if the tax would give them "bang for
the buck."
"How would you know if you're doing
a good job?" he asked. "Will 40 people be
treated? Will 13 people be treated? Where
will I find data?" he asked. "We have a re-
port at the end of the year from MTA IMa-
son Transit Authority) on how many people
ride the bus."
Kirkpatrick said results that other coun-
ties have reported include decreased num-
bers of the mentally ill in county jails and
decreased recidivism, or rates of reoffending.
Every citizen who gave testimony at
Tuesday's meeting asked the commission
to approve the tax except for one, who said
the vote should go to the citizens of Mason
County.
The commission chose to approve the tax
without a vote, in order to begin collecting
the funds with less of a delay.
George Radovich, commander of the 40
et 8 and Vietnam and Korean War veteran
said he recently talked to a Clark County
judge about the mental health tax.
"He asked why Mason County wasn't
on board." he said. "There's 30,000 veter-
ans coming back from Iraq and Afghani-
stan pretty quick ... they'll all have mental
See Tax on page A-7
Veterans
barbecue
comes
together
By ARLA SHEPHARD
When Frank Oster met
Dale Haughian at ProBuild
in Shelton last year, the
first thing he noticed was
Haughian's Navy uniform.
Oster then proceeded to
jokingly tease Haughian: "I
told him I was also in the
Navy~ but in the men's de-
partment," said Oster. who
served in the Marine Corps.
Haughian replied back+ +-:,~!~+~+.~I~i
quickly: "I tried to get into
the Marine Corps, but my
mother and father are still
married."
And that's the story of
how Oster found his em-
cee for the first-ever veter-
ans appreciation barbecue
in Hoodsport last year, a
grassroots community event
that saw a crowd of about
200 people attend.
Oster and a small group
of veterans including
Haughian, and volunteers
around Hood Canal. want to
repeat the success this year,
and they anticipate at least
another 100 people to show
up.
"My personal opinmn is
this is about making peo-
ple aware of the veterans
who are out here," Haugh-
:an said. '~You go down the
street, and you may walk
past a veteran without
knowing it. They don't wear
it on their hats."
Vietnam-era + veteran
Bill Leander of Lilliwaup
was surprised at last year's
turnout.
"After the Vietnam War,
veterans were vilified," be
said. "I didn't want to talk
to anyone but family ... You
lost pride. But I think that
this generation has come to
realize that freedom isn't
free."
The veterans barbecue
will feature an open mic ses-
stun and four guest speak-
ers, many of whom will. tout
programs aimed at assist-
ing veterans, from Disabled
American Veterans (DAV)
to the Veterans of Foreign
Wars (VFW and more.
"A lot of these veter-
ans don't know that these
programs are available to
them," Oster said. "And
when you ask for help, the
first answer to everything
is 'no,' and if you're like me,
the first thing I do is give
up."
See Veterans on page A-7
+IIIIU!UI!!II!!!I!!IIII2
Above, Aurora Wolf, dressed as a
lion, takes a break from
trick-or-treating at the Robin
Hood Village;in Union.
', left, and
have met
the same fate in their matching
Halloween outfits on Saturday
at the Robin Hood Village
in Union.
Journa photos by Natahe Johnson
City keeps fingers crossed for upcoming public safety tax vote
City of Shelton
Commissioner
Mike Byrne
expressed
concern over
what state
budget cuts
could do to the
city's finances.
Journal photo by Natalie Johnson
By NATALIE JOHNSON
Budget season has been
a painful and frustrating
time for local government
agencies for several years
now, but this year the City
of Shelton has a chance to
come out more or less un-
scathed.
While the city has a pro-
jected budget shortfall of
$387,390, city administra-
tor Dave O'Leary said the
city has a sufficient fund
balance to cover that short-
fall, rather than make addi-
tional cuts.
"This is our fifth year of
managing budget short-
falls,,' O,Leary said.
However, public safety
takes up 48 percent of the
city's budget, and in order
to help fund that large ex-
pense, the city placed a one-
tenth of 1 percent public
safety sales tax on the No-
vember ballot:
"It's not a panacea - if it
passes it shouldn't allow us
to add any more than we
have and it buys us time,"
O'Leary said.
If passed, the tax -- esti-
mated to yield $177,000 --
would not be enough to fund
any new programs or offi-
cers but would help main-
tain existing programs.
See Safety on page A-7