December 29, 2016 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 23 (23 of 48 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
December 29, 2016 |
|
Website Β© 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016 -Shelton-Mason County Journal- Page A-23
NEWS BRIEFS
PUD 3 receives Free recycling
accolade for available for
Christmas trees
Mason County PUD 3 an- Residents of Mason County
nounced in a media release will be offered free Christmas
issued Tuesday that the tree recycling at two locations
public utility had received its beginning in January. Trees
12th consecutive international can be recycled from 9 a.m. to
recognition for the quality and 4 p.m. Monday through Sat-
completeness of its financial urday at the Shelton Transfer
reporting. Station, located at 5012 W.
PUD 3 was honored with Eells Hill Road in Shelton,
the Certificate of Excellence and at the Belfair Solid Waste
in Financial Reporting for its Drop-off facility at 2001 NE
2015 Comprehensive Annual Sand Hill Road in Belfair
Financial Report by the Inter- from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday
national Government Finance through Saturday.
Officers Association of the Residential utility custom-
United States and Canada. ers of the City of Shelton can
The Government Finance Of- place their trees at their regu-
ricers Association is a nonprofit lar garbage pickup location on
professional association that the week of Jan. 9 to Jan. 13.
serves around 17,500 govern- Mason County Garbage
ment financial professionals, and Recycling will pick up
trees at its customers' regular
pickup site. Trees must be cut
into thirds and a. pickup fee of
less than $5 will be assessed.
Additional free tree recy-
cling is being offered by North
Mason Fiber (275-0228),
McTurnal Landscaping (432-
0971) and Brady Trucking
(426-0800). Trees left for recy-
cling at these facilities must be
free of decorations, tinsel and
flocking, which would impede
their ability to be recycled.
Heritage grant
The Mason County com-
missioners and the Mason
County Historic Preservation
Commission announced in
a news release issued Dec.
20 that applications for the
winter 2016-17 Mason County vacant position on the Mason
Heritage Grant cycle are be- County Civil Service Commis-
ing accepted, sion, which exists to establish
Guidelines can be found at a merit system of employment
http://bit.ly/2hS3BBa, for county deputy sheriffs and
Applications can be additional employees of the
downloaded at http://bit, sheriffs office.
ly/2hQWWFb and must be The civil service commis-
hand delivered by Jan. 20 sioner position will hold a
at 4:30 p.m. or mailed to the six-year term that expires
Mason County Historic Pres- Dec. 31, 2022, and is open
ervation Commission, 615 W. to U.S. citizens who are
Alder St. in Shelton and post- residents of Mason County.
marked by Jan. 20. The civil service commission
For questions or more in- typically meets at 5 p.m.
formation, call Michael Mac- the third Thursday of each
Sems 427-9670, ext. 571. month at the county offices in
Shelton.
Civil Service Applications, being accept-
ed until Jan. 6, are available
at the county commission-
ers' office, 411 N. Fifth St. in
Shelton, by calling 427-9670,
has opening ext. 419, or at www.co.mason.
wa.us.
The Board of Mason
County Commissioners is ac- Compiled by reporter Mi-
cepting applications to fill a chael Heinbach
continued from page A- 1
from the 35th Legislative District.
"My grandfather arrived on a boat from Sweden in
1909 with $50 in his pocket and he made it to Potlatch
and built himself up from there," Sheldon said. "And
that's the kind of work ethic I see from the tremendous
people who live here in Mason County. I think a lot of
the new people who've moved here from urban areas
appreciate the rural lifestyle and sense of community
that's been built here through the years. And I'm very
optimistic about the future of Mason County."
As a county commissioner, Sheldon helped the
county navigate the unpredictable economic land-
scape that came as the recession hit in 2008, when the
economic future of the county appeared dim. Though
the county is seemingly inching its head above water
as Sheldon leaves office, he pointed out how much of
the county's resources are being drained by the ever-
expanding role of criminal justice in Mason County.
"The recession meant we had to lay off a lot of em-
ployees," he said. "I think when I started (on the com-
mission) the county had well over 400 employees and
we got that down to about 315, but now we're increas-
ing that number again.
"But I think that some of the reason why we've in-
creased our county staff is because the criminal jus-
tice system has expanded dramatically. People think
that's just the sheriffs office, but it's not. It's not just
the county prosecutor, but it's indigent defense, our
court system has three judges now when it only had
two before and now we have probation, juvenile jus-
tice and on and on into what might be considered the
boutique courts."
According to Sheldon, the services that fall under
the blanket term "criminal justice" use about 70 per-
cent of the county's dollars and about 95 percent of all
defendants in criminal cases in Mason County are be-
ing represented by the public defender, which places a
large financial burden on the county.
The finalized 2017 Mason County budget doesn't
leave wiggle room for the county to increase its full-
time staff, but Sheldon hopes the commission might
find ways to use new technology to help cap the money
spent on payroll. -
"The 2016 budget, which I voted against adopting
in the form that exists today, added 14 new people,"
Sheldon said. "And I think in order to curtail expens-
es, we need to do more with less people. We have to
be creative and use the technology available to us in
order to do that. I think we should put a lid on hiring
and reduce our workforce by attrition."
When asked to choose among his greatest success-
es, Sheldon pointed to helping the county recover from
the 2005 blizzard that left the county's infrastructure
in dire need of repairs.
"It's tough to single out just one thing I'm most
proud of," he said. "But for example, in 2005 we had
a very big storm, but we finally finished replacing the
Hunter Creek bridge, the Tahuya River bridge, we re-
built the Skookum Creek Bridge in Kamilche, a new
bridge in Grapeview and we built a new public works
building. Quite a few of those things we accomplished
I see as very positive for a rural county like ours."
When it comes to failures, Sheldon directed his
focus on the Belfair sewer system, which has been a
thorn in the side of county commissioners since the
recession hit. As the economy fell into the recession,
the anticipated growth in Belfair that the wastewa-
ter system was designed to support never reached ex-
pectations. The county is still trying to figure out how
best to move forward on the next phase of the project
while attempting to unburden itself from its financial
pitfalls.
"We in the county had to build a system for the com-
mercial area in Belfair and it obviously became more
expensive than anticipated because of contractor dif-
ficulties and some pollution discovered in the pathway
of the sewer line," said Sheldon, who hopes the new
commission will look at contracting Belfair's Urban
Growth Area. "I worked real hard in the Legislature
to get the county $1.5 million to help pay for it. But I'm
disappointed in the commission for forging ahead with
it, while in my opinion, without listening carefully to
the citizens it impacts."
While holding his seat at the county level, often-
times Sheldon cast the lone dissenigv~ vote of the
three county commissioners against proposed amend-
ments to county laws, building codes, the Shoreline
Master Program and resolutions to apply for grants,
360-275-2868 800-773-3227
row in
continued from page A-1 Anonymous, $100
John and Margaret
$25 Ozga, $100
In memory of Den- Carl and Carol
nis Norwood and Grand-Hauge, $100
ma McKinney, $100 Shelton Lions
Earl and the gang Club, $80
at 40 et 8, $60 James and Marga-
Juan and Sally ret Penney,$100
Jones, $500 Brad and Linda
Ernest and Marjo- Owen, $250
lyn Conrad, $1,000 Ann Mcgee, $200
In memory of Tim- - Anonymous, $100
my and Faith, $100 Anonymous, $500
Miles and Roxanne Michael Connolly
Silverthorn, $200 and Neill Fishman,
3% Club, $197 $100
Albert Walp, $50
Howard and Nancy
Bauer, $100
Paul Battan, $200
Herbert Rand III,
$200
Gary and Patricia
Michael, $100
MBC Senior Social
Group, $200
In memory of
Solveig and Richard Jo-
hansson, $500
In memory'of Ma-
rie Heiser, $100
On behalf of Rod
Michaels and Ben Hen-
nings, $100
Bill LaMont, $100
response in
citing the need for the public to have more opportuni-
ties to weigh in on the matters. Sheldon is proud of his
record of standing for additional input of the constitu-
ents he served.
"As I look back I realize we don't allow as much for
citizen input these days, and that public input is not
considered as important as it was before," he said. "It's
the government's responsibility to seek out public in-
put and to give the public notice in order to keep them
involved in the decisions that are affecting them. We
need to do better about keeping the public informed
about when and how they are able to give their opin-
ions on a matter."
Through the last 12 years, Sheldon's detractors
have criticized him for serving in the state Legislature
and the county commission at the same time. Sheldon
will remain in the state Senate, a position he's held
since 1997, following six years as member of the state
House of Representatives.
But for those who thought doing both jobs at the
same time was counterproductive, Sheldon has a
quick response.
"I'm very proud of my record of public service," he
said. "I've been a court commissioner, a PUD commis-
sioner, a state representative, a three-term county
commissioner and 20 years as a state senator. I'm
looking forward to having just one role, but I think
because of the unique geographical situation Mason
County is in, being beth a county commissioner and
a state senator has helped me serve the public better
than anyone who didn't have the proximity and access
to Olympia."
When asked if he had any advice for incoming coun-
ty commissioner Kevin Shutty, who was scheduled to
be sworn in Wednesday evening al~r winning the
District 2 seat in November's election, Sheldon kept
it simple.
"Be your own person and never forget who sent you
to that county seat," he said.
REAL ESTATE
TIGER ~ $549,250PORT ORQIARD $1 !0,000
2504.5 (ms 1.5 stay 3 bd 3.5 b 3047 Pet O~chod 5k: 5135,000 Owne leem fin1
sqit w/fNd~l I~mt n~ T~r I~ke; file, us~e I~d Great for horses with ~rmg lmils
lud~, granite, vtmlted celi~s, stone f/p, neoeby. Wff few m~d~b in i~.ap of this size
Byody, 36 01-4088
271-5122 #1036220 /947949
$ ACRIES WAR IIEUFAIR $62,500 BELFAIR LOT $13,000
S sl'~ldtysloped ocresneerlmils endloke. 2000 Possible water and pewef in the meet, 100'
septicdedgn, pafltyc~red, drivewayin, gated, x 110'. Buyer to verify oil amenities 8, cost
dtemoon sun. make it your new homo! Mike of hookups. Robin BiEIond, (360) 801-9214
Southerlond, (360) 731-3958 #1026584 /971049
lavm Li S12S, O00 O XUp- iuumr S21s, m
Vacalion at'home...secleded with 1.90 acres, Beautifully remodeled home with hardwood
this properly is surrounded by unspoiled natural floors, new vinyl windows, new kitchen cabi-
lbeauty. A prisline paradise to build your home. nets, counters, and appliances, All on one level.
Barbara Huson, (360) 277-5120.#935496 Kim Wilson, (360) 731-1040 #1061493
m
Jo.,,,~’,.,==, ~-