Submitted to Shelton Blog by Tom Davis Mason County Progressive
As promised, there was no meeting of County Commissioners this week, and the Port meeting went by so fast I barely had time to finish my Slurpee. No matter, the big news of the day was Senator Tim Sheldon registering as a candidate to serve yet another term as County Commissioner, District 2.
What does it say about a professional politician who keeps sliding back down the political ladder just to make sure no new ideas threaten the status quo?
By occupying two key political positions, Tim Sheldon effectively reduces by one third, the opportunity of new people to influence public policy decisions. With a legacy of special interests, Sheldon has done little to ease the plight of working men and women, preferring to concentrate on an agenda of special interest accommodations.
As a brief refresher of events:
- Senator Sheldon cosigned Senate Bill, ESB 5575, allowing biomass plants to use toxic black liqueur from pulp mills as fuel.
- And it was Senator Sheldon who turned on his declared party, just when they needed him most, and helped transfer power over to the austerity crowd.
- And, lest we forget, Commissioner Sheldon turned his back on over 3000 citizens wanting a voice in the ADAGE issue.
- And then there’s the egregiously wasteful, poorly thought out Belfair Wastewater project he promoted; and amendments to the County Comprehensive Plan that further advantage big timber.
- And Sheldon, himself, reminds us that bringing Wal-Mart to our community was a good idea, despite the fact that so many small businesses have had to shutter their doors and downtown Shelton turned into a virtual after hours ghost town.
- And when finally it came time to do something good and selfless for our community, it was Tim Sheldon who cast the lone "NO" vote to fund mental health and substance abuse alternatives to incarceration.
All of which leads me to the question of the day: When is enough, enough?
Answer: When the future looks the same as the past.
And now onto some actual meetings --
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
11:30 AM: League of Women Voters (LWV); Olympic College Library
On the agenda were several presentations on the privatization of public services, such as solid waste services, water, prisons, education, ports, social services, parks and libraries.
I’m not a big fan of this topic for the simple reason that success in the private sector is measured in profits, while success in government is defined by a consistently high level of services provided, and rarely do the twain meet. But politics is all about forcing round pegs into square holes, and the current push is to privatize those public services that turn a profit and socialize the losses of those that require high levels of maintenance.
Counter intuitive to the political mind, my mind told me that private companies are good at making hamburgers (as long as there’s oversight) but lousy at providing public services.
6:00 PM: A meeting with the provocative title, “It’s Your Community”; County Fairgrounds
Heidi McCutcheon, Executive Director of the Shelton Chamber of Commerce, followed the tried and true practices of the Pomegranate Center when she called the Community Project meeting to order. The objective was to identify the most urgent community needs (and not kill each other in the process), and write them on an easel mounted pad at the front of the room. Heidi did an admirable job of keeping order and getting the group to focus.
At first, there was the usual reflexive grumbling that comes from caging such a diverse group. But as the meeting progressed, all the right things were said, and I suspect the next meeting will be even more productive.
I left with a strange tingling in my chest, which tempted me to see if I could still lift my arms over my head. But what I was feeling was a small flicker of hope that two years of resistance to change by local officials had failed to extinguish. Hope for opportunities for our young people. Hope for the future of our environment. And hope for ourselves. It’s been a long time since I had that feeling. I could get used to it.
Later…
Graphic: shutterstock.com
Well, Tim's behavior is status quo. If Mason County voters don't have his M.O. yet -- Mason County is doomed to repeat the past yet again.
ReplyDeleteThe meeting at the fair grounds was interesting, but my take away was a comment from a citizen who has lived here longer than I have, who said: "I have lived here for forty years. This is the fourth time we have come together to identify community needs..."
The upshot of her comments were that every ten years or so the citizens get together, identify needs, and proced to do --- nothing.
I will try to remain hopeful for a while with Tom... but we do not have a good track record of follow-through.
Good timing and demographics are everything. Not to wax too philosophic, but when it comes to changing minds, every failure is another step toward success. I was encouraged, not so much by what was said at the meeting, but by the diversity of people who attended.
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