MORE ON VOTING FOR COMMISSIONER

Mason County needs a change to move forward.

THE PRIMARY (AGAIN)

Submitted to Shelton Blog by Katherine Price Mason County Progressive

I have decided to be hopeful about the County Commissioner race, and the incredibly important primary that Mason County voters will be faced with.

Come Saturday, most of us will receive our ballots in the mail. I cannot wait! In part because after the Saturday primary I will not feel I have to wave signs three times a day, and in part because I will be able to say I gave my all before the primary to try to affect change in my community.

At the end of each day, and each election cycle, all we are left with are our actions. What did we do when presented with an unprecedented opportunity to replace the Board of County Commissioners with people who see change as the only way forward?

Did we remark that it would be nice to have forward-looking LEADERS in Mason County, but that we were pretty busy, and would have to leave it to others?

Truth be told, that is indeed what I had said to myself. Until only a few weeks ago I was so wrapped up in my life and its various and sundry dramas that I almost missed the opportunity of my lifetime. The opportunity to help keep Mason County amazing, and to insure that what I enjoy here today will be here for generations to come. And then I hit a full-blown panic.

The primary was nearly upon us!
Did our candidates have strong messages?
Were they getting their messages out?
Was anyone working on the campaigns?

Sadly, not all of these things were occurring on the level that the gravity of the situation called for. And the ballots would be mailed on July 20th, ready or not.

After taking my panic in hand and stuffing it in my junk drawer, I wrote a post for this blog; helped with a meet and greet for Jeff Davis and Denny Hamilton; attended a fund raising event for Derek Kilmer; attended the KMAS candidate forum on July 12th; and have been standing in the hot sun after work with my partner in politics, Sheri Staley, sweating, smiling and waving signs for Roslynne Reed (Commr. Dist. 2), Denny Hamilton (Commr. Dist. 1), Jeff Davis (State Rep. Pos. 2) and Derek Kilmer (US Rep. Dist. 6). These are a few of the names we need to be sure are on the November ballot.

And it was while standing on Highway 3 after work last Friday, waving signs and trying to raise awareness and ENTHUSIASM for the most important election we may see in in a long time, that hope returned to me.

Mason County, I remembered our pride. I remembered with what a fierce mother lion's love we came out in numbers to protect our air and our water from a biomass incinerator that would have destroyed our communities and our way of life.

I remembered that people who had nothing more in common than a deep love of family and the knowledge that our children and their children hung in the balance came together all across Mason County to protect who and what we love.

I am asking those same people, those passionate people who shared lunches on the sidewalk in front of ADAGE on Tuesdays; who stood in the heat and the stench of the intersection that is Wallace-Kneeland waving SAVE OUR AIR SIGNS; who stood in the rain on 11/11/11 and laughed and smiled and hoped; I am asking you to clear your calendars for the third week in July, and join with your neighbors and friends to wave signs, go door to door, and otherwise help try to elect the best Board of County Commissioners we possibly can!

None of us will want to look back and say we missed an opportunity to help elect some pretty good candidates who might have been able to prevent biomass incinerators from burning garbage in the harbor or on John's Prairie Road, and who would have addressed citizens' concerns if they had been elected.

Don't let this crucial opportunity pass us by! Join in right now and help lead Mason County SAFELY into the future!

Photo by John Cox

SHELTON BLOG NOTE:

COUNTY COMMISSIONER CANDIDATE FORUM
(all 3 districts)
on
WEDNESDAY, JULY 18th
from
6:00 - 8:00 PM
at

Oakland Bay Junior High School
3301 N. Shelton Spring Road

(Sponsored by MCCC, MCLWV, & Mason Web TV}

AND

STATE REPRESENTATIVE CANDIDATE FORUM
(Positions 1 and 2)
on
THURSDAY, JULY 26th
from
6:00 - 8:00 PM
at

Oakland Bay Junior High School
3301 N. Shelton Spring Road

(Sponsored by MCCC, MCLWV, & Mason Web TV}

Link to KMAS News Voters Guide:
http://masoncountydailynews.com/news/voter-guide-2012