MORE ON BELFAIR SEWER SETTLEMENT

BUSINESS AS USUAL IN MASON COUNTY

Submitted to Shelton Blog by Katherine Austin Price Mason County Progressive

The headline on page 1 of the August 16, 2012, Shelton-Mason County Journal reads: "COUNTY LOSES GARBAGE SUIT".

It may not come as a great surprise to Mason County citizens that Tim Sheldon and Lynda Ring Erickson have landed us, the citizens of Mason County, in court again. This time in Grays Harbor County, where a talented Grays Harbor attorney, Wayne Hagen (a/k/a "Tiger"), just beat Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Tim Higgs in a lawsuit brought against Mason County by contractors who were not given the opportunity to submit bids on a contract. The judge ruled that the Board of County Commissioners violated the Open Public Meeting Act in negotiating the contract with Allied Waste behind closed doors.

To the taxpayers of Mason County this means that our commissioners have once against cost the taxpayers dollars.

At this point we have to wait to see what the judge's written ruling reflects, and how much of the plaintiff's attorney fees we citizens will have to pay. But some costs we already know...the prosecuting attorney's office once again, rather than prosecuting criminals, is defending our illustrious Board of County Commissioners.

And what did Tim say to the paper, because he loves to hear himself speak and he simply cannot help but comment? He said: "I think it is great political theatre." (Journal page A-6, 8-16-12)

Really, Tim, how much will this suit eventually cost the taxpayers? And our Commissioner/Senator Sheldon thinks it is great political theatre. As a citizen of Mason County, I really don't think so.

So, what have Tim Sheldon and Lynda Ring Erickson been up to in the recent past? Let us recap:

A few months back we learned that they had cost us $114,000 in an age discrimination lawsuit, and then they both failed to attend the entire course required of them as part of the settlement.

We have also recently learned that it cost the County (us taxpayers) more than a half a million dollars in connection with an unnecessary condemnation proceeding that could have been avoided by offering the landowner the appraised sum for the land -- less than $50,000. Instead, Tim Sheldon and Lynda Ring Erickson opted to condemn the property. So, instead of paying less than $50,000 for a parcel of land in connection with the Belfair sewer, we taxpayers got to pay more than a half a million dollars for the same property.

How many deputies could Mason County hire, for how many years, with that kind of money? How many new staff for our overworked and understaffed County offices might these dollars have provided?

Now Tim has done it again. After the Johnson/Krueger letter was published in the Journal, the Mason County Daily News, and this blog on 8/4/12, Lynda Ring Erickson had the good sense to say "no comment" to the KMAS radio station.

Not so Tim...Tim Sheldon had to step out onto that branch and saw it off behind himself with statements like: "They are misrepresenting the facts of the case in order to try to affect an election."

Okay, maybe, so you should stop there Tim. But, of course, Tim was not satisfied in making that statement, which probably will not cost him (or the taxpayers) any money. Tim was not content to stop there, and this is when he accused the Krueger/Johnson family, and specifically private citizens Les and Betty Krueger of committing a felony.

This interview is still up on the KMAS web page and should be heard to be believed, but this is what Tim said about Les and Betty: "These are the same people that would love to buy a new commissioner."

Well, that's not slanderous completely, unless you take "buy a new commissioner" to mean "bribe a public official".

But Tim was not even content to leave it there, and here is where he crossed the line. I hope that Les and Betty are in Seattle right now arranging representation by one of the biggest most successful firms they can find, and I just hope that they sue Tim individually, and not as a County Commissioner, for this statement: "So they cannot buy a commissioner, like they have done in the past."

This is slander. This is accusing two private citizens, Les and Betty Krueger, of buying/bribing politicians. Tim has accused these folks of committing the felony of bribing commissioners.

Have we had enough of this arrogance yet? Are we really going to re-elect Tim Sheldon, again, to the Board of County Commissioners?

Maybe next time the judgment against the County will be a million dollars; or $2 million dollars... the sky is the limit with Tim Sheldon at the helm...at least the sky is the limit as to how large the settlements and judgments are getting. Tim Sheldon is running the train of Mason County off of the tracks, and it is way past time that he be replaced as the engineer.

How about we give Roslynne Reed a chance to represent Mason County, and together with Denny Hamilton and Ross Gallagher maybe they can minimize the number of lawsuits that our Board of County Commissioners attract to zero.

And to the Krueger/Johnson family, I am very sorry that our Commissioner Sheldon cannot open his mouth without inserting both feet, but you are all residents of Mason County too! Take pity on our County...sue Tim as an individual; please do not name the County as a defendant in your slander suit.

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Link to previous related post:
http://masoncountyprogressive.blogspot.com/2012/08/belfair-sewer-settlement.html