WEEK OF 9/17/12 MEETINGS IN REVIEW

TOM'S TALES FOR THE WEEK

Submitted to Shelton Blog by Tom Davis    Mason County Progressive
 
Monday. September 17, 2012
 
6:00 PM: City of Shelton Commission Meeting:

Old Business:
Ordinance No. 1809-0912 – Second Reading -- An Ordinance of the City of Shelton, Washington Amending Chapter 8.64 of the Shelton Municipal Code Relating to the Regulation of Fireworks (Tab 2) Action Public Comment on Action Item.

City Administrator Dave O’Leary introduced an ordinance that prohibits the sale or detonation of fireworks within City limits, because it’s stupid to blow things up for no reason (my words, not his). Several purveyors of recreational explosives testified that rarely did anyone lose a body part while handling their quality products, and what better way was there to celebrate freedom from tyranny than to terrorize old women and pets? In the end, it was decided to forgo a vote until the Oct.1 meeting to allow more erudite testimony from the public.   

Under Administration Report
Development Standards:  
 
Steve Goins, Director, Public Works, addressed the sidewalks issue, or more precisely, the no sidewalks issue. It’s good to know the City is looking into alternatives to the "cow paths" serving as pedestrian conduits on some city streets, and it would be difficult to overstate the value added benefit of such improvements. City Commissioners are waging an uphill battle against money and history, so we need to be supportive.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

 9:00 AM: Regular session of Board of County Commissioners

Hello, anybody home? That’s the question citizens are asking of Commissioner Tim Sheldon as his absence at meetings goes from the occasional to the habitual. By the end of this month Mr. Sheldon will have missed, and/or caused to be cancelled, a total of 9 out of a possible 36 meetings, three in the past 30 days alone. Here now are the stats:

MASON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

- ATTENDANCE RECORD -

JAN. THRU SEPT. 2012

(Does not include Belfair meetings*) 

No. of meetings scheduled: 36
No. of meetings held: 33
No. of meetings cancelled: 3
(1/31; 5/15; 9/25)

Commissioner Sheldon absent: 7+2**         
(1/24; 2/14; 4/24; 6/19; 7/10; 8/28; 9/18)
Commissioner Ring-Erickson absent: 2         
(5/22; 6/26)
Commissioner Bloomfield absent: 2
(2/21; 3/20)

Out of 33 meetings held, 11 were conducted with only two commissioners in attendance. 
 
Percentage of meetings in which all three commissioners were present: 66.6%
(Does not include late arrivals, early departures, or BOCC Briefings.)
 
*Belfair Meetings Scheduled: 3    No. Held: 2   No. Cancelled: 1
**Two of the three cancelled meetings were due to Sheldon and one other commissioner being unable to attend.
 
But here’s the thing, absenteeism costs money. Of course, considering that Sheldon managed to waste $600,000 on unnecessary lawsuits when he did show up, maybe we should be supporting his absence, permanently.

2:00 PM: Port of Shelton Commission Meeting

A funny thing happened at the Port today. And by “funny”, I mean scary. Brandon Palmer gave a presentation to inform the public of benefits to be derived from swapping a piece of desirable waterfront property owned by the Port for a contaminated stretch of collapsing shoreline owned by Simpson Lumber. 

The two properties are located thusly:
 
Port property: is at the tip of Eagle Point, which is at the southerly reaches of Oakland Bay, directly across from Shorecrest Estates.

Simpson property: is adjacent to its waterfront mill, between the Shelton Yacht Club and a log dump.  

I don’t know if I’m confused or conflicted about this issue because I’m not sure what’s really going on.  Commissioners Taylor and Wallitner say they want to restore the contaminated shoreline that makes up most of the Simpson property, and then improve it with a park, a boat ramp and a trail to connect the marina to downtown. And for the privilege of assuming this environmental headache, the Port intends to give up ownership of a waterfront paradise with views to die for.  

At first blush this proposal makes no sense, and on close inspection it looks even worse: The public has an asset and Simpson has a liability. After the swap, Simpson walks away from a contaminated site and gets to use pristine land as a bargaining chip to mitigate future contamination. What we get is to clean up after Simpson. 
 
So, now that the umbrella is up there good and tight, let’s open it up: If this deal goes through, Simpson will likely transfer ownership of Eagle Point over to Forterra, a dubious “conservancy effort” backed by -- you guessed it, Simpson -- that is dedicated to controlling when and where future development occurs. It’s kind of like the left hand of the Port washing the right hand of the private sector, and then both hands giving the finger to the public, albeit with clean hands. Still, it’s not an entirely bad idea. If Simpson cleans up their own mess and the Port buys the property outright at its market value of $232,000, we can turn it something worth having.

But the question that still haunts me is why the Port, a municipality with a history of insensitivity toward the public, is suddenly compelled to build a community park?  

In my mind I see a "slasher movie" that has an axe murderer on the loose and some guy hears a noise coming from the basement and he goes down to investigate because he thinks it’s his friend and then the light goes out and the door swings shut and all of a sudden there’s an axe and there’s blood everywhere and it’s spurting from where the guy’s head used to be.

Then again, maybe everything will work out just fine. 

I have to go now. I think I hear a noise coming from the basement.

Later…