Legacy of Coddling to Big TimberMason County Progressive
Industry ideologues seldom make good elected officials. One need look no further than the economies of Detroit, Pittsburgh and Flint, all of which were governed by policies influenced by industry zealots, and where you can now purchase a house for as little as $200.; that’s not a misprint: $200.
Industry ideologues are not, by nature, fit for public service, and here’s but a few reasons why: A democratic form of government seeks to provide the most public services for the least amount of money; passes laws to protect health, safety and the environment; establishes a living wage for workers; and ultimately answers to the people it serves. The objective of government is to serve the people.
In direct contrast, industry seeks to provide those goods and services that will maximize profits; attempts to circumvent government regulations; and answers only to stockholders and CEOs. The objective of industry is to make money; it is not job creation, which is why so many industries have moved outside of the U.S.
Bottom line: Industry is profit driven; Government is services driven.
In Mason County, three political positions of power are held by two industry ideologues; Tim Sheldon and Jay Hupp. There are few who would argue the personal, professional and political relationships these two politicians have with the wood products industry. Timber is important, but it by no means provides the most jobs in our county, yet it seems to garner the most political favor.
Anyone daring to challenge the local timber industry soon finds themselves locked out of the political process. Industry ideologues, such as Sheldon and Hupp threaten our democracy, and jeopardize any economic recovery effort that does not have at its heart, wood products.
The local shellfish industry and downtown business center play no part in the biomass profit motive. To the contrary, as the ADAGE and Simpson proposals take form, these business interests will likely find themselves in peril.
Mason County has long been mired in cycles of poverty and poor health conditions; such is the legacy of coddling to big timber at the expense of diversifying our economy.
WOW, Tom, have you caught them in their "real world"! We hope the Folks from Mason County will begin to acknowledge what is really happening to our "wonderful community!"
ReplyDeleteFor people who might not be familiar with our community, the following statement taken from the above post is not a mistake:
ReplyDelete"In Mason County, three political positions of power are held by two industry ideologues; Tim Sheldon and Jay Hupp."
Tim Sheldon, affectionately referred to in our town as Tim "ShelTon," holds the distinction of being one of our three County Commissioners and also our state senator. For clarity he is referred to as Senator/Commissioner ShelTon; and sometimes just "King Tim."
King Tim most often runs for office as a Democrat, but he had to run as an independent in one of his re-election campaigns because the real Democrats in Mason County finally decided to oppose his re-election.
Tim is not now and has not been for some time a Democrat. Tim votes with the Republicans in favor of industry and at the expense of the citizens, almost exclusively, while claiming to vote the will of his constituents.
A review of his PDC filings confirms who Tim's constituents are, and who he represents, and they are not the citizens of the economically depressed 35th district or Mason County at large.
Tim ShelTon is the poster child for what is most broken in modern American politics, and he is more entrenched than ever following the terrible Supreme Court decision in Citizens United.
Tim periodically says he won't run for re-election for one or the other of his seats, but his supporters ("the haves") don't want him to quit!
As Mason County awakens to it's environmental peril at the hands of industry, supported by our elected industry ideologues, there may still be time. We are asking our best and brightest to step out of their comfort zone and run for elected office.
It is no longer enough to simply complain about the complete lack of representation of the citizens in our government, it is time to take our government back.
Katherine is 'right on' in the above comment. While it is necessary to fight the results of bad leadership it is more effective to cut the head off the snake that brought such damaging policies and proposals to our door. The public's lack of vigilance may be deserving of our current situation, but we will no longer tolerate officials undeserving of our faith and trust. There are many in our community more capable of occupying positions of authority. The challenge is on.
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