City & County Meetings Week of April 25th

Submitted to Shelton Blog by Tom Davis Mason County Progressive

CITY OF SHELTON COMMISSION MEETING 4/25/11

The regular session of City Commissioners, held Monday evening at the Civic Center, included a second reading of the rezone of 160 acres south of Sanderson Field, only this time Mayor Tarrant was there to throw his weight behind it. Port Director John Dobson took the news on the chin, emitting only the slightest of high-pitched squeals as he fled the room.

Also on the agenda was the proposed rezone to mixed use of the north side of Alder from First to Seventh Streets. Property owners directly affected by the rezone were notified by the City, but owners of surrounding properties were apparently taken completely by surprise. A hearing is set for next Monday, and is likely to draw a sizable crowd of less than copacetic citizens.

MASON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' MEETING 4/26/11

Flash forward to the regular session of County Commissioners on Tuesday evening. Commissioner/State Senator, Tim Sheldon was busy making hay somewhere in Olympia, leaving Commissioners Lingle and Ring-Erickson to hold down the fort.

The meeting started off well enough, with Chairperson Ring-Erickson searching the room for someone who never served their country to lead the audience in the pledge of allegiance, after which the meeting deteriorated.

To better explain, you first need to know that several weeks ago the County took down a large cypress tree across the street from the Administration building because PUD 3 said it was interfering with their power lines. People were upset, so Commissioner Ring-Erickson asked for someone to step up and pay for a new tree. Ever the budding horticulturists, my wife, Amy, and I volunteered to pay for and provide the replacement tree. And some weeks later Mike Rudder, Facilities Grounds Manager, called to confirm our intentions.

But alas, it was not to be. Because no sooner had Mike welcomed our contribution, he up and retired, and Lynda Ring-Erickson rushed to accept a gift of a rather unimpressive specimen from none other than Green Diamond’s very own Patti Case. And in a voice that seemed better suited for a child’s bedtime story, Ms. Case launched into a three page infomercial for her employer before presenting the scrawny spectacle with all the fanfare of a miser giving a nickel to a pauper. Proving once and for all that Shelton is not so much a small town as it is run by small people.

Otherwise, this meeting, too, was uneventful, though I did rise to object to the $111,200 the County was spending on new, larger road signs to replace those that were not even two years old. After the meeting I spoke with Charlie Butros, head road warrior, who said the County was merely complying with State statutes and though he, himself, thought it was a waste of public money, the County was forced to comply.

That’s all that’s worth relating for now. Absent a sweep by the U.S. Attorney General‘s office , the same officials will be running the same show tomorrow.