Letters 10-16-13
Darren Mills is a breath of fresh air
Some people focus on problems, and some people focus on solutions.
I’ve gotten to know Darren Mills quite well over the last few years. The thing that struck me about him was his propensity to take action. He’s not the type to see a problem and get hung up talking about it, he starts trying things until the problem is solved. This is a breath of fresh air for those of us who’ve been involved in the community for any length of time, especially in the work of running our Downtown.
I want to elect Darren Mills because he’s not afraid to try new things. He’s not willing to let NIMBYism prevail when it comes to the issues that have the greatest effect on our community. His support of low-barrier shelter in Downtown is just one example of his ability to embrace creativity and harness the compassionate spirit of this community. Another is his vital work as Chair of the Parking and Business Improvement Area (PBIA), where he has championed successful causes such as the downtown parklets, and has led in developing an action-oriented community conversation around the most important issues facing Downtown. Finally, as the owner of a business located in the Downtown Core, Darren has a perspective that is much needed at City Hall.
Please join me in supporting Darren for Olympia City Council.
- Rob Richards
Cheryl Selby is a thoughtful listener
As a longtime downtown Olympia business owner and artist, I am voting for Cheryl Selby for City Council. For two years I have worked with Cheryl as a co-member of the board of The Olympia Artspace Alliance to create affordable live/work artist housing and have admired her tireless efforts to make it happen. As a business owner herself she understand the challenges we all face downtown.
She is committed to the vision that many of us share of a vibrant, safe, culturally creative and livable community. She takes a thoughtful approach to problems and knows how to listen. I learned early to “believe what people do, not what they say” and my experience has shown that Cheryl does what she says. She deserves your vote for City Council.
- Tom Anderson
Sue Gunn is the honest choice
During the Dec. 10, 2012 Olympia Port Commissioners’ meeting, Jim Amador, Marine Terminal Director, reported that the marine terminal is out of room, they are working with customers that are as big as the ones they already have, and they need more space. The Port Commissioners reviewed places where they could get more cargo space but there are few options. Finally Commissioner Davis points to the main parking lot for the Farmer’s Market and says “here is an area we don’t get any income from”. Later in the same exchange, Commissioner Davis says, ”I have joked that we may need to take back Farmer’s Market but …. Are we there yet?” Mr. Amador says “close”. To me, this discussion was a clear message that the Port does not value the Farmer’s Market as important to their economic development mission.
Beyond this issue, I am opposed to subsidizing major corporations with my tax dollars. The shipping interests, including Weyerhaeuser and SSA Marine (49% owned by Goldman Sachs) make money off their operations but we pay for what they need at the Port. There is $18 million in new debt at the Port with another $16 million likely to come in a few years. The Port clouds the discussion by claiming the dredging of the shipping channel and the storm water facility for Weyerhaeuser’s log exports are “environmental” projects. These are expenses of operating the marine terminal. Since the marine terminal operates at a loss and it is politically challenging to tell us that we subsidize the shipping interests, they tell us these projects are environmental cleanup. If there was a real clean-up plan for Budd Inlet it is not likely that it would focus on maintaining the shipping channels.
The Port also justifies this spending by touting the economic activity generated. Their economic study is deceptive. Through this report the Port claims credit for the economic activity of thousands of jobs they had little or no role in creating. I support Sue Gunn, the honest choice for Port Commissioner.
- Monica Hoover
Jeff Davis faked photo with Governor
Jeff Davis set out to deceive us four years ago and he succeeded.
Here is an excerpt from the letter-to-the-editor that tried to warn us, submitted to the Olympian October 17, 2009.
Jeff Davis put a phony photograph on the campaign brochure he mailed out to you and published that same photograph on his web site. What makes the photo phony is not that Mr. Davis wasn’t standing alongside the Governor as she looked up smiling from the bill she was about to sign, but that it’s the wrong bill. In the text adjacent to the photo, Mr. Davis falsely claims much credit for the passage of SB 5344 that provided for the Neah Bay Rescue Tug and Oil Spill Response funding. But the bill being signed in the photo is HB 1196 that dealt with changing an administrative provision of longshoreman’s insurance.
The problem for us as voters is not that Mr. Davis can’t keep his bills straight but that he intentionally lied to us, presumably to bolster his environmental persona. He misused the photo taken four years ago (Apr 22, 2005) to create the impression that he had been a key player in a bill signed this year (Mar 24, 2009).
Please Visit http://www.davisphonyphoto.info
Commissioner Davis is up for re-election. Are you wondering why this phony photo chicanery didn’t get more attention the first time around? Well, the Olympian, up to its old tricks, conveniently left out the website link, http://www.davisphonyphoto.info. It wasn’t printed in the letter. Readers got the allegations but were denied access to the photos and other evidence.
We can’t undo the last four years which have been business-as-usual at the Port on Commissioner Davis’ watch, but we can give him his walking papers on November 5th and elect someone else.
- Walter R. Jorgensen