Letters to the Editor

Homeless ordinance

Editor, the Journal,

A new homeless camping permit ordinance for the city of Shelton was discussed at the Shelton City Council meeting on May 24, 2022. There are plenty of rules and restrictions.

Who will be responsible for enforcement? City Manager Jeff Niten stated that we do not have the jail space or shelter space to enforce the codes we have now, then he stated this ordinance is about giving our code enforcement officers and police officers the tools necessary to address this issue. How can we enforce more codes if we can't enforce our current codes?

One restriction is no one with an arrest warrant will be allowed into the camps. What mechanism is in place for warrant checks? What is the purpose of the ordinance? A reasonable person would assume the purpose would be to get the individuals off the street and on their way to permanent housing. However, there is nothing in the proposed ordinance to do just that. Are we going to provide mental or substance abuse counseling to help them off the street? Does Shelton have enough resources to provide such counseling to anyone who comes by or do we take care of our own homeless first?

I am asking the Shelton City Council to delay this plan and receive more community input. Additionally, I am asking that they provide a framework to verify that the people who are being helped are local and that the camp host is getting people into permanent housing. If we are going to have a homeless camping permit, let's make it about finding people homes.

Pam Burger, Shelton

Why the gun ad?

Editor, the Journal,

Could someone please explain to us why the publisher of the Journal and the owner of Verle's thought it was a good idea to place the latter's full-page gun ad (BEAT THE MAGAZINE BAN SPECIAL) in last week's edition before the grieving families of Uvalde bury their children?

Elizabeth and Richard Dills, Union

Editor's note: At the Journal, like most newspapers, decisions regarding advertising and editorial news are made by separate departments.

Red-flag law needed

Editor, the Journal,

One week after the horror of Uvalde, there is a full-page advertisement for all manner of weapons and ammunition in our local newspaper. In the news, 13 mass shootings last weekend in our country, 18 dead and 72 injured.

Fact: 120 weapons for every 100 people in the country. It's not just about mental illness. There should be a national red-flag law implemented in this country now. If you see or hear a person's threats or "manifesto," you must by law report them. Wouldn't the NRA and gun owners agree to this? It's the least we can do.

Rhoda Henkels, Shelton

About Sen. Murray

Editor, the Journal,

Patty Murray has been in the U.S. Senate for 30 years and has done nothing. If local Democrats disagree, tell me what she's done. If you don't know and must resort to the internet to find out, that tells the story. The only thing either senator has done for us was when Sen. Maria Cantwell got our sales tax deductible from our income tax. In Sen. Murray's re-election commercial, she parroted the same line Democrats always spout: tax the rich corporations. Either Murray has no clue to what a corporation is or she hopes you don't know. A corporation, by definition, is shared ownership. If you own a share of stock in Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing or Starbucks, you get a cut of the profits the corporation earned. If the value of the corporation goes up, your stock value goes up. Anyone who has a 401(k), a 403(b), a mutual fund, a portion of a union retirement fund, or direct ownership of stocks are in the stock market.

There are 100,000,000 people in the stock market; many grandparents start college funds for their grandkids. When Patty Murray says she'll tax corporate profits, she's taxing us, including the grandkids. Why am I explaining all this? Either Patty Murray thinks we are all stupid and don't know this, or she's right and many of you don't know. President Joe Biden wants us to believe he's doing a good job; then you fill up your gas tank, go grocery shopping, or look for baby food, and you realize he doesn't have a clue. Only 29% of voters approve of the Biden presidency. Nevertheless, Patty Murray remains a shill for Biden. Why would anyone vote for her again? Any Democrat who supports Patty simply because she's a Democrat is as ignorant as she thinks you are. Please note: all those anti-Trumpers and Trump haters are deafingly silent now. They haven't the courage to write letters supporting Biden and will likely vote for Patty again. As P.T. Barnum said, "There's one born every minute!"

Ardean Anvik, Shelton

The beast inside

Editor, the Journal,

Thank you, Kirk Ericson, for your musings on imaginary violence.

When I was much younger, I played soldier with many of the kids in my Midwestern neighborhood. As I grew older I became averse to conflict and violence. I realized my character was more in line with being a lover, not a hater. Oh, I'll stand up for myself and will offer what aid I can to others in distress but I try to avoid physical and/or psychological confrontation whenever possible.

Why? Because basically, I don't trust myself to keep tethered the raging beast that resides in all of us. I've unleashed it only once when I was physically attacked. I lost all control; I felt only red, hot rage toward my attacker. "Control" of one's emotions is very ephemeral. Although I was getting the worst of the fight, I knew then that my attacker would have to incapacitate me some way before I stopped. Thankfully others intervened or I probably wouldn't be writing this letter. After more than half a century, I know that beast still simmers within me. I don't think of myself any different from the rest of humanity. Others might think they have control of their beast but they don't. All it needs is some type of trigger to be unleashed and that trigger is unknown and lurking somewhere inside each of us.

To say gun control is not necessary is foolishness. The Second Amendment is a historic relic of our past when there were no trained local police force, no sheriff, no state patrol, no national guard, no FBI and our population was smaller. We also were settling unexplored lands with wild animals and unknown dangers. Do I trust those trained to protect me more than a personal multimagazine gun/rifle? Unequivocally, yes. I trust them more than an untrained, armed neighbor. On the other hand, if people want to keep the Second Amendment, then perhaps we should arm every man, woman and child with a multimagazine gun so they can protect themselves or others from "the bad crazies" who are likewise armed. Despite my age, I hope my thinking is closer to the future than it is to the past.

Bill Pfender, Shelton

Let's wait to react

Editor, the Journal,

Katie Groves, your letter about the Texas school shooting was spot on. Great job. Your 80 years have given you great wisdom and common sense.

As of the date of this submission, school officials, local and state law enforcement, teachers, parents and "experts" in Uvalde, Texas, still cannot agree on the facts of what happened. Yet our Congress is eagerly working on solutions without knowing what went wrong. Our president was so prophetic he went on television with solutions within a couple of hours. I'm guessing he had that speech in his back pocket just waiting for a tragedy. It appears obvious to me that Uvalde school officials, teachers, and especially law enforcement all screwed up. Had they all followed established active-shooter procedures, we would not have had the tragedy. Did you know Ross Elementary, Uvalde practiced active-shooter drills on March 22, two months prior?

I pray U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer and our two senators show some wisdom and wait for the facts to be known before going forward with legislation. Maybe we have plenty of laws already; we just need government at all levels to do their jobs correctly. And please explain to me why the almost daily shootings and murders in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Baltimore are not tragedies that get the president and Congress excited to solve? Chicago had four mass murders in May alone.

Bill Zeigler, Shelton

How we vote

Editor, the Journal,

Upon fueling M/V El Mistico at Des Moines, the wharflinger shouts out from the fuel dock behind the cabin post, "You're at 280." Fine, I think, I can squeeze a bit more diesel No. 2 into the tanks. Later he shouts, "You're at just over $1,300!"

"Whoa boy! Put a cork in it right quick!"A subsequent review of diesel oil purchases from only two years previous reveals $2.02 per gallon. Now it's $5.30. So much for an affordable occupation. 

For the first time in my memory, the Wall Street Journal published a letter to the editor from a sitting president.

In this letter, President Joe Biden explained how he was going to stop inflation and intimated this problem really wasn't all his fault. He didn't convince me of his competence in this area.

The first time I questioned a United States president's heartfelt concern for my personal welfare was as a college student. I recall returning home ecstatic that I'd found a summer job; that euphoric bubble popped with the information that I'd drawn No. 50 in the Vietnam War draft lottery. Because I was a continuing student, I was exempt from serving.

Now in my perambulations, I notice men wandering the streets who might not have been as fortunate (and lucky) as I. One of the Republican Party's foundational beliefs is limited government. The periodic display of dramatic, poorly conceived and extraneous execution of bad policy on the basis of wishful thinking most often, if not always, has resulted in draconian and dystopian results.Perhaps the solution to this problem of government overreach is to discipline ourselves as citizen voters to the reality that our elected officials are simply fellow citizens. Politicians do not possess an innate exalted wisdom of what is best for this country and its people. A candidate wins an election by the ability to convince a majority of his constituents that he is best able to address political concerns - a salesman selling himself, which is totally different than a person with the humility and ability to govern wisely. Let us vote on the basis of enlightened self-interest.

James Poirson, Shelton