Letters to the Editor

Define gun

Editor, the Journal,

Responding to Mr. Bob Pickles and like-minded individuals. Can you define what an assault weapon consists of? Personally, I am offended by those stating, "Most Americans want" when it comes to biased, one-sided issues when those making those statements do not know or want to understand the other point of view.

There are many that hunt and many who compete in target competitions that do so lawfully, and responsibly, but little by little people with the AK-47 "weapon of mass destruction" mentality want all weapons banned. Perhaps what needs to be understood is criminals or those bent on killing humanity, will not go through legal channels to obtain a weapon. Besides theft, there are "ghost guns" and many means of obtaining materials to build them. Most Americans would like to feel safe driving their vehicle, not having to worry about DUIs. Most Americans want law enforcement to feel safe wherever we may be, but criminals don't think like the rest of us, nor care. They will always find a way to kill. Personal defense is a Second Amendment right and perhaps we should reflect on history and remember the government telling the Indians they didn't need guns. So, thank you, Dan and Travis, for caring about our Second Amendment rights and continuing to honor and uphold our Constitution.

Irene Goldsby, Shelton

VFW: Thank you

Editor, the Journal,

On March 11, the Mason County VFW Post 1694 sponsored a luncheon for VFW District No. 5 to honor local first responders and students of Mason, Thurston and Grays Harbor counties. Also in attendance were our Washington state commander, senior vice commander, quartermaster/adjutant and the chief of staff.

The state VFW auxiliary president was also in attendance. District Commander Holly Pierce and District 5 Auxiliary President Sharon Bradburn presided over the ceremony. There are 11 posts within District 5. All posts were represented at the ceremony. We served 93 meals with over 110 people in attendance. Those honored were law enforcement, EMTs, firefighters, 911 operators, and students at the high school, middle school and grade school level for 2022-2023. Students were honored for their participation in Voice of Democracy ("Why is the Veteran Important?"), Patriot's Pin ("My Pledge to Our Veterans") and youth essay with the theme of "What a Veteran Means to Me." First-, second- and third- place awards were given out.

The first-place winner has a chance to go to the VFW's state convention in Spokane, to be awarded a $5,000 scholarship, and with a chance to go to VFW's National Convention being held in Phoenix, Arizona.

The lunch menu was broasted chicken (from Safeway, and that was great), baked potato, salad, roll, cake and ice cream. After the lunch, honors were given to members that have passed away this year from VFW posts, and its auxiliaries. Once again, the VFW would like to thank all who participated and their family members for making this such a great event.

Mike Brown, Commander, Mason County VFW Post 1694

Tragedy times 2

Editor, the Journal,

Chantel Dawn Peterson was arrested for allegedly shooting Elijah Gossett on or about Feb. 12. A senseless tragedy. The arresting officer clearly indicated if Peterson was released on her own recognizance, she posed a danger to herself and/or others. The prosecuting attorney asked for $500,000 bail. Appointed Judge Ferguson-Brown reduced that to $5,000 and Peterson walked. On or about March 18, Peterson committed suicide. Another senseless tragedy but this one could have been avoided if Judge Ferguson-Brown would have given any credence to the arresting officer.

Who is accountable for Peterson's death? In the Shelton-Mason County Journal dated March 23, you ran a two-sentence article on page 10 stating that a woman was found dead at the High Steel bridge and that you did not have any more information at press time. No name was mentioned.

However, a simple web search will show you an original article written by KOMO with an editor's note at the end stating, "Editor's note: On March 21, 2023, the Mason County Coroner's Office confirmed to KOMO News that Chantel Peterson died and her cause of death was deemed to be a suicide."

Why is the Journal burying this story? And why when I wrote my original letter to the editor (published March 9) about this issue, you refused to add any contact information for the judge which you deleted from my original letter? You didn't want to run her email address, fine, but you refused to even print the address of the courthouse or how to contact the court administrator? What is going on here, Journal?

Who are you protecting? Remember the name Judge Ferguson-Brown. She is up for election this fall. Not re-election, just election, she was appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee to finish a retiring judge's term.

Pam Burger, Shelton

Save Sherwood

Editor, the Journal,

It's no secret that we live in a time of instability - supply chains, politics, the economy, the world at large - it's all been very turbulent lately. And turbulent it will likely remain. But this forest north of LakeLand is a bastion of stability. When I was a kid, I grew up eating out of this forest. We used it as a source for berries, oyster mushrooms and wild game. Our society is like the hill that the Sherwood Forest holds onto. Every year more and more of it is eroded away by the waves of corporate and government greed. Regardless of your political party, every year something more is carried out into this ocean of despair.Don't let them take this forest too. It might seem like a stand of trees, but it is so much more than that. This forest is a sanctuary for life. It can provide food and liberation to you - if you let it. It holds the hill in place. Soaks up extra water during the wet season then releases it slowly during the dry season when it is most needed. It cleans the air. Offers a space for people to recreate. Most importantly, it anchors that hill.

When the Department of Natural Resources came out to survey, they lied and told residents they weren't certain they were going to cut it. The promise of that profit supporting our local schools is also a lie. It represents 0.2% of Washington's total school construction budget. That money will be sent to King County. Kids in Mason are not ever going to see any benefit, only the losses of this decision to clear-cut this forest. 

In a world of increasing division, continuing instability, rising costs and increasing lies, you can choose a future that you want, not the one we are given by default. You can choose a world that has a little more life in it. If you let them take this forest, then you've given up on democracy and our right to direct our community's future. You've let them take what's all of ours. Recent history proves that is often not a good thing.

When literal and political erosion comes in the future, you will have voted for it with your silence. When the waves of this century wash away more of your freedom, your prosperity, and your rights and responsibilities, you will have supported that by letting them start here. We do still live in a democracy after all.

James Landreth, Sequim

Election 'truthers'

Editor, the Journal,

There has been a spirited debate going on regarding our new auditor and the Mason County Voter Research Project. Additionally, we have seen national coverage that is most enlightening.

First, we learned that Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham will talk behind your back about how crazy the election claims are and then look you in the eye, take the opposite tack, and present lies as news. We have also seen Jenna Ellis, Rudy Giuliani's apprentice, admitting that she was misleading people to the point of violating the Rules of Professional Conduct (specifically Colo. RPC 8.4(c) which prohibits engaging in the conduct of "conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation") with the purpose of personal enrichment. This is the foundation that the other "voter integrity" projects are based on.

Now we have a group billing itself as the Mason County Voter Research Project. Who are they? Who knows? There is no such organization registered with Washington's Secretary of State's Office. I have no idea who they are. What I do know is that I never voted for them and they do not have the right to claim to represent me. So, I am left with the impression that it is just a group of yahoos bootstrapping off the Washington Voter Research Project. I checked out the latter's website and found a document titled a confidentiality and non-circumvention agreement that they have people sign. 

I find it fascinating that there is a nondisclosure clause that covers "trade secrets; election integrity studies; voter information data processing, data analysis and data verification methods and reports; research; production of educational and training materials; and promotional tactics and strategies." This is fairly opaque for a group that claims it is dedicated to transparency. This last point is important because this group claims it is interested in transparency. By their writings, they are starting with a conclusion, namely that there is massive election fraud. They are then going to "train" people to find evidence to prove their theory. It is a giant exercise in confirmation bias. They will then file declarations that they will claim is evidence. Yet nobody is supposed to talk about any of the methodology of how they got there. That's a trade secret.

Personally, I think this is just a self-serving exercise to spin lies about elections where the results don't go their way. Furthermore, I believe that it is just a grift to raise money and pay a handful of people to spin the nonsense. Finally, it is all done after a phony patriot threw a fit after he lost an election.

I am taking this opportunity to advise all readers that the Voter Research Project has no special status. You don't owe them anything. Sure, they can talk to people. They can ask questions if they want. But they are not entitled to an answer nor are you obliged to engage with them. They aren't even entitled to the time of day. If you don't want to talk to them, don't. You have the right to tell them to get out of your face, leave you alone and take their nonsense somewhere else. You even have the right to be rude to anyone that enters onto your property without permission. If they don't like it, they have a simple remedy. They can go away.

Andrew Makar, Hoodsport

A violation of trust

Editor, the Journal,

I am writing to express my deep discontent regarding the huge fraud case against the fire commissioners of Mason County Fire District 12. As a member of this community, I am deeply disturbed by the alleged actions of these individuals, who were responsible for managing public funds and ensuring the safety of our families and homes.

It is reprehensible that those entrusted with protecting our community have been caught up in such a flagrant violation of trust. The potential misuse of funds and resources in this case is a betrayal of everything that the fire department stands for, and the people of this community deserve to know that their tax dollars are being used in a responsible and ethical way.

It is also important to note that this case has wider implications, as it undermines public confidence in the ability of the fire department to do its job effectively. If there has been corruption at the highest level of the organization, how can we be sure that firefighters on the ground are being given the equipment and resources they need to keep us safe?

The public behavior of these commissioners has also been alarming. Trying to intimidate and harass community members who openly dissent or having involvement in the recall effort, such as flipping off these community members in public. I witnessed, at the last commissioners meeting, the ejection of a community member simply for showing up and standing silent. These are public meetings where every citizen has a right to attend. They went so far as to call the police for this silent community member, requesting he be arrested for trespassing. And later in the meeting threatening to "trespass" every citizen in attendance right before they requested more of the community volunteer for them. They have shown a total refusal to answer any public records requests and any request for transparency.

On the topic of the internal audit the commissioners are paying ridiculous amounts of taxpayer dollars for an attorney to conduct. This has been a carrot on a string. Since January we have been told the audit is almost complete. Two more weeks. Almost there. This has been cited in the Journal since January. Now we are told the audit is apparently complete, but the attorney hasn't handed it over. These commissioners continually say that this is being done from the state auditor's advice. The auditor clearly advised they hand this to the prosecutor, which they refused to do. Furthermore, this will not change the state's findings, and now the FBI has taken over the case. As a community, we must come together to demand accountability and transparency from those who hold positions of authority, especially when they are responsible for life-saving services such as EMS and firefighting. I urge all residents to stay involved with this case, to ensure that justice is served, and to support efforts to reform the way our public institutions are managed.

Derrick Nygaard, Elma

Keep 'em short

Editor, the Journal,

The letters to the editor are filled with many points of view.

We are so polarized in our positions.

We cannot see the forest for the trees.

Them and us, a house divided is not good.

Both political parties can take credit for the divide.

The parties both have some people of good will.

Let us all demand that our representatives work

across the aisle for the good of the country.

If that can't be done, find a new representative.

Your vote is your only power, use it or lose it.

Politics require compromise to accomplish good things for the population as a whole.

Come let us reason together for the good of the order.

Writers, please try to keep your letters short, less than 200 words. All you regulars, we know where you stand.

Paul L Wilkins, Belfair

Be advised

Editor, the Journal,

What happened to the law 30 years ago that said, "Use a gun, go to jail?" How is it that now in Mason County someone can shoot another person and be out on the street the next day? Is 18 USC Section 924(c) no longer applicable?

I share Ms. Burger's outrage that such a decision was rendered by a judge in our county. Ten days after Ms. Burger's letter was published (and less than a month after Chantel Peterson's release from custody), Peterson took her own life.

While judges should not be swayed by public clamor or fear of criticism, they would be well-advised to heed the warning of experienced law officers such as the arresting officer in this case who warned that if Chantel Peterson was released from custody, she might pose not only a risk to others, but that she could also be a danger to herself.

Was it not entirely foreseeable to a reasonable person that someone who faced the high probability of spending life or a substantial part of it in prison, might consider suicide as an alternative?

Elizabeth Hill, Shelton

Betrayal of trust

Editor, the Journal,

I would like to dedicate this to all the good people who have put their faith and trust in social, political or religious institutions and then discovered that their faith has been misplaced and their trust betrayed. You were lied to by a fascist Fox that laughed at the audience of goop-gobblers, ex-President Donald Trump, Republican leaders and election deniers like Mason County Auditor Steve Duenkel. The leaders of a treasonous seditionist coup. Recall Duenkel.

Roderic Whittaker, Shelton

Michelle Obama

Editor, the Journal,

I'm guessing my first letter about Michelle Obama in the March 23 Journal caused cries of outrage from the usual suspects such as the dark-blue partisans and the black-clad activists.

But this bunch must not have read my words carefully. I only briefly mentioned Michelle's "druthers" on the POTUS gig - she's said she doesn't want it. Period. I dissed her slightly on her school lunch program - a glancing blow at best.

After Michelle married Barack in October 1992, her new husband started a 20-year membership in the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. The Obamas sat together in the congregation there every Sunday for years. Following the 9/11 tragedy, the Rev. Wright included, in a series of his raspy rants, his now-famous "God damn America" comment. Barack - to his credit - publicly renounced Wright's imbecilities such at this and canceled his membership in the flock.

OK, but the Obamas did sit through a good deal of anti-American and divisive black-liberation rhetoric while in the pews. One doesn't forget these messages easily, or quickly.

Shortly after Barack winning his first election, Michelle walked to a podium and said that for the first time in her adult life she was proud of her country. She tried to mitigate this with some "hope and change" language from the campaign, but I found the remark, and the applause following it, to be cringe-worthy.

I'm sure conservative TV outlets made hay with this comment, but I would probably just put it in the "Kamala Harris gaffe" column, shake my head and move on. I'm sure Michelle's handlers advised her that in the future, she not lead with her chin.

Moving on ... I don't know if Ms. Obama has a temper, but it seems she keeps a close eye on her clan and is quite jealous of her handsome (some say) and garrulous husband. I think the Obama daughters, Malia (now 24) and Sasha (21) were raised strictly and with good manners. I wish them both well.

At a funeral service for Nelson Mandela in December 2013, the Obamas were seated next to the Danish prime minister, the blonde (and very attractive) Helle Thorning-Schmidt, with whom Barack was happily chatting (flirting?)

An intrepid photographer caught a nearby Michelle glowering at Barack with what some cultures would call "the stink-eye." A later photo showed Michelle seated between Barack and Helle, staring grimly straight ahead.

I think we're left with some questions. First, is Michelle Obama now a celebrity? Second, and most important to us all, will she run for president? My answers to both are yes and no.

Democrats relish celebrities at their events; were Michelle Obama to stroll on any stage, the Dem audience would shout hosannas and weep tears of ecstasy. However, she was first lady for eight years and spent more time in the ballroom than in the war room. She just hasn't the experience (the "merit" I referred to last week) to be POTUS.

Answer, if you will, two more questions. Ladies first. How would you like to wake up every midmorning in a 7,000-square-foot-multimillion-dollar waterfront mansion in Martha's Vineyard, slip into a long soft robe, sweat gear or whatever and let someone else cook your breakfast and answer your phone? Every day. Care to return to the swamp?

Robert E. Graham, Union

'Drat!'

Editor, the Journal,

"Friday morning, March 24, the state Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision has upheld the constitutionality of this state's capital gains tax, cementing a long-sought victory for state Democrats and nudging the state's tax system into a more progressive position." -The Seattle Times, March 25

That very evening, the local Republican Party had its annual Lincoln Day Dinner. The prevalent opinion on this decision by the people in attendance, including our local Republican legislators, was a resounding "drat!" State Attorney General Bob Ferguson, in his brief to the Supreme Court defending the tax, called it "the most progressive change in Washington tax policy in generations."

Public unions and progressives have tried for years to overturn Washington's ban on income taxes. Decades of precedent in the Washington courts have defined income as property, thereby preventing lawmakers from imposing income taxes without amending the constitution.

The decision ruled that the tax on capital gains passed in 2021 is really an excise tax rather than a tax on property or income. This redefinition let the judges call the tax constitutional without having to overrule its 1933 precedent that prohibits a progressive income tax.

"The majority's logic contradicts the view of the IRS, which defines capital gains as a form of income." -The Wall Street Journal, March 27

Despite the solipsistic legal shenanigans, this new tax policy is bad and ugly. Although somewhat cartoonish, Ayn Rand in her novels "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged" provides the dystopian view of the results of false economies and over-reaching governmental policies. Wealth is created best and most efficiently by an individual's hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and built on the foundation of fair, efficient, and consistent government policy. The citizens of Washington have become accustomed to a tax policy that has existed for 134 years and has served to create and sustain wealth creation.

James Poirson, Shelton

Save the forest

Editor, the Journal,

The Department of Natural Resources is proposing to sell for clear-cutting part of the Sherwood Forest that includes the salmon-bearing Sherwood Creek. The DNR board will be considering the Sure Wood Timber Sale No. 30-102110 at its board meeting at 9 a.m. on April 4. You can request to speak in person at the DNR Board in Olympia or by Zoom. You can contact DNR Commissioner Hillary Franz at 360-902-1000 or email [email protected]. The Sherwood Forest represents one of the best structurally complex forests in our area and can be preserved for "higher uses" such as carbon sequestration to fight climate change, wildlife habitat preservation (the proposed cut would negatively affect Sherwood Creek, a salmon creek), cultural heritage, recreational attributes (hiking, hunting, fishing), and the spiritual calming effects of nature.

Mason County has already endured a lot of clear-cutting. Our shellfish industry/water quality is affected by clear-cutting, and so is tourism. We have better options. Let's make our voices heard. Save Sherwood Forest!

Michael Siptroth, Belfair

City manager saga

Editor, the Journal,

As your paper wrote last week regarding outgoing City Manager Jeff Niten, in the fall of 2018, whoever was in charge at the City of Shelton had the opportunity to hire as Shelton's new city manager a midcareer head of a division of a state department of public services who wanted to end his career in his beloved adopted home of Shelton (and take a significant pay cut to do it) - and the city dropped the ball.

Instead, whoever was in charge at the City of Shelton picked as its new city manager a careerist who we can infer was looking for a steppingstone - because, as you wrote here last week, he is leaving his job, here, for a better one, in a bigger city, for more money, after less time than it takes most kids to graduate from college.

And this was after the city powers already had spectacularly mismanaged the debacle of their previous city manager, careerist and profiteer Ryan Wheaton, whom they let walk away from the job - a job that he didn't do even half of - while pocketing a year and a half of a salary the size of which you probably will never see without even having to work for it.

I participated, contributed and suggested during the last selection process, which seemed refreshingly transparent until the city announced the result, which seemed to make little rational sense in light of the candidates and their résumés and qualifications. Oh, well. (Refrain, below.)

Since we all worship and are in thrall to corporations, let's use a corporate metaphor, here - the city manager is the chief executive officer, or CEO, of the city. He's the boss. The City Council, including the titular mayor, if we still have one, is just the board of directors.

Let's hope that this next upcoming time the city picks a new chief executive officer, whoever is in charge, to look to the city's and its people's needs, not the needs of the applicants.

Otherwise, you might get more choices like Ryan Wheaton, who pocketed a year and a half's worth of salary, or Jeff Niten, who's leaving after no more than as long as he needed to move on up - or like former City Administrator Mike McCarty, who, in a blatant inside job that was his last lame-duck move when the city had no choice but to call him out of retirement from his second career as a Simpson bureaucrat in the wake of the Wheaton scandal, picked the guy who finished fifth out of five candidates in that year's judicial race to be the city's next municipal court judge.

Oh, well; that's what you get - and business as usual seems to work out well enough, depending on who you are.

Eric Valley, Shelton