YEAR IN REVIEW 2023 - AUGUST

AUGUST 2023

George Blush and Tristen Smith will compete for a seat on the Shelton City Council in the November general election, and voters solidly support increasing the size of the Mason County Fire District 5 board of commissioners from three to five.

Those are among the preliminary results of the Aug. 1 primary election posted at 8 p.m. The initial voter turnout was 28.17%. The results are scheduled to be certified Aug. 15.

In the contest to whittle the Shelton City Council member No. 1 seat race from three candidates to two, Blush received 565 votes for 60.95%, Smith 232 votes for 25.03% and Eagleson with 122 votes for 13.16%. Write-in candidates received eight votes.

James Boad, owner of the Wilde Irish Pub in downtown Shelton, currently holds the seat but declined to run for re-election after one four-year term.

Blush is the owner of Nita’s Koffee Shop in downtown Shelton, runs the nonprofit 5XL Shelton Food Bank, and is the chairman of the Mason County Housing Authority Board of Directors.

On Wednesday morning, Blush told the Journal he appreciates the support from voters.

“I plan to make Shelton a cleaner, safer place to live and work,” he said.

Smith is a member of the city’s Historic Preservation Committee. She could not immediately be reached for comment.

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The Nov. 6 general election has two other seats up for grabs. Incumbent Kathy McDowell and Melissa Stearns are vying to be council member no. 2, and Mark Frazier and Tom Gilmore are competing to be member No. 5.

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Former Mason County Fire District 12 commissioners John Pais, Albert Wilder and Brian Jutson were all recalled with more than 93% of the vote Aug. 1.

Wilder received the most votes against with 349 to 21 against, for 94.32% of people voting to recall. Jutson was recalled with 348 votes to 21 against for 94.57% of the vote and Pais was recalled with 344 votes to 25 against for 93.22% of the vote.

“I am pleased to see that the community was able to stick together to see this process through,” Kristin Masteller, who led the recall efforts, wrote to the Journal in an email. “It has been a long journey and I’m proud of my neighbors for keeping focused on our goal and succeeding.”

In the primary vote for the commissioner seat left vacant due to Wilder’s resignation, Nicholas Jones ran away with the majority, garnering 287 votes for 82.71% of the vote. Jones will face Jennifer Jutson, wife of now recalled Brian Jutson, who received 32 votes for 9.22% of the vote.

The fire district has drawn the attention of state officials and agencies.

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Parents offended by the content in some of the Shelton School District’s literacy instruction books Aug. 7 were told the district is following both state laws and district policies while selecting books for students.

At a work session at CHOICE High School, the school board gathered to discuss the district’s curriculum. The session was scheduled after parents and guardians during regular board meetings in June and July complained about the content in about 10 of the 150 books for grades seven through 12 that were recommended by the district’s Instructional Materials Committee and then approved by the school board June 27.

In his opening presentation, Superintendent Wyeth Jessee said the district’s curriculum selection procedure is supported by state law and the district’s own policies. He stressed that parents who object to the politics, religion or morals in a book can request to work with the teacher to find a suitable replacement.

“The big issue is not following policy … You can get into trouble if you don’t follow the policy,” Jessee said.

“We are a nonpartisan agency,” the superintendent said. “We’re not out to promote anything.”

He added, “Some districts are slanted because they don’t represent the students themselves.”

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If you didn’t show up early, it was hard to find a seat for the public hearing Aug. 9 as the community showed up to tell Taylor Shellfish how they felt about a proposed floating oyster bag farm in Oakland Bay.

About 100 people were either in the Mason County Commissioner Chambers or just outside the room watching the hearing on a TV broadcast by MasonWebTV.

The hearing lasted four hours until the county had to close its doors at 5 p.m., and the hearing continued virtually Wednesday to allow anyone else who didn’t get an opportunity to testify the chance to do so.