Submitted by Charles Hallett, Olympia
I seldom get mixed with local politics; however, I believe we should re elect Bill McGregor. Prior to my health issues and til today, I served on boards and/or President/Chair of various organizations from: Washington Society of CPAs, American Institute of CPAs, Optimist Club, College of Southern Idaho, Boise State University, Junior Miss Scholarship Program, and more.
I spoke at conferences about taxes and financial considerations from Alaska and Hawaii to Florida.
As part of those responsibilities, I met with numerous elected officials, from: local and county to state and national elected officials. Through that, I got the opportunity to meet Bill McGregor. I am so impressed with his ability to communicate with all voters, regardless of background, race, gender or political beliefs.
I am honored and proud to support Mr. McGregor for the Port of Olympia.
Submitted by Pat Wald, Olympia
As a retired farmer, I know that marketing from a small farm is a challenge. Thurston County has lost about 75% if its farmland since the 1950’s. We need to support our remaining farms.
One way to do this is through food hubs, centrally located facilities that that connect farmers to buyers.
Food hubs help both producers and consumers. They provide centralized access to good quality organic products, at reasonable prices, in rural areas that often don’t have easy access to local products. And they are good for food security by providing food system resiliency.
Food hubs need infrastructure that is not currently being sufficiently supplied by the Port of Olympia. Maggie Sanders from Tenino, is running for Port of Olympia Commissioner and is committed to developing strategies to expand the Port’s roll in food hubs.
We should have more programs like this that have a record of success.
Let’s do more to support local businesses rather than multinational companies.
Submitted by Shellee Billings, Olympia
I am deeply troubled by the candidacy of Rose Chiu Gunderson for Olympia Port Commission. I remember that years ago she was an outspoken Christian conservative, especially opposed to LGBTQ+ rights. It’s interesting that she’s not so vocal about her conservative, bigoted views now that she’s running for election.
Gunderson testified against HB 1515 (a bill outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation) on March 22, 2005. Gunderson had some inaccurate ideas about the LGBTQ+ community, such as an implication that sexual orientation is a preference that can change at will, and an alarmist prediction that she’ll have to provide bathrooms for “bisexuals, for transexuals [sic]…”
Does this sound like someone you want to be making decisions in our community? Port Commissioners make employment decisions, and they make policy decisions. We may not know how this could affect our community – until a case comes up to show us. At the very least, it sets a really bad precedent to have someone with such astonishingly intolerant viewpoint.
In the past 20 years, Gunderson has contributed to: Thurston County Republican Central Committee, King County Republican Central Committee, Washington State Republican Party, The Faith and Freedom PAC, an anti-abortion conservative Christian organization, and Preserve Marriage WA, which tried to overturn our same-sex marriage law.
Gunderson’s silence on her history is striking. She owes us an explanation for her lack of transparency, and she owes us some honest comments about her conservative past – and if she has a conservative present and future.
Submitted by Tom Carroll, Thurston County
Decades ago, I walked to a local church auditorium, showed my driver's license to the church ladies, and sampled a few cookies. I stepped into a voting booth and carefully pressed a metal pin into the ballot, voting for people typically solely based on political party or name familiarity.
Today, it's different. I love mail-in balloting. I get up before sunrise, feed our Golden Retriever, make an Americano, and start the process. I have the voters' pamphlet, a stack of candidate mailers, and my ballot. I carefully research each candidate, reading through the mailers. But the information that best guides my decision is when I hear directly from each candidate.
I can't count the number of times I changed my vote based on what I heard and saw. That is why I was so disappointed when Troy Kirby’s opponent failed to show up for a debate last Wednesday at Gateway Rotary. I was even more surprised when she didn’t show up for a debate hosted by the Tenino Chamber that night.
A friend told me she hadn’t shown up for eleven debates in four weeks. If true, I see this behavior as disrespectful to voters and potentially disqualifying as we attempt to make the best decision for our community. It’s been said a political campaign is a job interview. I've filled in the oval next to Troy Kirby’s name for Port of Olympia Commissioner. He’s smart, does his homework, and cares about the issues. And he shows up.
Submitted by Eliane Wilson, Olympia
Voting for Commissioners on the Port of Olympia calls for an informed decision. There are several significant Port-related issues that warrant attention:
Now is the time for a real opportunity to turn the tide and install new high caliber candidates: Jasmine Vasavada, Maggie Sanders and Sarah Tonge. Making this happen with your votes will change the posture of the Port Commission and trigger well-overdue positive changes. In changing economic times, the Port needs fiscally-responsible and environmentally-conscious management of assets. Also in the mix are the use of renewable energy and job creation.
Submitted by Jim Lazar, Olympia
Our Port is a real mess. It loses money every year.
The Marine Terminal is the big money loser, costing taxpayers $2 to $4 million per year which we can treat as an annual subsidy to Weyerhaeuser. They even lose money on their yacht fueling station that charges nearly $6/gallon.
The Port collects about a third of their total revenue -- $7.5 million per year – through property taxes. The Port has made multiple serious environmental errors, and paid out millions of dollars in legal fees, fines, penalties, settlement costs, and remediation costs. It continues to move ahead on environmentally-questionable projects.
It needs bold new leadership.
District 1: I’ve known Jasmine Vasavada for many years from her work at the legislature and the Department of Commerce. She’s one of the best candidates to emerge in our community in many years. Her opponent, Bill McGregor, is a former Port Commissioner from a different district, and voted for most of the Port mistakes. Vote for Jasmine.
District 4: Maggie Sanders has a strong environmental ethic, has excellent personnel management experience, and has authored several environmental treatises. Her priorities include Open Governance, Fiscal Responsibility, Environmental Stewardship, and supporting our rural farmers. Her opponent, Rose Chiu Gundersen, is aligned with real estate developers and others with a non-environmental focus. I’m supporting Maggie.
District 5: Sarah Tonge is a computer specialist with two daughters. She is a smart and delightful young woman. Her goal is to bring the Port into conformance with community expectations with respect to environmental stewardship, restore respect for the Port professional staff, and restore fiscal integrity to our money-losing Port. Her opponent, Troy Kirby, is, frankly, an extremely poor candidate. He does not understand Port finance, and has no commitment to environmental protection. This is an easy choice for Sarah Tonge.
The League of Women Voters of Thurston County recorded a live forum last month with candidates for all three of these Port of Olympia positions. Click here to watch.
Editor's Note: Yesterday we called for letters of up to 300 words for publication today. We'll publish any additional such letters once again this Friday, October 27. Send these to danny -at- theJOLTnews dotcom or use the "Contribute your news" form above.
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Esther
I agree with Jim Lazar’s assessment. The Port has not cleaned up the toxic mess from the Cascade Pole site that is so bad that just touching the water in the East Bay is dangerous for your health, or your kid or your dog who happens to walk in the water or along the shore. The Cascade Pole site had dioxin levels magnitudes worse than Love Canal and still has not been properly cleaned up. Budd Inlet looks beautiful, but it is a dead zone with almost no life. I’m voting for Vasavada, Tonge and Sanders because they will do more to make the Port area healthy for people to enjoy and for life to flourish. And they’ll consider the needs of residents more important than those of Weyerhaeuser.
Wednesday, October 25, 2023 Report this
UC Davis
After being forwarded the mischaracterization of my former University of California, Davis co-worker, Troy Kirby in The Jolt, I felt the need to respond. Troy Kirby was a great addition to the UC Davis campus from 2012 to 2016. I was part of the team that recruited him onto our campus, where he helped oversee a $28 million annual budget of our unit, along with driving in nearly $2 million of additional revenue. He understands public entity budgets.
Kirby was also a key member of the campus which earned the Sierra Club’s national Coolest School award all four years, for his work in environmentalism and sustainability, helping creating several zero waste events for over 10,000 patrons annually.
UC Davis is not a place that anyone can work. It takes a specific mindset of operating with consensus at a campus of 35,000. That is why it is usually ranked No. 7 nationally as one of the top public schools in the country. On campus we have the Davis Way which ensures that we will not compromise our ethics, academic integrity or passion toward environment protection. Troy was a perfect fit during this time on our campus.
A Saint Martin University School of Business faculty member, Troy’s Port of Olympia campaign is supported by the Washington State Department of Ecology’s staff union (WFSE Local 872).
Troy Kirby has a proven track record of supporting the environment.
Scott Brayton
Davis, CA
Wednesday, October 25, 2023 Report this