Letters to the editor
Published on Wed, Mar 3, 2010Read More Letters
Who pays when money's stolen?
Attn: Treasurer Judy Scott,
Regarding the above theft of taxpayer dollars: Has this person/clerk been arrested and charged?
Was the theft of this money insured or do taxpayers need to be responsible for replacing the money stolen to fill the county coffers?
Has anyone else including this person's supervisor been held accountable and also fired? And if so, do they lose any retirement or other benefits like would happen in any normal business or company?
Jerry Dow
Sequim
Asking for respect
For the last several weeks, I have spent many hours and dollars to improve and redesign the Sequim Law Offices located at the corner of Second Avenue and Cedar Street.
Before I start work, I spend at least 30 minutes picking up trash including cigarette butts, pop cans, paper products and beer bottles.
This is a prime location for visitors to experience Sequim. It is just across the street from the beautiful new bus terminal.
No one loves kids more than I do, but these teens seem to think that the parking lot, lawn and flower beds belong to them. I have asked them nicely to please respect the rights of private property. The attorneys, including Christopher Shea, have asked these teens to move their vehicles from his parking lot and the lawn.
Why should we always have to remind those kids that this is a business? They should not park when they are not a client ... stand around ... use obscene language ... dump their debris and/or relieve themselves.
Please kids, be respectful of others. You are making a difference in our community. We supported you by passing the levy. Please be sensitive to the residents of Sequim.
I still really do admire our students, but hopefully they will respect the residents and business folks of our community.
Carol Labbe
Sequim
P.S. To the Sequim Police Department ... It would be nice for you all to patrol this area more than once a day.
Tomorrow belongs to OTA
There was a theater and there was a dream and there was a town called Sequim in a county called Clallam and it was the beginning of something wonderful ....
An order came to close the Howard Wood venue, but they survived; money was a problem, but they survived; "Auntie Mame" was ordered to close or move, but they survived; building requirements were changed, but they survived; sometimes it seemed the theater would never re-open, but they survived. "So Who Cares, So what?"
Eleven years later the dream has come true. "Money Makes the World Go Around" but now they are "Sitting Pretty." Feb. 5, the theater opened to its first production, "Cabaret," which was "Perfectly Marvelous."
Opening night was beautiful; the theater was beautiful; the principals were beautiful; the girls were beautiful; the supernumeraries were beautiful; the band was beautiful; the orchestra was notable; the audience so generous. "Tomorrow Belongs to (OTA)."
Ask me, I was there, and "It Couldn't Please Me More!"
Pat Nix
Sequim
Editor's note: This piece is written to echo the play's dialog and song titles.
How green is my alley?
Sequim's alleys need some attention. Take a ride down a few city and residential alleys within a half mile of the downtown center and you will be shocked, entertained, challenged and frustrated by the condition of so many of them. They have a lot of fire hazards, obstacles, trash and plenty of eyesores.
Visitors to Sequim use the alleys to explore our town. Alleys have always been the way to see backyards, gardens, etc., in any town I've ever lived in.
Alleys in Sequim are used for shortcuts, of course, for residents, visitors and school kids.
I know two people that use the alleys frequently, because of various "disabilities." They use the alleys to avoid traffic for the most part, so the alleys should be in good enough condition - including the enforcement of speed limits (15 mph) for them to navigate on foot or in wheelchairs or electric scooters. Lots of locals also walk their dogs in the alley or use the alley for a bicycle path through town.
Property owners might want to make an effort to clean up the alley behind their homes or rentals. Alley projects would be a good project for any civic group. A day's work in one block of an alley would make a dramatic statement.
Use Google to find "alley projects" and note the number of areas that have put effort into "greening" their alleys - making attractive and alternate paths through the city, cleaning up trash and improving their town with little or no money.
Thomas Pitre
Sequim
Don't 'scoop' funds for brain injured
The governor proposed - and the House and Senate seem to agree to - the "scooping" of $2 million from the Traumatic Brain Injury Account. It was established by the Tommy Manning Act (RCW 74.31), which recognized the state's historic underserving of people with traumatic brain injuries, including veterans.
Of the $2,908,000 potentially in the TBI Account for FY 2011, 68.7 percent, $2 million, is
being diverted.
The state TBI Council, created by the Tommy Manning Act, identified critical needs to save lives and reduce the severity of these injuries. The council has been unable to access many of these funds due to legislative inaction, and now the Legislature is taking them away.
Half of 1 percent of every state construction project is set aside for on-site art. State Sen. Mike Carrell estimates that the art funds at one or two state construction projects would be enough to prevent the scooping of the TBI Account. Disability Rights Washington has looked but not found any scooping proposal for the Art in Public Places funds in the capital and operating budgets.
In these difficult times, why not delay art projects until the financial crisis is over and use the money to save the TBI Account for its statutorily intended purposes?
We think Washington citizens understand the priority to our wounded soldiers and others with traumatic brain injuries. We are not against art. We just don't understand why this dedicated fund is subject to scooping when others are not.
The TBI Account was established because of underserving of those with traumatic brain injuries. It is unjust that they must bear the brunt of budgetary relief in times of recession as well.
Mark Stroh
Disability Rights Washington
Seattle
Attn: Treasurer Judy Scott,
Regarding the above theft of taxpayer dollars: Has this person/clerk been arrested and charged?
Was the theft of this money insured or do taxpayers need to be responsible for replacing the money stolen to fill the county coffers?
Has anyone else including this person's supervisor been held accountable and also fired? And if so, do they lose any retirement or other benefits like would happen in any normal business or company?
Jerry Dow
Sequim
Asking for respect
For the last several weeks, I have spent many hours and dollars to improve and redesign the Sequim Law Offices located at the corner of Second Avenue and Cedar Street.
Before I start work, I spend at least 30 minutes picking up trash including cigarette butts, pop cans, paper products and beer bottles.
This is a prime location for visitors to experience Sequim. It is just across the street from the beautiful new bus terminal.
No one loves kids more than I do, but these teens seem to think that the parking lot, lawn and flower beds belong to them. I have asked them nicely to please respect the rights of private property. The attorneys, including Christopher Shea, have asked these teens to move their vehicles from his parking lot and the lawn.
Why should we always have to remind those kids that this is a business? They should not park when they are not a client ... stand around ... use obscene language ... dump their debris and/or relieve themselves.
Please kids, be respectful of others. You are making a difference in our community. We supported you by passing the levy. Please be sensitive to the residents of Sequim.
I still really do admire our students, but hopefully they will respect the residents and business folks of our community.
Carol Labbe
Sequim
P.S. To the Sequim Police Department ... It would be nice for you all to patrol this area more than once a day.
Tomorrow belongs to OTA
There was a theater and there was a dream and there was a town called Sequim in a county called Clallam and it was the beginning of something wonderful ....
An order came to close the Howard Wood venue, but they survived; money was a problem, but they survived; "Auntie Mame" was ordered to close or move, but they survived; building requirements were changed, but they survived; sometimes it seemed the theater would never re-open, but they survived. "So Who Cares, So what?"
Eleven years later the dream has come true. "Money Makes the World Go Around" but now they are "Sitting Pretty." Feb. 5, the theater opened to its first production, "Cabaret," which was "Perfectly Marvelous."
Opening night was beautiful; the theater was beautiful; the principals were beautiful; the girls were beautiful; the supernumeraries were beautiful; the band was beautiful; the orchestra was notable; the audience so generous. "Tomorrow Belongs to (OTA)."
Ask me, I was there, and "It Couldn't Please Me More!"
Pat Nix
Sequim
Editor's note: This piece is written to echo the play's dialog and song titles.
How green is my alley?
Sequim's alleys need some attention. Take a ride down a few city and residential alleys within a half mile of the downtown center and you will be shocked, entertained, challenged and frustrated by the condition of so many of them. They have a lot of fire hazards, obstacles, trash and plenty of eyesores.
Visitors to Sequim use the alleys to explore our town. Alleys have always been the way to see backyards, gardens, etc., in any town I've ever lived in.
Alleys in Sequim are used for shortcuts, of course, for residents, visitors and school kids.
I know two people that use the alleys frequently, because of various "disabilities." They use the alleys to avoid traffic for the most part, so the alleys should be in good enough condition - including the enforcement of speed limits (15 mph) for them to navigate on foot or in wheelchairs or electric scooters. Lots of locals also walk their dogs in the alley or use the alley for a bicycle path through town.
Property owners might want to make an effort to clean up the alley behind their homes or rentals. Alley projects would be a good project for any civic group. A day's work in one block of an alley would make a dramatic statement.
Use Google to find "alley projects" and note the number of areas that have put effort into "greening" their alleys - making attractive and alternate paths through the city, cleaning up trash and improving their town with little or no money.
Thomas Pitre
Sequim
Don't 'scoop' funds for brain injured
The governor proposed - and the House and Senate seem to agree to - the "scooping" of $2 million from the Traumatic Brain Injury Account. It was established by the Tommy Manning Act (RCW 74.31), which recognized the state's historic underserving of people with traumatic brain injuries, including veterans.
Of the $2,908,000 potentially in the TBI Account for FY 2011, 68.7 percent, $2 million, is
being diverted.
The state TBI Council, created by the Tommy Manning Act, identified critical needs to save lives and reduce the severity of these injuries. The council has been unable to access many of these funds due to legislative inaction, and now the Legislature is taking them away.
Half of 1 percent of every state construction project is set aside for on-site art. State Sen. Mike Carrell estimates that the art funds at one or two state construction projects would be enough to prevent the scooping of the TBI Account. Disability Rights Washington has looked but not found any scooping proposal for the Art in Public Places funds in the capital and operating budgets.
In these difficult times, why not delay art projects until the financial crisis is over and use the money to save the TBI Account for its statutorily intended purposes?
We think Washington citizens understand the priority to our wounded soldiers and others with traumatic brain injuries. We are not against art. We just don't understand why this dedicated fund is subject to scooping when others are not.
The TBI Account was established because of underserving of those with traumatic brain injuries. It is unjust that they must bear the brunt of budgetary relief in times of recession as well.
Mark Stroh
Disability Rights Washington
Seattle
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Your opinions on issues of community interest and your reaction to stories and editorials contained in your Sequim Gazette are important to us and to your fellow readers. Thus our rules relating to letters submitted for publication are relatively simple.
• Letters are welcome. Letters exceeding 250 words may be shortened. We strive to publish all letters.
• Letters are subject to editing for spelling and grammar; we contact the writer when substantial changes are required, sending the letter back to the writer for revisions. Personal attacks and unsubstantiated allegations are not printed.
• All letters must have a valid signature, with a printed name, address and phone number for verification. Only the name and town/community are printed.
• Deadline for letters to appear in the next publication is noon Friday. Because of the volume of letters, not all letters are published the week they are submitted. Time-sensitive letters have a priority.
• Letters are published subject to legal limitations relating to defamation and factual representation.
• To submit letters, deliver to 147 W. Washington St., Sequim; mail to P.O. Box 1750, Sequim, WA 98382; fax to 360-683-6670 or e-mail news@sequimgazette.com.
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