Vote yes on Props 1, 2
A library is an essential element of any strong and vibrant community.
Sequim is fortunate to have an amazing library staff who fabulously meet the needs of the residents locally. The library itself, however, is in dire need of updating to be better able to serve Sequim and Clallam County residents. New and upgraded space is needed to expand the library collection, offer public meeting space, define areas for youth and young adults, designate computer-use space, and provide for quiet study.
Our library is a true gem, sparkling in the heart of Sequim. Since moving to the peninsula 22 years ago, our family has spent countless hours at the Sequim branch, participating in programs, checking out books, gathering information, and enhancing our educational experiences.
We owe the Sequim branch staff much gratitude for their unwavering customer service excellence and cheerful assistance.
We will happily vote yes on Propositions 1 and 2 to provide additional opportunities for our fellow citizens to engage, learn, grow, and access resources.
Where else can we support and access education, literacy, understanding, imagination, music, community connections, social and civic engagement, technology, art, culture, STEM learning, job skills training, business support, and so much more, for only $5 per month?
On Nov. 6, please vote “yes” on Propositions 1 and 2 for a new Sequim Branch Library and celebrate your contribution to the betterment of our local community!
Ray and Ann Marie Henninger family
Sequim
Return Benedict to office
It is an honor to support our current Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict for re-election.
Our first interaction with the Sheriff’s department came after our house burglary in 2013. We found the sheriff’s team to be responsive, professional, and sympathetic to our trauma.
Sheriff Benedict helped us through the process and actively sought to find and arrest the perpetrator. He even joined us at the court hearing we were attending. We found him to be fair, honest, intelligent and level-headed.
Since then, we have been impressed with Sheriff Benedict’s common sense approach to resolving issues in our community. He has helped many community members start “Neighborhood Watch” programs to promote safety in their home areas.
His dedication is obvious, since he was the first sheriff to achieve full Accreditation by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs to our county. In our 32 years of living here in Sequim, we have never seen a higher public confidence in his department.
His efforts to get out into the community keep him abreast of the concerns of the citizens he is dedicated to serve.
We hope you will join us and cast your vote for Bill Benedict.
Elna and Ray Kawal
Sequim
Vote for Hayden
One of the most important offices held is judicial. Yet, people tend to know the least about it. There are many reasons why but one of the most common reasons is if you haven’t experiences the courts, you tend not to know about each one and how they differ from each other.
Judicial races are one of the most important elections because they lay the foundation of the land, our community. You may not directly feel the courts effect you but they may indirectly. It’s up to us, the citizens, to learn about the candidates and how they would impact our courts and communities.
I’m a volunteer for Suzanne Hayden. I know she will represent the people through her passion for justice, the law, professionalism, and respect.
Suzanne has one of the most important quality for any judge, objectively. She is willing to listen to both sides and look past her own biases. She would also be the kind of judge that might have to make a ruling that is unpopular by being able to do the right thing and making an impartial decision.
I feel confident that if anyone from our community experiences her on the bench she would handle it with fairness, professionalism, respect, and objectively.
This confirms for me that Suzanne would be the perfect fit for District Court I. Suzanne has my support.
Become an informed citizen, be a part of the change our community needs. Vote for Suzanne Hayden for District Court I in November.
Rachel Ringer
Port Angeles
‘Suckers’ if pollution runs rampant
A cartoon was published in the Sept. 26, 2018 Sequim Gazette (page A-10) commenting on Initiative 1631. The message implied by the cartoon — the cartoon’s originator can correct me if I have misinterpreted their intent — is that Initiative 1631 will increase in the cost of gasoline and electricity and will accomplish nothing regarding climate change and will provide no benefit to those currently paying the increase costs.
Therefore, those voting in favor of Initiative 1631 are “suckers.”
Using this same logic, I would pose that those who go to the extra effort to recycle, purchase energy efficient appliances or cars or light bulbs are also “suckers.” Why do anything today that does not put money in my pocket?
Why do anything today that only benefits the future and merely slows down the environmental decay caused from pollution to our air and water and increases in carbon emissions to our atmosphere? Why would anyone care about our children’s future and the quality of their lives?
Why should we in a small state like Washington try to do what we can to promote a better environment? Let someone else shoulder the burden, let someone else pay the expense, let someone else be stewards of the environment.
I choose to view this differently. I am a new resident of Washington. I was born in Cleveland, Ohio. I remember a river that was so polluted that it burned. I remember a lake so polluted that it stank and supported only bottom feeders that lived off trash. I remember air so filthy that you could not see the horizon.
But in my lifetime I have seen changes, positive changes. I do not want us to go back – I want us to go forward. I want us to take the responsibility to make changes for the better.
This initiative would charge pollution fees on sources of greenhouse gas pollutants and use the revenue to reduce pollution, promote clean energy and address climate impacts. I am hopeful that others would follow our example. And maybe we will be fortunate to see the benefit of those changes.
Maybe the benefits will only be experienced by those that come after us. But, we would be “suckers” if we do not try.
Deborah McKean
Sequim
