Journal Shelton-Mason County
Thursday, November 24, 2011
— Week 47 — The Voice of Mason County since 1886 — Published in Shelton, Washington — $1
Property tax board broke eight laws By NATALIE JOHNSON A Washington Department of Revenue (DOR) audit has found that the Mason County Board of Equalization, a quasi-judicial body that handles local property tax appeals, was out of compliance with state law in at least eight areas. The audit also made five additional recommendations for board of equalization changes that “are in the best interest of all parties” that “will improve service to the public.” The audit comes at a time when Mason County is transitioning from a four-year assessment
process where homes in separate quadrants of the county are evaluated every four years to annual, countywide assessment. That move, in part, combined with a deep recession that many felt devalued their homes, has led to a record number of petitions to appeal property tax rates to Mason County’s Board of Equalization, said Emmet Dobey, Utilities and Waste Director for the county. The county received twice the number of appeals for 2010 property tax rates than it expected, Dobey said. “We had 400 [appeals] last year and we anticipated only having
200,” he said. “We are just now beginning to process 2010 appeals. We’re a year behind in appeals.” Normally, the Board of Equalization would not fall under the authority of a utilities director, Dobey added. “Two or three years ago when they started cutting staff they were looking at where there might be some flexibility in schedules,” he said. “We had a clerk in utilities who was working part time.” Dobey expects that the board should be done with 2010 appeals by January 2012, and then be able to immediately start on 2011 appeals after that.
The board of equalization received so many complaints from the public that DOR’s Property Tax Division began an audit on the board’s practices over the summer. On November 15, the property tax division issued its final report on its limited-in-scope investigation. The report found eight things that the board must do to come into compliance with state laws and suggested five additional changes to board practices. “The Department’s [of Revenue] review focuses on requirements the Board and Clerk must
take to be in compliance with the laws, rules, and recommendations to improve the Board’s processes and procedures,” the report states. “The Department has received a large volume of questions and concerns from Mason County property owners after their 2010 assessment year appeal.” First, the Department stated that the board is required to consider all applicable evidence when determining market value of properties. The Department stated that the board should not continue to See Tax on page A-7
Widow of shot man seeks damages By KEVAN MOORE The widow of a brushpicker who was shot and killed while gathering salal in Shelton has filed a wrongful death lawsuit. The civil complaint, filed in Pierce County Superior Court by the widow, Marta Gomez-Mendoza, names the G.R. Kirk Company, Two Noble Guys, LLC and Hiawatha, Inc. as defendants. Also named as defendants are Shelton residents Gerald Wayne Aldrich and his wife, Rachael. Gerald Aldrich was found not guilty of manslaughter by a Mason County jury following the shooting death of Carlos Pablo-Carrillo. Gerald Aldrich, who had a hunting license and a bear tag, testified at trial that he mistook Pablo-Carrillo for a bear while he stood about See Widow on page A-7 Journal photos by Natalie Johnson
Mason General Hospital Foundation President Janis Byrd, left, and Fantasy Forest Chair Marian Greenberg attended the Deck the Halls Holiday Bazaar at the Pavilion at Sentry Park on Friday. Behind them is a tree called “Byrd’s of Paradise,” designed in Byrd’s honor.
Fantasy Forest decks the halls Annual holiday fundraiser takes in thousands By NATALIE JOHNSON Fantasy Forest-ers turned out in droves for this year’s annual Mason County Hospital Association fundraiser, themed “Midnight and Ice.” Each November the hospital association puts together a week of galas, bazaars, dances and days otherwise filled with entertainment to raise money for a worthy cause, said hospital association past president and Chair of Fantasy Forest Marian Greenberg. “The purpose of the fund is to raise funds for equipment for Mason General Hospital and Family of Clinics,” she said. A net profit from Fantasy Forest was not available as of the Journal’s press time. Greenberg has been involved with the association
and Fantasy Forest for 16 years. Last year, all funds collected at Fantasy Forest went to fund an open MRI machine for the hospital. Together with Treasures thrift store, the Mason County Hospital Association raised $204,500 for the hospital, Greenberg said. This year, she said, some funds will still go toward the purchase of the MRI. Also, Fantasy Forest’s 2011 FundAn-Item was a Neoprobe Gamma Detection System. The Gamma Detection System is a device that facilitates minimally invasive surgeries, like lymph node biopsies for cancer patients. The system uses wireless probes and Bluetooth Technology. Gala and Auction attendees helped fund the Gamma Detection System, which costs $44,000. Starting last Tuesday, Fantasy Forest put on 11 different events, including the Fantasy Laugh Factory comedy night, a father/ daughter dance, the Deck the Halls Holiday Bazaar and the final Gala on Saturday night. The highlights of Fantasy Forest for many people are the custom decorated
Christmas Trees up for Auction. All 15 donated Christmas trees were on display at the Holiday Bazaar Saturday. One tree in particular was very special to Greenberg. The “Byrd’s of Paradise” tree was created for her long time friend, Mason County Hospital Association President Janis Byrd, who is fighting ovarian cancer. Karry Trout and Jody Olsen designed the tree. “It’s spectacular,” Byrd said. “I’ve been absolutely overwhelmed. The gal that designed it and her coworker wanted to do it in April and they asked me if it was okay. I just broke down.” Byrd’s tree sold for $4,200, Greenberg said. Trees generally sell at auction for between $1,000 and $4,000, she said. After 16 years of Fantasy Forest, Greenberg said people just keep coming back. “It grows every year,” she said. “What keeps people coming back is the knowledge that all the money goes to their local hospital.” More than 400 people volunteered at Fantasy Forest this year, Greenberg said. “It overwhelms me every year,” she said.
Christmas basket fund kicks off By KEVAN MOORE
Designer Christmas trees go on auction every year at the Mason General Hospital Foundation’s Fantasy Forest to help raise money for the hospital. This tree was decorated with sock monkeys and Radio Flyer wagons.
Things are off to a promising start for the 65th annual Christmas basket fund sponsored by the 40 et 8 and the Shelton Mason CountyJournal. So far, some $2,849 has been raised and this year’s goal is $40,000. The largest donation to date, comes from the Yesteryear Car Club which cut a check for $1,250. Here is a look at the other donations that have been made so far: Mason County Auxillary 1694 VFW $50; D. Groth, $50; Ferdinand Schmitz, $100; Dudley and Ann Panchot, $125; an nonymous $125 donation in memory of: Allen and Mabel, Earl and Thelma, Johnnie and Marian, Eileen, and Marlo; Frankie Zehrung, $210; Jerry’s Dinner, $439; and Cabane 135, $500. Donations to support the Christmas food baskets may be mailed to the Journal at P.O. Box 430, Shelton 98584 or dropped off at the newspaper office located at 227 West Cota Street during business hours. Make checks payable to: Journal — 40 et 8 fund.
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Marta Gomez-Mendoza, right, grieves for her husband, Carlos PabloCarrillo, during a candlelight vigil at Post Office Park on Friday, Oct. 8, 2010. Gomez-Mendoza recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Pierce County Superior Court.
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instills taxpayer confidence in the Board,” according to the review. This particular problem has already Continued from page A-1 been addressed, the review states. The last of the eight requirements has exclude sales that occurred outside of Mason County when they are submitted as also been addressed by the board. This year board held hearings past its regular 28-day evidence of actual home values. “The goal of boards of equalization is to session in an attempt to finish 2010 apdetermine the true and fair market value peals. According to state law, the board has of the subject property during an appeal. to request approval to go over the allotted To do this, the board must examine all evi- 28 days by its county legislative authority (the Mason County Commission). dence,” the report stated. “For some reason we didn’t understand The report also found that at least in one incident the board did not give an appellant that and worked more than 28 days,” Doadequate notice before a hearing. Accord- bey said. In October, the commission approved ing to the law, appellants must be notified extending the board’s session, and allotted 15 days prior to a hearing. The board is also required to issue orders $10,000 to fund the extra time. Dobey said giving concrete reasons for its decision. The the money had to come from the general review found that the board did not do this. fund rather than the utilities budget. The review also included five suggestions “The orders reviewed do not explain how the Board arrived at their decision. The to improve the performance of the board. According to the review, one particular statement that the burden of proof was not met or clear, cogent and convincing petition had a received date stamp of Noevidence was not provided does not offer a vember 5, 2010, but the “receipt of petition” reason for the decision made,” the review letter to the appellant was signed two days earlier, on Nov. 3. states. In addition, DOR suggested the board The review also found that the board clerk did not keep and publish a record of clerk more carefully track received petithe board’s proceedings as is required by tions. The review also suggested more carefulboth RCWs and WACs. While the clerk did keep records, they ly recording hearings so proceedings were were not in accordance with the law’s re- audible, and not waiting for a review by the Assessor’s office to schedule a hearing. quirements. The board clerk is also encouraged to The review also outlines guidelines for accepting late or incomplete petitions. An maintain a log of all petitions submitappeal petition has to be filed completely ted, both complete and incomplete. It was further suggested by DOR that the board and on time for the board to consider it. However, the board can review late-sub- places all applicable forms on the county website. mitted evidence at its discretion. County officials hope appeals will deAlso, the review found that the clerk of the board of equalization did not keep con- crease when the county assessors office befidential information in a separate location gins its annual revaluations of property in from public information. According to the 2012. “We won’t really know what affect it has review, some of that confidential information was shredded immediately after board until we get all our information,” said Assessor Melody Peterson. “There shouldn’t hearings. “Proper handling of evidence and tes- be the increases or decreases we see on the timony ensures confidential information scale of the four-year evaluation. It should will not be disclosed inappropriately and be more reflective of the current market.” Shelton-Mason County Journal -Thursday, November 24, 2011 - Page A-7
Journal Shelton-Mason County
Thursday, January 5, 2012
— Week 1 — The Voice of Mason County since 1886 — Published in Shelton, Washington — $1
An Angel Among us
BOE makes changes after Revenue report By NATALIE JOHNSON A few weeks after the Washington State Department of Revenue (DOR) released a final report stating that the Mason County Board of Equalization failed to comply with state law in eight different ways, the group has already made several changes. BOE chair Darryl Cleveland said even before the final report, the board had made several changes in response to an earlier DOR draft. “We’ve already instigated most of these – we were fine with it,” he said, referring to the DORs suggested changes to BOE practices. The Board of Equalization’s duty is to hear appeals on home values determined by the Mason County Assessor’s Office. The board can either overturn or uphold a home value determined by the assessor’s office. These home values determine a resident’s property tax rates. The DOR’s final report, issued in November, listed eight instances in which the Mason County BOE did not follow several Washington Administrative Codes (WAC) and Revised Codes of Washington (RCWs). Cleveland, who worked in the Mason County Assessor’s office for 34 years, with the last eight as the county assessor and has served on the Board of Equalization since 2008, said he doesn’t
believe the BOE broke any laws. “It wasn’t a breaking of the law, it was we weren’t fully compliant with the statutes,” he said. “There were no laws broken. It was just a non-compliance.” About six months Darryl Cleveland ago, the DOR first contacted the board after receiving complaints from citizens who had filed appeals on their assessed property values. “They said they wanted to do an audit of the board’s procedures,” Cleveland said. “They wanted to hear tapes of the procedures and how they went about conducting the meetings.” Panther Lake resident Jennifer Sims, who lives on the Mason County side of the lake, sent a letter on June 27, 2011 to Kathy Beith and Diann Locke at the DOR and Washington Attorney Rob McKenna to report what she felt were major problems in the Mason County Assessor’s Office and the BOE. “Many of my neighbors and I have serious concerns about the integrity and competence of the Mason County Assessor’s Office,” she wrote. See BOE on page A-3
Shooting leads to an arrest By KEVAN MOORE
Journal photo by Natalie Johnson
After surviving 22 years of slavery in an international human trafficking ring, Debra (DJ) Lopez is on a mission to save other people who are victimized in similar situations.
Shelton woman fights human trafficking By NATALIE JOHNSON
T
here are some words or phrases that sound alien in many of our comfortable modern lives – human trafficking is one of them. “Slavery,” “human trafficking,” “drug mules” – many people feel that these things couldn’t possibly happen in our country, our state, our town or our backyard. But they can, says Shelton woman Debra (DJ) Lopez. And they have.
Lopez knows firsthand the horrors of the international human trafficking industry, and since 2007, when she founded her nonprofit organization Angels in the Field, has dedicated her life to helping victims and educating the public about the pervasive problem. “We have a responsibility toward humanity,” she said. This month, Lopez is flying to India to spend six months working with government officials and local organizations to educate the public about human trafficking and work to eradicate the problem. “You don’t know who can be a victim, you
don’t know who can be a perpetrator … anybody can be a perpetrator,” she said. Lopez was born in New York City but as a teenager her mother took her on a trip to visit her grandmother, who lived in India. After less than 24 hours in India, Lopez’s mother sold her into slavery. After some time in India, she was sold again in Germany. Lopez spent a total of 22 years as a victim of human trafficking. “I was sold when I was 14 years old – I became a victim very young,” she said. Lopez is not afraid to tell her painful story, if only to prevent anyone else suffering the pain she did. After some time in Germany, her captors forced her to help run their multi-million dollar organization. Lopez was granted a position of some authority, but the abuse and victimization never stopped. “If I didn’t do what they told me to do I was beaten or tortured,” she said. “It’s something that’s mental – the control, it’s always there.” When her captors discovered that Lopez was a U.S. citizen, they used her as a mule to smuggle drugs into the country in December 1999, she said. After landing in Texas – Lopez still isn’t sure what city – she saw her chance and made a break for it. She escaped from her captor in the airport and has never looked back. “It was a miracle, it was my time to be See Angel on page A-2
Shelton resident Colon S. Ward, 31, was arrested New Year’s Day following a scuffle and shooting in Hoodsport. According to the Mason County Sheriff’s Office, Ward was arrested at Mason General Hospital under investigation of first-degree assault (DV) and unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree. Deputies responded to a residence in the 19000 block of Highway 101, in the Minerva Terrace area, at 1:54 p.m.
Sunday. The investigation disclosed that Ward became involved in the altercation when he learned his wife was going to leave him. According to deputies, Ward became angry at the news and started yelling and making threats. Ward’s father-in-law then intervened trying to calm the situation and eventually armed himself with a rifle because of his fear of Ward. Deputies say that a scuffle broke out between Ward and the father-inlaw and Ward allegedly fired a shot.
Deputies also say that during the altercation, Ward’s sister-in-law became afraid for the safety of her father and armed herself with a pipe. Deputies say she struck Ward twice with the pipe in the head. Ward’s wife and father-in-law were then able to disarm Ward and restrain him. Ward was treated by medics and transported to Mason General Hospital in Shelton. He was subsequently arrested at Mason General and booked into the Mason County Jail.
Vote set on lodging tax funds By NATALIE JOHNSON The Mason County Board of Commissioners plans to vote on recommendations for 2012 tourism grant funding from the Mason County Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 17. The commission will also have a Monday, Jan. 9 briefing on the issue. One of the LTAC committee’s recommendations, to reorganize the way local organizations handle tourism management, needs further review, said Mason County Commissioner Steve Bloomfield, a non-voting member of the committee. “I think it’s something that definitely needs some further discussion and clarification and explanation as time goes by,” he said at Tuesday’s county commission meeting. During the LTAC meeting on Monday, Dec. 12, committee members voted to reject a $95,000 grant proposal from the Shelton-Mason County Chamber of
Commerce for general tourism management, which was an identical amount to a grant the LTAC committee approved the previous year. Instead, the committee recommended that the county approve a proposal to give $36,000 in grant funds to Olympic Broadcasting, which owns local radio station KMAS, for tourism marketing. “There’s been a lot of comment to me from the public,” Bloomfield said. The county commission needs to vote to approve or reject the LTAC committee’s recommendation. The county commissioners reiterated that they need time to discuss the issue in a briefing session on Monday, Jan. 9, as well as a regular commission meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 17. “I’m getting a lot of questions about it … I found myself confused and somewhat uninformed about what was going on,” Commissioner Lynda Ring Erickson said. See LTAC on page A-6
Commissioner candidate not allowed to testify at meeting By NATALIE JOHNSON The Mason County Board of Commissioners denied county resident Randy Churchill the right to
speak in a commission meeting on Tuesday, citing his status as an officially filed candidate in the 2012 county commission elections. Churchill recently filed with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) to run for Mason County Commissioner in District 2, currently held by Tim
Shelton, as a Republican. Churchill denied that anything he had to say contained a campaign message. “I think these are important issues that everyone needs to hear,” he said. According to Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 42.17.130, “No elective official … may use or au-
thorize the use of any of the facilities of a public office or agency, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of assisting a campaign for election of any person to any office.” According to PDC spokesman Lori Anderson, neither sitting commissioners nor audience members should make campaign-related
comments during public testimony. “We have told cities and counties that it’s kind of a blanket prohibition – the people that are in office right now can’t be talking about their campaigns and the people who are in the audience can’t be See Candidate on page A-3
BOE Continued from page A-1 In the letter, Sims informed the DOR that the Assessor’s office and the BOE, which are separate entities, were not using comparable home values in separate counties to set property values in Mason County. The letter detailed problems with the BOE accepting private appraisals, or its willingness to adjust property values to match current conditions. The DOR sent a reply in November, citing “inconsistencies in appraisal methods” in the Mason County Assessor’s office. “We found there was a lack of standardized practices and structured procedures to guide appraisers in their work. Uniformity in assessed values is dependent on standardized procedures and processes,” wrote Mike Braaten, manager of the County Performance and Administration Program, in the letter. The letter also addressed Sims’ concerns about private appraisals being excluded. “The board accepted the appraisal as market evidence
for the appeal, yet chose to disregard the information for some unknown reason,” Braaten’s letter reads. “The board’s order should have addressed the reason(s) why this appraisal did or did not convince them of the subject’s market value.” Cleveland said officials at DOR said there were several other equilization boards in Washington under review. The week after the DOR issued its final report, the Mason County Board of Commissioners voted to send the BOE a letter asking them to clarify what efforts they had made to come into compliance with state law. The BOE sent the commission its reply the week before Christmas, Cleveland said. Mason County Commissioner Lynda Ring Erickson said she is satisfied with the progress made by the board. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to Darryl (Cleveland) about it,” she said. “I’ve worked with him in the past. He’s the kind of person in my opinion who always tries to do things well.” Ring Erickson said the county would work to make sure all of the issues are addressed.
“We’re fully committed to getting it done and doing it right,” she said. In every instance but one, the BOE is making changes to comply with DOR requests. In its final report, the Department of Revenue first stated that the board needs to consider all applicable evidence during an appeal hearing. The DOR report further said that the board was required to consider similar home values across county lines. This is one of the problems Sims first raised in June. “The assessors (and BOE) have ignored taxpayers’ requests to consider and question or reconcile the difference in the Mason County assessed land values compared to the neighboring Kitsap County land values of nearidentical properties. Mason County’s values on all its Panther Lake properties are roughly 100 percent greater than Kitsap’s,” Sims wrote. Cleveland disagrees that the BOE didn’t ever consider all applicable evidence. He said he wasn’t sure why the DOR thought they didn’t. “They were considered – but the Mason County Assessor’s Office had enough
sales in Mason County that they gave that more weight,” he said. “We honestly don’t know.” Kevin Crane owns two parcels of land on Panther Lake. One half-acre lakefront parcel with a 40 percent downgrade sits in Mason County, while the second, a slightly larger lakefront parcel, is in Kitsap County. In 2010, Crane said he got a rude awakening. The larger Kitsap parcel went down in value from $114,000 to $103,000, while the adjoining Mason County parcel went up, from $95,000 to $206,000. Crane appealed to the BOE with a prepared 12-page brief and 285 pages of supporting documents. The BOE denied his appeal, with little explanation, he said. “They flat ignored all of my evidence,” he said. “I presented 35 comparable listings … the BOE wrote me a letter saying I didn’t provide clear and convincing evidence.” The BOE has addressed the report’s other concerns, Cleveland said. “It was all record keeping – we weren’t keeping enough records and in enough detail,” he said.
Specifically, the board plans to make changes as follows: The board will now mail notices out a full four weeks before a hearing date and give more detailed decisions to appellants. The board will now use DOR guidelines to publish records of hearings, and will post those records to its web page on the Mason County website. The BOE is also now reviewing its procedures relating to accepting petitions and revising their “Letter of Denial” for incomplete or late submissions. The board believes it is in compliance with the report’s sixth issue, which requires the BOE to use discretion as to how to proceed with evidence submitted by appellants. The board will also do a better job maintaining confidential information. Cleveland said in some cases this was not happening before the draft report. “All the copies are shredded and now the originals are in sealed envelopes and in a locked case,” he said. The last issue, that the board cannot meet for more than 28 days in a year without county commission approval, was resolved before
the final report came out. Cleveland said he isn’t sure why appellants filed complaints with the Department of Revenue and the State Auditor’s Office. “I don’t exactly know what was said to the Department of Revenue or the State Auditor’s Office,” he said. “I don’t understand what their thinking was.” Cleveland said that some appellants do not understand the appeal process. “We run a pretty tight meeting and a lot of times the appellant comes totally unprepared,” he said. Cleveland said emotions tend to get pretty heated in BOE appeal hearings. “There have been times when I’ve closed the meeting because it was getting personal,” he said. Both the BOE and the assessors office hope yearly property revaluations will help decrease the amount of appeals coming in to the board. In 2010, 445 appeals were submitted to the BOE. In December, 2011, the board was still sorting through these appeals. In 2011, however, the board only received 150. The board plans to be finished with 2011 appeals by
City swears in new commissioners By NATALIE JOHNSON The City of Shelton commission welcomed two new members during its Tuesday evening meeting. Shelton Municipal Court Judge George Steele swore in new Commissioner of Finance Mike Olsen and new Shelton Mayor and Commissioner of Public Safety Gary Cronce before the start of Tuesday’s meeting. After being sworn in, Cronce addressed the members of the public in attendance.
“I’m looking forward to being a team player,” he said. “We need Shelton to be a business-friendly city.” The commissioners decided to discuss what boards and committees they prefer to serve on during a retreat meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Friday at the city’s public safety building on Franklin Street. In the first meeting of 2012, the city also listened to a proposal by the Mason County Senior Activities Center to apply with the city for a Community Development Block Grant. The senior
center wants to apply for $1 million of grant funding to help purchase the Mason County PUD 3 complex on Cota Street in downtown Shelton. The city commission also listened to a first reading of an ordinance to sell several Water and Sewer Revenue Bonds to begin paying off short-term loans to the United States Department of Agriculture for the construction of the city’s new wastewater treatment plant. The city plans to sell four bonds, totaling nearly $25 million to the USDA to pay back the loans.
Belfair man busted with 1 million child porn pics ever since,” Byrd said. Byrd said that investigators are comparing images taken from the man’s computer with those in a national database in order to identify the victims and their ages. He said that the outside police agencies were called in because of their expertise in such matters. Byrd said that no local children have been identified in any of the images seized
from Oars’ home. Oars is being held in the Mason County Jail under investigation for both possessing and viewing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Oars was expected to make his first Mason County Superior Court appearance sometime today, Thursday, Jan. 5. Byrd said that Oars has no prior criminal convictions.
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Belfair resident Donald Ryan Oars, 67, was arrested this week for allegedly possessing more than one million images of child pornography. Oars’ arrest Wednesday morning following the execution of a search warrant at his home in the 100 block of Rocky Point Lane comes after a more than two-year investigation by the Mason
County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’ office also had assistance from the Washington State Patrol, the Squaxin Island Public Safety Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Mason County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Dean Byrd said that the investigation began in April 2009 following a tip from one of the Oars’ family members. “We’ve been working on it
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County elects chair, discusses committees By NATALIE JOHNSON The first action in 2012 of the Mason County Board of Commissioners was to reappoint Commissioner Lynda Ring Erickson as commission chair. “I would be honored,” Ring Erickson said. Ring Erickson and Commissioner Tim Sheldon reviewed when each of them had previously served as chair. Ring Erickson recalled that she had served as chair in 2006 and 2007, then again in 2011. Sheldon served as chair in 2008 and 2009. Ross Gallagher served as chair in 2010, they said. Commissioner Steve Bloomfield, who was appointed in October, declared that he had no desire to serve as chair before he moved to appoint Ring Erickson. The commission all briefly discussed whether to consider instating a policy that would only allow a county resident to serve in one advi-
sory committee at a time. The discussion came about when the commission needed to approve a motion to appoint a group of citizens to the Transportation Improvement Program Citizens Advisory Panel (TIP-CAP). One of the appointees is Belfair resident Ken VanBuskirk, who already serves on the Mason County Planning Advisory Committee. “I like the idea of having citizens only serve on one committee – a broader representation I think would be a good thing,” Sheldon said. Commissioner Bloomfield agreed, saying if too many committees had the same people serving on them, special interests could start determining county policy. “I think we should keep it to one if we can,” he said. However Sheldon suggested that this rule could be relaxed for ad hoc, or shortterm committees, such as one he proposed later in the meeting to look at the bound-
aries of the Belfair Urban Growth Area (UGA). However, Sheldon then switched directions, and said that because the TIP-CAP is a committee with no membership limit, it would be OK for VanBuskirk to serve on it as well as the planning advisory committee. “I wouldn’t want to deny somebody the ability to be on that kind of a board where there is unlimited membership if they are on another board,” he said. Ring Erickson said whatever the commission decides to do, it needs to be consistent. She said in the past she has asked citizens to chose between committees when they want to be on more than one. “I think this is inconsistent with actions we’ve taken in the past,” she said. Ring Erickson suggested voting for the TIP-CAP members as interim appointments until the commission could decide on policies for
serving in multiple committees. “What I would like to do is review what we have. Maybe we have to go to a more formalized appointment process for the TIP-CAP,” she said. “I’d like to have the conversation then put something in writing.” The commission voted 2-1 to approve the appointments to the TIP-CAP committee with Ring Erickson voting against. The commission also agreed to discuss the possibility of forming an advisory committee to look at the boundaries of the Belfair UGA sometime soon. “It’s uncertain in many people’s minds where those boundaries are,” Sheldon said. “There’s still a lot of confusion of where it is and what services are provided.” Ring Erickson suggested giving any future advisory committee a broad scope, and allowing them to look at the Shelton and Allyn UGAs as well.
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Candidate Continued from page A-1 talking about campaigns and why they’re trying to oust people from office,” she said. However, Anderson said members of the public who have announced their candidacy for public office can speak during public comment if it has nothing to do with their cam-
paign. Sheldon said that he didn’t want the county to get in trouble with the PDC over the issue. “Randy, everything you’ve come here to say has always been important and well thought out,” Sheldon said. “The city went through this issue.” Sheldon was referring to an instance in October when Shelton City Commissioner and then mayoral
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candidate Dawn Pannell and opponent Gary Cronce both spoke about campaign materials during a city commission meeting. with an ad While Cronce was not a sitting city in the Journal commissioner at the time, the PDC told the Shelton-Mason County Journal that he should not have been allowed to discuss campaign materials before 5pm Friday to place your ad during a city commission meeting while running for a position on that commission. Shelton-Mason County Journal -Thursday, January 5, 2012 - Page A-3
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