Letters
Letters to the Editor May 2010
Published on Tue, May 4, 2010Read More Letters to the Editor
GenCare thanks many who support
Dear Editor,
GenCare Lifestyle at Granite Falls Bingo Bash to benefit Granite Falls Senior Center on Thursday April 22, 2010 brought in over $450.
On Saturday, April 24 a group of volunteers planted flowers at the Senior Center. In June another group of volunteers will be cleaning and painting the inside. The outside was painted by volunteers led by Brent Kirk.
This event could not have been as successful without the donations from the following local businesses:
GenCare Lifestyle at Granite Falls (The Village), The City of Granite Falls, Lindsey Park with Chartreuse, Timberline, IGA, Gold’s Gym, Oso Lumber, Wild about Pets, Granite Falls Senior Center and a special thank you to Bill at Hales Ales.
Cindy Anne
GenCare Lifestyle Director
Granite Falls
To whine or not to whine
Dear Editor,
The March 17 Granite Falls City Council Meeting was a real whine session.
First, was Councilman Elizabeth Adams, who turned red and expressed her upset toward a citizen who questioned why Councilman Josh Golston refused to sign a letter that he (along with the four other councilmembers) had voted to sign and send during a previous council meeting (regarding the Menzel Lake Quarry).
Why Adams thought she needed to protect Golston is questionable. After all, citizens have every right to express their concerns, especially when a councilmember’s vote is in question.
After that whine session, was one that involved G.F. Police Chief, Tony Domish. The Council had approved a five-year contract in December for Domish (making sure it was done before the new Mayor took office in Jan.) and are now (just three months later) trying to amend it. Turns out they hadn’t read the contract carefully in Dec.—now they want to change it.
Adams is often seen going in and out of the Police Dept. leaving some people suspicious that because of her friendships with (past) Officer McLaughlin, and now with Chief Domish she might be the one pushing hard for the contract change.
That meeting was a “whine scene” because of the way the Chief presented his ‘case’. He even tried to throw a fellow officer “under the bus”.
In my opinion: 1) The Granite Falls City Council needs to learn how to “read carefully” before they “vote”. 2) Member Golston needs to buck-up and sign the letter. 3) Adams needs to keep her nose out of Police Department business. 4) City Council needs to do their job and let the Mayor do his. i.e. Adams should back off, Domish needs to quit whining and both need to fulfill their own duties of the office they hold.
Rella Morris
Arlington
A call for jobs to all employers
Dear Editor,
We all know there is a recession going on. But I fear that some feel detached, it doesn’t affect them.
We are getting numb to listening to the jobless. The employers just used to saying “No, we aren’t hiring.” But with this lull there is not much being done.
There does not appear to be any Obama money floating around here, the Union laborers hall is still full; thousands on unemployment; families on hold.
Tons of stories I couldn’t fit in this letter. There are thousands of qualified workers wondering where all the jobs are? For all the projects starting we still have too few new jobs.
So if you are a business owner, hiring manager, or thinking of starting a new business. If you can hire a body, you may save a family’s home.
I do have my own story. Union family laid off, two foster kids, house in jeopardy. But in the big picture we are not the only ones. We all need a helping hand sometimes that means someone has to step up and offer the hand or the job. Take a chance, hire a person.
And to all the Washington state, Snohomish county and local governments, PUD and other industries and their freeze on hiring, if you won’t hire then why should anyone else have the confidence too?
Julie Tabor
Granite Falls
City Council needs to follow procedures, treat citizens with civility
Dear Editor,
Your Press Ed “City Council meeting a spectacle to behold” was refreshing to those of us who have witnessed the shenanigans of council members Adams, Ross, and Golston in recent times. But the problem goes beyond lack of civility and refusal to follow the rules of procedure and decorum, or even the clear terms of their own city ordinances.
The council majority seems to do most of its thinking from the brain stem instead of the frontal lobes. Who you are friends with, where you go to church, or how your family makes money determines who is treated with civility and who is treated with contempt, and whether proper public policy considerations govern. When legitimate potential conflict issues are raised, some of them go absolutely mental, like dogs guarding the food dish, as the horrified journalist from your paper recently witnessed.
The lack of higher thought has broad-ranging consequences. One example is the Granite Falls sign ordinance that was recently adopted by the council with hoopla after years of gyrations. Now that the new sign ordinance is passed, is there any visible difference? Yes. Now there is a big meth and marijuana double entendre on a “Cranky J” sign emblazoned twice on a vacant building at the busiest intersection in town, in the face of recent unfavorable national publicity on several fronts about drug use. So much for G.F. being the next Leavenworth.
And speaking of signing, now we read in your paper that the same council, as a whole, rushed to extend the contract of a police chief that lacks the common sense to read his employment contract before he signs it, as if ignorance of the law is no excuse but ignorance of what you sign is an excuse, and who will not cooperate with the Mayor after dishonoring his word about stepping down if the Mayoral election did not go his way.
There is a lot to be said for living outside the city limits.
Paul Winter
Granite Falls
Dear Editor,
GenCare Lifestyle at Granite Falls Bingo Bash to benefit Granite Falls Senior Center on Thursday April 22, 2010 brought in over $450.
On Saturday, April 24 a group of volunteers planted flowers at the Senior Center. In June another group of volunteers will be cleaning and painting the inside. The outside was painted by volunteers led by Brent Kirk.
This event could not have been as successful without the donations from the following local businesses:
GenCare Lifestyle at Granite Falls (The Village), The City of Granite Falls, Lindsey Park with Chartreuse, Timberline, IGA, Gold’s Gym, Oso Lumber, Wild about Pets, Granite Falls Senior Center and a special thank you to Bill at Hales Ales.
Cindy Anne
GenCare Lifestyle Director
Granite Falls
To whine or not to whine
Dear Editor,
The March 17 Granite Falls City Council Meeting was a real whine session.
First, was Councilman Elizabeth Adams, who turned red and expressed her upset toward a citizen who questioned why Councilman Josh Golston refused to sign a letter that he (along with the four other councilmembers) had voted to sign and send during a previous council meeting (regarding the Menzel Lake Quarry).
Why Adams thought she needed to protect Golston is questionable. After all, citizens have every right to express their concerns, especially when a councilmember’s vote is in question.
After that whine session, was one that involved G.F. Police Chief, Tony Domish. The Council had approved a five-year contract in December for Domish (making sure it was done before the new Mayor took office in Jan.) and are now (just three months later) trying to amend it. Turns out they hadn’t read the contract carefully in Dec.—now they want to change it.
Adams is often seen going in and out of the Police Dept. leaving some people suspicious that because of her friendships with (past) Officer McLaughlin, and now with Chief Domish she might be the one pushing hard for the contract change.
That meeting was a “whine scene” because of the way the Chief presented his ‘case’. He even tried to throw a fellow officer “under the bus”.
In my opinion: 1) The Granite Falls City Council needs to learn how to “read carefully” before they “vote”. 2) Member Golston needs to buck-up and sign the letter. 3) Adams needs to keep her nose out of Police Department business. 4) City Council needs to do their job and let the Mayor do his. i.e. Adams should back off, Domish needs to quit whining and both need to fulfill their own duties of the office they hold.
Rella Morris
Arlington
A call for jobs to all employers
Dear Editor,
We all know there is a recession going on. But I fear that some feel detached, it doesn’t affect them.
We are getting numb to listening to the jobless. The employers just used to saying “No, we aren’t hiring.” But with this lull there is not much being done.
There does not appear to be any Obama money floating around here, the Union laborers hall is still full; thousands on unemployment; families on hold.
Tons of stories I couldn’t fit in this letter. There are thousands of qualified workers wondering where all the jobs are? For all the projects starting we still have too few new jobs.
So if you are a business owner, hiring manager, or thinking of starting a new business. If you can hire a body, you may save a family’s home.
I do have my own story. Union family laid off, two foster kids, house in jeopardy. But in the big picture we are not the only ones. We all need a helping hand sometimes that means someone has to step up and offer the hand or the job. Take a chance, hire a person.
And to all the Washington state, Snohomish county and local governments, PUD and other industries and their freeze on hiring, if you won’t hire then why should anyone else have the confidence too?
Julie Tabor
Granite Falls
City Council needs to follow procedures, treat citizens with civility
Dear Editor,
Your Press Ed “City Council meeting a spectacle to behold” was refreshing to those of us who have witnessed the shenanigans of council members Adams, Ross, and Golston in recent times. But the problem goes beyond lack of civility and refusal to follow the rules of procedure and decorum, or even the clear terms of their own city ordinances.
The council majority seems to do most of its thinking from the brain stem instead of the frontal lobes. Who you are friends with, where you go to church, or how your family makes money determines who is treated with civility and who is treated with contempt, and whether proper public policy considerations govern. When legitimate potential conflict issues are raised, some of them go absolutely mental, like dogs guarding the food dish, as the horrified journalist from your paper recently witnessed.
The lack of higher thought has broad-ranging consequences. One example is the Granite Falls sign ordinance that was recently adopted by the council with hoopla after years of gyrations. Now that the new sign ordinance is passed, is there any visible difference? Yes. Now there is a big meth and marijuana double entendre on a “Cranky J” sign emblazoned twice on a vacant building at the busiest intersection in town, in the face of recent unfavorable national publicity on several fronts about drug use. So much for G.F. being the next Leavenworth.
And speaking of signing, now we read in your paper that the same council, as a whole, rushed to extend the contract of a police chief that lacks the common sense to read his employment contract before he signs it, as if ignorance of the law is no excuse but ignorance of what you sign is an excuse, and who will not cooperate with the Mayor after dishonoring his word about stepping down if the Mayoral election did not go his way.
There is a lot to be said for living outside the city limits.
Paul Winter
Granite Falls
