Random Thoughts Vol. I

The Thurston Regional Library System is spending approximately $400,000 to run its levy lid lift in February.   You should already have received your ballot, as should everyone in a five-county area.  Why didn’t the library system wait until the Primary election in August or the General election in November to run its levy?  It could have saved a lot of taxpayer money by sharing the cost of the election with other government agencies.  Or is it just trying to sneak this one in under the radar?

When voting on a tax break for downtown Olympia property owners, Olympia Councilmember Joan Machlis was quoted in The Olympian as saying “I feel like I need to have time to look at what the port’s goals are.”  My question to Machlis is  “Where have you been for the last decade while the port was developing its plans in conjunction with the City of Olympia?”

As quoted elsewhere in these pages, local social service agencies are having a difficult time raising money.  The Salvation Army had such a poor holiday kettle ringing that it is forced to close its homeless shelter in downtown Olympia.  “Would the Salvation Army still have made the same move, if kettle donations had been stronger?  No one’s talking.

I hope former Olympia Councilmember Margaret McPhee will abstain from voting on all local ballot issues now that she’s a member of The Olympian’s  editorial board.  McPhee had a big hand in zoning regulations, library and fire issues and many other activities while serving as an elected official.   Now that she’s an editorial board member for our only daily newspaper, she has a stake in the outcome of those issues, and cannot be unbiased.  She should refrain from participating in any discussions or votes on editorial matters related to her former profession.   And, I hope The Olympian refrains in the future from putting former elected officials on their editorial board.