Time to change county commissioners

Thurston County Commissioners seemed to have put politics over the law when they delayed a legitimate business from operating – – even though it had a legal permit to do so.

The cost for this bad judgement – – $12 million dollars in fines from the court.

About four years ago, Thurston County Commissioners delayed granting an operating permit to Maytown Sand and Gravel to mine gravel from a site in Maytown, owned by the Port of Tacoma,  even though a 2005 permit allowed them to do so.

Over and over and over again county staff required the company to do additional study, after study, after study, all for the purpose of delaying the operation.  The result, was the company had to turn the property back over to the Port of Tacoma.

This a a perfect example of how NIMBY’s, can cause significant damage to legitimate businesses.

There was opposition from some landowners in the area.  They brought pressure on the county commissioners, who bowed to that pressure by delaying the project.

It happens time and time again.   Delay after delay after delay until the business owner runs out of money or gives up in disgust.

This time, the county came up against the big boys – – the Port of Tacoma, which owned the property, had the valid permit and sued Thurston County in court.

The jury ruled for the Port of Tacoma and awarded it $8 million in damages.   It also awarded Maytown Sand and Gravel $4 million in damages.

The fine will be paid by Thurston County’s insurance company, but that doesn’t absolve the county commissioners from flaunting the law for a political purpose.

I think its time for us to reconsider who’s in charge of Thurston County government.

We’ve still got a brand new jail sitting empty.