Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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I am writing regarding the new Columbia County Public Health Department director, and concerns that, according to last week’s Letter to the Editor from Shellie McLeod, the new director is unfit for the position. This is apparently because of the new director’s personal stance on vaccination mandates imposed by career politician Jay Inslee upon state and healthcare workers. (As an aside, Inslee, through state emergency powers that he refuses to relinquish after more than two years, effectively runs the state by himself, creating rules and mandat...
To the Editor, I wanted to acknowledge how well the Ice Cream Social held by the new political action committee the Neighbors United for Progress was this last Saturday. Holding it immediately after the parade was a wonderful idea and gave people something further to do after the parade had ended. It was an excellent addition to this year’s activities and should be considered as something to have every year. As a member of a political action committee myself I can appreciate the time effort and energy that went into making this event happen. I...
As of March 1, 2022, the Columbia County Public Health Department has a new director. This director was chosen by the county commissioners over a qualified individual who had been working for the department for 3.5 years and would have loved to apply, but was not made aware while she was on maternity leave that the position was open. Standard procedure for hiring at the department of health is for the board of health to approve both a job description and an advertisement for the position. Once the board approves these things, they are given to...
To the Editor, In the May 19th online edition of the Waitsburg Times, the article titled “Dayton wastewater treatment project stalled again” included three letters that need to be shared to a wider audience. The first was from Cynthia Wall-Fuller, lately of the Washington Department of Ecology, now at the Washington Department of Commerce, to Dayton Mayor Zac Weatherford and the Dayton City Council. There’s a lot to say about the other two letters, but this first one is the one that needs to be addressed most urgently. In it, she warns the c...
To the editor: What is happening to the formerly friendly and welcoming Columbia County? After various new members of our community government were sworn into office last January many beneficial, well-researched and planned projects were halted. Available Port Commission land is no longer being considered as a potential location for a desperately needed, privately run, childcare center. Some of the commissioner’s objections to this project included their own personal opinions on the quality of the private entity that would staff the center a...
To the Editor, The energy and confident singing of the kids in the Waitsburg Elementary School Spring Music Program could have lit the whole town. None of your “Ah, shucks, I’m too shy.” These kids rocked. Two years of being pent up from covid protocols, and they were ready to bust out. But their energy was not random. It was well-channeled into cool choreography (like the kindergarteners throwing juggling scarves as well as kicking and jabbing in “It’s a Hard-Knock Life”). Thanks to the vision, boldness, great choice of tunes, and hours of en...
Since the closure of the Dayton City Pool at the end of the season in 2017, a dedicated group of citizens formed The Friends of the Pool Committee to facilitate the process for the construction and sustainable operation and maintenance of a new swimming pool in Dayton. The vision of the Friends of the Pool is a community where all people have pathways to healthy opportunities. The Friends of the Pool believe this process can only be successful with full community involvement and support. Our goal is to accomplish this through the action plan we...
To the editor: Right here in our beautiful town of Dayton we have what I would consider a blessing: The Blue Mountain Station. Now you may be thinking…the building? And the answer is yes and no. Within this new and attractive building is the BMS Co-Op Market. In the market is a variety of local organic produce, specialty health foods, and locally made artisan products. To keep a long story short, I am the mother of three beautiful little girls and the youngest was born with life threatening food allergies. All grains, nuts, and egg are a h...
To the editor: It seems that the Dayton City Council may have made an error last month when it decided not to approve purchase of two properties to deal with long-standing issues regarding sewage treatment. After many years of study and consideration, no suitable alternatives were discussed or considered at the meeting, and no feasible alternatives may be available. I am aware that all the design work is not finished for these water treatment wetlands, and that this potential solution may not work out after further planning and review....
At their April 12 meeting, the Dayton City Council voted 4-3 to forgo 2 years of work, and about $200,000 to say “no” to purchasing land on which to build a new wastewater treatment plant. After years of research and planning an innovative, economical, and environmentally conscious facility, the majority offered no alternative location or plan. A new wastewater treatment facility was an urgent need when I moved here 11 years ago. It’s been a long and frustrating process for city staff, council, and the public, with many delays and roadblocks al...
Port Director Jennie Dickinson just received recognition from the Dayton Chamber of Commerce as Employee of the Year. Many appreciative community members nominated Ms. Dickinson for this award and were pleased that she was selected to receive it. However, Port Commissioner Seth Bryan seems to want to cast Ms. Dickinson in a negative light whenever the opportunity arises. At a publicly attended Port Commissioners’ workshop on March 23, he said that his understanding of the budget shows the Port operating in the red. At the April 13 Port C...
At the April 12 meeting of the Dayton City Council, the Council members voted against purchasing the property that would have allowed the City to move forward with bringing the wastewater treatment into compliance with Washington State Department of Ecology’s standards. The City has been working to find a resolution for this issue since 2007. That is 14 years of brainstorming, investigations, and research for the best possible solution to bring the City of Dayton into compliance. The Department of Ecology has been patient for 14 years while t...
Several years ago, the City of Dayton was cited by the WA. State Department of Ecology for dumping untreated wastewater into the Touchet River. The city puts 300,000 gallons of effluent into our Touchet River each day. Dayton was not fined because it was making a good faith effort to rectify the problem. The preparatory work for new sewage treatment cost the city over $200,000 prior to the new Council members voting against the project. Now with the “no-vote”, the City may lose the chance to buy the property needed to treat the sewage nat...
Dear Editor, After Dayton City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 12th, I sent a letter to Mayor Weatherford and the council asking the following questions: Is there an alternative plan to bring our city into compliance for wastewater treatment? Will implementing a different solution take longer than continuing with the plan that was in place? How much money has the city spent in developing the plan that was just voted down? When considering the time and money that has been put into the research and planning of this project, what is the advantag...
To the Editor, I am writing to express my support for the building of the trail. I have reviewed the plans and am encouraged by what the engineers and designers have envisioned – and the accommodations that have been made to address the concerns of community members that live along the proposed trail. Dedicated bike and hike trails are so much safer for those of us that at times choose alternative means of transportation. The trail will make it much safer for young and old alike to get about parts of town and the valley. The fact that the b...
To the Editor, I have volunteered and worked in many capacities in Columbia County. In those positions, I have attended many workshops and conferences in other small communities in the Pacific Northwest and have met many community leaders who touted the benefits of recreation in their own communities. They knew the positive impacts. I’ve always dreamed of a Columbia County filled with brown signs directing locals and visitors to hike, bike, fish, swim, camp, etc. We have so much to offer. How does it benefit our community? Studies show that hav...
To the Editor, What is freedom? It is defined as ‘the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action’ - For most of us it means the right and privilege to live our lives OUR WAY without others telling us what we can or cannot do. And if we do that without causing harm to others, that is exactly what should be happening in our community. However, it feels less and less free as we deal with the consequences of recent elections. We have ideology driven elected officials that hold a world view that isn’t based on freedom, yet t...
To the editor, Countless hours have been spent by numerous Touchet Valley Trail supporters and the Stakeholder Committee in work on the planning process of the Touchet Valley Trail. That planning process included much time spent evaluating any community concerns and wishes and incorporating as many ideas as possible into the Trail plan. The investment of hours, time and money was made because of the proven economic and health benefits of a trail. Small, rural downtowns survive on the largesse and support of their community and residents...
As a former educator, I am very concerned about the conflict regarding the Proposed Daycare Center. Of course, there is a need for one or more day care centers with over 340 children under the age of 8 within our community. The Port’s mission statement says its responsibility is, “to maximize public resources and private investment, create jobs, provide infrastructure, and maintain and improve the economic vitality of Columbia County and its communities”. The Port Commissioners are not doing their job with obstructing the proposal as it is ob...
To the Editor and the Public, Columbia County Commissioner, Chuck Amerein, continues to show his hypocrisy with public statements. The cases in point are fear, government overreach, and indoctrination. Several weeks ago, Commissioner Amerein stated in a commissioner's meeting that The Club (a nonprofit afterschool program for kids in our community) was not worthy of public funds, in his opinion, because they do not show sufficient patriotism by flying the American flag. The money being requested was from the Juvenile Justice Fund, which is not...
The Henze Family has three generations of Columbia-Walla Walla County Fire District 2 firefighters. Dane Henze is a volunteer firefighter/EMT for our local department, following in the footsteps of his late grandfather Carl Henze and (now retired) uncle Neil Henze. Dane’s cousin Samantha (Henze) Shafer also served in Waitsburg. We love our department. Seeing a lack of “sufficient volunteer base” in our town is heartbreaking, and I’m thankful for Beka Compton’s call-to-action story in last week’s edition. Our volunteer firefighters are heroes....
Letter to the Editor: Per the question of whether a daycare facility might be sited at Port of Columbia land, Commissioners Watts and Bryan resisted the idea that such a facility is suitable for a site more appropriately reserved for more traditional business development. That is a reasonable discussion, although there are many of us who see a daycare facility as providing not only jobs at the facility, but more importantly allowing single parents and working couples to stay in the local work force. However, it was clear from his public...
Dear Waitsburg, We are all grieving for the people of Ukraine. What can we do? Individually? As a community? Along with so many of you, we in the Christian Church and the Presbyterian Church have been asking ourselves this. Our churches have determined a particular focus to our giving. This is being guided by our connection to the Monfort family. Phil and Jeanetta’s daughter and son in law, Sarah and Alister Torrens, along with their children, Saphira and Thaddaeus, have for years been in ministry in Kyiv. (They are now out of the country.) M...
Dear Editor As if the attack on Ukraine by Russia hasn’t been immoral enough, the violation of the cease-fire in the independent area of Donetsk where 260,000 civilians are trying to escape through Volnovaksha or Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, has been criminal. Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, has remained in Ukraine with his wife and two kids. He may have been a stand-up comic and played the president of his country in a comic series (before he became the democratically actual president of his country), but he has proven to be no joke. Putin bla...
To the Editor, In response to Chuck Amerin’s comments at the school board meeting published in February 24, 2022 TheTimes, I would like to propose some thoughts. I think it is presumptuous to think that people/children were only wearing masks out of fear. They are wearing masks to prevent illness, in consideration for themselves and others, and because that was the mandate. In regard to suggesting that this was telling children “You shouldn’t be smart, you shouldn’t think critically, you just do what you’re told,” well some of that is part of...
