Letters to the Editor

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 and their own viewpoint on how other people should parent their children. It is not the Commissioner’s job to make moral judgements on private businesses.

Several years ago, our community requested to be included in the WA State Trail system. That opportunity has been halted by two Port Commissioners. The project had been well researched & potential problems worked out by professionals hired to do that job. Some commissioners think their own private research on the trail is more accurate than the work of licensed, experienced professionals. These commissioners had a lot of misinformation in their opinions while they dismissed the research done by the professionals. Two commissioners focused on the issue of Homeless people using the trail. Homeless people are human and have every right to be on a public trail. They need our compassion and help, not to be treated as troublemakers. Anyone who wants to access our community can use the public highways. Trails do not mean homeless people would invade our community.

There are problems with the public school system.

The Public Health Department had an unusually high turnover of staff during the peak of the Pandemic. Empty positions were not filled by County Commissioners, even with funding available. A new hire has been added that may not support the basic policies of the Public Health Department. Do the County Commissioners want to move the responsibility of many Public Health duties to Walla Walla County?

A well planned and researched sewage wastewater system, that is required by WA State, has been blocked by some new City Council members. The city could be subject to heavy fines, paid for by the citizens of Dayton, if we don’t initiate a plan. Untreated sewage is a health problem for all people.

What will be eliminated next in Columbia County?

Citizens of Columbia County, we need to keep our community viable and moving on a forward path.

Carol Anderson

Dayton, Wash.

To the editor,

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 COVID 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 mandates without any input from or checks and balances by the state legislature.)

According to McLeod, the new director “left her job at Columbia County Health System rather than follow healthcare guidelines put forth by medical experts,” and this decision of asserting medical autonomy over her own body and life “does not instill confidence regarding the safety of the community if another public health crisis were to occur.”

I, personally, am delighted–and surprised–that any government health official would question “authority,” and when the next health crisis arrives (Monkeypox? FerretFlu? ZetaEtaTheta Variant?) feel mildly relieved that someone in a position of power (whether or not that position of power should exist at all) will not automatically, like an automaton, crack down, lock down, and crush, quash, subjugate and suppress anyone who chooses not to obey the dictates of “experts.” I find nothing wrong with a government “health” official who values the individual’s right to determine their medical choices.

It takes a tremendous amount of courage to stand up against the State, and those people who were fired from their jobs–by the State–rather than be coerced--by the State--into injecting an experimental chemical concoction into their veins are to be honored, not vilified. Many of these people were justifiably concerned that nobody, from the government to the corporate pharmaceutical manufacturers of this highly profitable, rushed product, was willing to accept legal liability for any injury or damage caused.

Perhaps that’s the type of person the county commissioners were looking for when they made their choice.

Carolyn Henderson

Dayton, Wash.

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.

In a self-governing society such as ours, civic engagement is crucial. We applaud every effort made to encourage this.

Charles Amerein

Waitsburg, Wash.

To the editor,

The newly elected Dayton City Council members have already withstood numerous hit pieces in the local papers. It makes me feel bad to see my friends saddled with the sewer treatment facility that has been faulty for some time. They didn’t create this debacle, they inherited it. Citizens in town elected them to help solve this and other ongoing problems.

Just because the new members didn’t fall for an expensive land deal or think that sewer floating amongst lily pads was ecologically sound, doesn’t make them unfit for their positions. In fact, in shows strength of character.

Every small town has to deal with this problem, and ours shall too. Looking for the best solution for the good of the people is honorable. Throwing public money hither and yon and using untried methods to rubber-stamp certain proposed projects isn’t sound governing.

I’m proud of Laura Aukerman, Tiger Dieu, Kyle Anderson, and all who are searching for a solution to a long-standing problem.

Kathryn Tapio

Dayton