Letters to the editor for May 28
Oakland Bay marked for Taylor Shellfish takeover
Shelton’s Oakland Bay has joined Burley Lagoon in Gig Harbor as a takeover target by Taylor Shellfish.
Taylor has filed for a permit to install a precedent-setting 50-acre oyster farm in the middle of the deep water of Oakland Bay. This proposed farm would obliterate what is now a peaceful, uncluttered, beautiful environment where whales, seals and salmon move about freely and which is also used for recreation by the community.
The size of the proposed installation would be greater than the footprint of the combined acreage of the Mariners and Seahawks stadiums in Seattle! The infrastructure would be installed in this space, blocking navigational paths, recreational safety and blemishing the simple aesthetic we now take for granted. Who knows what a 99-year lease granted by the DNR — whose current leader, Hilary Franz, accepts campaign contributions from Taylor — would actually do to the ecosytem already made fragile by the sawmill?
One would hope the 90 acres in the bay’s Chapman Cove that Taylor already owns and appears to be developing into an oyster farm would be enough of an intrusion.
Taylor was granted an extension on the public hearing regarding this case until 1 p.m. June 14 in Shelton. We ask friends of Oakland Bay to pay attention to this action and support the denial of this proposed permit. Send letters against the proposal to Lviscusi@masoncountywa.gov for submission to the Mason County Hearings Examiner.
Ginny Douglas, Shelton
Parties failing
America’s vaunted but polarized two-party political system is failing and needs a serious recharge to get this country back on track. I’m not naive enough to believe a third party is the answer because that would only further divide us and keep the dysfunctional parties locked in a futile, self-serving power struggle to the detriment of our best national interests.
Polls show a majority of Americans now identify themselves as independent from and alienated by both parties.
Additionally, majorities of those who identify with a party do not want to see a rematch of the 2020 presidential election. And yet, it appears that’s exactly what we’re going to get, leaving us to again choose the lesser of two evils. We should be able to do better than this.
The hard-core unyielding Republicans supporting the dangerous Donald Trump likely will succeed as they did in 2016 when a crowded field divided the votes rather than coalescing around a centrist attractive to independents. Democrats are betting that Joe Biden — despite low ratings and concerns about his age and health — will conduct a near-invisible campaign again and deservedly defeat Trump by default, setting up the probable presidency of the ineffective Kamala Harris.
Ugly picture. The inescapable truth is that the majority does not rule in modern America. When will we wake up?
Bettter matchups would be, in the GOP, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich or New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu., and among the Democrats, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar or retiring Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin. Now we’re talking like serious centrists!
Dick Nichols, Olympia
Congress should protect ordinary Americans
Unless you and everyone you care about are very wealthy, you should be deeply concerned about the dangerous game MAGA Congressional Republicans are playing by making a hostage crisis out of paying our bills.
Their proposed exchange for raising the debt ceiling slashes nutrition services, taking food off the table for 400,000 people who count on those meals. It cuts energy assistance programs, meaning seniors and families could pay 20% more for their heating bills next winter. It slashes Medicaid, jeopardizing health care for 21 million people who count on it, especially children with disabilities and seniors in nursing homes. It eliminates 108,000 teachers’ jobs, which will impact over 32 million kids. It claws back tax rebates for renewable energy while protecting the previous administration’s tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy.
Defaulting on the national debt by Republicans in Congress would take away the hard-earned financial control that working and retired Americans have regained after the pandemic. I am grateful that Rep. Marilyn Strickland is working to ensure that our nation meets its current obligations while protecting her constituents from an unnecessary default crisis that sticks 99% of us with the bill.
Lisa Ornstein, Olympia
