Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Sorted by date Results 1156 - 1180 of 2569
To The Eagle: In the current mass of political mailings did you see the one that asks you to write-in Teresa Purcell, Progressive, instead of voting for Erin Frasier or Jim Walsh? Teresa Purcell isn't even running in this election for state representative. In fact she has endorsed and is campaigning for Erin Frasier. This flyer is playing the voters (us!) for fools. There is nothing true about it and could effectively divide the vote in favor of Jim Walsh. While Walsh has uttered some weak objections to this deceptive mailing, it appears he...
To The Eagle: We have two candidates for sheriff. Both have law enforcement experience. That makes sense. We have two candidates for prosecutor. Both are attorneys. That makes sense. But we have two candidates for county assessor. One has years of experience in real estate and property valuation. That’s Bill Coons. And the other candidate has no experience at all in real estate and property valuation. That’s Brian McClain. He works on the ferry. He was employed at the Skamokawa post office for a very short time and left. Because HR records are...
To The Eagle: My name is Michael Dahle. I am the Chief Appraiser for Wahkiakum County. In 20 plus years in this profession I’ve never written a letter related to an election, however, this year I feel that I am forced to do so. Following are my informed opinions. Due to space constraints I have left out a lot of details and have tried just to highlight the main points. First a few negatives (unfortunately) and then some of positives. 1. The assessor’s office is always a lightning rod for criticism. This often originates out of a misun...
To The Eagle: The assessor’s office has been around this bend before. The assessor elected to office for the 2006-2010 years tried the ‘on the job training’; working overtime and meeting with tax payers. The campaign promise to take courses after the election proved difficult however, because there was not the time to attend classes to learn the job sufficiently. The deputy appraiser, at the time, realized the situation and ran with it, unencumbered, raising property values with no apparent rhyme or reason. The county Board of Equalization (BOE...
To The Eagle: Last week's front page story about Lee Wages getting the sentence he received was a testimonial to the wonderful job that both Sheriff Howie and prosecutor Dan Bigelow are doing in their respective positions. After the situation when Mr. Wages was actually shooting at police and was arrested without anybody getting hurt brings home how well trained our deputies are. Thanks, Mark Howie. As a retired RN that spent over thirty years of hospital nursing, much of it on psych units, I approached Dan Bigelow shortly after the arrest and...
To The Eagle: As longtime residents of Wahkiakum County, my husband and I see the value in qualified elected officials. County government is critical, but even more so in a small county such as ours. Strong relationships with the vast array of departments, knowledge of operations within the office, and ties to the community and its way of life are just a few qualities that Nicci Bergseng exhibits. Often times the west end of this county feels overlooked, but Nicci has made sure to make her presence known. She has demonstrated that our little...
Our vote-by-mail ballots for the general election will soon arrive, and many people will pick up a pen and fill them out right away. I learned a long time ago to wait till just before election day to make my choice. I had endorsed a candidate in the last issue before the election, and she came to our town and made some statements that changed my mind about her. It was too late for the newspaper but not the ballot. We have an overwhelming number of letters to the editor this week; it’s good that citizens are taking the election seriously. N...
To The Eagle: I am writing to support Brian McClain for assessor. Brian is my neighbor and friend. I’ve talked to Brian about access to hunting lands I previously used to be able to hunt that are now off limits. He has told me that he will look into this and see what the facts are regarding their tax liability and public access. Remember, if all else fails, vote out the incumbent to keep them honest. Also a vote for Carolyn Long is a vote for the left wing radical leadership! Tony Cleveland Skamokawa Editor's note: This letter has been c...
To The Eagle: Although no Democrat is running in the race for Wahkiakum County assessor, both candidates have come to Wahkiakum County Democratic Party meetings and asked for our endorsement. The decision whether to endorse a candidate in a Democrat-free race was one we discussed for some time. We decided that the party has a duty to promote excellence in government, so we should take a stand and endorse a candidate in the Wahkiakum County assessor race. Once we made that decision, the hard choices ended. The Wahkiakum County Democratic Party...
To The Eagle: I encourage you to vote and to retain Mark Howie as the Wahkiakum County Sheriff. I worked at the courthouse when Mark was hired as undersheriff and I witnessed Mark take on the unexpected duties as sheriff after the death of Sheriff Jon Dearmore. Mark lead the sheriff’s department through rough times and proved himself as a strong leader. That’s not the only reason I am encouraging you to vote for Sheriff Mark Howie. Mark and Debb have a vested interest in our county and it shows every time they volunteer their personal time for...
To The Eagle: One could perhaps drum up a little sympathy for a political candidate reeling from multiple criticisms and recovering from a star-crossed performance at the Grays River Grange Forum, but the latest retaliatory letter from Candidate Coons truly qualifies as “a bridge too far.” Bill’s opponent had told many of us of his impending candidacy last winter, and actual campaign launch was an unintended consequence of a legitimate complaint letter by Lori Hamp in the March 22 Eagle, giving Brian a graceful entre, which he took the follo...
To The Eagle: In answer to a previous letter from Mr. Coons, I never launched Brian McClain’s run for assessor. He did that all by himself. Please get the facts straight. The first straw for me was that he inflated a property value to $165,000 when my business partner and I bought it for $120,000 even after we showed you the bill of sale. That property was on the market for over four years. We paid fair market value. The real frustration was when he turned me into the Washington Department of Revenue for personal property taxes on “Welcome Slou...
To The Eagle: Bill Coons, in playing the “pass the buck card” in his reply to my letter, speaks untold volumes about his desperation. That’s right, he did say he wasn’t old enough for social security. Let’s just cut to the chase. 1. His wife owns the property 2. He lives on the property 3. He is the experienced county assessor 4. The “mokki” in question was constructed while he resided on the property on Welcome Slough. Now, one of the following occurred: 1. He knew about the construction and with all his experience chose not to inform the pers...
To The Eagle: What has happened to access for health care? As a surgeon privileged to take care of many wonderful people from Cathlamet and our beautiful Southwest Washington region during the past 40 years, it is sad to see now how hard it is for people to get healthcare. There is always blame for local hospital administration, but this is a national problem. Bizarre decisions are made primarily because those running health care locally must try to figure out what “system” is being developed in Washington DC. I have been suspicious of politici...
To The Eagle: I urge Wahkiakum County to re-elect Blair Brady as District 3 county commissioner. As commissioner, Blair will continue to dedicate himself to working with issues that will benefit Wahkiakum County. Blair has served on the Legislative Steering Committee for eight years and has built connections necessary to pass the upcoming timber bill that is so vital to our county. Please, vote for Blair Brady as he is the only District 3 candidate who can get this done. Thank you, Dan L. Cothren Wahkiakum County Commissione...
To The Eagle: I wrote a letter to each of our legislators in our state of Washington, including President Trump even though our president has nothing to do with this. I just received my renewal for licensing: $30 License fee funds road construction and maintenance projects. $25 Vehicle weight fee funds highway improvements, transit and other transportation needs. $3 Filing fee funds go directly to the county in which the fee is paid. $5 Service fee retained by subagent or funds ferry replacement if renewed at county auditor/DOL. $.25 License...
To The Eagle: Matt Kuhl is the right choice to serve as the next Wahkiakum County Auditor. I have had the privilege of getting to know Matt through his membership in the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Cathlamet. For a man so young, Matt has already chosen to dedicate much of his life to public service. He joined the United States Army at 20 years of age and served two tours of combat duty in Iraq before he was 25. As Matt told me, he believed it was his duty to volunteer to serve in Iraq because if he didn’t, somebody else would have t...
To The Eagle: Mark Howie had the leadership skills needed, even back in 2006 according to the Tukwila yearly report to the mayor. In a statement from the report, Sergeant Mark Howie and three others worked together to provide a peak level of supervision to the patrol staff. This team of leadership met on a regular basis, developing and providing to its staff consistent goals and objectives, with an end result of improving public safety within the City of Tukwila. Nothing has changed and that is why I’m encouraging you to join me in voting M...
To The Eagle: We, the people of the 3rd congressional district, have the opportunity to choose a leader that will fight for us, not for special interests. That leader is Carolyn Long! She will fight for us on all fronts. For example: 1. She will work to assure medical coverage for all including keeping everyone with pre-conditions safe. 2. She will work to keep Social Security and Medicare safe. 3. She will work to improve education and educational opportunities for all. Unlike her opponent, Carolyn has visited every corner of our district....
To The Eagle: My wife and I are relatively new to Cathlamet having moved here about five years ago but we certainly like this little town. During the past year, we have gotten to know Mark Howie and are very impressed with the way he conducts himself. There have been a large number of endorsements for Sheriff Howie in The Eagle which has also impressed us. We believe that Mark has a good feel for what is needed in this county and what we can afford. We are going to vote for the man wearing the big cowboy hat. Dan and Nona Preble...
For weeks, I've been waiting for the edition when we didn't have a letter to the editor regarding the election for county assessor. I've wanted to write an opinion column about the race, but I've wanted to avoid giving the impression that I'm responding to a letter. However, there's been so much interest in the race, the letters keep coming, and I don't think there will be a lull before the ballots come out later this month. And so, here it goes. I met Bill Coons not long after he moved to Wahkiakum County in the early 1990's. At that time, he...
To The Eagle: Nicci Bergseng has done a commendable job as our county auditor, overseeing a multi-million dollar budget for Wahkiakum County. Nicci assists the county commissioners and department heads in balancing the budget and reporting financials to the state auditor. She has been involved in three state audits, overseeing the last two. Nicci has received outstanding marks in every one. Being county auditor requires a skill set that goes beyond being great at accounting and numbers. Nicci has proven to be a great manager as well. Nicci, as...
To The Eagle: Every vote is needed and counts. I have bragged about our county’s voters for years with our high turn outs. I hope to continue doing so. Your party affiliation or how you vote pales to the importance of registering and voting in our elections. Vote on the issues and the people not the hype. Having had a tie election in the past I can assure you every vote is important. Please encourage everyone to participate in voting. Thank you. Commissioner Blair Brady Rosburg...
To The Eagle: I have lived in Wahkiakum County for 50 years. I worked in the assessor’s office for almost 10 years appraising timber and real property. I am now a board member on the Board of Equalization and have been for 10 years. The Board of Equalization is an appeals board for the assessor’s values. Normally the board hears 10-12 appeals most years. The previous assessor had 168 appeals in her last as assessor. She had no experience in property valuation. The board also had to revalue Puget Island land values. Bill Coons has done a goo...
To The Eagle: It’s not surprising that Bill Coons is conducting a negative campaign when it was he who insisted it should be clean. It’s not out of character for him to take another person’s comments out of context to design an attack ad. And it’s to be expected that he would make a campaign promise to hold an appeals workshop but renege on it in the end. Mr. Coons plays politician as he has conducted himself as assessor. However, what does surprise and bother me is the number of people, including Bill Coons himself, who point proudly to his...
