Letters to the Editor for Oct. 12

Kingsbury demonstrates outstanding leadership

I have known Jeff Kingsbury for many years, and I urge Olympians to re-elect him to the Olympia City Council.

As a lifelong resident of Olympia, and director of a nonprofit downtown, Kingsbury is not only very knowledgeable about city affairs, but also is willing and able to step up and actually do something that matters.

Kingsbury has proven his outstanding leadership by rolling up his sleeves and working with community groups to make Olympia a tip-top city.

By working with neighborhood groups, downtown businesses and others, Kingsbury shows that common sense leadership can actually accomplish a great deal.

Make your vote count. Support outstanding leadership in the city of Olympia.

JAY A. GOLDSTEIN, Olympia

Palin got it right this time

So Sarah Palin is “Going Rogue.”

A rogue is defined as “an unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person; a scoundrel or a rascal.”

All of which suggests that her biography is either a true depiction of her real character, or that her ghost writer is as illiterate as she.

JAMES CUNNINGHAM, Olympia

Governor forces others to pay for her D.C. office

When I think about the 1,100 Washington state workers who lost their jobs and compare it to the way government spends money, I am astounded.

While doing some research, I ran across a jolting piece of news that I was not even looking for. I learned that in 2009 Gov. Chris Gregoire extracted $340,000 from six state agencies without legislative approval to fund her office in Washington, D.C. She hid the withdrawals by having the Office of Financial Management write six intergovernmental contracts (personal services contracts) that require six particular Washington state agencies to provide from their budgets the money to fund her Washington, D.C., office.

Oddly, this was done during the time Gov. Gregoire enacted a freeze on all personal services contracts.

The questions I have are: Is this ethical? Why does the governor need a luxury office in Washington, D.C.? How does spending this amount of money benefit the folks back home? Why isn’t there an investigating of this expenditure?

Does the attitude of our elected office holders have anything to do with the growing lack of trust citizens have for them?

ROB KAVANAUGH, Lacey

Jeff Kingsbury promotes job opportunities

Jeff Kingsbury is the right person for re-election to the Olympia City Council for all the right reasons.

Kingsbury has been, and will continue to be, a leader in promoting job opportunities and business vitality to our capital city. Kingsbury understands the tourism and recreational value of maintaining Capitol Lake as a lake and he understands the importance of maintaining the lake to the investments in Heritage Park, the Port of Olympia, our local marinas and surrounding homes.

Kingsbury is very aware of the economic value of the isthmus property and the need to closer align housing for our citizens with the places they work and shop.

Do the right thing and re-elect Jeff Kingsbury to the Olympia City Council.

REP. GARY C. ALEXANDER, 20TH DISTRICT, Olympia

Joan Machlis has the right experience

I have been an Olympia resident for 29 years. During that time I have observed few City Council members better prepared for the position’s responsibilities than Joan Machlis.

I am retired now, but my career was in small business. It is important to me that local public officials have a background in business. A flourishing business environment is critical to a sustainable community. But I value even more in the politicians who represent me, the willingness to look at, study and research all sides of the issues they face.

This is where I believe Machlis rises well above the crowd. To move ahead as a community, solve pressing problems, and serve constituents, our City Council must look at each issue with an open mind and then be an honest broker toward finding a healthy, productive compromise solution. We seem unable or unwilling to do this on a national level.

With council members like Machlis, we have a fighting chance of pulling it off on a local level.

JIM GRANT, Olympia

Sheriff should run his department

Having read The Olympian on the controversy between the county commissioners and the sheriff, it makes me wonder how the commissioners became experts in the operation of the law enforcement agency.

We, the voters, elected the sheriff to run the operation, not the commissioners, and if the voters do not like the operation, we can vote him out.

I believe the commissioners should look at their own responsibility, like the building department, planning department and health department. All three need to be looked at very carefully and some changes made in each.

The commissioners do control the money that is budgeted to each elected official’s department, but I don’t believe they have the authority to tell them how to handle their employees within their departments.

Maybe we need to elect a new group of commissioners.

HAROLD VASSAR, Tenino