Letters to the editor for Sept. 13

Carolina Mejia is an American

I strongly support candidate Carolina Mejia and her campaign for Thurston County Commissioner.

We should be ashamed at the recent “birtherism” and attacks on her legitimacy as an American citizen when there’s ample documentation and evidence that she completed the citizenship process. The attacks on her authentic citizenship are no more than slimy tactics by her opposition to discredit her candidacy to improve their chances of winning.

Despite submitting appropriate documents to the county and all parties receiving confirmation that it was satisfactory, Jon Pettit continued his harassment campaign and filed an official ballot challenge with only his allegations as evidence. We must as a society denounce this kind of intimidation and not tolerate what amounts to character assassination.

Is there no more decency left in America?

Blaine Snow, Olympia

Vote for Beth Doglio for Congress

Beth Doglio deserves your vote because she has the gift of knowing how to draw folks out, engage with new ideas, and organize to get things done. You may agree or not with all the bills she worked on, but her skills and experience are needed in Congress now. She has been working for the public good all her adult life.

I met Beth in 1990 when she was 21. I organized an event at Heritage Park to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. She showed up and helped.

I have witnessed her ability to talk with people, myself included, and convince us to do what we already wanted to do, but felt not up to the task.

When she was PTA President of Roosevelt Elementary School, she convinced me to volunteer to teach an after-school class in drama, which I did for four years and loved doing it.

Later, she organized a huge turnout for hearings on the coal trains that could hurt our state. She arranged for buses to take us to Seattle where thousands spoke out, me among them, against these trains. We were successful.

We need her commitment and experience in Washington, D.C., to address climate change and to save our planet.

In our state legislature, she sponsored bills to make our state cut carbon emissions and got them passed. Washingtonians will benefit from electing Beth. Vote Beth Doglio for U.S. Congress.

Patricia A. Holm, Olympia

Rotary Club of Olympia celebrates its centennial

On Sept. 10, 1920, Rotary International welcomed the Rotary Club of Olympia as its 72nd club. Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Tacoma #8, a group of 25 Olympia businessmen began a humanitarian effort that would change the fabric of the South Puget Sound.

Since that time, Rotary International has grown to 36,000 clubs worldwide, 10 of them in Thurston County alone, with over 500 members actively working to make our community better. The Rotary Club of Olympia sponsored many of these clubs, furthering the reach and contribution to our local charitable organizations.

While the pandemic has limited our ability to gather in celebration of our Centennial at this time, we ask the community to join us in acknowledging Sept. 10, 2020 as our Centennial anniversary. We are in the midst of projects to further our reach and legacy, culminating in a celebration to take place May 12, 2021. If you are interested in joining or supporting our efforts, please go to www.olyrotary.org.

This opportunity to celebrate 100 years of humanitarian service is an important moment in our history. The conviction, vision, and commitment to the idea of service above self, to the founding pillars of truth, fairness, and goodwill are worthy of celebration in these trying times. We warmly honor past contributions, past fellowship, and the hearts and souls of hundreds of individuals dedicated to making the world a better place.

Sean Padget, President 2020-21, Rotary Club of Olympia