Letters to the editor for July 4
DELI: A plan to fix Capitol Lake
It is time to have your say regarding the future for Capitol Lake. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was issued June 30, with a 45-day public comment period. The alternatives are all lake, all estuary or a hybrid system of both (DELI is Dual Estuary/Lake Idea).
However, within the DEIS, the option of having a freshwater lake in the hybrid alternative has been replaced with a “brackish” basin feature. This was probably done to make the hybrid look bad during technical analysis. It has been profoundly clear that analysis has focused on showing why a freshwater lake option for the hybrid alternative wouldn’t work rather than honestly evaluating whether or not it would. The fear is most people would love a freshwater lake hybrid alternative, which would then jeopardize the estuary alternative desired by environmental agencies.
So, my job is to analyze the DEIS data on the freshwater lake option to ferret out the flaws so the rejection of this choice can be rescinded. And your job, if you support the idea of both a clean lake and a functioning estuary, is to take time to comment. And if you don’t know what DELI is about, just go to the Facebook Group DELI – Dual/Estuary Lake Idea.
Unless the whole community comes together supporting one plan for Capitol Lake, funding to design and build something will never happen. DELI is a compromise where both sides win, and the only way the Deschutes Estuary will ever get restored.
Steve Shanewise, Olympia
Kill the filibuster
I was late in coming to the idea that we must eliminate the filibuster but I am now convinced that it has outlived whatever usefulness it might have had.
In recent decades, it has become the go-to tool for killing bipartisan cooperative policy. Its current use by Republicans to deny protection of voting rights in our nation is especially heinous as was its use to try to stop the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s.
Our Senators have the chance to shape history. Strong leadership can end the filibuster and pass S1, protecting voting rights and preserving the essence of democracy. I strongly encourage Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray to make the “For the People Act” their top priority.
Melinda Holman, Olympia
New homeless coordinator
The city of Olympia has hired an absolute gem in Kim Kondrat as its new homeless coordinator.
We have had the privilege of serving monthly meals at St. Mike’s Shelter for Men the past few years, November through March. When Kim stepped into the position leading community outreach at the church, she brought a renewed passion to the job. Her care and compassion for the men was apparent in small and big ways.
When COVID hit, she quickly transformed the shelter to do nightly COVID-19 checks and accommodate more men, each with their own separate cot and tray for eating. During the snow storm, the shelter became 24/7. She coordinated with city transit to pick up all the men in the morning to get them to the Salvation Army.
Obviously, it takes a village to do all these things, and under her leadership, it all came together. The only downside to the city hiring her is that St. Mike’s will once again be looking for a coordinator for its program, but this is clearly a case of a greater good being served!
Lane and Barb Dorcy, Olympia