Letters to the editor for Aug. 8

Robin Vazquez is the best choice for Lacey City Council Position #4

I’ve known Robin Vazquez for years and know her as a disciplined, organized but approachable professional woman, mother, partner, and friend, and I will state unequivocally that she is the best possible choice for the job.

She has a heart, but also a spine. She’s tremendously practical and skilled in finding the best solutions for everyone while still pursuing effectiveness and efficiency. And when it needs to get done, you will see Robin Vazquez, sleeves rolled up, getting it done.

Robin is well educated, has a long history of volunteerism and holds many certifications. She has spent years working for the Office of Financial Management in a professional capacity.

She innately demonstrates fiscal responsibility. She’s the breadwinner in her household, has worked on a shoestring budget and fundraising for local nonprofits as well as large public budgets, having negotiated multi-million-dollar labor agreements for the state during challenging fiscal times.

She’ll work hard both because of her sense of responsibility and because it’s who she is. She finished graduate school while working full time in a fast-paced, demanding job while raising two kids. Tackling challenges and working to solve complicated problems is what she does. She will thoughtfully address issues such as homelessness, climate change, housing affordability and economic recovery.

She is tremendously caring while still eminently practical. Robin Vazquez believes in community and wants to create one in Lacey that works for everyone.

Maya Stiles Parsons Spier, Olympia

Make COVID vaccinations mandatory

I know that most people don’t want to hear it, but the state insists on each child being vaccinated before they can attend public school and I don’t hear too many parents screeching and squawking about that being mandatory.

The cases of COVID are rising every day at an alarming rate, mostly because there are still a lot of folks out there who refuse to get the vaccine. Their reasons range from “I don’t like shots” to “I don’t trust the vaccine” and everything in between. My question is: Will you tell that to the school before September when you enroll your children?

Wise up, Gov. Inslee, and make the vaccine mandatory so there are no more needless deaths!

Crystal K. Guyer, Lacey

Capitol Lake views

For those of you who are considering the future of Capitol Lake, and think the dual-basin hybrid alternative might be a good idea, here’s a suggestion. Take a walk along Deschutes Parkway, heading south from Fifth Avenue, and take a look across the north basin of Capitol Lake toward the east shore and the Capitol.

Try to visualize how this view will change with the addition of a barrier wall, stretching from just east of the Fifth Avenue dam, the full length of the north basin to near the walkway bridge to Marathon Park. Then imagine that it’s low tide, and the view is now across the mudflats of the estuary, to the half-mile-long concrete and sheet pile barrier wall rising about 20 feet above the mudflats. The reflecting basin is no longer visible, hidden by the wall. Instead of the scenic view across the water to the east shore and Capitol, this industrial-scale barrier will predominate. And even at high tide, the view of the reflecting basin will still be obstructed.

Perhaps we should ask the state Department of Enterprise Services and their contractor, as part of their Draft Environmental Impact Statement, to provide us with a visual depiction of the view toward the Capitol from the parkway, to help visualize this hybrid alternative.

By the way, the Draft EIS estimates the additional cost of the hybrid over the estuary alternative, which consists mainly of this barrier wall, to be somewhere between $46 million and $84 million. Any questions?

Bob Holman, Olympia