Letters to the editor for Sept. 23

Time for a homeless audit

Homelessness is an all-encompassing and somewhat misleading term used to describe an inarguably complex and perplexing problem facing Thurston County. I’m all in for finding practical, effective solutions.

However, I am not in favor of expending another large chunk of money in the form of a county Home Fund tax unless one major condition is met: An in-depth audit of how much, where and how we currently allocate millions of dollars in what appears to be an exercise in futility. Clearly, just throwing money at the problem is not the answer.

Local governments, perhaps through the auspices of Thurston Regional Planning Council and with media acting as a watchdog rather than an advocate, need to commission an audit that addresses these kinds of questions:

1. How much federal, state and local tax money is being spent on an array of programs?

2. How much private funding augments the public expenses?

3. How many agencies and non-profits have been created to combat the issue?

4. What are the collective administrative costs?

5. How many services are duplicative?

6. How can we best prioritize use of existing resources to maximze problem solving?

We face a public health and safety problem with tragic consequences for many of our fellow residents, not to speak of the quality of life in this community. Let’s use our compassion and common sense for a unified, coordinated look at the best way to deal with this issue. An audit will let us know if we need another tax.

Dick Nichols, Olympia

Forests of Tumwater

Recently in Tumwater, 20 acres of mature forest was clear cut for a subdivision. Next, 60 acres was clear cut near Interstate 5 for a giant warehouse, with 200-year-old heritage trees destroyed with their healthy canopies.

I tried to understand how the Tumwater Tree Ordinance can allow for clear cutting. I asked Tumwater City Council, the Tree Board and Tumwater Community Development to explain this. No one responded to my messages. All I understood is the it is OK to clear cut mature forests and trade them for “street trees.”

Tumwater also has a Climate Plan. I’d like the city to track how many forested acres they permit to be destroyed. Aerial photos suggest Tumwater still has between 700 and 1,000 forests acres. If Tumwater allows this alarming rate to continue, we can see this amount of clearcutting to be our future. Most people understand that sapling street trees will never catch up to the CO2 conversion of mature forests. Tumwater will be expediting climate change.

Valuing forests is smart. Honoring their value and the reality of climate change is wise and forward looking. Is it time to re-envision Urban Growth Areas and combine their intent with the urgency of Climate Change Plans?

What a loss if the planning of Tumwater includes losing what is most important to the people who live here and the well-being of the environment. Or what could it look like if we kept the forests and re-thought growth?

Sherry Buckner, Olympia

Daylight-saving time is a joke

The end of daylight-saving time is nigh upon us. Children will be going to school in the dark, teenagers will get even crankier from screwed-up body clocks. We will have to remember to “fall back” on Nov. 7. Wikipedia research finds DST was invented by Benjamin Franklin as a joke in a letter to the editor to The Journal of Paris in 1784. It was implemented by Germany in 1916. Leave it to old Ben to pull a prank like that and to the Germans to implement it.

This farce is a great example of government using “science” to run our lives. Our governor and his clan want to make DST permanent? 12 p.m. is when the sun is at the meridian (science)! If y’all want to work early or late, fine. It’ll spread out the traffic around the JBLM pinch-point. Think of the gas (and CO2) saving there.

Worried about kids going to school? How about flex starting times in the morning and afternoon an hour either way? It would be advantageous for parents and teachers and would make better use of school facilities. A major service of schools is childcare. Flexing would allow working parents time to drop off and pick up their children before and after work. Children could do homework, play, or get fed during those times. It’s all about the children, right?

Will it happen? Doubtful.

Edwin J. Pole II, Lacey