Letters urge voters to choose Upthegrove to head DNR, and lobby for workers bill of rights

Voters, check the record

I have been watching the barrage of political ads and it feels like “backwards day” when I see the ads run by Republican Jaime Herrera-Beutler and her timber corporation-funded PAC.

She slams Dave Upthegrove for not being an environmentalist instead positioning herself as the friend of Mother Nature. The ads mislead the voters. She has a terrible environmental voting record. She just was named to the League of Conservation Voters’ (LCV) State “Dirty Dozen,” a national list of candidates for statewide office determined too detrimental to the environment.

Herrera-Beutler, while in Congress, repeatedly voted to weaken clean air and water protections. She opposed the Paris Climate Accord, and she is now opposing the Climate Commitment Act. It is cynical and damaging to public trust for her to create these false impressions.

Upthegrove helped to create the Puget Sound Partnership, has a strong record working on salmon recovery, was named Washington Conservation Legislator of the Year and is endorsed by the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity, as well as Washington firefighters and teachers.

Look at more than the ads. Look at the records. Vote Upthegrove for Lands Commissioner.

Kristin Swenddal, Olympia

A clear choice to lead DNR

I am an avid hiker and backpacker who partakes in the beauty of our forests and parks. I am also an Army veteran and military spouse. We chose to stay in this great state because of its mountains, forests, and rivers. The preservation and management of our public lands for the benefit of all the people in Washington, but especially our region, is a serious and personal issue.

This is why Dave Upthegrove is the clear choice as Public Lands Commissioner. His education and experience in government, conservation and forestry make him the best candidate for this important position.

In Congress, his opponent voted to weaken Clean Air and Clean Water laws and opposed the Paris Climate Accord. She is also voting yes on Initiative 2117, which repeals Washington’s Climate Commitment Act and would cut funding for transportation, clean air, renewable energy, conservation, and emissions reduction.

Dave Upthegrove’s priorities are clean air and water, salmon recovery, fire prevention and recreation. The choice is quite clear for Washington’s future!

San Juanita Flores, Olympia

We need a Workers Bill of Rights

Olympia City Council is considering a worker’s bill of rights that would include an increase in minimum wage. I’ve worked for small businesses as well as large corporations, and I understand that labor costs are challenging.

However, the cost of fuel, groceries, and rent are also challenging. The idea that our local businesses cannot support an increase in minimum wage carries with it the grim implication that we as a community ought to bankrupt, starve, and evict our workforce so as to keep those businesses afloat.

Happily, we do not have to depend on fearful conjuncture to foresee the possible outcomes of an increased minimum wage. In other cities that have implemented higher minimum wages, there have been carve-outs allowed for businesses under certain sizes, and phase-in periods during which the only businesses paying their employees more are the large corporations that have been raking in record profits ever since the pandemic, paying back into our community only the bare minimum.

I continue to hear a disparaging myth about minimum wage workers, that we are merely teenagers looking for some spending money, or somehow too indolent or disaffected to pursue higher education. This bears no resemblance to my experience as a meat cutter in over two dozen grocery stores. My coworkers are single parents, adults burdened with college debt and no better job prospects, all of us hard workers trying to do our best to get by with the hand that we have been dealt. We deserve better.

Charlotte Crawford, Rochester