Thurston County Commissioner Diane Oberquell

The Olympian has run a story in recent days questioning the motives of retiring County Commissioner Diane Oberquell:

August 26th:
Oberquell records request called ‘exceptional’
Retiring commissioner sought information on failed legislation

“Thurston County Commissioner Diane Oberquell sent a state agency one of the biggest public records requests ever filed, costing the agency an estimated $9,000 for 300 hours of staff time and about $500 for printing almost 10,000 pages of documents.

Oberquell, acting as a private citizen, filed the request Feb. 9. She asked the office of state Attorney General Rob McKenna for records, e-mails and other documents that mention a failed bill in the state Legislature that would have required county commissioners to tape their closed-door executive sessions. Oberquell testified Feb. 5 against the bill…

Some observers, such as Rowland Thompson, executive director of Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington, and Olympia attorney Greg Overstreet, former special assistant to the state attorney general for government accountability, said Oberquell’s request appeared to be at least in part retaliation for a time-consuming public records request filed with Thurston County in 2006 by state Auditor Brian Sonntag.

Thurston County was one of 30 government agencies queried in a statewide performance audit to judge agency responsiveness to and compliance with the state Public Records Act.

In the project, which ran Nov. 2, 2006, through Jan. 30, 2007, Sonntag’s staff posed as citizens and asked for a test sample of records.

That triggered Oberquell to complain publicly in August 2007 that Sonntag was “asking us for things like a job description of the IT person, sheriff’s travel, (chief administrator) Don Krupp’s telephone records you know, things like that,” she said in a news story in The Olympian.

Thompson said if Oberquell’s effort was retaliatory, it backfired in that McKenna’s office, by fulfilling her request, upheld the public’s right to know…

In response to Oberquell’s request, the agency printed 9,800 pages at a cost of 5 cents a page, but Oberquell decided to take copies of only 60 pages and several CDs containing documents, for which she was charged $20, said Dan Sytman, a spokesman for McKenna’s office.

The 300 hours of staff time including managers, specialists and support staff cost an average of $30 an hour, or $9,000…

Agency staff members contacted Oberquell several times to “see if she could narrow the scope,” but the efforts were unsuccessful, he said.”

UPDATE: September 1, 2008
The Olympian Op-ED said this in today’s editions:
“Oberquell was spiteful, wrong
Citizen activism is a right. Harassment is not.

Thurston County Commissioner Diane Oberquell has submitted two voluminous public records requests to state agencies out of pure spite. It’s vindictiveness at its worst and as a public official, Oberquell should know better. She has embarrassed herself in her final days in office and her retaliatory requests for public records are yet another indication that at 20 years, she has stayed in office too long…

Attorney Greg Overstreet, former open records ombudsman for the attorney general, said, “I think 99 percent of public records requests are made by well-meaning people — this seems to be the other 1 percent.”

As a county commissioner, Diane Oberquell has the same right as every other citizen to hold her government accountable. And while citizen activism is admirable, forcing taxpayers to cover the costs of retaliatory requests for public records crosses the line.

The sad reality is after 20 years of public service as county commissioner, Oberquell has ruined her reputation on her way out of office.”

ED NOTE: This writer has said the same thing twice in the last year : with another “indication that at 20 years, she has stayed in office too long.”
Mrs. Oberquell passed over her own Thurston County Planning Commission’s recommendations and citizen comments about the 2007 Yelm Comprehensive Plan Transportation Update, which will not reign in the continuing traffic issues here.

Further, The Olympian reported on June 16, 2008 that “Poor planning led to budget woes” with the Thurston County deficit and that lies directly at Mrs. Oberquell’s and her fellow Commissioners’ feet.

YELM’S COATES RD.
This writer was questioned by a Blog reader about the cost differential between a Yelm Road’s cost to widen and repave vs. Bald Hill Rd. in Thurston County.

I spoke with the city’s Stephanie Ray, Project Manager, to ask her why the Coates Rd. project [Click Here, then click MINUTES, then August 12, 2008, & see 8B] costing $1.2 million for 3 tenths of a mile ($3.6 million a mile) is so expensive compared to the Bald Hill Rd. project costing about $860,000 a mile.

Ms. Ray made these points about the Coates Rd. Project:
– this is a commercial collector roadway in a city.
– right-of-way acquisition required. Ms. Ray said she thought such was not the case with Bald Hill Rd.
– underground utilities, which Bald Hill Rd. did not have.
– water lines (new PVC, sewer work).
– gas line relocation.
– street lighting.
– planter strips.
– sidewalks.
– A $550,000 grant was received from the state gas tax, which requires alot more detail than a non-granted job. The Bald Hill Rd. project received a Federal Grant, which is even more stringent.

I found Ms. Ray’s straight forward and enthusiastic responses to my questions to be refreshing from a City Hall that usually doesn’t even return my calls or emails.

Even after Ms. Ray’s explanations, this writer was amazed at the differences in costs: $860,000 for Bald Hill Rd. a mile vs. $3.6 + million a mile for Yelm’s Coates Rd., Yelm’s being 4 1/2 times greater!

YELM’S HIGH SCHOOL ENTRANCE PERMANENTLY CHANGED
“Visitors must use the east end access, formerly the exit, located across from Mountainview Road. THIS IS A PERMANENT ACCESS CHANGE AT YHS. Students must use center turn lane into the new access point. Westbound commuter traffic should keep right through the YHS school zone. Click the link for more project information,” quoting the city’s website.

YELM’S BYPASS
On July 7th, I received an email from Cindy Teixeira, Community and Government Relations Coordinator saying that she forwarded my letter of that day to Mayor Harding for a response. To date, Mr. Harding never responded to my request for information on the location of funding for a Bypass. In questioning the WSDOT, they say they have no funding and to go back and ask the Mayor to support his assertions. I did-

“Mayor Harding told the Yelm Chamber [of Commerce] Forum on Tuesday, April 8 that Yelm’s Bypass construction is set to begin in 2009 using left-over right-of-way acquisition funding of $9-10 million and was quoted in the March 14th edition of the Nisqually Valley News in a story titled “Bypass funding is back on track” saying in the text, ‘It is quite possible they could start phase one of the construction project in 2009.’

…in speaking to the Washington State Dept. of Transportation (WSDOT), they tell me to “Ask Mayor Harding to present where the $10M construction fund is located in their Transportation Budget?”

THE HONORABLE MAYOR RON HARDING

Mayor Harding,
The $9 million is a prediction by WSDOT of how much will be left over after all of the right-of-way is acquired for the project. Right-of-way acquisition has not been completed, so we may not know until next year (2009) the status of any leftover balance.

Can you update the community on where this stands?
Or, is your silence a confirmation of WSDOT’s claim that there is no left-over funding yet available?

While many in City Hall just wish I would go away, I am going to continue to speak out on issues that affect all of us in the Nisqually Valley.

QUOTING SIERRA CLUB’S SIERRA MAGAZINE (Sept./Oct., 2008)
“NOT LONG AGO small private colleges had a near monopoly on campus environmental initiatives in the United States. But today supersize public universities are nipping at the nimble, hemp-shod heels of those pioneers by adopting green building standards, expanding environmental studies programs, and converting fleets to zero-emission vehicles…

The top schools earned points in ten categories: policies for building, energy, food, investment, procurement, and transportation; curriculum; environmental activism; waste management; and overall commitment to sustainability. A perfect score in every area would give a school 100 points.

IN THE TOP 10:
CLICK #5 EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE, OLYMPIA
4,400 students
Evergreen first made headlines for getting rid of grades and majors in the 1970s. Now the college creates buzz with its environmental policies, which include a mandate that all new building projects comply with silver-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. Less than a quarter of students use their intercity bus passes (included with tuition) to get to school, but new bus shelters with solar-powered lighting may help them get jazzed about public transit.

Highlight
Student activism: At least nine campus organizations take on environmental and social justice issues.

Lowlight
Investments: No transparency or reported sustainable-investing policies.

Score: 88

CLICK #9 UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE
39,250 students
The home of the Huskies is one of the few universities whose overall energy use has decreased (by 10 percent between 2000 and 2005) despite campus growth. All the university’s energy comes from renewable sources (including hydropower), and 14 buildings are slated for construction or renovation in compliance with LEED standards.

Highlight
Investments: Endowment funds support renewable energy and LEED-certified development projects.

Lowlight
Student activism: Environmental advocacy remains a fringe activity.

If you go Sign up for courses in the College of Forest Resources–many of them include field trips to the Pacific Northwest’s awe-inspiring woodlands.

Score: 84″

This writer’s letter of Wednesday, August 27 to State Senator Rasmussen and Reps. Campbell & McCune sums up the City of Yelm’s official, on-the-record response to the public commenters on the Thurston Highlands Draft EIS. This is the first response the community has heard from the City on this matter:

Dear Elected Representatives of the Yelm District,

I am dismayed at the arrogance of City of Yelm officials in their blatant disregard of the public last night [August 26], as they officially went on the record at their regular City Council meeting denying there will be any response to public input on the Thurston Highlands Draft EIS prior to the final EIS, for a 5,000 home proposed development and one of the State’s largest, that would effectively quadruple the size of Yelm.

Area resident Diane D’Acuti asked the Yelm City Council during the public comment section:
1. Why were the city’s SEPA rules not followed in the length & conciseness of the DEIS?
2. When will the over 50 commenters questions & concerns be addressed and why have they not been answered before now?

Yelm Community Development Director Grant Beck stated,
“I will address all of the comments and SEPA rules in the final EIS.”

Ms. D’Acuti said the Draft EIS does not follow the city’s own rules regarding the SEPA and requested that issue be addressed.
Mayor Harding answered, “In the appearance of fairness, we (the Council) can’t get into that.”
[Ed. Note: WHAT??? Where is the appearance of fairness in denying the commenters a response? What about “fairness” for the public that elected all of you into office? You appear to bend-over backwards for the developer, rather than to your constituents!].

This is a major rejection of the SEPA, which is devoted to encouraging community participation and comment. Public input is of vital importance on a project such as this. That nothing will be addressed until the Final EIS means the public and commenters will not know where, if at all, Mr. Beck made any changes from the Draft EIS, without a full reading of the Final EIS.

This development will not only quadruple Yelm’s population, it will choke the city with traffic even further, add the equivalent of 7 Super Wal-Mart’s of commercial space, impact the aquifer and create a second downtown, all in direct violation of the City of Yelm Vision Statement in the Comprehensive Plan.
That the rules and intent of the SEPA in public participation are being shoved aside, is indicative of the reason the Yelm City Council was awarded the egregious Jefferson Muzzle Award in 2006 for prohibiting public comment on a then-planned Wal-Mart application. Mayor Harding (then as Mayor Pro-tem) & most of the current City Council members were then serving on that Council.
Just to be clear, I wish to make known that I am not running for Mayor of Yelm in 2009.

I have heard that Yelm issues require an inordinate amount of your time and attention percentage-wise, compared to the rest of your jurisdiction. With this Thurston Highlands EIS coming down the pike as the only vehicle that addresses public concerns, I suggest you will be hearing even more from this area’s constituents.
I have attached my Letter to the Editor of the Nisqually Valley News published this week with more details.

Can you suggest anything to have our voices heard in Yelm’s City Hall?

Most sincerely,

Stephen R. Klein
P. O. Box 1971
Yelm, WA. 98597

cc: Candidates for public office (Romero, Edmondson, Christenson, Powell, Becker)
The Olympian
Nisqually Valley News
Business Examiner
Yelm Planning Commission Chair Carlos Perez
Yelm Mayor & City Council
Yelm Community Development Department
Yelm Community Affairs

Ed. Note: The then-newly appointed Yelm Planning Commission Chair Carlos Perez asked the public for solutions and input on key issues affecting the community in his December 14, 2007 Letter to the Editor published in the NVN. The silence from Mr. Perez and the Planning Commission on the Thurston Highlands DEIS is indicative of their compliance with the city about not responding to public comments or following the SEPA rules. Interesting that the Planning Commission Meeting for August, 2008 was canceled, what with the Thurston Draft EIS creating a second downtown that usurps the city’s own Vision Statement in the Comprehensive Plan. HMMM!

UPDATE: Friday, August 29th at 1:30pm
Unfortunately, the NVN in today’s edition did not report on this turn of events, rather focusing on the “slam-dunk” approval of the next phase of Tahoma Terra, a 1,200 development by the same owners of Thurston Highlands and a lawsuit by JZ Knight.
The newspaper misreported two weeks ago when the NVN stated, “On July 18, Knights petition was denied in a summary judgment hearing.”
The NVN printed a correction in a small box last week on page 2, instead of the large incorrect box on their front page the week prior.

Finally, the NVN got it right in today’s edition, though in the last 2 lines of this story:
“On July 18, a petition for a summary judgment hearing made by the City of Yelm was denied.

The next court hearing, on the merits of the case, is set for 9 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 1.”

Ed. Note: This means that the courts found Ms. Knight’s case had sufficient grounds against the city to move forward and the city’s request to have the case dismissed was what was denied. Why did THIS story not get front-page copy, in particular from a newspaper that reports on the front page every time the city has rejected Ms. Knight’s cases?!

Candidates for State Representative JeanMarie Christenson, Congress Darcy Burner, State Senator Marilyn Rasmussen, Governor Chris Gregoire.
Photo Credit: Pierce County Dispatch

Clearly Western Washington has finally broken through the “glass ceiling” and voted their minds for candidates to represent them based on talent, rather than gender bias, as demonstrated by these four ladies who were winners in their respective races in the State’s top two Primary August 19th. They move on to the November election ballot.
[Ed. Note: They all list a preference for the Democratic Party.]

Find out more about their campaigns by clicking on their names below to access their websites:
LD 2 State Representative Candidate JeanMarie Christenson
8th Congressional District Candidate Darcy Burner
2nd LD State Senator Marilyn Rasmussen
Governor Chris Gregoire

CONGRATULATIONS TO THESE WOMEN FOR STEPPING FORWARD IN BEING WILLING TO SERVE!

Lady Washington, Official Ship of the State of Washington

“The historic tall ships Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain will arrive in Olympia with cannons blazing as part of Olympia Harbor Days Aug. 29-31, it was announced today [Aug. 22].

The Official Ship of the State of Washington and her companion ship will add an extra day in the state capital Sept. 1 for additional public tours and sailings that celebrate the regions maritime heritage.

The ships are scheduled to arrive at Percival Landing, 222 Columbia St. N.W., Aug. 29 at about 6 p.m.

Crew in period costume will welcome visitors aboard the ships for walk-on tours: Aug. 30, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Aug. 31, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sept. 1, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. A $3 donation per person is requested.

The ships also will take passengers on five Battle Sails — three-hour excursions featuring booming cannon and close-quarters maneuvers between the two vessels.

Those sails are scheduled Aug. 30, 2-5 p.m. and 6-9 p.m.; Aug. 31, 6-9 p.m.; and Sept. 1, 2-5 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. Tickets are $60 for adults. For reservations call 800-200-5239 or go to www.historicalseaport.org,” quoting The Olympian.

MASTER PERMACULTURE DESIGN TRAINING PROGRAM
with Bruce Weiskotten, Certified Permaculture Designer

You are invited to an Introduction to Permaculture Design talk at the
Blue Bottle this Wednesday, Aug 27th starting at 7:00 PM

This talk introduces the Permaculture Design method which individual people and Eco-Villages around the world are using to become more sovereign and self-sufficient at home and in their local community.
A full certification program in Permaculture Design is beginning Sat. Aug 30th here in the Yelm area. Course participants will have participate in design team practicums and learn to develop proven strategies, technologies and patterns for sovereign living. Upon completion of the course, graduates will be invited to participate in a permaculture design society Dancing Spirits Permaculture which will sponsor workshops in applied permaculture.

Bruce Weiskotten for
Dancing Spirits Permaculture

for further information call Bruce (360) 400-1350 or Satora (360) 446-0052

The term master refers to self-mastery. Permaculture means a sustainable culture of sovereign individuals cultivating their own food, medicine, building materials, energy resources and more ecologically and locally. Design is the process by which we co-create with God.

The Master Permaculture Design training program is a 72 credit hour course wherein the students learn how to develop their own models for Sovereignty.

Come and learn how to:
– Read the landscape to better understand your lands potential
– Transmute the ground of your being
– Work with natures secrets rather than fighting back the jungle
– Recognize & make use of nutrients, water, potential energy & other freely available resources
– Create perennial harvest systems
– Reduce risks (disease, climatic extremes, fire, pest management,)
– Maximize your sustainable yields
– Learn Darwins criteria of what makes a species the fittest to survive

“What permaculturists are doing is the most important activity that any group is doing on the planet. For a truly sustainable future, we need options experimenting in all kinds of ways. Permaculturists are one of the critical gangs that are doing that.”
— David Suzuki

Introductory Evening with Bruce on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 7.00 pm at the Blue Bottle in Yelm
For information call Satora (360) 446-0052

The Business Examiner’s 2008 Women of Influence honorees have been selected.

Women in the South Sound are first nominated and then asked to complete an extensive questionnaire about their business and community activities. Some 40 women qualified for consideration this year.

Judges review the materials and select the class of honorees….

Other honorees are: Cyndi Wikstrom, general manager of Tacoma’s Click! Network; Kim Farnes, executive director of Communities in Schools of Orting, Rita Hutcheson fire chief of South East Thurston Fire and EMS; and Jill Kenly, director of Fund Development for Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity.

The annual class of business and community women is selected by previous honorees gathered by the Business Examiner. A special publication honoring the 2008 Women of Influence, including articles profiling each honoree, will be distributed in the Sept. 15 issue of the Business Examiner.

Women of Influence is presented by KeyBank – Key4Women. More than 375 business and community members are expected to celebrate Women of Influence alumni, honorees and nominees at an event Sept. 24 at the Sharon McGavick Student and Conference Center at CPTC,” quoting this August 18 Business Examiner story.

CONGRATULATIONS TO CHIEF HUTCHESON AND WE THANK HER FOR ALL OF HER FINE WORK IN OUR COMMUNITY!

This writer wrote to Yelm’s Community Development Director Grant Beck on August 13, 2008 saying,

“I hear you have said to others recently that you have no intention to reject the Thurston Highlands Draft EIS for not following the SEPA rules.

Out of a total of 52 comments submitted to your office, most were by members of the community and almost all of those unanimously demanded that the draft be rejected for several reasons:

– this DEIS was over twice the length given as a maximum by SEPA rules

– this DEIS was not in clear and concise language

– many of the public asked for an extended comment period for some of these reasons

The citys own promulgated version of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) states:

Environmental impact statements shall be concise and written in plain language.
EISs shall not be excessively detailed or overly technical.
EISs shall explain plainly the meaning of technical terms not generally understood by the general public.
The text of an EIS (WAC 197-11-430(3))shall not exceed seventy-five pages;
except for proposals of unusual scope or complexity, where the EIS shall not exceed one hundred fifty pages. …

The purpose and intent of the State Environmental Policy Act rules are largely devoted to encouraging community participation and comment for obvious reasons…
This public input is of vital importance and must be construed in the spirit of the SEPA rules. To date, there has been no response from your office on the comments submitted by the community…

Do you or do you not intend to follow the expressed wishes of the community and reject this Draft EIS, and have it reissued according to lawful SEPA premises?

A week later, I received no response, so I called Mr. Beck and left a voicemail message giving him yet another opportunity to respond. As of 10 days later, I have heard nothing.

However, Mayor Harding’s and Mr. Beck’s comments in yesterday’s Nisqually Valley News say it all!

“Mayor Ron Harding said the document is lengthy because the city wanted to ensure it covered all aspects of the project.
Yelm’s Director of Community Development Grant Beck said there actually isn’t an overall size limitation to the document.
‘It could be a million pages long,’ Beck said,” quoting the NVN.

No size limitation, Mr. Beck?
The State of Washington Administrative Code (WAC) about SEPA quoted above says your conjecture is not so!
Your silence in not responding to the 52 commenters or to my written and oral requests for comment clearly indicate that you have no intention to reject the Thurston Highlands Draft EIS for not following the SEPA rules.
Your flagrant disregard for the city’s own version of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) and lack of responsiveness to this community demonstrates your continued thumb-nosing at your constituents, to whom you were appointed to serve!

Did Mayor Harding read the public comments on the City of Yelm’s own website about this Draft EIS?
JZ Knight attorney Keith Moxon’s comments there clearly delineate in fine detail the incompleteness of the Thurston Highlands Draft EIS in failing to address so many issues.
Click here.
Olympia Engineer Ed Wiltsie’s comments further show DEIS gaps:
Click here.
Bill Hashim, a local resident & state ecologist for over 25 years highlights more discrepancies and omissions in the DEIS:
Click here.
These are not some insignificant statements, rather well-researched and documented reports from knowledgeable and experienced professionals all pointing to a sorely deficient DEIS.

The silence from the Community Development Director bespeaks volumes!

That silence is matched by the community-at-large, as well. While I acknowledge those that took the time to send in their comments, only 52 comments were filed from the greater Yelm community of over 10,000 people; that’s less than 1/2 of one percent.

The silence from the community on issues that will affect this town for generations bespeaks volumes, too!

The Mayor, City Council, Planning Commission and many in City Hall just wish I would be quiet and go away.
I will still bring up these issues for our community, nevertheless!

To our appreciated customers and friends,

Sadly, we have to announce the closure of our bakery, Sebastian’s Best, by the end of August ’08. Unfortunately, we are not able to meet and support our financial needs with Sebastian’s Best and, after crunching all the numbers several times under different scenarios, we’ve accepted this reality. We even considered opening just a couple of afternoons a week, but could find little profit other than our enjoyment of being here with you.

Sebastian is searching for baking space to rent for 1 day a week to continue some wholesale business and perhaps special orders for you. Please feel free to call with any suggestions or leads. Also, perhaps you know someone who’d like to make a different business with this established kitchen. We are happy to talk to any interested parties – we think it’d be the perfect space for a caterer or special order business like pizza delivery or Dinners to Go.

If we don’t find someone interested in taking over the kitchen, we will be selling off equipment and odds and ends (buckets, spatulas, etc.) over the month of September. Please request a list of items if you or someone you know is interested.

We have so enjoyed being here and serving you. Thank you!

–Sebastian, Amy and Elena Schefer

THE YELM COMMUNITY BLOG THANKS THE SCHEFER’S FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THIS COMMUNITY & WISH THEM WELL IN THEIR FUTURE ENDEAVORS.

In the last year, the City has said good-by to friends at Annie’s Bistro/Two Friend’s Cafe, Arnold’s Country Inn, & QFC.