This letter was sent to Mayor Harding and the Yelm City Council on September 22nd in reference to the Mayor’s Column in the Nisqually Valley News:
“Please read this letter in the next meeting, which I believe is tomorrow night [Yelm City Council meeting on Sept. 23rd]
You [Mayor Harding] are supposed to be a person who is open minded and not mired in negativity. Writing in your column that people are a “vocal minority” and “negative viewed” is extremely offensive and smacks of you drawing a division of people that are not “like minded”.
Your personal name calling and assassinations of people that may not agree with you or your decisions is pitiful.
It is not leadership at its best, its nothing but negativity. You spewed out your personal opinions & that is not what I think a person of responsibility is about. You are misusing your column and I hope not your office to negate your constituency.
Some of these people are some of the same people that helped put you in office.
I would like to know also why doesn’t anyone in that same constituency know that 2 of the people on the Yelm City Planning [Commission] had a working relationship with that developer [Tahoma Terra & Thurston Highlands] and that they were listing agents [real estate] for him. And, evidently the rest of the community was not informed.
I would like to know what is your opinion of “undue influence”?
And also conflict of interest?
I ask this question because I feel like people who rub elbows constantly with each other can’t distance themselves from decision making, altruistically.
I am very suspect of the arrangement of Yelm city planning [Commission] officials being on the commission that have had a past working relationship with this developer. Representing the developer of Tahoma Terra [and Thurston Highlands] in past times should not have been kept a secret. It should of been brought out into the open of this community so we could have discussed this issue and understood more fully “that relationship”.
People who have had longstanding relationships with the City of Yelm certainly have influence with decision making processes.
Just so you understand, your column was very offensive and short sighted. Everyone has their own belief system; you have yours, I have mine. But the bottom line is about your attitude; it’s like there are us…and then there is them…which reflects on your ability to lead this community in a non-threatening and intelligent manner.
Since I feel you have maligned the non-like-minded people that you represent in this community, it’s too bad; it just makes suspect the things that you do and represent.
I shall have people in the audience [Yelm City Council] that will let me know if you did in fact read this letter at the next city meeting. Personally, I do not feel you represent most of our interests.
This development will threaten this environment and put undue burdens on city services…..
Cindy Anderson
[Ed. Note: Cindy Teixeira, Community and Government Relations Coordinator for the City of Yelm responded to Ms. Anderson saying, “I received both your emails regarding the Mayors column and will provide a copy of the letter to the City Clerk for proper disbursement to the City Council members.” Mrs. Teixeira copied the Mayor on Ms. Anderson’s email.]
This writer checked the real estate records and found Ms. Anderson’s assertions to be true:
Yelm Planning Commissioners Graver & Kaminski purchased property from Steve Chamberlain, president of SCA Consulting, co-developer of Thurston Highlands & Tahoma Terra.
Is there a conflict of interest?
Should Commissioners Graver & Kaminski have recused themselves from any discussion involving Thurston Highlands & Tahoma Terra?
WHAT DO YOU SAY?