Willow Spa & Nail Clinic
Fitness and Spa

1202 Yelm Ave E
Ste D
Yelm, WA 98597
Phone: 360-458-1491

Located in the same building as Dairy Queen, next to Quiznos.

From KOMO-TV 4 News.

Sally Paulsen was remembered by the community, family & friends in a ceremony and potluck at Yelm Park, Saturday, June 11, 2011 from 5-7pm. While there was an editorial in the newspaper omitting key facts and garnering several responses, no representative from the Nisqually Valley News was present to witness and report on the beautiful remembrances shared by Paulsen’s family, co-workers, friends and neighbors, which would have provided at the very least, some color to a story the newspaper says they sought to report (to provide the community with Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment food storage practices in light of Paulsen’s death).

Representatives from the FAA and the PASS Union (Professional Aviation Safety Specialists) where Paulsen worked, came to Yelm to share about their experiences of a Yelm-area resident’s participation on a tech-team that kept the computer equipment up and running for the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the Seattle ATC Center. Sally was described in her passion for “workplace justice, employee rights, and just plain common sense against the knee-jerk decisions of management and lack of adherence to the collective bargaining agreement.”

Read more about the true facts unreported in our local newspaper of Paulsen’s tragic death.

Flag Day honors the United States flag.
iStockphoto.com/Jim Jurica

Yelm’s Flag Day dedication ceremony:

WHEN: Tuesday, June 14, 2011, 11:00am
WHERE: Yelm City Park
WHAT: “Honoring our heroes!”
&
Dedication of new bricks
Read more about America’s Flag Day.

This story from Memorial Day about a Yelm military widow is poignant on this Flag Day:
“Green Beret’s widow grieves, worries; son bound for Aghanistan (sic)”

“For the family of Mark Coleman, grief over his combat death is mixed with fresh concerns about the front-line duty of his son, Brett, 21, an Army specialist in Anchorage who is scheduled to head for Afghanistan in December,” quoting Hal Bernton, Seattle Times staff reporter.
Read more

AN IN-DEPTH REPORT –
CITY OF YELM’S $1 MILLION PURCHASE OF THE PRAIRIE PARK LIBRARY

Mayor Harding presented a proposal to the Timberland Regional Library (TRL) Board of Directors on April 27th for the City of Yelm to purchase the current facility at Prairie Park for $1 million dollars.

Did Mayor Harding violate City of Yelm protocols by making a unilateral proposal without consulting his own City Council?
You decide after viewing these official documents:

1. During the presentation to TRL, Harding stated he did NOT consult his own city council prior to announcing the $1m city-purchase offer.
Click here for Timberland Regional Library Board of Directors Draft Minutes from April 27, 2011, where Harding stated to the TRL Board, “this proposal has not been discussed with the Yelm City Council but he believes they would be in favor of this agreement.”

2. The City of Yelm’s website says of the Mayor’s responsibilities:
“The Mayor is the chief executive and administrative officer of the City. He enforces the laws, directs the daily operations of City government, prepares the budget, and implements the policies and programs initiated by the City Council.
“He presides over all meetings of the City Council, when present, but shall have a vote only in the case of a tie in the votes of the Council with respect to matters other than the passage of any ordinance, grant, or revocation of franchise or license, or any resolution for the payment of money.”
Click here for the Mayor’s functions as stated on the City of Yelm website.

3. The City of Yelm’s website says the City Council’s responsibilities are:
“As described in the Yelm Municipal Code and Revised Code of Washington, certain responsibilities are vested in the City Council and the Mayor. Basically, this form of government prescribes that a City Councils role is that of a legislative policy-making body that determines not only the local laws that regulate
community life, but also determines what public policy is and gives direction to the Mayor to administer the affairs of the City government in a businesslike and prudent manner.
“The Council acts as a body. No member has any extraordinary powers beyond those of other members. Members of the city Council are collectively responsible for establishing policy, adopting an annual budget, and providing vision and goals to the Mayor and Departments. Policy is established by at least a majority vote of the Council.”
Click here for the City Council’s functions as stated on the City of Yelm website.

4. Timberland Regional Library Director Michael Crose sent a letter dated May 31, 2011 to Mayor Harding outlining TRL’s understanding of Harding’s proposal for the City of Yelm to pay $1 million for the Prairie Park facility and requesting action by the Yelm City Council to proceed with concluding an agreement to move forward.
Click here for TRL Dir. Crose’s letter to Mr. Harding.

5. Yelm City Administrator Shelly Badger issued a Staff Report dated June 3, 2001 for the June 14 City Council meeting titled: “Expression of intent to purchase Timberland Regional library facility at Prairie Park” recommending “that Council adopt a motion of intent” so an agreement can be finalized with TRL.
Click here for the Staff report for the June 14th Council Meeting.

Now. before the Yelm City Council approves an intent to move forward, several questions need to be addressed by the Council, based on the aforementioned public documents:

A. Did Mayor Harding violate Yelm protocols by presenting a purchase proposal without consulting the Council?
– The City’s website states he cannot have a vote on “any resolution for the payment of money”, except in breaking a tie on the Council.

B. Was the Yelm Municipal Code and Revised Code of Washington usurped when the Mayor bypassed Council regulations that “gives direction to the Mayor to administer the affairs of the City government in a businesslike and prudent manner and prudent manner”?
“The Council acts as a body. No member has any extraordinary powers beyond those of other members.”
That includes the Mayor!

Yet, Mayor Harding is on the record numerous times in 2011 stating the City of Yelm could only afford to pay $600,000 to buy the library. And he acknowledged he did not ask Council (nor the public) for approval to buy the facility for $1 million.
Is bypassing the Council to offer a $1 million proposal administering “the affairs of the City government in a businesslike and prudent manner?”

C. Does the City of Yelm have the bonding capability to undertake a $1 million bond for 20 years?
That has not been discussed publicly.

Ed. Note:
I was educated in and employed in the business world, becoming an Executive of a Fortune Top 50 (of 500) company in the mid-80’s. I know of no corporate Board of Directors (i.e. Yelm City Council) that would allow a Board Chair (mayor) to unilaterally make a major funding decision such as this without consulting the Board, and especially a course of action that could exhaust the city’s entire bonding (borrowing) capabilities. Harding committed taxpayers’ money without consultation and while the Yelm City Council may “rubber-stamp” the mayor’s proposal, is this adhering to the Yelm Municipal Code and Revised Code of Washington which requires administering “the affairs of the City government in a businesslike and prudent manner”?

Bottom Line:
With a purchase proposal not presented publicly by Mayor Harding to the Yelm City Council nor the citizens, how can the Yelm City Council vote Tuesday on an “Expression of intent to purchase” the library at Prairie Park without answering any of these questions?

I am all for a library here, however I am all for the public to know the truth about the purchase proposal. The public has a right to know the truth about the debt that will be placed on their backs for at least 20 years!
THESE ARE VERY IMPORTANT AND SERIOUS QUESTIONS THAT THE PUBLIC DESERVES TO HAVE ANSWERED!

UPDATEJune 14,
No further discussion on the Library motion at City Council tonight, as expected.
Mike McGowan, TRL Library employee abstained, as appropriate.

THIS GUEST ENTRY WAS SUBMITTED BY SHARRON COONTZ:

Rocky Prairie still in jeopardy. Neighbors need your help to save it.

Back in 2008 we reported on the local group Friends of Rocky Prairie and their victory in keeping a huge industrial center off of a fragile piece of land near Millersylvania State Park and adjacent to a Fish and Wildlife preserve. Knowing there was a gravel-mining permit with the land, and knowing also that raising the funds to buy the property from the Port of Tacoma would be quite a task, we asked, “Now what?”

Despite efforts by state and federal agencies to convince the Port to work with them, the Port put the site up for sale, asking $27 million. A year and a half later they sold the site for 8.5 million dollars to paid over 20 years and an equal amount in gravel, also over 20 years. But the permit that allows for the mine has conditions that haven’t been complied with, and all the studies the permit was granted under are now more than 8 years old. Friends of Rocky Prairie has gone up against the Port and the new owners (So. California developers) to fight the use of that permit. The Thurston County Commissioners ruled in March that new environmental reviews were needed.

The Port and the new owners, known as Maytown Sand & Gravel, or MSG, have not only appealed the Commissioners’ decision, they’ve sued Thurston County, Friends of Rocky Prairie, and Black Hills Audubon Society for damages of up to $20 million for causing them delays in mining. Of course these delays were caused because the Port never complied with the permit!

According to Friends of Rocky Prairie spokeswoman Sharron Coontz, the bullying won’t stop the citizens’ efforts to save this important ecosystem. 45 of the 52 known species of county butterflies have made this place their home historically, and there are countless other plant and animal species that make the site what the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife calls “a rare habitat matrix unique to Western Washington.”

“The real struggle now is financial,” said Coontz. “We’re up against the very deep pockets of the Port and the developers, and they’re spending money on frivolous lawsuits that we have to defend against at the same time we’re fighting to protect the prairie. It’s frustrating, to say the least. If anyone can help us as we continue to defend this embattled treasure, we’d really appreciate it.”

Donations to their legal fund can be made at friendsofrockyprairie.com
or by sending to P.O. Box 140, Tenino, WA 98589.

TELL FRIENDS OF THE ROCKY PRAIRIE YOU READ ABOUT THEM ON THE YELM COMMUNITY BLOG!

Flag Day honors the United States flag.
iStockphoto.com/Jim Jurica

Yelm’s Flag Day dedication ceremony:

WHEN: Tuesday, June 14, 2011, 11:00am
WHERE: Yelm City Park
WHAT: “Honoring our heroes!”
&
Dedication of new bricks
Read more about America’s Flag Day.

Filings closed for the Yelm City Council yesterday with only two people vying for three open seats:
– J. W. Foster filed for departing Council member Don Miller’s Position 1 seat.
Foster is a paramedic and firefighter, Nisqually Land Trust Board member and has been serving on the Yelm Planning Commission, most recently as Chair.
– Joe Baker filed for another term running unopposed for his Position 2 seat.
– John Thompson, who is stepping down, had no one to file for his Position 6 seat.
Read more from Brad Shannon’s report in The Olympian.

While the City of Yelm may not have liked some of the choices their citizens had on the ballot for Mayor and City Council over the last decade, at least the voters DID have a choice. The voters will have no option to choose different candidates for each of the three City Council positions in 2011, just as they did not for Mayor in 2009.
The Yelm City Council will remain an “all-male” collective.

This is truly sad and an embarrassment.
This is another “black-eye” and speaks volume for Yelm citizens lack of involvement in their own government and seems to indicate no one wants to get involved with what has been termed by others, The “Yelm Cabal”!

2nd Annual Yelm Prairie Stampede 5k Walk/Run

Sponsor:
Rotary Club of Yelm

Date:
Saturday, June 18, 2011 @ 9:30 AM

Address:
Yelm Middle School
402 West Yelm Ave
Yelm, WA.

Registration Closing Date:
Friday, June 17, 2011 @ 5:59 PM

Yelms Prairie Days festivities begin with the 2nd Annual Prairie Stampede which is a 5K run or walk through the east side of Yelm. The race, organized by the Rotary Club of Yelm, starts at 9.30 a.m. June 18, 2011 from the Yelm Middle School parking lot.

If you are a runner, come join us for a short bit of fun. The course is USATF certified so you can add this to your mileage! Registration is only $20. Register online through Active.com at http://www.active.com/running/yelm-wa/2nd-annual-yelm-prairie-stampede-5k-walkrun-2011.

If youd like to volunteer, we need registration helpers, start and finish timers, road guards and help with scoring and prize giving.

If youd like to volunteer to be our announcer and DJ, let us know.

Volunteers can contact Tom Dewell at 360-894-8151 or email him at info@yelmrotary.com.

Reprinted from JZ Knight’s website.
Copyright 2011 JZ Knight. Used with permission.

This Letter to the Editor was submitted on June 9 in response to an editorial by Nisqually Valley News [NVN] Publisher/Editor Keven Graves he published on June 3:

Dear Editor:

As reported by the Associated Press* and numerous other media outlets, the Thurston County Sheriffs office has ruled the death of Sally Paulsen as an unfortunate accident. In your June 3 editorial, why did you insinuate that Sally died under unusual circumstances? In the news article in the same issue, why did the reporter prematurely draw inappropriate and unsubstantiated conclusions between Sally and Ramthas School of Enlightenment?

I consider all the students in this school so very unique, rare, and such a gift to their family, friends, and community that the loss of such a precious student as Sally hurts my heart.

An NVN reporter called my staff on May 25 at 11 a.m. for comment before the Sheriff released Sallys name or any of the circumstances surrounding her death. For my staff to not comment before the facts were made public by the Sheriffs office was totally appropriate and respectful. Your criticism of me and/or my spokesperson for not offering condolences at that time was unreasonable given that Sallys body had not yet been identified. Also, to correlate this Schools food storage practices with Sallys death prior to the release of the information from the Sheriffs office would have been imprudent speculation, as stated by my staff.

If an NVN reporter wanted information about RSEs food storage practices, a two-second online search with the words Ramtha, food storage would list many pages of links about this Schools practices. Click here for Ramthas thoughts about food storage: http://www.ramtha.com/newsletter/vol5/issue4/SP3.html

Finally, my spokesperson was in contact with the executor of Sallys estate immediately after the Sheriff identified her body, and my staff has been supportive of all efforts to assist her friends and family. The fact that our press release did not reach you in time for your print deadline is no excuse for your reckless statement.

JZ Knight

* Read more from the Associated Press.

UPDATE: June 10, 4pm
A Letter to the Editor was published in the print & online editions of the NVN sent by Carlos Perez and titled: “Why was RSE tie relevant to death report”
Read more

Perez’s Letter to the Editor was abridged by the newspaper. The unabridged version is printed here, with permission of Mr. Perez.
Read more

UPDATE: June 16, 2011, 3pm
NVN Editor/Publisher Graves responded to Knight’s letter.

Editors Note:
Frankly, a woman dying in a food storage barrel is an unusual event anywhere. Questions about recommended food storage practices in relation to the death of Sally Paulsen are entirely fair and reasonable. Any qualified spokesman for the Ramtha School of Enlightenment should be able to answer simple general questions about what the school advises its students about food storage practices. As I stated in my opinion column, Ms. Knights spokesman opted to be abrupt and unhelpful, only serving to raise more questions. The RSE spokesman plays games, and that was the issue addressed in my column.

JZ Knight
Photo Copyright 2011 JZ Knight. Used with permission

Reprinted from JZ Knight’s website, with permission:
Tacoma News Tribune editorial writer Cheryl Tucker published an editorial in Inside Opinion June 9 titled Knights water war with Yelm is one worth fighting.

Tucker stated:
Ramtha may or may not have been a great warrior 35,000 years ago, but his purported modern incarnation New Age guru JZ Knight is fighting a good fight of her own.

Knight, whose 80-acre estate and Ramtha School of Enlightenment is just outside Yelm city limits in Thurston County, has been battling in court for four years to prevent five housing developments from going in nearby.

Knights argument: that Yelm had overestimated its ability to provide water to the developments, and so would be forced to drain water from sources where she owns senior water rights.

Knight and the DOE make an excellent point: Those questions need to be answered way in advance before development plans are finalized. If local governments cant prove they have enough water to accommodate the new growth, then they shouldnt permit it.
Read more