• Editor’s note: I am very pleased to see the hometown newspaper, the Nisqually Valley News, has returned to informing readers with true investigative reporting on issues that affect the voters and residents of the City of Yelm. For years, I have covered the affects of deferred maintenance and a city budget that has been unable to currently cover the estimated $15-$24 million dollars estimated just to bring the water/sewer systems up to current standards.
• Click here to read those previous blog posts.
• Without the collective will of the mayor, city administrator and city council, the “can” keeps getting kicked down the road ever since Mayor Harding began deferring Public Works maintenance in 2009 during the 2008-2009 economic downturn. The easy way out for previous councils and now this one, has been to pass on this budgeting “hot potato.”
• With ever increasing breakdowns and interruptions of service, one day soon, citizens will arise with no water or sewer service, and the city may be forced to fund emergency repairs under duress costing millions of dollars at that time. Hasn’t the time come to focus on Public Works now as a priority, rather than in a serious breakdown?
• Bottom line: I urge blog readers to read this important story published in the NVN. No longer is our local newspaper giving the leaders of Yelm a “bye” on serious issues facing our city. This is wonderful news, as a free press was always a major checks-and-balances asset in our democracy!
• Steve Klein. Host, Yelm Community Bog

Click here for the NVN.