Writing to the Yelm Community Blog as a private citizen, Mr. Hashim's remarks are unabridged in any way:

"My daughter is a freshman at Western Washington University. This week she is studying for a test in environmental studies 101. One of the test questions is the definition of community. She asked me what I thought the definition was. The standard text book definition is "all inhabitants of a well defined area working together to create a healthy habitat.

The Thompson Creek meeting was an opportunity for community members to work together to solve a problem. It is perfectly clear, and rather sad, that the City of Yelm refuses to participate, refuses to be part of a greater community. Using the textbook definiton of cummunity (sic) it is obvious Yelm is not a community!! Instead, it is an unhealthy habitat, and getting worse all the time.

I often get called by my neighbors for help. What can we do about Wal-Mart, about Nascar, about Tahoma Terra, the traffic, and of course Thompson Creek flooding? The calls usually come after they have tried to get help, to communicate with, or to get any kind of response of any sort from the city of Yelm. It breaks my heart that little ladies who have lived their whole lives in Yelm cannot get the city to answer their calls for help.

I'm not afraid to speak out on behalf of my neighbors. Doing so has often got me in hot water with the city council. I don't really care. It is obvious the council could care less about the citizens of Yelm. I do so & I will continue to help.

It was pathetic how Yelm's representative at the Thompson Creek meeting [see January 30 entry below] sat there like a rotten log, refusing to discuss solutions of any sort. Instead, he deferred the city's position to the Tahoma Terra developers.

Now I know who owns this city, and unfortunately it is not us.

Bill Hashim
Yelm, WA