October 12, 2008
A NOTE TO YELM BUSINESS OWNERS
NVN Editor/Publisher Graves called my letter last week a threat to local business owners and said "that kind of talk smacks of schoolyard bullying and has no place in an otherwise healthy, open dialogue".
I assert that Mr. Graves is the true schoolyard bully by printing on the front page such divisive comments from a city official about his alleged RSE experiences over 18 years ago.
That's news?
That deserves a front-page story?
Where was the story about the City of Yelm being a Thurston County Superior Court defendant on Oct. 1st about water availability for homes and businesses here. Why does that not merit NVN coverage on which the outcome WILL affect this area? Why was their reporter not in the courtroom, yet writing about Cunningham's video instead? HMMM!
1. Newspaper reader Roy Johnson wrote the NVN last week and said,
"I don't know about the rest of the population in our fine little village of Yelm, but if Knight/Ramtha devotees such as (former Yelm mayor candidate) Steve Klein and (legislative candidate) JeanMarie Christenson expect my support, they have a long wait coming.
Am I really to believe that these politicians have the common sense and brains to lead our community when they got suckered into believing this Ramtha story is true?"
Mr. Johnson, Glen Cunningham is a former, elected City Council member & RSE student. And, a current & several former RSE students are in elected or appointed positions now serving our community.
If this community is going to judge those who wish to serve the public because of their association with Ramtha's School, then how can Cunningham's views, interactions and associations with others be overlooked as being without influence, either?
Can his derogatory views about RSE be separated from his role as President-elect of the Yelm Chamber of Commerce or any other public post in which he serves?
2. As an example, as President-elect of the Yelm Chamber of Commerce, shouldn't Cunningham be the representative of ALL Chamber members? Why is the Chamber's President-elect condemning ANY Chamber member, especially long-time Patron Member RSE, when he is quoted by the NVN saying, '..he [Cunningham] warns people how it is so they “don’t waste their money' [by going to RSE]"?
Is this kind of behavior towards a local business and it's patrons not schoolyard bullying?
Bottom line: There was NO intent on my part to hurt any business, rather to expose the hypocrisy of a city official and support of the local newspaper.
You can't have it both ways!
[My letter to the NVN is printed under comments below for those that did not see it in the NVN.]
Letter to the Editor of the NVN published on 9/26/08:
Dear Editor,
Regarding your front-page story last week titled "One-time insider tells RSE experience"
about Glen Cunningham "taking a critical jab at channeler JZ Knight" in his video-interview with Life After RSE (LARSE),
I have to ask why and why now?
Mr. Cunningham has had ample opportunity to air his views for the 17 years since he left RSE. He states on the video that he tells the truth, yet says more than once on the recording he lied and admits in your paper hat "he never believed Ramtha was real" all of these years later. On the video, he says he never experienced anything extraordinary from Ramtha.
I find that curious as I was in an audience about 1990 when Ramtha requested Mr. Cunningham share in front of the School's students his experiences that the roof to RSE's Great Hall was made invisible by Ramtha just for him to see. Ramtha wisely asked him then to share his utter amazement and truth in what he saw, which was audio recorded. He continues saying that he considers RSE to be a cult and "All the things they do are cult activities."
Now that Mr. Cunningham is a self-admitted liar, he has been and is in many positions of leadership in this town including former City Council member, Mayor appointments to the Yelm Planning Commission (to which he was the recent Chair), the Yelm Civil Service Commission, the Parks Advisory Committee, and the Yelm Tree Advisory Board, in addition to volunteer for Yelm's Lions Club and the President-elect of the Yelm Chamber of Commerce. Each of these offices require his number one priority to be truth in upholding the rights of the citizens and businesses he represents. I am interested to know and express this question, "Do Mr. Cunningham's views represent Yelm Chamber of Commerce members' opinions?"
For if they do, I am certainly willing to take my business elsewhere if my dollars I spend here are considered undesirable and will suggest other RSE students do the same.
I hope Yelm-area businesses will speak-up and let me and my fellow students know. RSE and the students have been active and vibrant members of the fabric of life here for over 2 decades and have contributed to make Greater Yelm a greater place we all call home.
This town can continue to be polarized based on intolerances of a certain individual or group in judging others' views or we can see this as an opportunity to put all of these type of distractions aside and join arm in arm to confront the many challenges we have as neighbors in the Nisqually Valley; from water, to traffic, funding for a Bypass, a new Library, Schools bursting at the seams, city budget issues, a county deficit where services are to be cut, home foreclosures, neighboring Roy going broke and a looming recession where we have sadly witnessed several venerable Yelm businesses having closed and others are on the edge.
United we stand, divided we fall.
The choice is in our hands....
Stephen R. Klein