Yelm Issues: October 2006 Archives

The Thurston County Flood Bulletin for Fall, 2006 has just been released. With the Fall/Winter rains returning, reading this and preparing your home & family is very important.

Further, from the Thurston County Emergency Management wesbsite:
"Interested in learning more about Emergency Preparedness?

For individual or family preparedness, see our Emergency Preparedness Public Education page.

If you and your neighbors or organization want to develop a Community Emergency Response Team, check our CERT page.

To learn more on the web about emergency preparedness, go to 3days3ways.org or our LINKS page."

Jacob Butler, Toronto Blue Jays professional baseball standout has returned to his hometown of Yelm for some off-season rest. Mr. Butler is a 2001 YHS grad. His hometown newspaper, the Nisqually Valley News (NVN) states, "Pro baseball player and Yelm grad Jacob Butler, 23, is back in his hometown for the off-season to get a job and help train young players." See the full story in the October 27 edition of the NVN on newstands now.
Welcome Home, Jacob!

This to Editor of Pierce County Business Examiner in response to their September 29th story.

Dear Sirs;

I am writing to disagree with your assertion stated in your story of September 29, 2006 titled "Yelm officials paving way for retail growth" where you state,
"Since the Wal-Mart decision, public opposition has calmed down, Beck notes."

Just because Yelm's Super Wal-Mart is under construction does not give justification to City of Yelm Development Director Grant Beck saying public opposition has died down, which is not the fact. There have been many persons that have gone on the record in 2006 to the City of Yelm Planning Commission and City Council raising the warning flags to both entities about the serious effects their decisions are having on traffic and water in the Nisqually Valley.
Were your reporter Kamilla K. McClelland to do a little research, she would find this is true.
She could easily do a check via Yelm's first community blog hosted by this writer.

Your writer failed to inform your readers that the Yelm City Council earned the egregious 2006 Jefferson Muzzle Awards
for completely inhibiting public comment before the Council about Wal-Mart, in addition to placing a "moratorium on moratoriums" on Big-Box construction when a moratorium was requested by a local citizen. Both of these actions happened on his watch when current Yelm Mayor Ron Harding was Mayor Pro-Tem. Even The Olympian expressed concern in their October 15, 2005 editorial about Mr. Harding not speaking up for the public interest on these issues. Let's be totally up front with your readers, this letter is written by Mr. Harding's Mayoral opponent in 2005. That said, I am interested in issues being brought before the public, which seem to be lost in reporting from City staff interviews.

The Yelm City Council heard public testimony last Tuesday night [Oct. 24] by Olympia Professional Engineer (PE) Ed Wiltsie on the record stating the Council's traffic and groundwater decisions have opened the City of Yelm to major issues including potential future litigation, if not addressed soon. Even Mr. Beck stated in his Staff Report recommendation to the City Council of October 23, 2006 (see page 2, last paragraph) that they "consider the points raised by Mr. Wiltsie..."

I would appreciate your informing your readers of such to provide balance to Ms. McClelland's report.

Stephen R. Klein
Yelm, WA.

This writer has received a request from a reader to list here the Letter to the Editor I wrote that was published on October 20 in the NVN. The following was printed unabridged:

Editor,

I am writing as I have observed you to say you are intent on providing balanced reporting for your readers.

Therefore, I am sure that you would wish to let your readers know that there are current and non-current students in Ramtha's School of Enlightenment that use the knowledge they have been taught in RSE in their lives everyday and are proud to say so, in contrast to your two front-page stories, beginning with the Sept. 22 article titled "Life after RSE focus of meeting Sunday."

The following students are just some of the names that were in the media in recent weeks that would provide your reporters plenty of material to present a balanced report, all have called this area home.

Further, I understand your reporters are always looking for stories of interest on which to present to your readers, so there is plenty of material here.

1. Linda Evans was a guest on CNN's Larry King Live on Sept. 15 sharing with a worldwide audience about her new role on the stage in Legends! and that she moved here to attend RSE.

2. James Flick achieving the rank of 70 out of 8,800 participants in the World Series of poker and bringing home over $90,000 in winnings.

3. Cate Montana's new publication announced mid-September, Global Intelligencer, with 85,000 initial subscribers.

4. Danielle McCarter, Northwest Airlines Seattle Reservations Call Center Manager being selected to manage the opening and staff training of Northwest Airlines' new Singapore Reservations Call Center, which will take calls from all over SE Asia. Danielle's husband Dave is also a NWA reservations agent in Seattle and former RSE student.

5. Yelm Real Estate Network Military Outreach Project spearheaded by RSE student Joann Gifford, who is collecting gifts that will be distributed in conjunction with Fort Lewis to local Nisqually Valley military serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

6. Area movie producer Betsy Chasse's new children's book company Elora Media, based in Yelm announced in September.

7. Area artist Gary Craig introducing his illustrations for three new children's books.

8. Guustaaf Damaave's touching Patriot Day story completing the destiny of his family's WWII Holland liberation greeting card he recently found 60 years later and passed on to former WWII soldier and Yelm City Council-man Don Miller.

9. Piano composer Joe Bongiorno's announcement he has been selected to perform his music composition in-concert in Bellevue Nov. 4. Further, he was made executive manager of Seattle's Piatti Italian Restaurant in September.

10. Sam George, Microsoft's Tablet PC program developer interviewed by Jean Enerson on KING-5 TV for his miraculous recovery from a near-death jet-ski incident and his novel treatment at Harborview Hospital and Medical Center.

11. Jean Marie Christenson garnering more total votes than the incumbent in our local Second Legislative District's Primary on Sept. 19. She is the Democratic candidate for our state's Legislature and lives in your newspaper's local demographics area.

12. Local resident John Glennie was interviewed in Yelm last month for a documentary slated for Japanese television. Mr. Glennie was owner and captain of the boat Rose-Noelle when it capsized. His book chronicles the 119 days he and his crew spent adrift at sea that commanded the unofficial world's record for survival in a cold climate.

13. Area frequent visitor, (actress) Salma Hayek made international headlines last month with the premier of her new ABC-TV sitcom "Ugly Betty."

14. Local author Bettye Johnson has been named the winner of the prestigious 2006 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the category "Religious Fiction" for her book Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls.

15. Local son Tal Moore starting a successful Internet business from scratch in Rainier to national acclaim, covered by your Seattle P-I colleagues.

16. Danielle Graham's Yelm-based NW Frontier Research Institute, a Yelm-based nonprofit global research organization, being invited to collaborate with China's scientists and traveling to Hong Kong next month.

17. Dr. Miceal Ledwith, former adviser to the Pope, introducing his second DVD in the series titled "The Hidden Years, Vol. 2 of Deep Deceptions - How Jesus Became a Christ."

18. JZ Knight, opening her new JZ-Rose store as anchoring Bellevue Square tenant and branding her Yelm location JZ-Rose.

I invite you to contact any of the aforementioned people for next week's story, to provide your reporters plenty of balance in your newspaper's report of RSE students and their accomplishments.

Stephen R. Klein
Yelm

"Join the fun on Saturday, November 4th for Project Community Santa Dance & Auction! One hundred percent of monies raised go toward buying new coats, shoes if needed, and as many toys as possible for children of all ages, providing a Merrier Christmas than these children might otherwise experience. This event is sponsored by the Yelm Community Education Advisory Council. Last year they purchased over 450 new coats alone! Project Community Santa is a non-profit organization with every person involved a volunteer. The Dance & Auction are open to the public, age 21 and over, and are welcome to attend this important fundraiser at Lake Lawrence Lodge on Topaz Drive in Yelm. The silent auction and dance begin at 7pm, with doors opening at 6:30pm.

Other ways to help?

* New toy donations may be dropped off at the Yelm School District Administrative Office at 107 First Ave. N Yelm.
* Donate an item to be included in the silent auction-drop off at the Yelm Area Chamber of Commerce
* Cash donations may be mailed to: Project Community Santa, PO Box 2148, Yelm, WA 98597

For questions or more information please call 458-6113 or 458-6106. Thank you!"
quoting the Fairpont Communications Monthly Newsletter.

Ed Wiltsie was the only speaker to make a public comment at the Oct. 24 City Council meeting regarding Ordinance 858 amending the Yelm Comprehensive Plan. He spoke brilliantly about traffic and water issues.
Regarding traffic, the points he made are as follows:
A. The major thoroughfare through town (SR 507) carries
school traffic, emergency responders to medical treatment in Olympia and serves as the
only alternate route around I-5 closures between Tacoma & Olympia.
B. Since 1992, major intersections of this road have been graded level of service (LOS) F,
the lowest grade possible. There is no lower threshold and there is not a method for measuring or establishing how far below the LOS F threshold the system can go. Considering the full scenario in Yelm, a LOS F means the road conditions need to be immediately improved because of safety issues while development adding to a LOS F road needs to be kept to a minimum until the road is improved to a higher threshold.
C. Yelm has laudably performed all of the improvements that are possible along the Commercial Corridor, Yelm Avenue, which partially offsets the impact of modest development. However, the recent approval of mega developments (i.e. Wal-Mart, Tahoma Terra) and consideration of Thurston Highlands (which has been noted as one of the largest residential development projects in the United States) does not seem to be consistent with the intent of the concession granted by the language in the Comprehensive Plan. This size of development will lead to unsafe conditions on Yelm Avenue and the numerous side streets that will experience more and more bypass traffic as congestion increases.
D. Mr. Wiltsie was asked if the City Council should shut off development. He said no because funding to support the construction of traffic improvements is derived from such development. Mr. Wiltsie did suggest the city council should not be considering mega-developments (i.e. Thurston Highlands) until the Y3 Loop is in place, as it will add too much additional traffic, creating a more dangerous situation and more safety issues. The city at this point needs to look to improving the SR 507 conditions or reconsider approving further development until such time that SR 507's LOS F is improved.
The implication was clear in this listener's mind: the City of Yelm is going to be liable in lawsuits from traffic deaths because of its acceptance of LOS F intersections all-the-while adding development and worsening the conditions for 15 years.
E. Mr. Wiltsie stated that a city can temporarily approve development with a major road graded LOS F as long as there is some remediation to improve that LOS F roadway, such as a bypass. He stated that when (and if) the bypass is open approximately 2015, almost 25 years will have passed with SR 507 being graded LOS F (1992-2015). Mr. Wiltsie said that means this is not a temporary condition, since this road has been graded LOS F since 1992 and the City Council & Planning Commission have deemed this LOS F acceptable.
F. Even the city's own Development Director, Grant Beck stated in his staff report:
"The City Council should carefully consider the points raised by Mr. Wiltsie in which he indicates that the establishment of a level of service F in the downtown core is not being used as intended by the 2001 Comprehensive Transportation Plan as adopted by the Yelm Planning Commission and the Yelm City Council, as the intention of the City Council is ultimately determined by the City Council. If the Council's intention is correctly expressed by Mr. Wiltsie's comments, it should clarify that for the record."
G. Mr. Wiltsie outlined groundwater issues for the city, as well, which raised several questions, in particular about his findings that 3 culverts under SR 507 by Hawk's Landing have been covered by the developers, impeding water flow that caused flooding last year.
H. Bottom line:
The City approved the Comprehensive Plan revisions unanimously anyway, even with all of the questions of Mr. Wiltsie plus Mr. Beck's suggestion to consider Mr. Wiltsie's comments. While the respect and admiration was noted from the City Council towards Mr. Wiltsie and his report, not one member of the City Council raised their hand to say they would like to table the adoption of Ordinance 858 amending the Yelm Comprehensive Plan and do further research regarding Mr. Wiltsie's comments.
The citizens of Yelm owe Ed a great deal of thanks for his constant efforts on their behalf at bridging these understandings for the Planning Commission and City Council.

Olympia engineer Ed Wiltsie submitted this letter to the Mayor of Yelm, Yelm City Council, Yelm Planning Commssion, & Yelm Planning officials for the Yelm's Public Hearing of the Comprehensive Plan Update scheduled for October 24th. He granted permission to share his letter about Critical Areas/Shallow Groundwater Expression with the Yelm Community Blog in this exclusive report.
See his letter and supporting diagrams here starting on page 9.

"Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest geniuses the world has ever known. More than 500 years ago, he designed flying machines, robots, submarines and underwater breathing gear; laid much of the groundwork for the artificial heart valve; and created some of the greatest paintings in the history of art. With little formal education, his brilliance lay in his ability to master different subjects and fuse them together through observation, insight and inspiration.
This exceptional international exhibition features more than 50 interactive and static machines, full-size reproductions of his paintings and amazing interpretive insight into his character. Visitors experience the brilliance of the man, the inventor, the genius and are given an inspired understanding of Leonardo's unparalleled contribution to world history," quoting the Museum of Flight at Seattle's Boeing Field. Showing October 1, 2006 to January 28, 2007.

And:
"The Dead Sea scrolls have awed audiences everywhere they have been exhibited. Discovering the Dead Sea Scrolls is an original exhibition exploring both the context of the scrolls and the science and scholarship associated with their discovery and interpretation.
Regarded by many as one of the greatest archeological discoveries of the 20th century, these scrolls predate Christianity. Until their discovery, the oldest Hebrew biblical manuscript known to scholars was written in 895 C.E.* The biblical Dead Sea scrolls are more than 1,000 years older, having been transcribed or copied between 250 B.C.E. and 68 C.E., written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek...
This remarkable experience runs September 23, 2006-January 7, 2007 at Pacific Science Center. Tickets are available now at 1-877-DSS-1947 or Pacific Science Center's web site.

"Her family has been threatened and torn apart by one member's severely fundamental religious dogma. In writing this book, a grandmother has made the decision to give her family choices, to awaken them to their own free will and to a life of joy.

The author of Grandma's God tells her own story, of leaving religion behind as she searched for healing, truth and God in her life. She found her answers through a school of ancient wisdom and an ascended master, Ramtha, in the Pacific Northwest.

Here is a delightful glimpse of what Ramtha's School of Enlightenment is about and some of its basic teachings through the eyes and understanding of one student," quoting Myra Hansen's site.
Her book: Grandma's God

Photo courtesy of Grandma's God website

"Nisqually Valley News was named Washington's best in General Excellence for newspapers its size during the 119th annual convention of the Washington Newspaper Publisher's Association.

The annual award ceremony was held this past weekend in Kennewick and included awards for the top three stories in a variety of categories.

Judged by newspaper publishers from New York state, Nisqually Valley News (NVN) accumulated 464 points out of a possible 500 from five critics.

Nisqually Valley News Publisher and Editor Keven Graves attended the ceremony and accepted the award.

"Winning General Excellence is a reflection of the team effort that makes this newspaper the great community publication that it is," said Graves.

"Everyone who works at this newspaper shares in this award."

Graves was also elected to serve on the board of trustees for the newspaper publishers association...

In addition to being chosen the best weekly newspaper in Washington in its circulation category, individual awards went to reporters Seth Truscott, Keri Van Lue, and Cindy Teixeira.

Truscott, the most senior reporter on staff, brought back to Yelm two third place awards and one shared second place honor with Cindy Teixeira...

Teixeira's single individual award was second place in the Best Education Story category which highlighted an art teacher's attempt to raise math scores using art. "She obviously has her finger on the pulse of her coverage area," said one judge.

In the Best Investigative Story category, Truscott and Teixeira took second place for covering Yelm's mayoral race and questioning 2005 mayoral candidate Steve Klein's residency.

"'These reporters had to do some real digging to compare this mayoral candidate's water usage to that of his neighbors. It makes the reader question what 'residency' really means,' commented one judge," quoting the NVN.

[Ed. Note: “These reporters had to do some real digging…?” Really???
The facts show these reporters did NO "digging."
To quote from their own story published in the NVN on September 16, 2005, Ms. Teixeira & Mr. Truscott reported,

“Lacey residents Allan Richards and Jeff Adams contacted the Nisqually Valley News and questioned whether Klein is really a city resident. Last week, Richards provided the newspaper with a water usage report he said he obtained through a public disclosure records request. The water records are for the home that Klein bought inside of city limits last year.”

Ms. Teixeira called my wife and I for an interview upon reciept of the water records to which Mr. Truscott joined.
These reporters did NO investigation, as they were handed the water records by Mr. Richards.

Further quoting the same story:
“Richards said his interest in the Mayor’s race is based solely on the fact that he has friends living in Yelm, he visits the city alot and is concerned about what is happening here.”

However, if Mr. Truscott & Ms. Teixeira had done further research, they would have discovered that the Allen Richards & Jeff Adams quoted in their report are members of a church outside of the Yelm community and Mr. Adams is actually Pastor Jeff Adams of College St. Christian Church in Lacey. Both gentlemen had written several Letters to the Editor published in the NVN critical about this writer being a student in the Ramtha School. HMMM! Real digging? What say you?]

Olympia engineer Ed Wiltsie submitted this letter to the Mayor of Yelm, Yelm City Council, Yelm Planning Commssion, & Yelm Planning officials for the Yelm's Public Hearing of the Comprehensive Plan Update scheduled for October 24th. He granted permission to share his letter with the Yelm Community Blog in this exclusive report:

SUBJECT: Yelm Comprehensive Plan Update – September 2006 - Traffic

Mayor, Council, Planning Commission & Mr Grant Beck:

Over the past two years I have commented in writing and verbally numerous times on the fact that the pending Y3 Loop should not be used as justification for the approval of further large development within Yelm. I did not comment separately during the September 2006 Planning Commission Review of the Comprehensive Plan this year, but added my comments to Mr. Klein’s letter to provide a single input.

It is my understanding the staff response to this comment was the same as that given in past years, which has been that the Y3 Loop is not being used to justify development.

This statement is in error and this issue needs to be clarified because there is apparently a gross misinterpretation of the concessions that have been allowed in the Comprehensive Plan since 1992.

First, the purpose of the Comprehensive Plan is to provide long range planning, direction for future development and is the basis for the development of future ordinances. The purpose of Traffic Ordinances and traffic studies is to maintain Public Health & Safety and the efficient flow of traffic in support of local commerce. Similarly, City Staff, the Planning Commission and the Mayor and Council are responsible for developing and applying the Comprehensive Plan and subsequent ordinances to provide healthy, safe and effective public environments, facilities and utilities, in this case specifically roads and intersections.

To this end “Levels of Service” (LOS) for traffic performance have been defined with levels ranging from A to F. In general roadways and intersections are designed to operate at Levels of Service A, B or C. When Levels of Service D and E develop, it is typical that the planning process is engaged to develop and implement actions that remediate the less than desirable conditions. Level of Service F is reserved for conditions that are in a state of failure, meaning that they are UNSAFE and require immediate revision. Typically, when LOS F exists, new development is not permitted until the necessary remedial actions have been taken or it is required that the remediation measures be undertaken as part of the development and prior to occupancy of the facilities.

According to the Yelm Comprehensive Transportation Plan, Yelm Avenue has numerous locations that are designated as Level of Service D or E and one or two intersections that function at Level of Service F. These areas have had substandard Levels of Service since 1992 when the first plan was developed. As part of the Comprehensive Plan 13 improvement alternatives have been identified. The Y3 Loop has been selected as the primary alternative for remediation of the substandard traffic conditions within the Yelm Commercial Core since 1992.

Having selected a primary course of action, language was added to the Comprehensive Plan to temporarily justify moderate continued development during the period required for the implementation of the Y3 Loop mitigation effort:

“In the urban core LOS F (failure) is recognized as an acceptable level of service where mitigation to create traffic diversions, bypasses, alternate routes and mode of transportation are authorized and being planned, funded and implemented” (Page 12, Transportation Comprehensive Plan)

Hence, the City and all developers involved in new development since 1992 have used the above concession to justify the development. The concession is based on the funding and implementation of the Y3 Loop. As such, the staff response to this item was incorrect.

Second, it is noted that technically, any development approved within Yelm without the Y3 Loop being funded and implemented, worsens already unsafe conditions and is contrary to the purpose of the City’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan, Traffic Ordinances, Planning Commission and Mayor & Council.

Third, it has been 15 years since this concession was made and the original language in the Transportation Plan was adopted. It will be at least another 10 years before the Y3 Loop is open to traffic.

Up until recently, development within Yelm has proceeded at a reasonable rate with modest worsening of the traffic conditions and the execution of modest alternate mitigation, such as continuing streets and limited Yelm Avenue roadway and intersection improvements.

The recent approval of a nearly 200,000 sf WalMart Shopping Center and the 1200 homes in the Tahoma Terra Subdivision constitutes a MAJOR DEPARTURE FROM THE INTENT OF THE TEMPORARY CONCESSIONS granted within the Comprehensive Transportation Plan and will result in grossly accelerated worsening of the published UNSAFE Traffic Conditions.

As there is no designated Level of Service below LOS F, the worsening of traffic conditions have no lower threshold and can only be measured through increased numbers of accidents, injuries and deaths.

At this juncture in the Comprehensive Plan Revision process, there are several questions that City Staff, the Mayor & Council and the Planning Commission must ask themselves:

• Is THE INTENT OF THE TEMPORARY CONCESSIONS granted within the Comprehensive Transportation Plan being interpreted as was originally intended?
• Is the interpretation being applied at present preserving Public Health and Safety in the Yelm Commercial Core for individuals traveling along the Yelm Avenue?
• How far can the LOS F condition (without a lower threshold) be pushed before the application of the concession will be unreasonable and unjustified?
• How long can a LOS F be allowed to exist on the Major Thoroughfare of the City of Yelm with temporary concessions before the supporting mitigation measure (Y3 Loop) is in place?

At this time, I believe that the Comprehensive Plan Concessions are being used inappropriately in support of massive development projects that were not the intent of the jurisdictional bodies that justified the incorporation of the concessions into Comprehensive Plan. As such, the concessions no longer provide sufficient rationale for the continuation and worsening of LOS F/UNSAFE Traffic Conditions along the Yelm Commercial Core.

It is on this basis and in an effort to preserve some modicum of Public Traffic Health and Safety, and efficient traffic flow along the Yelm Commercial Core Corridor that Mr. Klein and I have raised this issue for the past two years.

I therefore request that the Mayor & Council, the Planning Commission and City Staff reconsider its recent response to the request that the Y3 Loop not be used to justify further large development along the Yelm Commercial Core and that this language be incorporated into this Comprehensive Plan Revision.

Sincerely,

Edward A. Wiltsie, PE

Photo courtesy of Beyond the Ordinary.net

On Monday, October 16 this writer attended the Yelm Planning Commission Meeting at 4pm covering 2 major agenda items:

1. Adopting a Sustainable Development Statement for the City.
City Development Director Grant Beck proposed this statement for the Planning Commision to adopt:
"A community that thoughtfully provides for the needs of its residents, with efficiency and stewardship for the future."

The Planning Commission agreed to accept this statement with future revisions. Commissioner Carlos Perez provided the only "nay" vote on the motion for adoption, stating this definition does not have enough "omph" as he characterized the presentation.

Yelm area resident Bill Hashim asked to address the commissioners and was allowed to speak publicly. He stated that he is a 30 year veteran of environmental planning and shared on the record he has worked with the principles of sustainable development for the last 15 years.
He offered this statement to the Planning Commission in contrast to Mr. Beck's:
"Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
Mr. Hashim told the Yelm Community Blog in this exclusive interview:
"It [the statement I presented for the record] is a standard, universal statement about sustainable growth. Nearly every communitiy statement I have seen is a variation of this. What makes it particularly useful is the knowledge of what a generational need is:
environment, community, and lifestyle.
We know what we need in order to be sustained so we can make a fairly educated guess that future generations will need the same. Thus, we can make a series of sound goals, objectives, and indicators on whether we are achieving those or not, for not only ourselves but for our future.

He continued about Yelm's statement,
"It's not progressive. I've never seen that statement anywhere in the literature.
Yelm's "endorsed" definition is so obtuse it is rendered useless. I have no idea what it means and can make no future sense of it. In order to protect the needs of future generations, how do we do that with "efficiency and stewardship for the future." What does efficiency mean; what does stewardship mean in this context. I know the standard definition but can't make any sense of how to apply that for a sustainable future. In addition, communities all over the nation are struggling with sustainable indicators -
Yelm has none in place even before a even considering this as a sustainable definition."

He summarized by saying the statement adopted by the Planning Commission has no definition of what Yelm's commitment to Sustainable Development is and there is no accountability for assessing if Yelm is meeting the definition's goals.

2. The Thurston Highlands update presented was from the developers own publication.

This writer received this comment yesterday posted to the May 2nd entry:
"it is way too difficult to get a job here in yelm i have been out of school since june because i am a graduate of YHS . yelm is a bit far from the other cities."

This writer's reply to this young man:
Not only is Yelm too far from other cities in some cases, I am told by several they wish not to locate here
because the city has done little to address the traffic issues, all the while adding more development onto roads unable to handle additional traffic.
The extra extra fuel/labor/time expenses with traffic in locating a business in Yelm are too great to be offset by the available labor pool such as yourself for many businesses looking to come here.

However, once Wal-Mart is open, you can look for other fast-food and quick-car service and associated stores to follow by opening near Wal-Mart, including perhaps a big-box merchant such as Home Depot.

Then, at the Yelm Planning Commission Meeting Monday evening, I heard from a member of the audience that people
living in SW Thurston County (i.e. Tenino, Centralia, etc.) that have used SR507 through Yelm for access to South Hill, Tacoma, Puyallup & Mt. Rainier are opting to drive out of their way and use the freeway rather than contend with Yelm traffic.

Now this published report in the Pierce County Business Examiner:
"But that doesn’t mean all merchants see the City as being business-friendly. Just ask Walt Franczyk.

The owner of Walt’s Tire Factory, which recently opened shop at 509 Yelm Ave., lost an appeal this summer to install an awning sign in front of the business. According to court papers, the City’s current signage requirements prohibit the letters on awnings from taking up more than 30 percent of the awning.

Franczyk did win approval to have a sandwich board with his business name on it in front of the store, but has given up on a Yelm Avenue storefront sign for now. There is an approved sign on another side of the building.

Several other businesses in town have signs that do not meet the lettering size requirement, Franczyk pointed out.

Other delays he encountered with the City in getting his occupancy permit also ended up costing Franczyk about $70,000. Those costs included canceling three consecutive grand openings as well as costs associated with his being unable to leave his former location at 1308 Yelm Ave. E. when he originally planned in June.

"It wasn’t worth it,” Franczyk said of the move. “It’s a lesson learned.”

The aforementioned article is not a first, as this blog has published other' stories about how difficult this city can be for small businesses. See July 15, 2006 Blog entry #2 for another small business story.

And, the City Council recently authorized spending $17,700 in taxpayer money (see September 28th's entry) to develop "collateral material" (i.e. a brochure) to market Yelm as an attractive business environment, all the while ignoring marketing, advertising and economic development people in this town that would have gladly volunteered to create such a brochure and strategy, if asked.

What say you?

This letter was emailed by this writer to Yelm City Officials, representatives of the Yelm Beautification Committee, the local newspaper and copied to Gordon's Garden Center owner Kellie Petersen:

Yael & I stopped at the arborvitaes on the edge of town at the
Pride of the Prairie signs last Saturday, because we noticed they were brown.

Upon inspection, we noticed they are dead.
According to Kellie Petersen of Gordon's, she gave a special discount to plant those trees,
paid out of city coffers [reportedly the Yelm Chamber of Commerce donated the trees from tax-deductible, contributed funds]. The Yelm Beautification Committee assisted and asked the public for volunteers, of which Yael & I participated [along with others]. We planted the trees on Hwy 507 along with then Mayor Pro-Tem Harding and Keven Graves [Yelm Beautification Committee Chair at the time] taking photos for the NVN, photos he published.

My understanding is that the city was to care for them.
While the grass around the area has been trimmed, obviously the trees did not receive
enough watering throughout the record dry summer.

Further, the shrubs behind the welcome sign on 510 near the elementary school are severely stressed, if not
on the way out, too.

What is as telling as letting them die,
is letting them stay in place looking so bad - does not look well for the city to be sporting dead trees by the Welcome signs.

I would be interested to know what happened that they are dead 1 1/2 years after planting with such fanfare.
I look forward to a response.

Steve Klein.
10.16.2006

City Welcome Sign at SW Entrance to Town
Photo courtesy Guustaaf Damave, FreeFlowMedia.com

Be sure to read about your local candidates and vote.
If you are a registered voter in Thurston County, your mail-in ballot is being mailed
to you this week.
Ed. Note: Hopefully, the computer here counting the mailed-in ballots is not rigged
as with the touch-screen computer voting machines in several states.

1. US Senate race
Maria Cantwell, D
Mike McGavick, R
Bruce Guthrie, L
Robin Adair, I
Aaron Dixon, G

2. US Representative, Ninth Congressional District
Adam Smith, D
Steven C. Cofchin, R

3. State Representative, Second Legislative District
Position One
Jean Marie Christenson, D
Jim McCune, R
Position Two
Jeff Stephan, D
Tom Campbell, R

Although the City Council agreed with the Mayor to reject T-Mobile's request to rent space atop the City's Municipal Water Tower, "that doesn't mean the company couldn't pursue other locations inside the city limits, Beck told council," quoting the Nisqually Valley News (NVN).
"For the amount of money and with access and maintenance issues, 'It wasn't worth it,' Harding said Wednesday.
'I have nothing against cell towers,' [Yelm Mayor] Harding said, 'but if they want to put one in town, they can go through the site plan review like everyone else.'"

This will not be the last time the city is propositioned to rent municipal space to cellphone companies, what with the city's projected doubling of population in 5 years. The $$$ will be sugar-plum fairies dancing around in these companys' heads.

WHAT SAY YOU?

Join Betsy Chasse, co-director of What the BLEEP Do We Know?! and Down The Rabbit Hole as she leads a discussion about making the films, as well as her personal journey during the production of the movies moving from Hollywood materialism (she calls it "shoe consciousness") into spiritual awareness and a position of advocacy for global sustainability. One of Variety's top 50 Independent Producers of 2004 and founder and CEO of Elora Media, a publishing company for conscious books, videos, music and games for children, Betsy also serves as CEO of Rampant Feline Films.

See Betsy's lecture Sunday 01:00 PM Room 4
Body, Mind & Spirit Expo
Seattle Center Expo Hall
225 Mercer Street
Admission to expo $10
Sat 10 am -7 pm Sun 11am - 6 pm

Yelm Cinemas Manager Howard Christain reports that Aaron Russo's movie
America: Freedom to Fascism
was his number one seller last Monday.
Due to demand, the movie showings have been extended another week.

Thursday, October 12, 2007 Olympia Regional Airport recorded a record high high temperature of 74 degrees, breaking the former record of 70 set just two years ago, in 2004.

As expected, no action was taken nor was this proposal even discussed by Yelm's City Council at last Tuesday's Council session.
To quote the response from the Deputy City Clerk:
"There were no questions or discussion on the correspondence provided."

The Seattle Times reports in its September 2nd edition:
"State Secretary of Transportation Doug MacDonald wants to move beyond bureaucratese ... to fresh ideas for solving transportation problems and is putting up $1,000 of his own money to reach that goal. It's called the $1,000 Doug MacDonald Challenge, sponsored by the national Transportation Research Board, an organization with the National Academy of Sciences. The idea of generating new transportation ideas from the public with a contest came to him while he was sitting around one day.
'Every time we pay consultants, we get the same old ideas, the same old graphs and charts,' MacDonald said. 'Maybe there's a better plan to get new ideas, so I decided to make a modest personal contribution in hopes of stirring up interest. 'I am fascinated by how we are going to get the public's enthusiasm about the fact we can keep highways moving so we actually get more use out of highways. In a line of stalled traffic, you don't get much production of the highway. Everyone wins when the lanes move.'"

Doug MacDonald certainly welcomes public input. How about Yelm officials?
This writer and his wife presented the same contest by donating our own $1,000 to the City of Yelm with "the idea of generating new transportation ideas from the public for a contest" to solicit enthusiasm, ideas and input from our local citizens, along the lines of Mr. MacDonald's thoughts.

This contest was on the Agenda for Yelm Planning Commission's September Meeting which they deferred to the Yelm City Council.
The City Council had this proposal on their agenda last Tuesday night. see page 3.

Don't you find interesting that:
Sec. MacDonald's idea was reported throughout the State in the print media and he was interviewed on television and radio heralding his plan.
The Yelm Planning Commission defers our contest to the City Council, who does not even discuss this item on their agenda. And, the local newspaper reports nothing on all of this.

Of course this is the same City Council that placed a moratorium on moratoriums when other citizens came before this body with bold new ideas, earning the egregious 2005 Jefferson Muzzle Award.

To quote Yelm City Attorney Brent Dille, "It's the Council's meeting. They can decide what they want to hear and what they're tired of hearing."
Ed. Note: Seems like this City Council forgot they were elected to serve the citizens of this community.

What do YOU think?

It's about the Future!

"Linda Evans may be terrified to be making her stage debut at the age of 63, but the hardest part she's ever had to learn how to play has been Linda Evans.

The woman who became a star as Krystle Carrington in the popular '80s series Dynasty is getting ready to face the press Thursday [Oct. 12] at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Legends! Her co-star is her old TV sparring partner, Joan Collins.

"I have taken a big bite out of this cake called theatre and I am frankly stunned at what I've chosen to do," she confides over tea at a midtown hotel, "but I'm giving it one million per cent."

She's been happily out of the limelight for 15 years and that's the way she likes it.

"It's an unreal thing being a celebrity," she insists. "No one is any more or less important than anyone else. When I left Dynasty, I wanted to get myself back again."

But first, she had to find out who that was...

Evans has devoted most of her time in recent years to spiritual growth, studying at Ramtha's School of Enlightenment in Yelm, Wash," quoting the Toronto (Ontario) Star.

Joan Collins & Linda Evans
Photo from Mirvish.com, Toronto theater tickets site

The Seattle Times reports in its September 2nd edition:
"State Secretary of Transportation Doug MacDonald wants to move beyond bureaucratese ... to fresh ideas for solving transportation problems and is putting up $1,000 of his own money to reach that goal. It's called the $1,000 Doug MacDonald Challenge, sponsored by the national Transportation Research Board, an organization with the National Academy of Sciences. The idea of generating new transportation ideas from the public with a contest came to him while he was sitting around one day.
'Every time we pay consultants, we get the same old ideas, the same old graphs and charts,' MacDonald said. 'Maybe there's a better plan to get new ideas, so I decided to make a modest personal contribution in hopes of stirring up interest. 'I am fascinated by how we are going to get the public's enthusiasm about the fact we can keep highways moving so we actually get more use out of highways. In a line of stalled traffic, you don't get much production of the highway. Everyone wins when the lanes move.'"

Doug MacDonald certainly welcomes public input. How about Yelm officials?
This writer and his wife will hereby donate $1,000 to the City of Yelm with "the idea of generating new transportation ideas from the public for a contest" to solicit enthusiasm, ideas and input from our local citizens, along the lines of Mr. MacDonald's thoughts.

This contest was on the Agenda for Yelm Planning Commission's September Meeting which they deferred to the Yelm City Council.
The City Council will take up this proposal tonight.
see page 3.
The expectation that City officials will see the value in this and approve are extremely low.

Join your community (and bring a friend) to PROGRESSIVES AFTER HOURS (Yelm Chapter) monthly social, networking, and good old time progressive activism!
October 13th Program: Movie: ‘Iraq for Sale’ by Robert Greenwald. The War Profiteers is the story of what happens to everyday Americans when corporations go to war. Discussion afterwards – Initiatives…
Here is the Word document of their flier:
http://reid_j.tripod.com/yelm_oct_2006.doc

This from the Democratic Candidate's campaign:

"Jean Marie Christenson has advanced from the September 19th Primary to be the official Democratic Party candidate for State Representative District #2, Position #1 in the General Election on November 7, 2006.

This election is a mail-in ballot for 100% of the voters in Thurston County, and 70% of the voters in Pierce County.

Absentee ballots will be mailed to all voters on October 18th, and 80% of the voters that will vote in this election will have marked their ballots by October 24th, two full weeks before the election.

Although her vote totals in the Primary were impressive, delivering votes in the General Election is a must if Jean Maire is to unseat the incumbent.

These next two weeks are crucial.

Therefore, won't you please join Jean Marie, and her team, in a sign-making party at the "Old General Store Steakhouse & Saloon Restaurant" in Roy on Saturday morning, Oct. 14 at 10am? Breakfast will be provided for everyone by "The Campaign to Elect Jean Marie Christenson."

Then teams will head out to distribute the signs, go doorbelling, and do sign-waving throughtout the district. This will be the last team gathering in this campaign before the election. The time is now.

If you would like a sign for your yard, please contact Jean Marie's campaign at (360) 446-5620."

It's about the future!

Photo courtesy of Stephany Ray,
Professional Photographer and Webmaster of MastersConnection.com

Yelm Cinemas will inaugurate the Washington State showing of the film FREEDOM TO FASCISM
tomorrow and will be the only theater in Washington State carrying the movie, to date. Five show times will be available daily.

Theater Manager Howard Christian informs the Yelm Community Blog that Ramtha's School of Enlightenment's Fall Follow-up Group will be the first customers to view the film. Mr Christian & Theater owner Margaret Clapp says they
expect to attract viewers from as far away as Seattle to the Yelm area for this movie.

Mr. Christian adds that last week's showing of Who Killed the Electric Car was the 2nd largest revenue producer for that week.

One year ago this time, the Seattle P-I profiled a former Rainier resident who made it big by starting a business from scratch:
"As a middle-schooler, Tal Moore didn't belong to any clubs.

He didn't much care for them. But he was envious of one thing: the cash they got from selling candy bars.

One day, as the 12-year-old shopped with his mother at Sears, he saw a large plastic candy cane filled with gumballs, did a quick calculation of their individual resale value, and bought it.

"Within two months, I was pulling in $12 to $15 per day, selling two gumballs for a quarter," Moore said. "To a kid, that's a lot of money."

With that, the president and founder of Gumballs.com -- a multimillion-dollar-a-year Seattle-based online retailer of gumball machines -- began his career in the vending industry.

Now, his 4-year-old company is posting 50 percent annual growth after doubling in size several times since he launched the Web site from the bedroom of his mother's home in Rainier, southeast of Olympia.

Moore's success story -- the eldest son of immigrants from Israel, the first in his family to graduate from high school, then college -- now unfolds from an unassuming building in the shadow of the Magnolia Bridge, but it began when times were much harder for him.

His father drove a taxi in Brooklyn, where Moore was born in 1976."

Mr. Moore's businesses continue to florish.

Tal's website:
Gumballs.com

Tal Moore
Photo by Dan DeLong, Seattle P-I

Congratulations Tal, and Happy 30th birthday today.

[Ed. Note: Tal's mother described in this story is this writer's wife, Yael.]

"Dr. Andrew Iverson graduated an honor student and ASB president fromYelm High School in Yelm, Washington. He attended the University of Washington and earned his Bachelors degree in Physiological Psychology (how the brain "makes the body work") and Pre-Medicine. During college he was introduced to Naturopathic Medicine by his mentor where he spent from age 19 through 24 side by side with his teacher and learned biochemical testing, iridology, and clinical patient interaction. Dr. Iverson proceeded to acquire more education in the field of Medical Botany as he received his Masters in Herbology from the School of Natural Healing in Provo, Utah. A final four years of doctoral education were attained in Portland, Oregon at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine where he received the title Naturopathic Physician.

Dr. Iverson's medical interests and expertise are in the fields of metabolic balancing through biochemical and pH testing and detoxification through fasting and botanical medicine."

Dr. Iverson was a colleague of recently deceased Yelm resident Ken Meadows and
currently practices in Tacoma, WA.

Dr. Andrew Iverson
Photo from Trilium Foundation

Frequent Yelm visitor Salma Hayek made international headlines last week with the premier of her new sitcom. Quoting ABC TV in this story titled "For Salma Hayek, 'Ugly Betty' Is Sitting Pretty"
"The sitcom [Ugly Betty], which premieres…on ABC, bears some resemblance to the hit summer movie [The Devil Wears Prada] starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep, but, as executive producer Salma Hayek points out, it's hardly derivative. It's based on a Latin American telenovela — and you can expect U.S. networks to import a lot more shows, as they're proving to travel well.”
The New York Times gave Ugly Betty a "thumbs up".

Salma Hayek at Cannes Film Festival
Photo from wikipedia

Yelm Cinemas will inaugurate the Washington State showing of the film FREEDOM TO FASCISM
Friday, October 6th and will be the only theater in Washington State carrying
the movie, to date. Five show times will be available daily.
Yelm Cinemas Manager Howard Christian had to rent special equipment to show the DVD-only movie with
a quality in-theater presentation. Sincere thanks to Mr. Christian and theater owner Margaret Clapp.

Let's support Yelm Cinemas by spreading the word they are offering these unique independent
films here so they will have more pull with the distributors...

Yelm Cinemas at twilight
Photo from the Yelm Cinemas website