TRANSCRIPTION – RE WILD SKY

(SULTAN COUNCIL PUBLIC COMMENT EXCERPTS FROM APRIL 13, 2005 MEETING)

 

Bill Pearson’s Public Comment re Wild Sky

(And Councilman Flower’s response to those comments)

(Made during City of Sultan’s Opening Public Comment period, April 13, 2005)

 

Bill Pearson   I think I’d like to comment from up (sic) on that.  Council, I would like to  -- my name is Bill Pearson.  I’ve been in the Valley here for 25 years.  I’m 77 years old.  I’m very proud to be an American.  I served in World War II overseas, and I’ve been here and been a logger all my life.  We’ve built roads.  And years ago, the timber they sold was – half of that went to, the [unintelligible]  of that went to schools.  I think it’s the most devasticatin’ (sic) thing that ever could happen in Snohomish County, is to put that Wild…uh, Sky up there.  Jackson [Senator Scoop Jackson) voted again years ago.  He says, “This will be the end of it.”  Now we  fight fires with helicopters.  We don’t fight it with equipment.  That’s B.S.  You got a blacktop road clear across it.  What’s gonna happen if Highway 2 goes out?  Something happens?  Gets bombed?  How the hell you gonna get out of there?  When you think about it, it costs money to put these roads up. The schools – right here, this chick that wrote in the paper here [Herald letter to the editor responding to Dusty’s letter on Sultan’s Wild Sky vote], that’s the most ridiculous things.  She’s probably on welfare.  I pay my taxes.  This town, I remember when it had mills and everything in it.  We got no mills.  You got no industries left.  I mean, think about it.  Where’s everybody getting their money from?  It’s got to come from somewheres (sic) and it sure don’t come from the city council on restrictions.  And I was really pleased to see a good majority vote, 100% vote as saying, you know, we gotta get this thing straightened up. We can’t keep the – what are we doin’?  We used to clean the logs outta the streams.  Now we’re going out here with helicopters and planted (sic) them in to take more land away. And make more [unintelligible], more wetland.  I think it’s the most ridiculous thing I ever heard in my life, this Wild Sky. And I hope I’m well-heard and I’ve got other stuff that I wanna do, but I don’t want to take a bunch of time, but I wouldn’t have been here – I used to have 50 people when I was…in any fine [unintelligible], I was the 15th largest purchaser [unintelligible].  I’ve lot two sons, so it wasn’t easy.  But I paid my bills and I’ve been here – Yes, I’m very, very upset about this Wild Sky deal.  It’s the only escape route if something should happen to Highway 2, to get out of here.  And it’s all blacktopped, basically.  To let the river [unintelligible]  jam up. We used to go down, sit down in hot springs along the river.  The logs are in, and it’s taking all the roads out.  There aren’t any roads, because of not cleaning the rivers.  I remember when we had sternwheelers that used to come clear up the river, clear to Skykomish.  [sounds sort of like, “Tur boats], and we used to [unintelligible]  at Snohomish, send up a sky boat and latch(?) the logs down.  You can’t even take a rowboat down the river anymore and be safe.  They don’t clear up anything.  But you can’t do anything in your yard without a diaper on.  Thank you.

[Mr. Pearson continues his Wild Sky comments at the close of the meeting, related to newspaper article noting that the Forest Service may close campgrounds and some of the trailheads:  “You know why? They ain’t got no money.  There’s no logging going on.  There’s no timber revenue.  My dad and I, we built the road to Pomona Mine up here in 1950 or ’49.  I was 23 at that time.  I hauled logs out of where we get all of our water, Spada Lake, out of the bottom.  We logged it all.  Followed it up…up here, uh…later.  Had a big camp right here where you start at Basin [Road], this truck camp.  We also had a big camp up in Sultan Basin clear at the top of Olney  Pass. I’m history.  I can tell  you guys – I’m probably one of the oldest guys here, but when I’m pissed, I’m pissed.  And I like the way you guys operated tonight.  You did a heck of a good job. United we stand, divided we fall.  And I’m very proud of our new legislation committee here.  And normally I’m  a good-hearted guy, but when I get burned – I logged up in – and 90% of the people here probably have not been over this Wild Country up here that they’re talking about.  I built roads up in there.  I’ve logged millions of feet.  We selected logs along the whole highway that takes the windfall.  The road is almost all blacktop, is it not?  Have you been over it?  [to Storm, who says, “um-hm.”] And they got a brand new bridge going in there. And they want to tear that out.

Storm  No, they’re not.

Pearson          My dad’s got [unintelligible].  My dad’s gone.  He couldn’t go up to them summertime lakes and whatever.  It says right here in the [unintelligible] people that have motor homes or buy snowmobiles. That’s industry.  You need industry, I don’t care what you got.  We don’t have logging.  We gotta have something to pay the cops.  Or something to pay your gas bill or whatever.  I think it’s the worst thing, and I’m very, very proud to come here and…Mr. Boucher, he’s in here also on this.  And I don’t know [if] she’s [referring to the Herald’s letter-write, I think] a registered voter, but she’s on the backside.  And when I read the paper again, I don’t come off [get mad?], but when I do, I want to get a response.  And I wanna thank the committee [council].  And I’d like to handle (sic) this over, and let you know what the Forest Service [is] doing.  They’re broke.  They’re even selling their buildings.  They’ve been taken the roads out. And so I think it’s the worst thing that could ever happen.  We have a clear cut….if we’ve had it 10 years, you’d never know it looks like a [unintelligible]  field.  It looks beautiful.  You fight a fire, not with a bucket of water, but a helicopter and jillions and billions of dollars?  You’re takin’ the roads a lot out there, that cost all of us taxpayers money to put them roads in, and you’re taking them out.  Leave them alone and they’ll all lose some stuff and in ten years you’d never know the difference.  No. We take it out, tear it all out, seal it with hay.  What [sounds like “a spot”]?  Wake up, America. Thank you.

 

Jim Flower’s Response to Bill Pearson’s comments:

Thank you, Mr. Pearson, for coming to one of our council meetings and expressing your passion.  I do appreciate the fact that you’ve contributed so much in your lifetime to this valley and to its industries.  We’ve seen a lot of changes, and we value that.  We have echoed your passion for maintaining property rights and maintaining just good old common sense in dealing with these issues.  I also wanted to reply that when we had flooding issues, are we putting the logs IN the river when we should be pulling them out.  There’s so much that the powers that be above us, really make no sense.  So we strive in our own way to try to point out the folly, or the fallacy with some things when we can, and that was the effort behind our resolution opposing Wild Sky.

 

 

LORETTA STORM’S PUBLIC COMMENTS DURING THIS SAME 4-13-05 MEETING

(and Jim Flower’s response to those comments)

 

Storm: As you all know, the subject of public participation is near and dear to my heart, so I’d like to point out one or two of my concerns  of events that transpired during the March 9th and 23rd council meetings related to the anti-Wild Sky Resolution. But first I need to back up a couple of days.  April 10th marked an “anniversary” of sorts for my husband and I:  It marked five years that we have been working to raise the awareness of the City and its officials that ill-considered actions of the present will substantially effect Sultan’s future financial situation and its future quality of life.  Decisions that will affect citizens living both inside – and outside – the city limits of Sultan.  Over that entire five-year period, we have been subjected to constant and intense scrutiny and criticism, both in print and in this chamber, to the effect that we should either not be allowed to speak at all or that we should not be listened to because we do not reside within Sultan’s city limits.

 

Then comes Mr. Hussman March 9th with a draft resolution, asking that the council oppose Wild Sky, an issue about which he feels passionate. That is certainly his right as a citizen, and I applaud him for his zeal.  The infectiousness of his passion was evident during the council’s next meeting, during which it unanimously passed his resolution, enthusiastically rejecting the need for a public hearing.

 

What I find baffling is that Mr. Hussman does not reside within the city limits, yet his words were received by council members like manna from heaven.  Copies of his draft resolution were immediately distributed to all council members – as well as a copy of a letter from Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest Supervisor Director John Phipps to Rep. Jennifer Dunn – without any legal review or questioning as to the propriety of the distribution. In the past, either the mayor or the city attorney has short-stopped documents for review before passing them along to council members, so this permissive action on an issue of such long-term import gave the distinct impression that either the resolution had previously been reviewed and approved, or that the City regularly participates in arbitrary and capricious behavior, that there are two sets of rules, one which applies to Friends of the City and one which applies to individuals making statements the City would prefer not to hear.

 

My second comment is in the form of two questions and a statement:  Do the recommendations read by the mayor of the decorum to be followed in making public comments apply only to the public, or are council members also obliged to follow those same guidelines? And, is the mayor obliged to interrupt anyone making inappropriate comments, while those comments are being made?  If the answer to both questions is yes, then I am requesting an apology for the manner in which I was treated for comments I made on Wild Sky at the close of the last meeting -- from Councilman Boucher, for the manner in which he responded to my comments, and for Mayor Tolson’s failure to interrupt him.

 

Thank you for allowing me to speak.  I am providing a copy of this statement and request that it be made a permanent part of the City’s Minutes for this meeting.

 

Councilman Jim Flower’s Response to Storm Comments:

 

Flower            Miss Storm, you made a few points, and I would like to respond to them.   First, you pointed out that you’ve made a five-year career of educating the public…as to the problems with the City.  You lament that you are not given due respect.  And you lament that you aren’t heard as well as you would like to be.  At this point I’d like to offer a little bit of critical advice, if you don’t mind.  When you only hear negative(s) from one person for an extended period of time and you never hear anything positive, at all, then you can only assume that this person cannot be pleased.  Now, that may not be true in your instance, but it is an appearance of never acknowledging the good.  And, um…I think many of us take exception to that, when we’ve tried so hard to make this a good community; we do so much volunteer work, such as we see around us with the Centennial Committee and their, uh, their efforts to celebrate what we had, and the reasons that none of us live here because we’re forced to.  We don’t live here by choice (sic).  Now, I understand you do volunteer time at the Library Board, and that is appreciated.  But every now and then I’d like to hear something good, because I know that we’re not perfect, but we’re not all bad, either.  And you just might get a little bit more tit-for-tat if you congratulated someone, some time for some thing that we have been right.  And I see your husband smirking over there as if he’s just [unintelligible] bored, but there’s more to this.  You take exception to Councilman Boucher’s comments at the close of the last meeting.  You take his words as insulting.  I listened to a recording carefully of that comment.  And I find Councilman Boucher’s to be measured. I found him to be polite. 

Ray Kistenmacher    Please.

Tolson            Let’s not have a dialogue here.

Flower            He was not insulting in any way.  And he merely pointed out some contradictions in your agenda.  And I think that if you, with an open mind, review that again, you will find that no insults and no impropriety was sent your way.  Uh, he didn’t care to make a comment on that, but in defense of not just him, but the council as a whole, I believe that you have been treated with a decent amount of respect, and where you may not feel like we do things your way, you are here at every meeting, [with] what seems to be just looking for a trip wire, instead of taking the good with the bad.  A little bit of good would speak loudly from your corner.  That’s all I have.  Thank you.

 

CLOSING PUBLIC COMMENTS

 

Ray Kistenmacher’s Comments (In response to Councilman Flower’s comments re L. Storm)

 

Everyone enjoys getting positive strokes, but no one expects a police officer to pull them over, and compliment them for obeying all the traffic laws.  Neither should you expect a citizen watchdog to compliment the city for following its laws.  I know people don’t like to be told they are doing something wrong, but if no one does, then things go very wrong, very fast.  As far as volunteering time, I would hazard a confident guess that Loretta and I have volunteered more time than almost anyone in this room.  And it has not been for accolades.  We simply feel that someone must keep the actions of government both open to view and accountable.  It is not our job to be sycophants.  As for Mr. Boucher’s comments being polite and respectful, I would say you [i.e., Flower]  must have grown up with a much different set of standards in that regard.

 

Loretta Storm’s Public Comments (also in response to Councilman Flower’s Response to her comments)

 

Storm  Jim, I want to thank you for your comments.  They were well taken, and I knew most [chuckles] of them, but it’s, it’s good that you aired them and I appreciate your honesty.  I would like to ask you – when it’s your time to comment, if you wish to do so – where you heard the recording of Mr. Boucher’s comments? But --

Flower            On your website.

Storm  I figured that.  In addition to all the hours we spend updating the website and trying – I mean, we have an agenda, of course, but we also offer a place where people can come  for information. And, and that’s, that’s the main reason we started the website.  But in addition to that, I am a Library Board member.  I give me time there.  And a Friends – a member of the Friends of the Library.  I, uh, dedicate some time to sales, to help them in their sales.  Um, I am developing a website for the Friends.  I am now Secretary – temporary Secretary, hopefully [chuckles] of the Highway 2 Safety Coalition, which, which you know.  So we do¸ you know, we do a lot of positive things other than just cover the council meetings and make that information available to people.  So…but anyway, thank you.