GUEST EDITORIAL: Hansen writes of forum, saving the lake
MOSES LAKE - To the people that attended the candidates' forum on Tuesday, Nov. 29, sponsored by the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce, I want to explain my not being there.
The forum was moved ahead one week from last year. I received a letter one week before the event letting me know where to be and at what time. I called Debbie Doran-Martinez, executive director of the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce the next morning to see if the date could be changed. The emcee, the timer, the greeters, the school cafeteria, the publicity were all locked in at that time. I was the last to know. I had a prior engagement out of town that night, leaving the only option for me was to send an opening and a closing letter to be read on my behalf.
If anyone has a question that they would like answered, call me at my home - 765-3921 evenings, and I will be more than happy to talk with you.
I keep seeing the same ads opposing me this year as I did last year. In fact, in Friday night's Columbia Basin Herald, the name "Ron Covey" and "Bill Bailey" seem to be interchangeable, making it obvious that it's being paid by the same group. This year on Jan. 14, Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District (MLIRD) paid a bill to the Columbia Basin Herald for last December for $3,995.58. I've asked for the invoices, but have yet to receive them. Could they have spent that much just advertising the election?
The caption "Save the Lake" makes very little sense because the only change I would make in the five major issues the MLIRD list in their winter copy of the "Lake View" pamphlet is the dredging. The other four items; the Parker Horn pump station, the fountain relocation, the herbicide treatment, the harvester operations would remain the same. The Parker Horn pump station will be the same regardless of who is elected, the fountain relocation is better because it has less chance of spraying the Alder Street fill, the herbicide treatment will remain as budgeted at $145,000 and the harvester will remain, with limited locations. The sum of these equals is the integrated lake rehabilitation by the MLIRD. Whether the mud east of the Alder Street fill is mucked out with large machines in the dry or nibbled away by the dredge, has very little to do with the rest of Moses Lake. I think you will find that both candidates agree that the cleaner lake is the result of the added water from the Bureau of Reclamation. My thinking is, we need to use large machines to gut the mass of the mud bar, and then use the dredge for the finish tool to clean up the edges. You don't use a trimmer to mow your lawn. MLIRD needs to re-think this whole operation. This has been my home since 1940. I think it's the best place in the whole world, and I'm not about to let anything happen to this lake.
On Sunday evening, I had a talk with Ken Kernan, and learned that he will have the second lock and key to the ballot box and that it will be his lock. He will help pick up the ballots from the post office, put his seal on the ballots, and keep them locked up until the counting. There are a couple of other holes in the system that he's going to work on. I know Ken Kernan and put total trust in him if he's allowed the responsibility to make it secure.
Please vote on Dec. 13 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 211 N Elder, near five corners.