Treasurer Endorses Larry Grove for Auditor
To the editor:
The office of the county auditor is very important to the citizens of Lewis County and to the general financial health of county government as a whole. While we have two candidates in this race, only one candidate, Larry Grove, has the credentials and the experience to perform the duties of the auditor for the betterment of the citizens of Lewis County.
I have worked closely with Grove over the past 20 years that I have served this county as its county treasurer. We have a financial team at the county that includes the commissioners, the auditor and the treasurer. While it is the commissioners who make the final budget decisions, it is the financial data and analysis provided by the offices of the auditor and treasurer that have ensured that we continue to operate in the black. This is in economic times when many counties are operating in the red.
Grove is key to assembling and presenting this data for us. We continue to have no state auditor findings with our financial accounting and reporting. His opponent has no experience or technical skills to either perform these tasks or to analyze the data to ensure it is accurate and timely. I can assure you that if you are supervising employees you need to know and understand the process and the outcome so you know their work is accurate.
Grove has that experience; Jenifer Slemp does not. Honesty, integrity and experience are the top credentials by which we should judge the two candidates.
Honesty and integrity — I have no doubt that Grove is an honest person with integrity. His opponent, on the other hand, is promising the voters she will lower their taxes if they will vote for her. That statement is reflective of the lack of knowledge that she has of the true operations of the office.
She can never lower your taxes. Neither the office of auditor or treasurer has a vote as to how much the citizens of Lewis County pay in either sales or property taxes. That isn’t honest and questions Slemp’s integrity.
The current auditor’s office operates with the latest technology and is staffed with employees who ensure that the laws of the state of Washington that govern the office are followed. Whether it be elections, licensing, recording or accounting, they do the job well.
Even in close critical elections, such as the governor’s race, the political party auditors could find no fault with the election management process in our county auditor’s office. Grove has been a part of that team, we need to keep him.
Join me in voting for Grove for county auditor. He is the only candidate who has the skills and background to ensure the citizens of Lewis County are well represented in the auditor’s office and that it continues to operate professionally and according to the law.
Rose A. Bowman
Lewis County treasurer
Criminals Don’t Get Their Firearms at Gun Shows
To the editor:
The Chronicle has recently run editorial cartoons that appear to support Initiative 594. This initiative, which is billed as an “anti-crime” bill, seeks to “close the gun show loophole” by requiring that virtually all sales or transfers of firearms have to be taken to a federal firearms dealer, where he will put the information about the gun and who owns it into a federal government data base.
He’ll then make sure that the buyer isn’t a convicted criminal, via the FBI. After collecting a “reasonable” fee, he’ll then pass the gun on to its new owner.
The theory of the Seattle folks who came up with this idea is that criminals buy guns from you or me, or at gun shows. However, each and every survey that I’ve heard shows overwhelmingly that criminals don’t buy guns at gun shows, or from you or me. They steal them, or they buy them from another criminal who stole it.
So what is this bill going to accomplish? Well, first, it will create a new class of criminal, folks who didn’t hear about or didn’t understand the law and sold a gun to their cousin, or their next-door neighbor and find themselves facing felony charges and time in prison.
Second, it’s a back-door way for the government to eventually have every gun registered. That doesn’t worry you? Talk to the (former) gun owners in Australia, who went along with a similar scheme — and then a few years later watched as the government collected and destroyed shotguns and .22s across the country to “stop crime.”
I challenge the good folks at The Chronicle — before you run another cartoon or other editorial approval of this plan — to see the evidence on which it’s based. Let’s see how many criminals actually get their guns in private sales from private citizens or at gun shows. And if there isn’t any such believable evidence, excluding unsupported theories and conclusions, then let’s vote no on I-594 and leave the government out of private transactions.
Steve Carmick
Chehalis
Slemp Is the Best Choice for Auditor
To the editor:
Jenifer Slemp has my vote for Lewis County auditor. Jenifer will bring a fresh approach to the auditor’s office. Her administrative and managerial background well qualify her for this position. Jenifer has used her exceptional abilities to work cooperatively and find solutions to problems in both her professional and volunteer work through her career. She currently serves as a Napavine City councilor.
The primary duty of the auditor is to oversee and manage our county elections. It does not require that whoever holds the office has an accounting degree. It does require that someone manage an office staff and assist Lewis County residents with education and participation in all elections.
The Lewis County Auditor’s Office needs a different approach and a new face to develop innovative programs and reach out to new and future voters. Nowhere does it state that the office of auditor has to be inherited by someone who has worked in the office.
This is the height of nepotism! It is a fact that employees promoted from within to management positions rarely bring the much-needed vision and efficiencies to the office.
Let’s break the hold of the “same old, same old.” Let’s elect Jenifer Slemp our next Lewis County auditor. She will bring with her vigor, enthusiasm and integrity to serve all Lewis County residents.
Jan Leth
Centralia
Congress Should Invest in Outdoor Recreation
To the editor:
I recently returned from Washington, D.C., where I spoke with our members of Congress about the importance of investing in conservation and outdoor recreation through a little-known federal program with huge impacts: the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The fund provides essential tools to help build local parks and trails, preserve rural character and protect wild spaces — a win-win for everyone.
This year, Centralia needs a $500,000 grant to repair the Pearl Street Pool. The pool has served thousands of people of all ages each summer, but because of its current state of disrepair, families will miss out on this opportunity.
Water has been leaking from the pool, creating dangerous conditions preventing the pool from reopening. It is our responsibility to provide fun, safe outdoor recreation opportunities for our kids and this project is an inexpensive way to do just that, benefiting our community for years to come.
LWCF is paid for through a small percentage of offshore energy royalties, not taxpayer dollars. The $900 million meant for LWCF is a small investment with broad benefits for outdoor recreation, tourism, rural development and natural resources.
However, most of the funds have been repeatedly diverted to other purposes, leaving communities without critical funding, and the clock is ticking. The program will sunset next year without congressional action.
It was heartening to meet with staff for Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, who have cosponsored a bill to renew and fully fund LWCF; our congresswoman Jaime Herrera-Beutler; and the rest of our delegation who are invested in the program’s future. The rest of Congress should follow their lead to invest in outdoor recreation for the benefit of our community and so many others across the nation.
Teresa Loo
Port Blakely Tree Farms
Grove Has Experience, Expertise for Auditor Job
To the editor:
The 2014 primary election is fast approaching us in August. I would like to bring to your attention the election of our next auditor for Lewis County. Let us focus on who is the best and most experienced candidate to lead the auditor’s office after the retirement of longtime Lewis County Auditor Gary Zandell, who has done a masterful job of managing this very important office over the past 38 years.
It isn’t often that we have the opportunity to fill a long-held position like this with the experience and track record that Larry Grove brings to the table. In my opinion Larry Grove is a tremendous asset for Lewis County and one that we cannot afford to lose.
Gary Zandell and Larry Grove have presented sound fiscal advice to many members of the Lewis County Board of County Commissioners over the years, and I believe that they are the primary reason that Lewis County enjoys being one of the most financially stable counties in Washington state.
Larry Grove has over 24 years of experience in managing the financial accounting for Lewis County. He is a trained CPA and he is one of the most fiscally conservative managers that I have ever had the pleasure to work with. Larry knows his numbers and their history.
His opponent has neither the experience nor expertise that is required for this position and does not possess the skill sets that are offered by Larry Grove.
Larry Grove represents the best choice to be our next Lewis County auditor. Please join me in voting for Larry Grove for Lewis County auditor in the upcoming primary and general elections.
Arny Davis
chief deputy treasurer
Lewis County
Video of Crime Doesn’t Lead to Jail Time
To the editor:
Last year I had my property burglarized a few times and decided to install a game camera to catch the thieves. Sure enough, a few nights later the thieves returned to steal more items.
To my delight, the camera had documented the event. The first incriminating photo showed the license plate and the car driving through the gate on my property. After some time had lapsed, the camera captured a woman holding the gate, while the same car exited through the gate.
There was one photo clearing showing the woman looking directly into the camera, and she had a stolen spool of cable wrapped around her neck as she stood by the gate. I was eager to turn all my “proof” over to the sheriff’s office.
The Lewis County deputies did a great job of finding and arresting the culprits, a man and a woman. When it went to court, I immediately recognized the woman I had captured on my camera and figured all my preparations were about to pay off. The prosecuting attorney had even told me this was going to be a “slam-dunk”!
Much to my surprise, we were both wrong. During the trial the male defendant testified that he and woman had committed the crime. Yet in the end, the woman looking into my camera with stolen goods around her neck was found to be innocent by Judge Nelson Hunt.
It is very unfortunate we live in a time and place where stealing from others is so commonplace and criminals don’t pay for their crimes. As a result, there is not much deterrent for crime and some citizens feel they are best served by taking the law in their own hands. Perhaps we need to think about that when deciding who vote in office as our next judge(s).
Gordon Schillinger
Toledo
