There are some occasions that mark the passing of time more than others. Having said that, I realize what a banal statement it is, but what brought it to mind was the recent passing of Pete Corwin.
Pete and I were more acquaintances than close friends. By that, I mean we never invited each other over for dinner and/or a game of cards. But we always had a smile for each other whenever we met.
Pete and I shared one distinction — we were the last two living members of Centralia’s commission form of city government. In fact, his passing now leaves yours truly as the only living, directly-elected mayor of Centralia (or Chehalis, too, for that matter). All current mayors in those two cities are appointed by their city councils and selected only from members of those particular councils.
As the last survivor, I will be gracious and forgiving, meaning I will not require you to genuflect as I pass by. A mere tipping of the hat or curtsy will suffice. The demise of the commission form of city government had its beginning with the passage of a Washington state law that also made it, essentially, impossible to not act “illegally.”
This difficulty with the law was it stated, in essence, that if 50 percent of a city’s governing body was assembled together in any one place, other than a scheduled meeting, no city business could be discussed. That made it pretty difficult, with a three-commissioner form of government, for one commissioner to meet one of the other two in a hallway and say nothing more meaningful than, “It’s a nice day outside, don’t you think?”
Our three-member county commission has gotten around this obstacle, or thinks it has, by staying “in session” 24 hours a day! There are those of us who still question the legality of that “solution.” For no other reason than giving a short lecture in civics, the former division of labor in Centralia’s commission went this way: the mayor got to cut a lot of ribbons and plant a few trees, but was also the police commissioner and fire commissioner.
Another member was the finance commissioner, and also was in charge of managing City Hall.
The third commissioner was in charge of everything else: water department, sewer department, light department, garbage department and street department! And that last position was Pete’s job when he was first elected to the old commission.
To complete this bit of history, there was only one other person who served on both the commission and the council: Bill Rickard. He served eight years as commissioner of public works, producing more positive outcomes than anyone else I can name. Well, except for maybe the one who headed up the construction of the Centralia Power Plant on the Nisqually River or the one who laid the 40-mile pipeline from the North Fork of the Newaukum River to Seminary Hill, using nothing but shovels and horses! I would think they would also rank at the top of that list.
And, now, for a change of subject. Do we learn from our mistakes? I sure did. When I wrote, some time ago, about Timberland Library’s east county facilities, I called them “demonstration libraries,” not realizing that they, or at least most of them, were already using property taxes from their immediate areas.
The mistake I made was due to the fact that I was following a map that had never been updated on Timberland’s own homepage.
Had I gone through a course in journalism, I would have known that it’s an unwritten law — or maybe it’s written (who knows?) — that you need to have at least two sources for every fact quoted. I used only one and have paid the price.
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Bill Moeller is a former entertainer, mayor, bookstore owner, city council member, paratrooper and pilot living in Centralia. He can be reached at bookmaven321@comcast.net.
