Letter to the Editor: The Facts Speak for Themselves

While Edna Fund has certainly provided strong leadership on the County Commission for many years, she simply didn’t have the power to kill the Fred Meyer deal in Centralia Station.  Any claim otherwise is simply wrong.  First of all, the property has been in the City of Centralia since 2014, so the development was governed by the city since that time.  Secondly, the conceptual plans that the Port developed to entice Fred Meyer to the table showed an interstate connection that was never going to be approved by the Federal Highways Administration. 

When that connection never materialized, neither did Fred Meyer.  Edna had nothing to do with that, it was simply a matter of poor planning and over promising.  Also, the county never sued the Port to stop Centralia Station, but did appeal a similarly poorly conceived traffic impact plan. 

It was presented that Centralia Station would create 10,000 additional vehicle trips per day, with the Port spending millions of dollars for infrastructure improvements within Centralia Station and the City.  However, the same poor planning that promised a new interstate connection, promised that those vehicles would vanish when they reached the underserved neighborhood whose kids go to Jefferson-Lincoln elementary school. 

After months of trying to negotiate a plan that would hold up to scrutiny, with the Port grudgingly agreeing that some trips would effect that neighborhood, (but not enough to even provide sidewalks for the kids to get to school), the county, with Commissioner Fund’s leadership, simply agreed to accept the Port’s traffic projections.  The only thing the county would ask in return was that the Port would agree to invest in the needed infrastructure improvements only if their projections were wrong and the trips exceeded their projections.  This is clearly a very fair and rational compromise if you believe your own projections, and the kind of compromise we all wish from our elected officials.  Unfortunately, the Port rejected that proposal and insisted on having a hearing, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on attorneys to protect their own interests rather than spending those funds to protect a vulnerable neighborhood.

We have all seen the examples of clogged streets and crumbling infrastructure caused by developers who just want to make a profit and politicians who aren’t strong enough to ask tough questions.  Edna simply isn’t willing to let that happen to the community she has served and loved for a lifetime.

Tim Elsea

Lewis County Public Works

Director 2010-2016