Letter to the Editor: Vote For Growth, Shaffley in Port Race

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Bonnie Canaday is once again running for public office, this time against incumbent Port of Centralia Commission President Julie Shaffley. Apparently a long streak of successful growth is reason to want to handicap the Port in Canaday’s eyes. We as a community cannot afford to have Bonnie Canaday in office. She has voted time and time again for tax increases while denying economic growth that could enhance our city’s vitality. 

I had the opportunity to hear and speak with Julie at a recent Young Professionals of Lewis County Meeting. The Port is positioning Centralia for fantastic growth, and Julie genuinely cares about this community. She is a business owner, a vital member of this community, and a fantastic commission president. Jobs, jobs and more jobs keep getting announced by the Port of Centralia under Julie’s watchful eye, and we should support her.

On the flip side, can we discuss the horrible leadership and decisions made by Bonnie Canaday? Let’s start with the nepotism occurring around the City of Centralia. Bonnie is married to the current Mayor of Centralia, Lee Coumbs (also currently seeking re-election to Centralia’s detriment). She decided after marrying Lee to move out of her district for a full year before she ever thought to say anything to the voters about it. In fact, only because someone blew the whistle on her did she decide to resign. Lee never mentioned a thing either. That’s what happens when two council members get married. They cover for each other. But we somehow see her coming back around, expecting us to forgive her blatant lies in hopes she can be a port commissioner? 

Or how about the fact that Bonnie and Joyce Barnes are formerly sister-in-laws? Wait, so we have someone who is related to two city council members now running for port commission? This is nepotism at its finest. Canaday isn’t the leader she claims to be if she thinks that it’s okay to cover up bad decisions. 

These things bring up Canaday’s questionable choices. Who thinks it’s okay to stack as many related people into elected positions? Who chooses to live out of district for a year before choosing to resign, and then only in fear someone would tell on her? What other kinds of secrets do Bonnie and Lee hold? 

It seems to be pretty hush-hush in our community that Lee was involved in the Kiwanis Boy’s Home scandal. It seems to me that Bonnie has an awful lot of secrets, and as we’ve already seen, she’ll keep them secret as long as possible. 



There you have it, we have the choice to vote in someone who has a stellar record of bringing jobs to town with Julie Shaffley, or we can choose to vote for someone who has proven time and time again that she is not to be trusted and has, at best, questionable decision making skills. 

The choice is simple. Vote for growth and someone who wants to see us all do better.

 

Colin Hamilton

Centralia