Jan. 6 an ‘assault on our country’

In response to “Jan. 6 is not Pearl Harbor or 9-11” (Letters to the Editor, Sequim Gazette, Jan. 26, page A-13):

The notion that Pearl Harbor and 9-11 are the same or even similar to the attack on our Capital on Jan. 6, 2021 is false. They are neither.

Pearl Harbor was an attack on our country by the country of Japan, 9-11 was an attack on our country by al-Qaeda terrorists. Both of these events were attacks by foreign forces.

The attack on Jan. 6 was a direct attack on our country by a mob of American citizens, your neighbors, whose intent was clearly to subvert the laws of our country and overthrow the results of the Presidential election.

In addition, it was encouraged by a sitting President and serving members of the Republican Party — a President who refused to take action to stop the attack or condemn it and elected representatives of our government who supported it, all of whom continued to press for action to overturn the results of the election.

Make no mistake – the assault on our country on Jan. 6, 2021, represents perhaps the most significant threat to our country and our Constitution since April 1861. Like the events of those days this was a direct, armed attack on our country by our fellow citizens abetted by like-minded elected representatives .

The damage done far exceeds that of the significant loss of life and physical damage to the Capital done on that day. Any attempt to trivialize the significance of this event is dangerously misguided.

Tom Coonelly

Sequim

Airport proposal deserves more scrutiny

Regarding expansion of the UGA to Sequim Valley Airport:

While the greater community appreciates having a small general aviation airport near Sequim, it should be noted that Sequim Valley Airport is a privately owned fixed-base operator.

Sequim Valley Airport offers a few benefits to the community by allowing government helicopters and other light aircraft to use the airstrip on training or mercy missions. However, good reporting might question why a private business should be granted UGA status and free sewer and water connection.

Regarding a key point in Sequim Gazette’s article (“Owner and county commissioners push for airport water, sewer hookups,” Jan. 26, page A-1): Will granting UGA status to the airport improve wildfire fighting capability? Is it true that the airport could supply water to fixed-wing tankers in the necessary volume, even with a PUD water connection? More importantly, will Sequim Valley Airport’s runway support heavy fixed-wing tanker craft, and is the runway long enough to do so?

Nearby Fairchild has the necessary resources for wildfire suppression and disaster management, and is only a few minutes away by air. Why duplicate facilities?

Helicopter wildfire missions may take off or land at Sequim Valley Airport, but they typically collect water by the bucketful from lakes, reservoirs or coastal waters.

The airport’s expansion or sale may be hampered by insufficient water supply for on-site fire suppression and by inadequate sewage disposal, a condition the Gazette should research. Should the greater community allow the PUD to redefine the UGA and grant such an expensive benefit using public monies?

Greater Sequim and Carlsborg’s expansion is delimited by its finite and decreasing water supply. Expanding use of limited PUD water resources will impact groundwater supplies, private wells and the Dungeness River.

This trial balloon floated by Sequim Valley Airport and the PUD raises many issues and deserves better scrutiny from the Gazette.

Richard Mazzotta

Sequim