Elect Chinn for fire commissioner
As a Sequim native it is important for me to vote for a candidate that has decades of roots in our community. I met Steve Chinn in 1983, my sophomore year at Sequim High. Steve was a serious and disciplined teacher and mentor. He set a high expectation and was fair to all of his students.
I believe that the integrity of Mr. Chin’s character is unmatched which should be the most important characteristic of our elected officials, and one that unfortunately seems in short supply these days.
Steve has 30 years of experience as a firefighter in Clallam County, but as a captain and commissioner he is familiar with budgets, DNR and the importance of working with multiple community agencies.
I believe Chinn’s depth of skills bring a sharpness and pinpoint accuracy that we need when it comes to managing the large budget of our fire district. Over the years, millions of dollars of property tax will be levied toward Fire District 3. There is no person I would trust more with our money than Steve Chinn.
I can guarantee Steve Chinn will work relentlessly as a trustee of the citizens of Clallam County and will continue to be an integral part of the commissioners team. Please join me in voting for Steve Chinn as fire commissioner.
Peter Agostine
Sequim
Gibson is choice for school board
I choose Brandino Gibson as my candidate for the Sequim School Board at Large position.
I have known Mr. Gibson for a few years now and have seen his commitment and passion for our schools first hand. Mr. Gibson acquired a great deal of experience serving on Citizens for Sequim Schools and having his boots on the ground during the past three bond measures and most recently, the two levy initiatives. In this role, Mr. Gibson gained respect from the public as well as the law makers and government officials as he campaigned for the school district and for our students.
Mr. Gibson and his wife Dawn are parents to a Sequim student. As an involved parent, Mr. Gibson truly understands what is happening in the school district with administration, teachers, and students. Mr. Gibson is both very well-liked and respected in our community, where he has served long hours as a volunteer in schools, as president of the Sequim Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce, and in his commitment to Citizens for Sequim Schools.
I most admire Mr. Gibson for his selfless volunteer work. Serving with him on several committees, I acquired respect and admiration for his generosity, willingness to listen, and dedication to his work. Mr. Gibson also puts many hours into making the unemployed optimistic about their future because of his day job at Work Source. Having his unique work background will also help bring the school district’s vision of “Career to College” learning to fruition.
With proud enthusiasm, I support Brandino Gibson as my candidate for the Sequim School Board at Large position.
Shenna Younger
Sequim
Chose Chinn for fire district
Citizens in our communities rely heavily on emergency services to be there when they call 9-1-1 in times of need. Those people who work behind the scenes to support and provide strategic direction to our firefighters, EMTs and Paramedics are vital to assuring fire protection and medical response is well-organized and sustainable.
Steve Chinn is running for Fire District 3 commissioner position No. 2, a seat he has held for over a year. What I can say without reservation is that Steve Chinn is a person with a high degree of integrity and positive character. He is consistently prone to placing service to the citizens before himself. These are the traits we need in public service.
Well-educated and experienced, Steve Chinn is the most qualified candidate with over 30 years of fire service experience and multiple degrees from higher learning institutions.
Commissioner Chinn has a keen eye on both the needs of the fire district and on the taxpayer’s ability to financially meet those needs without undue burden to the citizens.
I strongly encourage the voters of Clallam County Fire District 3 in joining me in support of Steven Chinn for Commissioner position No. 2.
Sam Phillips
Port Angeles
Note: Phillips is Clallam 2 Fire Rescue chief (Port Angeles)
Backs Gibson for school board
As a member of the Sequim community I write today in support of a truly exceptional individual, Brandino Gibson, in his quest for a seat on the Sequim School board.
Support for local schools and teachers is something that has been a cornerstone of my adult experience. Although my two children are now grown and leading their lives, it seems fundamental that strong and well-supported schools help to create safe and sustainable communities.
Brandino Gibson understands the inherent value of a school system that is strong and sustainable. In fact, Brandino has been instrumental in putting together successful school support efforts in Sequim as well as workforce development opportunities for our youth countywide.
Now I’ve never been one to advocate simply throwing money at something and hoping it gets better. Neither does Brandino Gibson — far from it. Brandino knows from experience that there must be budgetary responsibility and prudence at the Sequim school board level to ensure success.
From raising an amazing child who attends school here in Sequim to partnering on many community endeavors, Brandino and Dawn Gibson regularly show how to be good neighbors. It is without any reservation that I support Brandino as the right person, with the right tools and vision, to take our Sequim School Board to the next level.
Bob Schroeter
Sequim
Rainwater’s Gazette column off base
If, as former Vice President Joe Biden says, “Silence is complicit,” the Clallam County Democratic Party is guilty of reticence for not officially rebutting the vitriolic and divisive diatribe of the Clallam County Republican chairman, Matthew Rainwater.
His guest opinion, sans facts, in the Sequim Gazette on Sept. 13 (“The ‘Alt Right?” Sequim Gazette, Sept. 13, page A-10) says volumes for himself as well as the party he purportedly represents.
In a veiled attempt to pin the tail on the liberal donkey with a shotgun rather than distancing both parties from extremism, he melds liberals, aka the Democratic Party, with violent fringe groups.
Liberal is not a pejorative word. Nor is it socialist or communist. Competition and a free market is not anathema to liberals as long as it is fair.
It is, however, what spawned our ever-shrinking unions and middle class they helped build.
In all fairness, tearing statues asunder is not sanctioned by liberals or conservatives for that matter.
Promoting the general welfare is a government responsibility guaranteed in the Constitution. It is what gave us Social Security, civil liberties, the GI bill and the birth of a national health care plan which never occurred under a Republican administration.
Rainwater asks to be corrected if he is wrong in his assessment of liberals he painted with a broad brush of the “Alt Left.”
Ladies and gentlemen, corrected he stands.
Roger B. Huntman
Sequim
Chinn worth our vote
I’m an old (91 years) volunteer fighter with 15 years service with each of three different departments: Bear Lake, Pa., Fairbanks, Alaska and Clallam County Fire District 3. The reason I tell you this is: I would like to urge you to vote for Steve Chinn for Fire District 3 commissioner. My experience tells me that a good commissioner is “worth their weight” in gold. Thanks for listening!
Harvey Martin
Sequim
Party before country?
For you U.S. citizens, who value your freedoms in a land of plenty, you all may be at risk by a narcissist, who wants to be king, and a Republican-controlled Congress, which apparently (so far) is putting party and re-election before country.
Trump has ramped up his Tweeting war rhetoric, seemingly willing to risk the lives of millions of American troops and citizens and South Korean and Japanese allies in a nuclear confrontation with North Korea.
Considering Trump’s insults to U.S. (former?) allies and his unilateral cancelling of prior U.S. agreements, the U.S. could find itself alone in a nuclear war.
It has been 152 years since a war on U.S. soil. The Civil War was fought with single-shot muskets and cannons loaded with balls and shrapnel. A nuclear war among nations would bring a new definition to “holocaust” with no winners, and our nation’s and planet’s humanity the losers. Vietnam draft-dodger Trump has no conception of the horrors of war.
In my opinion, we are approaching a time when the Congress should consider invoking the 25th Amendment before Trump and his minions can impose irreversible damage to our Democracy and way of life.
However, Trump’s rhetorical feuds with Senators Corker, McCain, Collins, Murkowski and McConnell and Speaker Ryan may save the USA. One can only hope! The Congress is the equal of the executive branch.
Richard Hahn
Sequim
Qualifications simple for Supreme Court positions
President Trump has stated that he may have the opportunity to appoint four Supreme Court Justices in his first term. This should not be difficult.
In my opinion, Supreme Court justices need not be eminent jurists, lawyers or even have attended law school; indeed, they are better off not doing so because their minds would then not be filled with obfuscation and complication.
Supreme Court justices are concerned with only one document: the Constitution of the United States. It is written in plain, succinct English, not open to interpretation because it means what it says.
Therefore, the requirements to be a Supreme Court Justice are not difficult to acquire. One needs to be an American citizen, have reached the age of majority, is fluent in the English language, has common sense and stands by one’s oath to protect, defend and uphold the United States Constitution.
Ethan Harris
Sequim