Flooding
Liden Bode Lagoon was hit in Kingston
I just had to laugh, or was it cry, over the naiveté of some people who live in a “beach town” like Kingston.
We boast we didn’t get flooded during the recent storm because we live on hills and the water all runs into the bay — Puget Sound. Ya, right. And how does it all run into Puget Sound?
To the lowest land on the beach, that is how. That’s my place. I know very well how upland development, fill by the truckloads dumped by my neighbors, impervious surfaces all over the place, lot after lot denuded of its water drinking trees, developers and a county who have not planned for the future impact me.
I think it is rather generous of me to maintain a natural, woodsy area to be the filter for all that runoff heading for the bay carrying who knows what. I call my front yard the Liden Bode Lagoon. Wetlands are good, right? My “historic” beach cabin is adjusting to the changes, as is my environmentalist self.
Marilyn Liden Bode
Kingston
NKSD needs to get a real closure plan
Here we go again!
Wednesday’s canceling of after school activities at 2:10 in the afternoon was a joke. If the person or persons who made this decision actually stepped outside they would have realized the error of the local forecast and the folly of their choice.
There’s safe and then there’s stupid! With temperatures hovering above 40 degrees Fahrenheit and rain just starting, any person who has taken a basic science class could tell it wasn’t going to snow; as opposed to Monday when it was definitely 10 degrees colder and starting to snow at 5 p.m. Even then, like most snow flurries around here, they didn’t stick.
It takes time and specific conditions to create snow accumulations. And here’s a shocker — it’s winter… and we’ll probably get a myriad of “possible” snow days forecasted. I hope that doesn’t mean that school days and activities will be canceled willy nilly every time the word snow is whispered in a gust of wind.
Last year’s erratic snow cancellations wreaked havoc on the basketball season (and other sports and activities) and created a dilemma for administrators in regard to graduating NK seniors with enough days. I hear you’ve built in four extra days into the calendar this year to account for your poor decisions. I can only guess that the decider is from California and doesn’t notice that half the vehicles on the road are four-wheel drives.
We understand you’re trying to look out for the safety of our kids, but also understand your bad decisions also suck the fun out of our kids’ lives when what is often the best part of their day is canceled. Not to mention the hard work of teams and many people which goes into preparing for events.
Maybe the only thing you do understand in your bubble is money. Maybe if visiting teams, already on their buses and boarding ferries, charged the NKSD a turn around fee for what they have to pay in wasted transportation expenses might make a difference. Then again, probably not, I’m sure you saved more money canceling activity buses and closing down all the schools. In fact, that right there might be the reason why making rash decisions comes so easily for you on the mount at NKSD.
Ann-Marie Ugles
Poulsbo
Tribal Government
Understanding key in solving problems
I appreciate the recent dialog in the Reader Sound-Off regarding local tribal governments and have a few comments in response to these letters.
Tribes are based on kinship. The Suquamish Tribe is a group that descends from the aboriginal population whose territory covered all of the present Kitsap Peninsula. Our lineage reaches back for thousands of years. The grandparents of the grandparents of our current tribal leadership signed the Treaty of Point Elliott, which is the basis of all land title in most of Puget Sound. In exchange for reducing our lands, our ancestors negotiated with Governor Stevens to obtain governmental services in perpetuity. We also retained and reserved many rights in that Treaty which we continue to exercise to this day.
In short, we gave a large portion of our lands in exchange for an established reservation, health care, continued rights to fish, continued rights to hunt and gather, and most importantly, a right to continued self-governance. These rights are legally protected by a contract (1855 Point Elliot Treaty) between the Suquamish and other Tribes and the United States Government. The Treaty was executed in accordance with the United States Constitution Article 6 and is considered to be “the supreme law of the land.”
Our reservation is intended to be our permanent homeland. The United States government attempted to assimilate us through the allotment of our reserved lands, forced schooling of our children in the early through the mid-20th century and forced the sale of Indian lands on the reservation to non-Indians through government sponsored land auctions.
The assimilation of the Suquamish failed. We maintain a strong culture and participate in on-going government-to-government relationships on the federal, state and local levels.
As a sovereign government we do not pay taxes; however, we provide an array of services to the native and non-native communities including health and social services, elder programs, education, and law enforcement. We also donate substantially to public schools and many local non-profit organizations.
Closer to home, we take comfort in our belief that the majority of non-Indian residents living on the reservation, such as Ms. Pickens, are supportive of the tribe and enjoy dwelling side-by-side with Kitsap County’s first people. Perhaps that is why they choose to live and remain here in Suquamish and Indianola.
In response to other specific points raised 1) we maintain entry signs on all roads entering the reservation boundary to welcome visitors and residents to the reservation. Most, however, continue to be destroyed by vandalism. And 2) we provide competitive wages, health coverage and other benefits for all of our full-time native and non-native employees, many of whom have worked for us for years.
Leonard Forsman
Tribal Chairman, Suquamish Tribe
Suquamish
State Route 305 plans should go back to the crayon drawing board
Was anyone else upset by the appearance of HOV logos in the new lanes on 305? After two years of aggravation, irritation, and frustration over construction delays, we get what?
The construction was, ostensibly, to improve traffic flow through town. With the privileged few in the HOV lanes, most people will still be in the regular lanes. (Highest traffic volumes are off the ferries. My impression is commuters tend to drive alone, so are ineligible for HOV lanes.) We may get four lanes, but two are not available to many drivers. Then, of course, the HOV lanes are positioned on the right. People wanting to make right turns from the regular lanes will have a difficult time contending with the HOV drivers for turn space.
People in the single lane behind the turning vehicles will be delayed and frustrated by this design. (As my sister in B.C. said, “The designer must be in tight with the body shops.”)
Beyond that, there are multiple traffic lights on 305. You can’t move more than a few hundred yards without meeting one. HOV lanes work best when there are long stretches of open road. What advantages do HOV lanes provide in stop-and-go driving? What gains accrue to traffic flow here?
I think it’s time to take the crayons away from the 5-year-old who cooked up the idea and the fools who approved it, and put them all back in the sandbox. Open all lanes to all drivers.
George Brooker
Poulsbo
