Kudos to Cornish
District should
be better stewards of tax dollars
Kudos to staff writer Celeste Cornish for a well-written editorial about the North Kitsap School District’s search for a new superintendent (North Kitsap Herald Jan. 2).
How difficult must it be to put a notice in pertinent educational journals to begin the networking process of NKSD’s search for a superintendent? This is what human resource departments are all about. NKSD would be inundated by applicants seeking the position.
The HR staff, working with school board members, would then go through a process of winnowing and bringing in the most promising applicants for interview and selection. For this little amount of work the school board is prepared to spend from $14,000 to $17,000 for consultants?
Come on NK school board members, you can be better stewards of our tax dollars than this. Consultants are, largely, of a parasitic class that has grown up over the past decade and they return nothing to the communities from which they sponge.
What about a candidate from within the school district? It seems to me that from the many administrative positions and teaching staff that school districts have these days there would be at least one good candidate that could fill the superintendent’s position quite nicely.
CHARLES BICKEL
Poulsbo
North Kitsap High School
Students exposed to toxic fumes
If your student has been coming home from school with burning eyes, worsened asthma, headaches or rapid heartbeat, chances are they have been breathing in the fumes from the asphalt being poured at North Kitsap High School.
In late October and early November, I had been picking up my daughter after school with two of the above symptoms. The headaches turned into migraines, which became so severe she had to see a specialist. During that appointment, she told the physician that she had been breathing rubber at the school. Turns out it’s asphalt our kids were breathing for 6 l/2 hours per day.
Contacting the office, I was told there was nothing that could be done; they never know what days the tar was being laid; and the workers were on a time schedule. The school district has refused to do anything to protect our kids from inhaling these toxic fumes. School staff has mentioned the problem to school administrators, but it has fallen on deaf ears.
As of Dec. 6, the contractor Mr. Burch had stated hopefully the project would only take one more day. A concerned parent told him her son came home with his clothing smelling like tar. Our concerns have fallen on deaf ears, only to be informed that re-roofing will be done again as early as this February.
Perhaps if more parents expressed their concerns with the school district, they will take steps to safeguard our children and do the work during the summer.
R. YASKOVIC
Suquamish
An open letter to WSDOT
When will
the SR 305 lanes finally open?
I would like to know why the north/westbound lanes of State Route 305 have not been opened? To all outward appearances, they have been finished for weeks! In addition, all but a small section near Bond Road of the south/eastbound lanes have been finished for weeks as well.
At the very least, open up a much larger section used for right turns. The right turn lane near Albertsons is only two or three car lengths long; it should be at least 10 or 15 car lengths.
The construction process has been going on for a very long time; I understand there were problems and unexpected complications. However, when a lane is useable OPEN IT!
DOUG BARNHART
Poulsbo
Scandia oyster restoration
Stop blaming logging for damage
I just read the article regarding the Puget Sound Restoration Fund and its oyster restoration project for the Scandia area. I applaud the efforts, however take issue where Betsy Peabody claims that “development and logging contributed” to the bay’s damage in this area and subsequent decline in the oyster population.
I do agree with the development portion of her claim. Uncontrolled and/or inappropriate development (i.e. marina expansions, bulkheads built on tidelands) have ruined the Liberty Bay marine life and habitat for years. I wish people would quit claiming logging is the cause of all our problems. Unless she is speaking about a different Scandia area than I the one I know of, there is no logging which would adversely effect this portion of the bay.
So please, give me a break and stick to the real issues.
PAUL TWEITEN
Poulsbo
Sour grapes
Jack Hamilton’s personal vendettas
“Sour Grapes, Sour Grapes.” Regarding Jack Hamilton’s letter to the editor about the Kitsap County Budget (which ran Dec. 29, 2007): It never fails to amaze me that every single time Jack Hamilton writes to the editor, he bad mouths the Kitsap County Commissioners, especially the “junior” ones (his words, not mine). The junior one he is complaining about is Josh Brown.
Commissioner Brown won the last election, beating Mr. Hamilton. It has been “Sour Grapes” about the loss ever since.
Maybe if Mr. Hamilton would leave out his personal vendettas in the letters to the editor, someone would listen to him. Until that time comes, I’ll ALWAYS vote for someone besides him.
STU CULLENEY
Poulsbo
Small farms Kitsap County
Census data critical to planting a future
As we close 2007, it is important for Kitsap County farmers and ranchers to remember 2007 is an agricultural census year. The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will be compiling nationwide data for all agricultural enterprises throughout the country.
This data is critical for the future of small farmers and ranchers in Kitsap County, and the Bible for use by all state and county bureaucrats and decision makers regarding the county’s agricultural land-use status. Unfortunately, Kitsap no longer has agricultural zoning for land classification; agricultural uses are permitted in the rural residential zone.
According to NASS, for census purposes, a farm is any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year. In 2002, Kitsap had 587 farms meeting that definition and in 1997, 359 farms.
To preserve and protect Kitsap County’s rural heritage and small ag. operations, small farms must stand up and be counted. Confidentially is assured. For more info check out www.agcensus.usda.gov.
JERRY DARNALL
Kingston
