The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

Wow, that was some bake sale and auction for Sheilah Kennedy’s fund raiser! One buyer paid $250 for a $12 peach pie. The money she raked in helped pay for a full-page ad in my local paper. After reading the ad, I realized that Sheilah is being too modest. Let me add a few of her accomplishments while Commissioner that she neglected to mention:

-She voted to support the Gebbers family corporation by vacating the Three Devils Road, against the wishes of the people of Chilliwist. This led to litigation and extensive legal fees.

-She voted to provide taxpayer funds to the American Lands Council, a group that favors transferring federal lands to the state (and then she criticizes the state of Washington for poor stewardship on state-owned lands).

-She voted with the other commissioners to renege on the hiring choice of the Superior Court judges for court administrator, leading to litigation and those legal fees again.

-She voted for a Comprehensive Plan and Zoning ordinance that are in clear violation of state law, leading to litigation, and more of those legal fees.

-She and the other commissioners failed to regulate marijuana growing operations when they had the opportunity, resulting in unsightly compounds in rural residential areas and reduced property values.

-If you wake up some morning and find a junkyard next door to your property, you can thank Sheilah. She voted to allow junkyards, rendering plants, asphalt batch plants, gravel pits and more in rural zones in much of the county, as long as they obtain a conditional use permit, while at the same time limiting the conditions which can be imposed.

Yes, Ms. Kennedy has many accomplishments if you are Gebbers Farms, a realtor, developer, or land transfer zealot. But for the rest of us, not so much.

Jessica McNamara

Tonasket