Speaker – Tom Wilson
by Cowlitz Game & Anglers ~ September 9th, 2008. Filed under: Misc, Range Development.At this Wednesday’s General Meeting we will have Tom Wilson, Candidate for Commissioner as speaker. We had a member of his opposition party speak so this is our attempt at being “fair & balanced”. The only thing we know about his opponent is she voted against the Shooting Range.
September 14th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
What a shame to not be truthful with the large number of paying members of the Cowlitz Game and Angler’s.
If the club wants the real truth there should have been a debate of substance between Tom Wilson and his opponent Commissioner Kathleen Johnson.
Commissioner Johnson is in fact a member of the Coastal Conservation Association for Sportsfishermen, who recently spearheaded a call to action June 2008 to the Governor to ask regulators to respect the fishing rights on the waters of SW Washington.
Commissioner Johnson cares about the right place for the new shooting range, not a pile of sand that is washing thousands of tons of sediment into the Toutle and Cowlitz River every winter.
Commissioner Johnson cares about the health and safety of the people living downriver of the site chosen by a handful of people in the Game and Anglers who see free land, owned by the citizens of Cowlitz County.
The flood facts are real. The dredge site is unstable and must be used to save the towns down stream.
There is plenty of land in Cowlotz County for a working gun range.
Cowlitz COunty Commissioner candidate, a Natural Gas Executive, Tom Wilson has no known substantive information to give other than he is up to his ears in revenue sharing of the recent pipeline restoration and land lease, at the proposed site of the Cowlitz County Game and Anglers proposed Gun Range.
Tom Wilson’s campaign rhetoric failed to note the fact that the Game and Anglers officers on this project:
A) HAVE NOT sought or obtained all the necessary permits in the time frame allotted.
B) Have missed major deadlines to continue the proposed project.
C. Have FAILED to save the member’s investment, or the investment of their state grantor.
D) Have been untruthful in letters to the Editor of local newspapers about progress they said they have made.
Candidate Tom Wilson cannot truthfully offer assurance that he can help the group be successful in the timeframe fiven, as failed deadlines have already come and went.
Candidate Tom Wilson cannot wipe away the mistake made by the proponents of this project that offered an untruthful interpretation of fact in a recent grant application that stated there would be tax payer money used to pay for utilities at the proposed site.
There has been NO OFFICIAL AUTHORIZATION for that statement, from the County Commissioners, that would assure financial assistance.
If Mr. Wilson or any other Cowlitz Game and Angler memer wants his/her name attached to an official investigation slated to begin the week of September 15, 2008 speak up.
Hard working people have been duped by an overzealous supporter of the Gun Range proposed site. HGard Working suporters of a new gun site have been duped by nonsense.
If you are confused, ask the Commissioners directly at 9AM on Tuesday at 207 N 4th Vae Room 300 of the County Administration Building in Kelso. They will tell you the truth.
September 17th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
“the right place for the new shooting range”
So quit talking about the “right place” and find one.
“dredge site is unstable and must be used”
So which is it? Is it unstable or should it be used?
September 22nd, 2008 at 3:06 pm
We are not used to such venomous & vitriolic messages. Cowlitz Game & Anglers is not a politically oriented organization.
We stated the only thing we knew about Tom Wilson’s opponent was that she had voted against the Shooting Range. Now we know that as your wife she is involved in insulting & misinformative communications such as your comments in our website.
Steve Madson (D) asked to speak at a CG&A meeting as did Tom Wilson (R). Each of them was allotted a short time to enlighten the group on why they should be elected County Commissioner. Neither made any promises directly nor implied in support of CG&A goals & projects.
If your wife, Kathleen Johnson, would like to speak at our next meeting October 8 she may call 274-7559 to set up a spot on our agenda as the other candidates did.
In response to some of your rather outrageous statements:
* We have had a thorough investigation of the geology of the LT-1 site by a licensed engineering geology firm. The site will support a shooting range with no effects on down river residents nor neighboring residents.
* We are not in default of any RCO (state) nor County schedules. You note no specifics.
* We do not understand where we have squandered members nor State money. Again no specifics.
* You claim we have “lied” in our letters to the editor. Any specifics?
* Cowlitz County Parks Dept., using good management policy, has considered future development of the 240 acres LT-1 as a county park. It may be a cost saving for them to take advantage of investments of the shooting range development such as electric power & septic systems that could also be made available to the future county park. Such concepts are not unusual in long range planning of large projects. Your statements are not validated by county action.
Constructive criticism is always welcome & will receive our full attention. Wild assertions & non-supported statements such as in your communication can not be taken seriously.
September 26th, 2008 at 7:28 am
I apologize if my comments in a former letter seemed like “wild assertions”.
Most people like straight talk, not shaded truths. Including me.
An editorial comment asked for constructive criticizm:
All I have to offer is :
A) The Game and Anglers website IS being political when it stated in its web page:
At this Wednesday’s General Meeting we will have Tom Wilson, Candidate for Commissioner as speaker. We had a member of his opposition party speak so this is our attempt at being “fair & balanced”.
Then if a reader goes to the article, which I did, the article notes a guy named, Steve Madsen, who was a candidate who lost in the Primary a couple of months ago. As a former candidate, he is no longer essential in the General Election, so what’s the point?
Construtive criticism #1 Why not just use his name? Why muck up the truth with innuendo?
Why: I assert that the “writer” wanted it to appear that Tom Wilson’s direct opponent, Kathleen Johnson, a seated Commissioner that voted to place a gun club in a more appropriate spot instead of next to the freeway and a river vank that continues to erode, had already spoken.
Obviously she is a seated commissioner that would be making more votes on the final siting of the project, therefore couldn’t ask to address the body, and therefore cannot answer her critics until the final vote has been taken as the permit stage is incomplete and has missed deadlines.
All of the seated commissioners would have a conflict of interest if they chose to speak publicly at one of your meetings. Maybe that is what the writer wanted, so her vote wouldn’t count in the future?
b) Then the article states that Tom Wilson speak was so the Anglers could handle the event as a fair and equitable thing to do, to whom are you being fair and equitable? The anglers?
Constructive Criticism #2 :Use names if you want to be fair and equitable. Use truth if you want to be fair and equitable. Don’t use tainted political based innuendos. He’s a Republican, she’s a Democrat. We get it.
B) In response to the statement above that says ” We have had a thorough investigation of the geology of the LT-1 site by a licensed engineering geology firm. The site will support a shooting range with no effects on down river residents nor neighboring residents.
Constructive criticism #3 Listen to all the facts from all the sources, and thoroughly investigate ALL issues to settle all doubts. To do so brings parties together, not separte them.
It is stated that the site will support a shooting range. Lt1 isn’t about shooting rnages, it is an active dredge spoil site with environmental restrictions, that has nothing to do with lead or noise.
All available sites for a potential gun club site have not been thoroughly discussed. One site has been discussed.
C: As stated, the situation of Lt1 as a shooting range has more than one side. How about the stability of the site, used to store sediment, to help protect the towns downstream? Towns that are home to more than 60,000 people.
I read recently where the diking districts have gone on record asking for Lt1 to be saved for dredge spoils, so that their levies would be safe and in turn save homes and businesses. Without the income from the businesses, and residents in the homes, there would not be any money for patrons to use the gun range.
A drastic thought maybe, but a truthful analysis
D-The Army Corps of Engineers recently announced:
1) The sediment dam directly East of the Lt1 site is not working effectively as was “predicted” to do 25 years ago. Tons of sediment have been washed away from the site and have been relocated in the Cowlitz River near and below Castle Rock.
2) Lt1 too continues to be under assault from Mother Nature.
Question: If more dredging must be done as soon as possible, and Lt1 is needed for dredge soil storage then wouldn’t the Gun Club want or need to relocate, or delay build? z
If true, why build there and not even consider a more stable site? Take a look at the bigger picture, past firing a gun for target practice. People’s lives are at stake. Isn’t that what fighting for freedom is? Isn’t becoming proficient on a gun range what police officers and soldiers do to protect the citizens. Yes, sports hunting has a place. I enjoy hunting and feel it is a neccesary way to thin the herds. But our families safety come first. Let’s talk about that.
But then all of this was addressed by a some political candidate, that doesn’t live along the Cowlitz or the Toutle, who spoke at the Angler’s last meeting so the club could be well informed as well as being fair and equitable.
October 6th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
My questions still haven’t been answered? A lot of talk about logic, and none being spoken.
1. If LT1 is so unstable, then why should it be saved for dredge spoils?
Maybe it’s just me, but wouldn’t spending millions of dollars to dredge a river, then stacking the debris on top of an unstable site only to fall back into the river (see below) be a total waste of money? Wait, I forgot! It’s government’s role to waste money.
Cost to build the range is pennies compared to the cost to dredge the river. Especially if you have to do it more than once because it all fell in the river.
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2. “Kathleen Johnson, a seated Commissioner that voted to place a gun club in a more appropriate spot instead of next to the freeway and a river vank that continues to erode”
Where does she propose it be built? WE NEED A RANGE – 10 YEARS AGO!