HEADLINES & HISTORY SINCE 1879 Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2024
Vol. 145 No. 22
$1.00
Fair Board to do FPB on its own LOU MARZELES EDITOR After more than 80 years of The Goldendale Sentinel producing the Klickitat County Fair Premium Book (FPB) for free for the County Fair Board, the board has elected to undertake the 2024 project on its own and at its own expense. Fair Board President Debbie Woodward informed The Sentinel of the board’s decision in a board meeting with the newspaper on April 17 this year. At that meeting, Woodward stated the board chose to do the FPB because The Sentinel told the board in January it would not produce it this year. But The Sentinel’s remark at that time was only acknowledgement of the decision already made by the board to produce the book itself. At the April meeting, Woodward seemed to have been unaware the board had come to its decision in the summer of 2023, although she was listed as vice president of the board last year. She erroneously suggested The Sentinel had declined to do the book of its own accord. Recently Woodward was asked how the board intended to pay for the production, printing, and distribution of the FPB. In the decades when The Sentinel produced the book, it took on the extensive production costs of manhours, printing, and distribution, as well as time in selling and designing ads. The paper recouped its expenses through advertising sales. Over the last 20 years, those expenses were well into four figures each year. In an email May 16, Woodward told The Sentinel, “This year we will not have a traditional-looking premium book. We will be distributing exhibitor handbooks at various locations within the county and also on our new website. We have a group of Fair Board volunteers who will be donating their time with copying, printing, and delivering the handbooks to various towns in Klickitat County.” Woodward’s comments did not address the collation of material and desktop publishing production of the FPB, typically highly time-consuming. This year that is being done by Kacie Bane’s company, Visual Verve, contracted
GOLDENDALE SENTINEL
ENDED AFTER 80 YEARS: The Klickitat County Fair Board decided The Sentinel will not produce its Fair Premium Book this year. Above, last year’s book, produced by The Sentinel. for work on both the FPB and the board’s website. Asked about that expense, and about whether or not volunteers were contributing to cover printing costs out of their own pockets, by email Woodward said she refused to disclose that information. The Sentinel has obtained some of the board’s financial information. One document is a partial bill dated March 11, 2024, to the board from Bane’s company for $3,000 for work on the FPB (as stated on her bill: for requesting and collecting revisions; revising, proofing, and publishing online and in print; and project management) and for web coding. Another document shows the board has spent $3,595 this year on advertising. The newspaper is filing public records requests to obtain the board’s full financial dealings, since the board is an adjunct entity of Klickitat County. It submits budget requests to the County annually. The history Since 1943, the newspaper continuously produced the FPB, at the request of the founding Fair Board members, before every County Fair, always at no cost to the board. Over the years various board members complained The Sentinel was “getting rich” off its ads in the FPB, though at no time in the past two decades did anyone from the board request an accounting from The Sentinel of expenses or ad pricing. For several years one board member repeatedly warned The Sentinel that the board was complaining about its association with the paper. Another board member last year griped that the newspaper was “stealing money that belongs to us,” according to a county official.
LOU MARZELES
SCENES FROM MEMORIAL DAY: Top left, flag raising last week at Avangrid. Other photos from Centerville Cemetery, Stonehenge Memorial, and Goldendale Mt. View Cemetery.
Sheriff town hall focuses on jail, County presented with rights of options for county jail sheriffs RODGER NICHOLS FOR THE SENTINEL Concern over the future of the Klickitat County Jail, which has dominated recent sessions of the Klickitat County Commissioners, was far less evident at the May 20 meeting. There was little to no comment on the subject, but County Fiscal Manager Jennifer Neil presented copies to the commissioners of a 44-page Corrections/Jail Report. There was no discussion on the report, but it has been posted on the Klickitat County website. The report explores four options, the same as suggested by Sheriff Bob Songer at a previous commissioner meeting. They are: Option 1: Contract with NORCOR and close the Klickitat County Jail completely. Option 2: Contract with NORCOR but maintain booking and holding in Goldendale open 24 hours. Option 3: Maintain current Jail but under the BOCC, remodel, and staff to have a medical clinic onsite 7 days a week. Option 4: Build a new facility to meet today’s jail standards and operational needs. It estimates the budget cost of each option and does a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis for each. The report can be found on the front page of the Klickitat County website.
See Board page A8
RODGER NICHOLS Another subject dominated the public comment period May 20. “This must be Dallesport Day,” said Chair Lori Zoller, as seven of the 11 people who commented were from the Dallesport/Murdock area. Their concerns centered around their local wastewater treatment plant, which they say hasn’t been operating as it should. Several people said Klickitat PUD, which has been in charge of operating the county-owned plant for a number of years, has fallen behind on maintenance, does not keep a staff person on site, and has been reactive to problems rather than proactive to prevent them. In response, several years ago local citizens formed the Dallesport Community Deliberative Assembly (DCDA). At the May 20 meeting, Leo Walton, representing the DCDA, cited a 2022 BOCC workshop held at the Dallesport Community Center, to discuss plans when the bonds that built the treatment plant were paid off. “The commissioners at that time,” he said, “Dave Sauter, Jacob Anderson, and Dan Christopher, each stated that the county was in a financial quandary, and the only option the county had to minimize the issue, was to turn over the ownership of the facilities to Klickitat PUD.” The group is opposed to that transfer, and Walton said the DCDA accumulated a list of 17
See County page A8
FOR THE SENTINEL
Sheriff Bob Songer’s town RODGER NICHOLS hall meeting at the Goldendale Grange May 25 was a stand- SHERIFF’S TOWN HALL: Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer speaking to ing-room-only event. Following his audience at a town hall meeting Saturday. the Pledge of Allegiance and a pair of patriotic songs, the ma- narrator says, “the Shire Reeve mined upon.” The basic legal principle dejority of the first hour of the is transformed from a tyrannithree-hour event was taken up cal forceful arm of the king to a rived from the clause is the imwith the showing of a film titled defender of the rights of the peo- portant concept that no king “Noncompliant 2: The Sheriff.” ple.” The film cites Clause 61 of is above the law. But the word The documentary was pro- that document, saying it is “the “sheriff” does not appear in that duced by Sacred Honor Media, a strongest foundation for under- clause, and nowhere in the docuUtah-based company whose oth- standing that the sheriff is our ment does it describe any change er productions included “Who defender answerable directly to in the powers or duties of sherKilled Joseph Smith,” the found- the people. That’s a critical devel- iffs. The film contrasts responses er of the LDS church, and “Non- opment.” compliant,” which portrayed The actual elements of Clause by a pair of sheriffs to federal government restrictions during 61 are that the king agrees that Covid lockdown requirements. the Covid epidemic as equivalent the barons will elect 25 of their In Florida, the sheriff actually to crackdowns in Communist number “to keep, and cause to arrested a preacher for refusing China. be observed with all their might, to cancel church services for his “The Sheriff” notes that in the peace and liberties granted 1,000-member flock. (The preachpre-Norman England, land was and confirmed to them by this er spent only a few minutes in jail, and the charges were later divided into administrative dis- charter.” tricts called “shires” and that It also says that if any of the dropped.) The film compares representatives of the king were king’s officials offend against an that sheriff to the enforcers of called “reeves.” The shire-reeve individual, and that comes to the the king’s will. In the film an evangelical name evolved over time into attention of four of those 25 bar“sheriff.” ons, they will bring it to the king, church in New Mexico with an The central theme of the film who has 40 days to redress the even larger congregation is conis that in the time of King Alfred matter. If he does not act within tacted by the New Mexico State the Great, who took office in 871 that time, the group of 25 barons Police and ordered to cancel serA.D., sheriffs were agents of the “may distrain upon and assail us vices. In that case, the local sherking, charged with both law en- in every way possible, with the iff initially stands in the doorway forcement and tax collection. The support of the whole community to prevent troopers from enterfilm asserts that this changed of the land, by seizing our castles, ing. He then comes up with a with the Magna Carta, a docu- lands, possessions, or anything clever twist. Law enforcement is ment the collected nobles of the else saving only our own person designated under the Executive land forced King John to sign in and those of the queen and our Order banning mass gatherings 1215 A.D. children, until they have secured as an “essential service” exempt See Town Hall page A8 “Through the Magna Carta,” a such redress as they have deter-