The end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012 brought startling news to our household through the local Courier-Herald newspaper.
The Dec. 28 issue proclaimed on the front page that the “County axes its 4-H support” and directly under that article “County blazes ahead with trail work.” Upon reading the articles I find that the 4-H program had only expected to receive $100,000 to help organize county events, train local volunteer 4-H leaders, and try to hold together a program that used to be the largest in the state by county participation and served thousands of young people between the ages of 9 and 18. While the Department of Natural Resources and Parks had just spent $850,000 for a footbridge over a tiny stream and improvements to a few feet of the Foothills Trail in Enumclaw. Of course they would also like to continue that work to the tune of $1.3 million for a few people who like to walk on paved trails instead of actually getting out into nature for a walk.
Before I took the time to respond to that information, the next issue of The Courier-Herald brought even more startling news. The county will close the recycling site at the relatively new multimillion-dollar complex called a transfer station. How much can be saved by not allowing the recycling bins to sit at a facility that was overbuilt to lure people out to bring their recycling to a specific place to be picked up instead of having a truck drive to everyone’s house to pick it up?
In other words, I have a problem with how the county is choosing to spend my property tax dollars.
Let’s start at the top. I am an alumni of the local 4-H program back when it was a thriving youth program that taught us skills we took forward to our adult life like public speaking, decision making, community spirit and public service besides the homemaking, gardening, farming or other project subject matter. It has been an important educational venue supported through the land grant colleges for decades to bring research findings down to the grassroots level and make “educators” out of our young people. I started a 4-H club when I was still in high school, lived with families in Turkey for six months through the International Farm Youth Exchange while in college and became a home economist for the Cooperative Extension Service (the person who brings the research information from the land grant college to the communities in the county). In other words, one of those people who used to keep the county 4-H program working smoothly while also bringing other educational programs to county residents.
Not all 4-H members take this much from the program but we all learn to give back to our community in some way so personally I want a chunk of my property tax money to support this educational program which gives our kids an activity which also makes them a productive citizen. In fact, the youth groups in the community would be the better choice for improving walking trails for the senior citizens in the community. Why should the county use property tax funds for something that doesn’t give back to the community while failing to support a program that does give back?
Now for that multimillion-dollar transfer station. My parents were outraged at the money spent to overbuild that facility just to handle our “garbage.” Now that I’m back in the community I do use it regularly because I live in a rural area of the county which does not lend itself to curbside pickup. Not only is there no curb, there is not enough shoulder to even walk along without falling in a deep ditch. Any truck would have to stop directly in the traffic lane which would not be good because the once-quiet road has become a busy alternative to other clogged main roads in the area. When I take my recycling to the transfer station I always meet several other people doing the same thing even though we use it mid-day on a work day. When we do use it on a weekend it is very busy. Each time I am struck by the spacious, well-manicured acres encompassing the facility. This used to be a “dump.” Somewhere along the line, the county spent way too much for this facility and now they want to close it! Anyone can see it’s way too late for thinking about cost savings. Instead of wasting all that money I say they better keep using it and get those trucks off all the back roads in the county.
Carol Lingner
Enumclaw
