Vote for levy
Please vote to approve King County Proposition 1. We need Crisis Mental Health Centers to attend to the needs of those who are facing serious mental illness and battling thoughts of suicide. We cannot address the issues of homelessness and drug abuse and addiction if we do not provide assistance to individuals in crisis.
Kathy Jorgensen, Auburn
Trips abroad
Talk about a surprise! The mayor and Republican-controlled council — they are taking a taxpayer-paid vacation to Asia and Japan in the name of friendship and trade? When was the last time anybody was able to buy anything at any stores in Federal Way that wasn’t imported? Kohl’s, Target, Lowe’s and Home Depot, even Costco — it’s all imported at the expense of jobs in this country. If the mayor and council want to go to Asia and Japan on a group vacation, they need to pay for it themselves. If the city budget is in that good of shape, why can’t they drop the excise taxes on water and electricity? 7% on water, and 11% on electricity really impacts the elderly, especially when we add inflation.
The mayor and council need to stay home and do their jobs, running the city in a manner that benefits the city, not themselves.
Mike Silvers, Federal Way
To your health
I am privileged to be one of the original commissioners on the Federal Way Senior Advisory Commission founded way back in 2019. Next month we will be hosting a Health and Resource Fair! It will be in the PAEC on May 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — and it’s free!
This fair is sponsored by:
Affinity Healthcare
Humana
Life Point Law
Multi-Service Center
Virginia Mason Franciscan Medical and
Steel Lake Presbyterian Church
We will have over 40 vendors Snacks will be available for sale (PAEC snack bar) and we will have a variety of speakers. We look forward to seeing you there!
Catherine North, Federal Way
School board pay
Higher compensation for school board directors has been a topic across the state and nation. Here, our elected school board directors are compensated $50 for any day requiring board related action and capped at $4,800 billable to any calendar year. Needless to say, there is plenty of truth to the idea that the Federal Way School Board “donates their time” because that $50 day won’t cover multiple days of related preparation.
The typical argument for raising the compensation relates to attracting higher quality candidates to run for the school board. I don’t believe this. There are far too many school boards that think they can “run the school district” meeting three or four times a month. Raising the compensation will likely create a boom in sub-committees and decision forums bringing everything to a grinding halt as every superintendent and principal is placed into “Mother May I” mode.
School boards need to set end state objectives for the superintendent to achieve. They hire a superintendent who then creates a strategic plan with supporting initiatives and progress measures for the board to review and approve up front. After that, it is a matter of monitoring progress and rating the superintendent on whether they are doing what was agreed upon. If not, like Steve Jobs, the chief executive officer can be replaced, and if things still go badly, it’s on the voters to decide what to do with the board of directors. Raising board director compensation is not an answer.
Hiroshi Eto, Federal Way
