Filer brings balance
Dear Editor:
The first time my grandfather, Charley Schmidt, came to the Methow Valley was in 1913 on a fishing trip from Waterville. He totally fell in love with this beautiful valley. By 1916 he had sold his thriving wheat ranch in Waterville and moved his family to begin making a cattle ranch in the Twisp River area.
Charley well knew Dwight Filer’s family, and Dwight has carried on the values and traditions handed down to us by being committed to maintaining this wonder we are blessed with. Dwight’s community service has been outstanding and he continues this dedication.
For decades Twisp has stubbornly maintained the idea that it is a small, peaceful place to live in and raise children without the hubbub of excessive commercialism. Twisp is still a real town with viable businesses supported by a close-knit community. Dwight Filer understands the businessperson’s interest as a well as the citizens’. He will bring a balanced presence to the Town Council of our town. I am asking you to vote for Dwight Filer for Town Council. He will listen.
Bonny Lince Stephens, Twisp
GOP’s version of ‘family values’
Dear Editor:
Whatever happened to “family values?” The Republicans are trying to drastically cut food stamps (Methow Valley News, Sept. 18). Tea party Republicans would kill the program completely. I guess nutrition for children isn’t a family value.
Republicans desperately want to kill the Affordable Health Care Act. Health care for the middle class and the poor must not be a family value. They also are trying to gut the Clean Air and Clean Water acts. But maybe breathing clean air and drinking clean water is too subtle an idea for them to realize these are family values, too.
Neither is a decent living wage, or even a reasonable minimum wage, a family value to Republicans. In terms of buying power, the federal minimum wage has been dropping since 1968. Just to stay even with that year, the minimum wage should be $10.64. That’s hardly a living wage to support a family. Yet the minimum is only $7.25. Even then, Republicans fought every increase. So supporting yourself and your family must not be a family value, either.
What about shelter (decent housing) as a family value? They tried to pass a bill to stop the relief promised by the Refinance Act for many homeowner victims of the banking collapse. The big banks still got their relief, of course. Have I misunderstood “shelter?” Maybe it means tax shelters. They probably give themselves a “family value” point for that. I don’t.
Randy Brook, Twisp
The following letter has been corrected. It originally included an erroneous date for the arrival of the Filer family in the Methow Valley. The date should have been 1887. The News regrets the error, which was not the letter writer’s doing.
Filer knows Twisp
Dear Editor:
Dwight Filer has a lot of valuable experience in public service in the Town of Twisp. He was a member of the Town Council in the late 1990s and is now serving his second term on the planning commission.
The Filer family has been here in the Methow Valley since 1887, so Dwight is no newcomer who is out of touch with the people of Twisp.
Dwight has a deep love and dedication to the Town of Twisp and he will be a valuable member of the Town Council.
Bill Hottell , Twisp
Thanks for hospitality
Dear Editor:
As a participant in the Trek Dirt Series Women’s Mountain Bike Skills Camp the weekend of Sept. 14-15, I want to thank the Winthrop Town Council, or those in charge of these decisions, for letting us use the ball field for our skills sessions on Saturday and Sunday mornings. That field is in beautiful shape, and there was probably some concern over multiple mountain bikes riding on it for two mornings.
As I drove by Wednesday, the riding lawn mower was making its way over the green – the grass did not look any worse for wear. And, I hope my impression that “all went well” is correct, as I wouldn’t want to have ruined any other group’s chances for being able to utilize that space.
Most of the Dirt Series instructors stayed at the North Cascades Mountain Hostel in Winthrop and said it was a great place to stay; clean and welcoming.
Kat Werle, Leavenworth
