Herrst: why I’m not running
Dear Editor:
To residents of Winthrop and other readers of the Methow Valley News: It has come to my attention that people know I will not be running for re-election to the Winthrop Town Council, but few know the reason I decided not to run, so I will explain why I did not file for re-election.
I believe that if a person takes on a job they should do that job or step aside and let someone else do it. Therefore, with my plans for making a cross-country horseback trip becoming a reality instead of just a plan, I do not feel it was in the best interest of the Town of Winthrop that I run for re-election. This trip has been in the planning stages for over two years and will come to fruition next year. With the amount of time I expect this trip to take, riding from Washington to Michigan via horseback, it is unfair to the residents of Winthrop to have a council person fill a position and yet be vacant and unable to represent their interest in the decision-making processes of the town.
I would like to encourage the residents to attend the council meetings on the first and third Wednesday of each month and express your concerns to council members and the mayor, on the record, at council meetings in addition to the individual council members.
For further information on my trip, you can follow the progress of planning and execution on Facebook at 2016 Great Northern Horse Adventure.
Vern Herrst, Winthrop Town Council member
Bad precedent
Dear Editor:
We probably shouldn’t be surprised that our county commissioners are considering changing existing speed laws along Twisp-Winthrop Eastside Road and East Chewuch Road for the benefit of ATV use when there are no safety concerns on record raised by the general public. Nevertheless, they propose lowering long stretches that conveniently lead to Balky Hill and Bear Creek to 35 mph. What a frivolous precedent. We are not even sure this is legal since it is not for the benefit of the general public. It actually makes our roads less safe since ATVs are not recommended for paved surfaces.
ATV members testified at the June 30 hearing that these roads are currently dangerous despite the fact the county engineer testified only that it would ‘”not pose a danger to lower the speed limit” but not that the current road speeds are unsafe.
We all drive these roads with no problem. So this “safety” issue is merely a way for ATVs to finally gain access to our roads, public lands and put pressure on our towns to reverse their no-ATV ordinances. If this petition is approved, ATV clubs will try to muscle their way into Winthrop and Twisp since both roads end at the cities’ limits. One commissioner mused that once our towns see they are blocking these new ATV arteries, then “connectivity” can be used as pressure to change the towns’ ordinances. No bias with his observation, of course. Many of us know what irresponsible ATV operators can do in our forests along with the clog and noise generated within our small towns.
These clubs are relentless since the commissioners recently opened hundreds of miles for them to use. This action seems to have increased their appetite for more.
The next hearing is Tuesday (July 14) at 4 p.m. in Okanogan in the commissioners’ hearing room, but it is “closed.” You may sit in and fume if you like. At this juncture, perhaps phone calls and/or emails to each commissioner with your thoughts might be helpful but it is doubtful. The train is poised to pull out of the station on this issue.
Mary and Dave Powell, Winthrop
Thanks for support
Dear Editor:
The Methow Eagles Auxiliary and Aerie would like to thank the community for its support in our fundraiser for Vicki Hallowell. Also, thank you to all the volunteers who helped cook, clean and manage the auction. We served over 120 people at the Sunday breakfast along with raising over $3,000 to help cover a small portion of their expenses.
Also, thank you to your newspaper for including at least three mentions of the benefit.
What a great community we live in.
Susie Gardner, Methow Eagles Auxiliary President
Campus partners
Dear Editor:
Thank you for all of your coverage of TwispWorks and the activities that happen here on the campus. We’re so grateful for the support.
When there is so much going on here at TwispWorks, it can be difficult to distinguish the work of our organization from that of our campus partners (the tenants of TwispWorks) or of other community groups using space on the campus.
This may have been the case in a recent article about the Young Adult Art Intensive that happened on our campus June 24-26. In fact, the teen camp was put on completely independently by Door No. 3 and the Methow Valley Clay Art Center, both campus partners renting space here at TwispWorks. TwispWorks was proud to sponsor one of the juried prizes, and we are proud to be associated with the work of all of our several dozen campus partners.
We want to make sure the community understands the contributions of each and every campus partner to the culture of innovation, collaboration and creativity that we are creating here at TwispWorks. One recent visitor put it very succinctly.
“I get it,” he said. “You are like the iPhone, and [the campus partners] are the apps.” I think this nicely sums up how TwispWorks serves as a platform for the rich programming of many campus and community partners.
Thank you for helping to clear up any confusion!
Amy Stork, Executive Director, TwispWorks
