Letters | Consider the issues, North Bend needs Kolodejchuk

Published 4:40 pm Monday, October 31, 2011

Local elections have so much more impact on our daily living than those at the state or federal level. This election is a perfect example, and I hope you will consider the issues and vote.

Were you aware that on October 16, our city sewer was dumping smelly raw sewage directly into the South Fork? For hours, a huge plume of brown foaming water was pouring out the spillway and drifting downriver to the falls. Our city has been fined a number of times for similar spills at the plant.

This needs to be fixed.

The condition of Pickett Avenue and several other streets nearby has been an embarrassment for years. Now the city is poised for extensive development and it needs careful guidance to cultivate livability and avoid chronic sprawl, congestion, and a hostile business environment that plagues communities in our region.

Ryan Kolodejchuk is the candidate that has demonstrated exceptional commitment to the needs of our community and is prepared to address these issues and provide a strong voice for us on the council.  I enjoyed the privilege of working with Ryan where he served as charter treasurer for the elk management group. I found him to be very candid, honest, and meticulous with both financial and policy details. Timing couldn’t be better, we need him now.

Please join me and elect Ryan Kolodejchuk to the North Bend city council.

David Willson

North Bend

Editor’s Note: North Bend city staff cannot confirm that the discharge into the river on Oct. 16 was raw sewage. However, City Administrator Duncan Wilson told the Record that a public works staffer came into the plant that day to stop the discharge. Wilson also said that test results the next day indicated the discharge was within allowable levels for both biological oxygen demand and total suspended solids, two standard tests for organic pollutants in water.