Whoa! Did I miss getting my community invitation to the Jim

Nyberg Roast? I must have, because I would’ve tried to add balance to

the recent discourses of Ms. Joann Klacsan and Mr. Tom Noonan.

One can respect Joann for her doggedly consistent activism. She is

a worthy advocate for her potion of view. She does her homework. So

I wince when she uses so much ink in tossing dirt at the loyal opposition

as he is about to hang it up. It is the unfortunate ugly side of the

vanquished … get personal about the foe when

all else fails. I’m surprised that the vindictiveness has run so deep for so

long with Joann. As for Noonan, he can’t let his sorry work experience at

the Weyerhaeuser Mill heal and move on.

Snoqualmie Ridge would have been created regardless who

within Weyerhaeuser would have been up to bat. We can all thank Big Green

for tapping Jim to step into the breach. Jim is a soft-spoken, patient man, loyal

to his employer and fellow employees.

He knew going in that creating a livable community, planned every

inch of the way to minimize the environmental impacts, would be an

enormous undertaking, and very controversial. There were no surprises on

that score. He has done his job very well.

Thanks to Joann, we all know about the “Nyberg/WRECO”

cabal. But were you aware of the Nyberg/Mount Si High School

collaboration? Or about the Nyberg/Children’s Services of Sno-Valley project? Oh

yes, we can’t forget the Nyberg/Mount Si Senior Center and

Nyberg/Snoqualmie Valley Hospital endeavors.

Yes, we have Jim to thank for pulling the financial support from

the Weyerhaeuser Foundation to fully fund the world-class computer lab

at the high school that became the envy of a visiting Russian delegation a

few years ago. And it has always been Jim Nyberg that made certain

Children’s Services got a slice of the financial

pie each year from the Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Company.

The Senior Center in North Bend and the Valley Hospital are

indebted to the likes of Jim Nyberg and Jeanne Hansen for pulling the funding

in whenever the call went out to help shore up expenses. And this sort

of support was going on long before Snoqualmie Ridge kicked in.

Nyberg has always made certain that the folks in Weyerhaeuser have been in

there when the community needed them.

So enough of the Nyberg bashing. The man and his family deserve

the thanks and well wishes from the community that owes him a debt of

gratitude.

Put down the swords and armor and show Jim and his family that

we share his core values of a healthy and vibrant community, safe and

functional housing for our kids, and educational excellence.

Goodbye, Jim Nyberg. Thanks for a job well done!

Dick Zemp

North Bend