Small Town News

The time is now

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Job creation, growth and development are not just political promises, but key elements of economic survival for most small communities. For years, we have watched residents, young and old, leave our area for better opportunities in the big city. There was a time when our economy would absorb having people move out of town. There was a time when vocal opposition could stop a certain type of project. That time has passed.

Mason County can no longer say no to responsible projects that will create jobs and enhance the tax base. Tax revenue is necessary to support basic and essential government services. We can avoid the temptation of elected officials to increase taxes merely by attracting new businesses to the area.

To sustain our community in the short and long term, we need a strong local tax base, jobs that enable families to earn a respectable wage and the opportunity for future growth that will maintain our quality of life.

Mason County can be a ray of sunshine among the economic gloom we see elsewhere in our state and across the nation. We can be known as a county that expects success for future generations - a success in attracting projects and new businesses that encourages our community to prosper.

Mason County is a beautiful place to live, and our children should not be one of our biggest exports. Mason County can and will prosper if, and only if, we come together in support of locally-proposed projects that will help us accomplish this important mission for a better tomorrow.

Allowing a small segment of our community to dictate what is best for our community will lead us down the wrong path. There needs to be a healthy dose of mutual respect for those in the community that have differing interests, beliefs and opinions on how our community thrives. When mutual respect is tossed out the window and opposition to a project is fueled by negativity, fear and emotional rhetoric, the entire community loses. Mason County deserves better and a new citizen coalition has formed to help us get there.

Citizens for a Prosperous Mason County is a volunteer community coalition comprised of local citizens highly concerned about improving and maintaining the economic health of Mason County. We care about the people who live here, their families, our quality of life and the health of our economy and environment.

Our goal is to provide a venue so local citizens who want to see our county prosper can come together with a unified voice of support for new businesses and/ or projects that will benefit the economic future and quality of life of Mason County.

The founding principles for the Citizens for a Prosperous Mason County are things we should all be able to agree upon if we truly want to see our County prosper -

Support local projects that will bring capital investment to and improve the business climate in Mason County.

Support local projects that will create stable, family-wage jobs for Mason County citizens.

Support local projects that will provide on-going, economic contributions to our communities.

Support local projects that will generate new tax revenue that will benefit our schools and other vital local programs.

Support local projects that will implement state-of-the-art environmental controls to protect the health of the people in our communities.

Examples of the coalition's efforts would be to support proposed biopower projects that will play a big part in Washington State's goals to generate clean alternative energy. These proposed projects will generate badly needed local tax revenue, create jobs and provide opportunities for Mason County to prosper.

This isn't something we can accomplish overnight and it will take our community working together to achieve success. The time is now for us to work together and make Mason County a prosperous place to live, not only today but for future generations.

On behalf of the many Mason County residents that support Citizens for a Prosperous Mason County - we, the undersigned Charter Members, hope you will join our efforts by emailing us at good4mason@gmail.com or visiting our website www. masoncountyjobs.com for more information on how you can get involved.



Copyright 2010 Shelton-Mason County Journal, Shelton, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2011 Shelton-Mason County Journal Shelton, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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