October 2007

Like some of the writers from last week's Letters to the Editor, I too recently received a vitriolic, hate-filled and inaccurate letter unjustly attacking Stephen Lamphear as he runs for a position on the Burien City Council. The letter writer, Ron Seale, cannot possibly know Stephen Lamphear. I was outraged by the drivel that Mr. Seale attempted to pass off as "fact."

I am a professional who has lived in Burien for over 30 years. I do a significant amount of volunteering in Burien, and I have known Mr. Lamphear for over 10 years.

This letter to the editor is not written to support either Gordon Shaw or Stephen Lamphear for the Burien City Council race. It is written in response to the campaign mailer I received from Ron Seale regarding Stephen Lamphear.

I'm suspicious of last minute personal attacks against anyone running for office. I'm never suspicious of last minute information about personal policy differences between candidates. I'm never suspicious about last minute additions to a candidate's list of new endorsements.

I am suspicious about this letter.

Recently, a person calling himself a "Burien neighbor of yours" paid a good amount of money to send out some 6,500 letters to Burien resident in a targeted attack against a city council candidate. It was clearly a personal attempt to influence Burien voters - an attempt that many citizens would consider over-the-top.

To no one's surprise, the author was Ron S. Seale.

What is the matter with this guy? Doesn't he know that he has formed more Political Action Committees than an ex-convict has aliases?

I want to express my sincerest gratitude and appreciation to the Highline Times for the publicity they provided the gang unit petition and the 5,500 citizens and merchants of Burien/ North Highline and beyond who supported the Steve Cox Gang Unit petition with their signatures.

In cooperation with the King County Council, County Executive Ron Sims recently announced funding for the countywide gang unit composed of a sergeant and two detectives to focus on ridding our community of growing gang crime.

I have been told by county leaders that without the petitions you signe

There are people in our community working everyday in nonprofit agencies doing what I consider God's work.

Their clients are what the Rev.

PUBLISHER

(Editor's Note: Jerry Robinson found more interesting people around Burien.)

Meet the MoiMoi girls

Meet Pinky, Kiki and Mermaid and Tilisi MoiMoi. They all live in Burien,

They are from Tonga in the south seas and their father, Lasike MoiMoi, is a good friend of Henry Mueller, famed local developer (among scores of others he built the former Lora Lake Apartments), so the girls know Henry well.

Henry also often entertained the King of Tonga.

Allison Ohana is a 2007 graduate of Highline High School. Allison was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma 4 years ago at age 14. She was unresponsive to chemotherapy. which resulted in the amputation of her right leg. Unfortunately the cancer had already metastasized to her lungs at that time.

Throughout the next three years Allison was involved in several investigational drug studies and in April 2007 surgery was necessary to remove the lower lobe of her left lung.

This November, voters in King, Snohomish, and Pierce Counties have the opportunity to solve our transportation problems and improve our quality of life by voting for the Roads and Transit plan. This plan is especially important for my neighbors here in West Seattle since the improvements of the Spokane Street Viaduct are critical to our commute. I live in the Westwood neighborhood with my wife and two children. We commute by car, bus, and bike to our jobs downtown.

Roads and Transit will widen the Spokane Street Viaduct to improve safety and reduce congestion for buses and cars.

Judy Fenton is running for a position on the Seattle City Council. I personally know Judy to be a woman of great character and excellent judgment. One of those character-shaping elements is the fact that she is the mother of six children. Having and raising children is one of the greatest character-shaping elements I know. My mother had seven and we have three. It keeps a person from being self-focused and self-absorbed, and trains them to be compassionate towards the needs of others.

The face of our city has changed. It used to be a city with lots of children.

applauded

As a professional with over 30 years of experience in community mental health and as current chair of the Washington State Community Mental Health Council, I gratefully applaud Ron Sims for his leadership and vision in including the funds to implement the Mental Health Action plan in the 2008 King County budget and the many county council members who have worked hard to promote this long-awaited, overall plan for prevention and treatment.

One in three families has at least one person with a serious mental illness, and throughout the span of a lifetime, one in fi