What You Can Do

You can help .. your voice makes a difference. Here are just a few ways in which you can help:

• Fill out our petition. Lend your name and support to the fight against waste of our taxpayer dollars and despoiling our valley.
  
  
• Contact your the governor's office and your US and state representatives:
  Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire
  U.S. Congressman Doc Hastings
  U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell
  U.S. Senator Patty Murray
  Washington State Senator Jim Honeyford
  Washington State Senator Curtis King
  Washington State Representative Bruce Chandler
  Washington State Representative Daniel Newhouse
  Washington State Representative Charles Ross
  Washington State Representative Mary Skinner
  
  
• Contact your local city and business leaders. Emphasize that we need tourism dollars; that wine and agri-tourism are the future of the Yakima Valley. These visitors spend money and pay taxes, but leave a soft footprint.
  
  
• Write a letter to the editor addressing one of the issue points

Yakima Herald-Republic - opinion@yakimaherald.com, Fax 577-7767
Yakima Valley Business Times - news@yvpub.com, Fax 457-5214
Yakima Valley Business Journal - christine@yvnewspapers.com, Fax 865-2655
Toppenish Review - fernando@yvnewspapers.com
Selah News
Daily Sun News - Daily Sun News, P.O. Box 878, Sunnyside, Washington 98944, Fax 837-6397

Seattle Weekly - 1008 Western Ave, Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98104
Seattle Times - opinion@seattletimes.com
Seattle PI - editpage@seattlepi.com, Fax (206) 448-8184

The Sierra Club: Cascade Chapter (Seattle) cascade.chapter@sierraclub.org

• Talk this up with friends and colleagues. How about the local Rotary and service clubs? The Yakima Sunrise Rotary Club, for example, spends one Saturday per month cleaning a stretch of Interstate 82 very near the junkyard relocation site. Their efforts are being obviated by our own County Commissioners.
  
• Tell a Friend about this website
  
• Make a donation. Fighting County Hall is expensive. Donate to CPR at any Central Valley Bank or mail to CPR, PO Box 1677, Zillah, WA 98953. We accept all donations, large and small.
  
• Call and write to your County Commissioners ...

Who's Who ... the Yakima County Commissioners

Contact the commissioners and share your views:

Yakima County Commissioners
128 North 2nd Street, Yakima, Washington 98901
Phone (509)574-1500 - (800) 572-7354
Email: commissioners.web@co.yakima.wa.us

The roles of our elected officials in the junkyard fiasco ...

Ron Gamache

Present from the creation of the junkyard relocation project six years ago. During his eight years in office, he has given the county a $500,000 bill for a non-viable jail site in Toppenish, turned his back on a local non-profit organization and gave the White Swan RR to a failed developer, and signed every document that came before him regarding the junkyard.

Commissioner Gamache's comments are notably absent from the historical record regarding the junkyard. Only his signature is available to the public.

Mr. Gamache is being opposed for a third Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) term by Toppenish farmer and businessman Kevin Bouchey and Union Gap council person Dan Olsen.

Write to Ron Gamache

Mike Leita

Point man for the BOCC regarding the junkyard. Author of such erudite phrases as "done deal," "horse is out of the barn," and "the boat has left the dock." Accused the wine industry of wanting to control the Yakima Valley Highway for its own purposes, whatever that might be.

Commissioner Leita told Mike Bastinelli on KIT radio that he had "looked Mr. Douglas in the eye and was assured that he, Mr. Douglas, wanted to do this." The historical record shows otherwise. We are not sure when Mr. Leita looked county taxpayers in the eyes and explained their $800,000 investment in Douglas Wrecking Yard.

Commissioner Leita apparently controls the BOCC due to no available record of Commissioner Gamache offering input on the project and Commissioner Elliott towing the company line. Does Yakima County effectively have a one-person County Commission. He is thus far running unopposed for another four year term on the BOCC.

Write to Mike Leita

Rand Elliott

The elected representative from District Two, in which the junkyard relocation site resides. Commissioner Elliott spent months disavowing responsibility because things occurred before he was elected. Apparently, the commissioner believes he can just ignore anything that happened prior to his election. No responsibility crosses his door-step.

Commissioner Elliott has also made such far-reaching observations as the junkyard will be "practically invisible" (KIT Radio) and "passersby will not be able to see" (Yakima Herald Republic). We urge voters in Commissioner Elliott's district to check his involvement in the county decision making process. Examine his record for March 2008, for example, in which he apparently attended all three BOCC meetings: not a single uttering from Commissioner Elliott was recorded on any topic. Is he mute, does he not care, or is he just collecting $80,000 per year?

Write to Rand Elliott

Information on the commissioners was provided by the Public Information Officer