An exchange between myself & Linda (Tim’s Wife) regarding his candidacy:
Amicus Curia October 31 at 12:00am
If this is Tim Sheldon’s wife who complained about community blog censorship recently, you’re welcome to post on *my* blog. (Mason County Blog) Although I’m one of your husband’s harshest critics, I won’t ‘censor’ you. I’ll even provide you with ‘author’ privileges, if you’d like.
Adage Buys Mason County
Despite my prolific and severe criticism of Tim’s policies along with his handmaidens (e.g. Jay Hupp), I’ve never encountered any attempt on his part (or those in league with him) to attenuate my 1st Amendment rights. I’d like to extend those same civil rights along with my respect for them to you.
Much of what you say, I know to be true. I caught Tim mowing the yard of his rental house back in 2000 when I worked for the US Census. So I know, despite his wealth, he *can* be a ‘regular’ guy. Somewhere between then and now, he lost his way. It’s a shame the community has to attack him politically to defend itself. But perhaps you can express his views on the issue better than he, himself, has managed to date?
Don’t expect a picnic, though. People are pretty passionate about air quality, our children, and the privatization of the air itself, benefitting wealthy corporations including taxpayer provided subsidies for the insult and damage.
My e-mail is pinbalwyz@yahoo.com and my blog is:
http://amicuscuria.com/wordpress
Check it out. If I receive your e-mail address (which I do not presently have) I’ll forward an official invitation to it. I’m a 1st Amendment absolutist. I believe it is the only route to transparency in government. I respect the spirit, not just the letter, of that law.
Linda Honan Sheldon November 1 at 9:59pm Report
I respectfully decline your offer, but I’m glad you heard me. My husband is NOT, nor has he ever been, a “corporatist.” We are not wealthy. He has earned by hard work whatever income we have. He is in no way connected to Adage. He has not lost his way. We both are passionate about air quality, children.The information you received about Adage from Mr. Badgely is sadly lacking in accuracy.
Linda, I believe in marriage, including yours, and respect it. But, I know of instances PERSONALLY that indicate the contrary about Tim’s ‘respect’ for air quality. Much of it *is* on my blog, which is why I offered you an opportunity to respond there without being ‘censored’. Certainly you’re under no ‘obligation’ to do so.
Corporatist: Last I checked (www.pdc.wa.gov) a couple of weeks ago, Tim has raised $117,000 in contributions to Nancy Williams’ $7,000, Tim’s almost entirely from corporate donors! Tim literally had about 4X as many corporate contributors as human ones! I knew it was bad, but even *I* was shocked at the ratios. His list of contributors reads like a who’s who from Baron’s. In politics, you follow the money. Doing so, in this instance, has been more than revealing…it’s been startling.
Although Tim’s not an Indian, he’s on the board of a major corporation owned by the Squaxin Tribe. So naturally, he and they are political/business allies. He is or has been on the board of many other corporate interest centered organizations…like Energy NW, EDC, the list goes on. But the PDC data base sheet speaks for itself. Have you looked at it?
Wealthy: You used the term ‘we’. I don’t know much about your nest egg. But public records reveal Tim received a substantial inheritance and owns (or his corporation) vast tracts of exceedingly valuable timberland, most of which has been deprecated 90% (or MORE) for property tax purposes.
The ‘more’ is disturbing since 90% is the limit the law allows under the 1930’s legislation for commercial timberland program for property tax attenuation. It’s also supposed to be a minimum parcel size of 20+ acres and I see Tim (or his corporation) received this tax benefit for a 17ac parcel.
There were far too many valuable parcels for me to review them all, but ‘wealthy’?? uhhh….perhaps it’s relative. You don’t have to be Bill Gates to be wealthy. And I’m not calling Tim indolent, far from it. I am calling him ‘greedy’, though…based on his apparent LACK of concern for clean air, the environment, the community, its future, and our children–yes. Not only does he get a tax break for his timberlands, but the legislation he supported waives even those taxes he’d otherwise owe for timber sales to the likes of Adage.
It’s been predicted the price of hog fuel could surpass that of saw logs under the current slated scheme. i.e. $45/Ton could pale compared to future prices given the supply & demand. I can’t see what stocks or bonds Tim holds, but the public part of the record indicates he is very well off. I believe YOU, yourself, during one private conversation opined as much when discussing your private affairs. Does Tim/you deserve all that? *sigh* That’s more than I’m prepared to debate. But ‘wealthy’?…Hell, yes!
BOTH passionate about air quality, children: Linda, YOU may be. I can’t be certain. I deeply respect your efforts to stop the killing and hate incurred in our foreign wars. I’d think that demonstrated some concern for life. But I have *not* been led astray (as to the merits) by Mr. Duff Badgley. That’s an old dodge I’ve often heard from Tim.
The community (and *I*) have done a prodigious amount of work educating ourselves about this issue (BioMassacre and public health). You can view the tiniest part of the days and weeks it took to do so on my blog (http://amicuscuria.com/wordpress/). I’ve also posted several videos addressing the matter on youtube.com. You can find them by searching (on youtube’s search engine) for ‘pinballwyz’, the account name I use there.
I document how Tim (when asked by me, how many signatures it would take from the community to get him to reconsider his position) responded, “It wouldn’t matter!” THAT was his response, when I asked, TWICE on two separate occasions. I didn’t need to ask him a 3rd time. (Check the pics of him SNEERING at his constituents pleading their cause):
You say you’re both passionate about air quality and children. I haven’t seen either one of you at the many presentations put on for the community. I was there, filming, at the candidates’ forum held in our local Olympic College Library when Tim refused to back down when all the candidates were asked about whether they favored the Adage proposal. Only Tim and Tom Randal answered in the affirmative.
Jerry Lingle now (but not then) vacillates and has accepted $ from people like Jay Hupp and Tom Wallitner. Representative Kathy Haigh got it wrong some months ago too, but has changed her tune. When I chided her over the phone during a discussion on this issue, I suggested sentiment in the community was running heavily against Adage, perhaps 10:1 according to the letters to the editor of the Journal. Kathy responded (and she strikes me as an honest woman) the e-mail, letters, and phone calls her office had been receiving were running more like 100:1!
A recall petition is currently being litigated to remove Jay Hupp from office. If the community could find a single instance of malfeasance/misfeasance promulgated by Tim, you can bet one would be filed for his removal as well. Tim and Jay really *are* among the most hated politicians in Mason County. That truth may be unpleasant, but I spend a lot of time in contact with community members. No, the community and Mr. Badgley are not inaccurate, your husband is. Be specific. Pray tell just WHAT ‘inaccuracy’ do you have in mind?
Are you aware these BioMassacre monsters will be emitting Dioxin into the environment that won’t EVEN BE MONITORED by ORCAA? How can any agency protect the public health when the most dangerous substance known won’t even be tracked/measured/monitored?? Are you aware Shelton Harbor has 175 ppt of Dioxin in its sediment NOW? These are NOT a result of ‘natural background’ sources. Modern human tissue has 50X the level of Dioxin ancient humans tissue contained. Were it an incidence of natural background sources, we’d see a rough parity. We don’t.
Human mothers have egregiously greater levels of Dioxin in their breast milk than is allowed for commercial cow’s milk! See my article on the Dioxin Alert at:
http://amicuscuria.com/wordpress/?p=418
Of course that’s just the tip of the iceberg..but the sharp part. A huge body of death, environmental destruction, and ruin of our quality of life for the seductive promise of ‘jobs’, is just below the surface. You can see my parody of Patton on the issue at:
and our County Commissioners at:
This election cycle is nearly over. I have hopes that Nancy Williams, a dark horse candidate in the extreme with little political sophistication, will beat Tim at the polls. Certainly I’ve done everything I can think of toward that end.
If Tim should win, that won’t end the undying enmity he’s earned from the community. He has literally become Persona non grata in his own backyard, his home community…and for good reason. Residents feel like they’ve been taken over by an occupying force–Tim, Jay Hupp, and their corporate pals.
When I asked Mr. Reed Wills (President of Adage) at the public presentation held in our Public Works facility hosted by KMAS Radio, the following question, please note his response:
“Mr. Wills, if Adage were persuaded the majority of residents didn’t want it, would you insist on setting up shop here anyway?”
His response: “I’m not going to answer that question. It’s a ‘sand trap’.”
You say Tim is not a corporatist. He’s repeatedly said he thinks Adage, et ux, is a great idea/fit for our community. Yet he has an important position on Energy NW. You can confirm he is one of its corporate board members by viewing the following link:
Then consider the following:
Olympia, Wash., February 18, 2009 — ADAGE and Energy Northwest signed a preliminary agreement today to develop wood waste biomass power plants in the states of Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon. According to the agreement, the companies plan to jointly market clean wood biopower (biomass to electricity) to the 24 member utilities that comprise Energy Northwest, and to other regional utilities, with the goal of constructing and operating one or more 50 megawatt (MW) power generation plants in these states.
Linda, Tim was one of the primary supporters of the legislation that set up the sweetheart tax abatement with these companies AND their suppliers (Tim?). You don’t think that’s a conflict of interest? A corporate shill?
Need more proof that Tim (and Jay) greased the skids to put in the ‘fix’ years ago? Then watch/check out the following video at:
If this were a jury trial, the evidence to convict Tim Sheldon of being a ‘corporatist’ would be overwhelming. These corporations are criminally minded. Anyone who deliberately poisons the air IS A CRIMINAL! No amount of argument that the poor residents have been misled holds up to the reality.
The community, I believe, has it right on the merits AND the process. Tim and the other Commissioners (the voters can’t seem to get rid of them *fast* enough…e.g. Ross Gallagher with only 14% of the primary vote despite the advantage of being the incumbent) unanimously turned down the community’s plea for an advisory ballot when it presented a petition for the same containing 3,200 signatures (more than 10% of the registered voters).
Allow me to express the sentiments of ONE resident as she told me:
Talked to a good friend of ours. She lives within less than 1 mile from the proposed Adage Incinerator. Her property is now virtually worthless and she knows about the dioxins that will be emitted. ”I played by the rules, paid my bills and taxes, obeyed the laws. I’ve helped the elderly and less fortunate, watched my neighbors’ kids, given shelter to the homeless. And NOW they don’t even want to HEAR from us? It feels like a *SLAP* in the face!…I’m voting for ‘grandma’ NANCY WILLIAMS for 35th District Senate.” -Kim-
You can view the entire article at:
Finally, there *are* aspects of Tim, your husband, I like. He’s been available when called. He has voted appropriately on many issues. But he’s dead wrong on this one…one so important (BREATHING) it can’t be overlooked, deprecated, or discounted for ‘JOBS JOBS JOBS’.
Most parents would rather struggle for their child’s next meal than watch that child struggle for its next Breath!
For this reason, and all the others I’ve listed on
We are voting for Nancy Williams and urge others to do likewise despite the long odds, because we love life, our children, and this precious region more than the beads and blankets offered by Tim and his corporate pals.
You are so mistaken on all of these counts that it is ironic no one of your group of supporters has questioned your “research” about my husband, or about biomass. You obviously don’t want facts – you want me to agree with you. I do not, and your arguments are specious. Your research is not valid. My husband does not own a “corporation” and never has. As a family, the Sheldons have a family partnership which manages the 600 acres of land left to them by his grandparents, then his parents. That means everyone owns it. We just happen to live on it. We do not do any kind of large scale logging – Tim logs dead- and- down himself, and if you know anything about logging, you know that is one tree at a time, if diseased of already fallen. We do not have any fuel to sell to Adage – that’s just laughable. Like I said, you know nothing of what you speak, you operate in a world of conspiracy theories. Anyone who knows me knows I am not uninformed. I’m just not joining your choir, because I think you’re dead wrong about most of your theories. And I’m sure the 61% of Tim’s constituents who voted him back into office yesterday don’t think he’s the ogre you make him out to be. Last time I checked, that was a MAJORITY of the people. PS – you might want to make your followers aware that the amounts allowed to be donated to campaigns by anyone – corporate or individual– in this state are quite small… hardly enough to tempt even the most dastardly villain into illegal activity. LOL!
I believe my article referred to land TIM owned OR ‘his coporation’. Whether he’s the sole principal or not is a bit moot, don’t you think? Would you argue he doesn’t own your home because it’s ‘community property’? Let’s get serious. I also alleged the legislation he helped pass benefits him (&/or his corporation) directly by waiving taxes otherwise due for sales to companies like Adage. Whether he sells to Adage, or some other company, he has succeeded in manipulating the market to where the demand will outstrip the supply, allowing him a substantially greater profit in the bargain by and by.
I’m not so much opposed to properly managed logging (although that’s been in short supply itself!) but the BURNING of our forests. Certainly arguing doing so will *help* the environment or have no impact on air quality, health, the environment, and the quality of our lives is an oxymoron. As to the ‘majority’–I hope to educate them better about Tim Sheldon and the drastic negative impact the bills he supports will have on their lives and their children.
You claim my research is amiss, but you don’t mention where. Why don’t we start with DIOXIN??…something you won’t mind ingesting and visiting on your children, right?
As to donations, the amounts didn’t look ‘small’ to me. ($120,000+) The PDC database speaks for itself. Almost all the campaign contributions your husband received were from corporations. Oh…and one last response to your whistling in the dark: YES, your husband *is* a villain. Anyone who poisons (or conspires, aids or abets the same) the AIR *is* a criminal and should be in a prison cell. ‘JOBS’ doesn’t excuse it. Admittedly I’m disappointed with the failure to reach more of the electorate with the facts. But Hitler was popular in his time with Germans too. But the AIR belongs to all of humanity. Your husband has done his best to promote privatizing it.
BTW, to hear you tell it, Tim must be a real tree hugger…a virtual St. Francis for our leaf bearing friends. But read Tim’s own words from an interview conducted by a journalist (SUSAN PAYNTER) of the Seattle PI:
“Linda and I do have some pretty good disagreements,” Sen. Sheldon said yesterday by phone from the Senate floor. “But I think opposites do attract. And debate keeps marriage interesting. The only problem is you can’t end the debate at home by calling for the question.”
He says his wife is “kind of out there” on environmental issues while he comes from a timber background.
“My father didn’t call it a clearcut,” Sheldon said. “He called it a ‘sun meadow.’
“Linda and I both like trees. It’s just that she likes them vertical and I like them horizontal and going out on a truck.”
You can read the entire article at:
http://www.seattlepi.com/paynter/113046_paynter19.shtml?dpfrom=thead
Linda, let’s be honest about this, OK? Tim isn’t about the environment…Tim is about Tim Sheldon.
Rereading your treatise, I realize you made another HUGE error: I have NEVER “opined” to anyone that my husband is “well off.” Very tacky – I would never even consider saying something like that. I don’t discuss our finances. And you would be the last person to be privy to any of my private conversations.