The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

In comment to the negative letter in the Dayton Chronicle on 9/11/19

Miss Bailey is qualified for the position of City Planner She was the most qualified out of the several applicants for this job. Also, would the county have hired an unqualified planner? She has proven to the city to be above and beyond excellent in our dealings with her. One of the best planners we’ve had in my 19+ years on the council. She does NOT have big west side ideas like some people are spouting about. She is taking this job very seriously. Sometimes people don’t like the answers they get about planning, but that doesn’t always mean it can’t somehow be worked out. It would be interesting to know where you got the idea that she isn’t qualified??? You certainly have lots of opinions about many things that it takes a degree to know. Maybe a lot of hearsay…maybe a lot of sour grapes…

It is all well and good to come in and ask questions, the staff is happy to answer question, but when you don’t like the answer and in “some cases” keep coming in bullying, then it’s not ok.

Our Administrator has been a treasure for Dayton. In the last 12 years we have become financially stable. We have become a better educated council because of her. She and the staff are kind, compassionate and some of the best women I know. She cares about our city more than some of you who consider yourselves “experts on how they should do their jobs correctly.” Our office staff is top notch I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with. It is deplorable to make accusations about someone you have never met. If you were attacked at your job, because you didn’t give the answer that the public wanted, whether it be a public servant or any other job, I doubt that you would sit back and take it.

The last time I looked, Dayton was still a kind, caring giving community.

If the statement that your neighbor heard from our Mayor is indeed the truth, well I pretty much imagine it was taken out of context, because I heard our respected Mayor George make a similar comment once and it was with a certain amount of jest, but with a great deal of admiration for our office staff.

Our appointed Mayor is very qualified and has taken city council very seriously in the past several years he has been on the council. He asks questions, he isn’t a pushover, and he makes educated decisions. He doesn’t base his job on listening to hearsay. He’s taken time to go to a small workshop for AWC for Mayors to learn more from other mayors of small cities. This is something that mayors don’t do until elected.

It has recently become apparent that “a few” people in our community feel threatened by smart educated women with jobs of significant importance. If it were a man in the same position, I don’t think this would even be an issue right now.

How does this speak to our smart educated daughters who may like to work in this community?

There is a very negative undercurrent in this city/county right now and it is very sad to see “a few’ individuals make such callous comments about our city and county employees mostly because of vicious hearsay. Hearsay from people who haven’t done a blasted thing to make it a better place, but to try to tear it apart.

Which brings me to say that if you moved to Dayton and Columbia County or anyplace else that you picked…why did you move there? To change it? This community has been doing very well for many decades with upward thinkers who have made it a better place. They have made it a place to be proud of and have put Dayton on the map. With volunteers who have worked to save the downtown and county historic buildings and we are reaping the benefits from that. Dayton could have dried up without these passionate individuals. The golf course is a treasure. Many people who choose to move here are retired and love our quaint golf course as well as out of town guests who also help our economy. The Friends of the Pool are doing a great job with possibilities for the future. The Touchet Valley Trail will be a very nice addition to our community. It was well thought out by many qualified people in several adjoining communities with economic development and quality of life at its core.

This is a cry out to those of you who see danger in this negative undertone to stand up for our beautiful city and county. Please ask questions if you don’t understand and consider the answers, but please don’t let these few toxic individuals poison our town and county. It needs to be a pleasant place for everyone.

Sincerely,

Kathy Berg

Former Dayton City Council and Chamber of Commerce Member

The referenced letter was also submitted to the Waitsburg Times. Our Editorial Team reserved the right to decline the letter according to our guidelines. See the guidelines below.