The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Port Director Jennie Dickinson just received recognition from the Dayton Chamber of Commerce as Employee of the Year. Many appreciative community members nominated Ms. Dickinson for this award and were pleased that she was selected to receive it. However, Port Commissioner Seth Bryan seems to want to cast Ms. Dickinson in a negative light whenever the opportunity arises. At a publicly attended Port Commissioners’ workshop on March 23, he said that his understanding of the budget shows the Port operating in the red. At the April 13 Port Commissioners’ meeting, a community member asked Commissioner Bryan if Ms. Dickinson had reviewed the budget with him after his statement. Comm. Bryan affirmed that she did, and that the Port was, in fact, NOT operating in the red.

Comm. Bryan also spent the better part of an hour during the April 13 meeting explaining his position against the proposed Touchet Valley Trail that has been in the works for several years. A Facebook post the next day thanked him and stated, “Now because of Seth Bryan we know the truth!” and, “Lesson- never just believe people because they say it.”

My response to that FB post would be, “Never just believe people because they say it.”

As reported in the Waitsburg Times article, “Port shuts down Touchet Valley Trail funding” (April 21, 2022) much of the information given by Comm. Bryan was inaccurate. Consultants who have been working with the port throughout the trail design process were present and available to answer questions. Instead of asking those professionals if his concerns had been addressed, Comm. Bryan posed his questions rhetorically during his statement, leaving no room for them to defend their hard work and good names. It is my opinion that Seth Bryan owes public apologies to Brian Hansen and Adam Schmidtgall from Anderson Perry &Associates, Ken Van Voorhis from SPVV Landscape Architects, and especially Port Director Jennie Dickinson for undermining the work they have done and besmirching their reputations with his misinformation.

Shellie McLeod, 

Dayton, Wash.