Life Issues/Family Ethics Political Action Committee of Southwest Washington LifePac Home

2005 Survey Response

October 2005

Reflector Debate Excerpts:

Cowlitz casino

" Mielke's concerns lie in the size of the project, that there is not money for the tribe to pay for infrastructure, that low-income workers will create ghettos in the area, and that business in small communities will suffer as well as lose tax income because the tribe is tax exempt."

"Stuart said it's too early to tell if he agrees with the casino plan because the Environmental Impact Statement that will describe specifics isn't finished yet... If the development is smaller than the mega ideas he's seen, he may support it, said Stuart."

Library Internet pornography

When he served in the state legislature, Mielke worked four or five years to remove pornography from libraries, he said. "It's not allowed in our government or schools," he said. "It's amazing that they would allow porn in a library." Mielke stated examples of people getting fired for accessing porn on business or government computers.  "If you want to access porn, go to a porn store and get it," he said.

Stuart believes the filters in place at the library are "pretty darn close to adequate," and that they "of course could be made better. "But, "Who determines what porn is for anyone?" Stuart said..."I don't want to have government telling me what porn is. That's offensive."

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October 2005

Spring Hill Review Article

The Spring Hill Review, a Journal of Northwest Culture, features a face off between Clark County Commissioner candidates Mielke and Stuart in the October issue.  Candidates are questioned about growth, sheriff services, county employee benefits, the FVRL library board, and the proposed casino. The Spring Hill Review may be picked up at local libraries, restaurants, coffee shops etc. throughout Clark County. For more information on articles or affordable advertising, contact Springhillreview@aol.com or tel- 892-1178.

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October 2005

Clark County Commissioner Candidate Debate

CVTV will broadcast the debate between Tom Mielke and Steve Stuart hosted by Marvin Case of the Reflector newspaper that serves Clark County. The October 19-25 edition of the Reflector reports on the debate and can be picked up at newstands around the county. The Reflector is known for not editing letters to the editor, and printing as many as possible. The Reflector also prints candidate responses to questions "in their own words" and are a valuable source of information for elections and local issues.

Tuesday, October 18 4:30 PM 23 (channel)
Friday, October 21 3 AM 21
Friday, October 21 9:30 AM 23
Sunday, October 23 1:30 PM 23
Monday, October 24 2:30 AM 21
Friday, October 28 7 AM 21
Monday, October 31 10:30 AM 23
Wednesday, November 02 4 AM 21
Thursday, November 03 12:34 AM 23
other candidate debates are also shown and can be viewed online as well
www.cvtv.org

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October 2005

Mr. Mielke's Family Status:

Quote from Mr. Mielke: "I have four adult children and nine grandchildren. One granddaughter just graduated from ITT as some kind of computer programmer and one of the four that live in Georgia, my Georgia Peach, will graduate this fall as a bio-chemist of sort. "

From Columbian:

"Tom Mielke

Age: 63.

Family: Divorced, four grown children, nine grandchildren."

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September 2005

Mielke receives 100% Washington Conservative Union Rating

State Representative Tom Mielke received the highest ranking by the Washington Conservative Unions

for the years 2003 and  2004. The WCU  selects key legislative   votes  in areas of protecting strong families, fostering a taxpayer-friendly budget, maintaining a responsible criminal justice system, supporting a sound educational system, assuring limited government and recognizing constitutional protections. 
 
2003 rating

http://www.washcon.org./index.php?c=2003ratings

2004 rating

 http://www.washcon.org./index.php?c=ratings#house_tab 

 

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From Columbian on Library Pornography
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
By ERIN MIDDLEWOOD, Columbian staff writer

... Mielke took the commissioners to task for the Fort Vancouver Regional
Library's policy that lets adults look at sexually explicit material on
Internet terminals.

County commissioners did not make that decision. But they, along with
commissioners from two other counties, approve appointments to the library
board, which decided to filter the Internet for minors, but lets those 17
and older request unfiltered access.

Morris said commissioners don't "get into the middle" of the
appointments, and added that she supports filters for minors.

Full story at: http://www.columbian.com/10122004/clark_co/199265.html

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Springhill Review, September 2004

2004 County Commissioner candidates were asked, "Would you appoint library board members who support or who oppose blocking patrons’ Internet access to pornography as long as legitimate research could be accessed? Why?" By state law, County Commissioners in Clark, Klickitat, and Skamania Counties jointly appoint  Fort Vancouver Regional Library board members to 7- year terms. The City of Vancouver recommends two FVRL library board members for commissioners to consider.  Answer:

Tom Mielke (R)- District 1
" I have run legislation repeatedly to have library boards elected in hopes
of making them more accountable to citizens. However, as a member of the
minority party in the House of Representatives, even though I was able to
get a hearing twice, the Chairperson would not allow it to come to a vote in
the committee. As Commissioner, I would not appoint board members who took
their marching orders from the American Library Association. I am
foursquare behind Internet filtering and have been dismayed at the lack of
support for this common sense step to protect our children in our libraries.
Further, I oppose the idea of a seven year term as being a tool that stifles
responsiveness to the community of matters such as these. If we cannot get
library board members elected, them we can at least put them through a
confirmation process every two years that would force them to answer for
their acts, good or bad."

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Library Trustee Appointments

by Margaret Tweet

Fall 2004

Clark County Commissioners (Currently Betty Sue Morris since ’96, Craig Pridemore since ’98, and Judie Stanton) recommend 3 out of 7 Ft. Vancouver (FVRL) library trustees and the City of Vancouver recommends 2. Skamania and Klickitat County Commissioners each recommend 1 trustee, and all 3 counties vote on each lengthy 7-year appointment. In Skamania County, the last trustee opening in 1998 was not given public notice. All 3 counties and Vancouver will recommend a new trustee in the next 4 years. Commissioners have appointed trustees who don’t reflect our community well.

Since 1998, thousands of citizens have supported clean Internet via many packed public hearings, board meetings, letters, and petitions. In that time, I’ve never seen a county commissioner at any of the several public hearings on Internet access, although state legislators showed up. Since 1997 public records of serious, repeated library complaints have included porno screens and printouts, obscene behaviors, offenders, and illegal materials, forwarded to the commissioners. Nevertheless, from 1997 to April 2004, county libraries furnished netporn, chat access, and hardcopy porno to minors, without parental consent. Although citizens took these concerns to commissioners and Vancouver, they kept appointing trustees who oppose widely accepted community standards.
Trustee Marilyn Butler (Skamania) chaired the committee that recommended unfiltered Internet for all ages in 1998, which was adopted.

Trustee Jerry King explained his 1998 vote against filtering out porn:
"In fact, the conclusion that pornography is often harmful to kids does not seem to be supported by much evidence, especially when some other factors are considered."

Clark Co. Commissioners recommended and voted in King for a second term starting 2002. In August 2002, King again voted against filtering porn for children along with Dunn (Clark) and Smith (Klickitat). A narrow majority (4-3) voted to filter porn for children under 13. However, that decision was not activated until a year later, after the Children’s Internet Protection Act was upheld by the Supreme Court. FVRL staff testified against the Act in the senate and federal court. The Act finally moved FVRL to filter for minors under 17, implemented in 2004. In comparison, the large Snohomish-Island Library system decided to automatically filter for minors under 18, and implemented it 3 months later, in 2001.
FVRL explained in a 2004 letter that hardcopy for minors, as well as unfiltered access,(including porn) for those 17 and up will continue. In Wenatchee (27 branches), Tacoma (10 branches, 1 unfiltered computer downtown), Puyallup, Camas, and elsewhere, netporn is blocked or prohibited and hardcopy not subscribed to. San Diego, Anchorage, and many libraries nationwide have similar policies.

Commissioner candidate and Vancouver councilwoman Jeanne Harris has helped appoint a library trustee. She suggests special accommodations for porn users such as "a separate room with enough visual access to control unwanted behavior". Clark County residents living outside Camas city limits may apply for a FVRL trustee vacancy now. (Call 397-2232 )

State Representatives Mielke (8 years), Boldt (10 years), Dunn (6 years) and Senators Benton (10 years-2 as Representative) and Zarelli (8 years) have consistently sponsored legislation to block illegal Internet porn and prohibit distribution to minors in libraries. They also sponsored or voted for a bill to elect library boards that are taxing authorities like FVRL. (No taxation without representation). As county commissioners, Mielke and Boldt support public interviews for trustees who will better reflect our community and public safety.

Click here for an FVRL porn timeline.

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