On the road to Bickleton and forgotten points east

Lou Marzeles
News Editor

     When I drove out to Bickleton Thursday for the Java Talk there, I noticed when my cell phone signal dropped out. At the meeting, I jokingly commented that maybe that’s where the county line ended, a few miles out of Goldendale. The crowd at the cafe chuckled at the remark, but apparently not because it was funny. They did laugh at my quip about getting caught in Cleveland rush hour traffic.
     As you see in the Java Talk report, there was tangible dismay expressed about how hard it is to get the county’s attention focused on the east end and its needs. Bickleton was able to get a commissioner from Yakima County down there, to deal with the Glade Road issue. To hear them talk about it Thursday, they’ve yet to set eyes on a Klickitat County commissioner over there.
     I’m not qualified to speak to the commissioners’ stand on the east end of the county, since I haven’t had the opportunity to talk with them (which I definitely want to do), and I don’t want to unduly assign attitudes toward them. At this point, I can only report on what others east of Goldendale are saying. I can say that the unanimity and nature of their comments certainly indicates the impression they have of county public services in their environs.
     On the initial information, it seems clear that there’s a lot more going on in those vast open stretches in the east end than most people not living there know about. At the Java Talk meeting, Sheriff McComas spoke of increasing traffic in the east end from wind mills, wineries, gas drilling, and sightseeing. If anyone knows about traffic trends in the county, it’s going to be the county sheriff and his staff. His report does seem to beg the question, why isn’t some of that traffic coming from county officials?