The Peninsula Gateway ran this editorial stating that if the new span of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge will be given a name (and, really, why would it?), then "Gig Harbor-area people should choose it."

Woah, woah my upper-middle-class friends. Hold on there. Gig Harbor-area folks? Last time I checked, the bridge connects to Tacoma, too. We might have lower property values, a higher crime rate and our city is rarely called quaint like you are, but that doesn't disqualify us from getting in on the naming action, does it?

Unless "Gig Harbor-area people" means Tacoma too. But that would be calling Seattle part of the Tukwila area.

The editorial later says, "We have no idea why state senators from distant places — Ken Jacobsen (D-Seattle) and Dan Swecker (R-Rochester) — feel justified in naming our bridge."

Fair enough. But "distant" is hardly the word I'd use to describe the relationship between Seattle and Gig.

And then later we get this:

(Oke) was an outspoken proponent of the bridge, even when 80 percent of his constituency voted against it. Some would say he pushed the bridge on peninsula residents when they didn’t want it.

Unfair or not, many peninsula residents associate Oke’s name more with tolls than the bridge itself.

Then why do you want to name it?!? Geez, you folks get a Costco, and everyone's head swells overnight.

I met with Ruston Councilman Jim Hedrick today at the Pritchard cafeteria in Olympia (where, in a completely unrelated story, Trib legislature guru Joe Turner was holding court). He expressed concern with how Ruston’s government functions, and the tensions among citizens.

He said he’s in an “obvious political minority” on the council. The other three councilmembers – Bradley Huson, Wayne Stebner and Dan Albertson – vote as a bloc, he said, and they love to flaunt their power.

“They clearly have contempt for the mayor,” he said. “And not because of the mayor’s stance on the Commencement as far as I can tell, but it’s because Michael isn’t going to sit in a group and let a few neighbors control everything.”

Divisive issues have split the town, including the Commencement condo building, the possibility of phasing out the fire department, other development and possible annexation to Tacoma. He believes some who oppose further development don’t see the future implications.

“I don’t think people realize the town is 100 years old, but it was tied to a huge industry connected to it,” he said. “The industry’s gone, and it has been for 23 years now. We’re not going to survive as a town unless we replace Stack. There’s no sales there, and we’re basically living on the property tax.”

He has big visions for the future of Ruston.

“I see the town kind of like how people talk about Fremont in Seattle,” he said. “It could be a really great thing, a destination spot where professionals want to move there. An urban village. At least I want to try to do that.

“But if we fail and we run the developers off, we’ll have to unincorporate. We can’t sustain ourselves on $3 million that we got from the Commencement.”

Some of the anger is justifiable, he said.

“There’s just a lot of contempt about how people are running the town,” he said. “It’s like an opera. Even before I got on the council, I was sitting in the audience and think, ‘All we’re trying to do is run a million-dollar enterprise.’ And nobody has the vision of what the future should be, and the this group that doesn’t want the Commencement, they don’t have a vision other than being against the Establishment. Except they are the Establishment now.”

Dan Albertson’s appointment to the council – he replaced Bob Pudlo, who resigned with two years left on his term – created doubt.

=> Read more!

I was reading over a letter Ruston Councilman Bradley Huson distributed after last night’s town council meeting, which was tense and at times chaotic.

Here are a few highlights, lowlights and mediumlights:

Huson says “the inmates of a women’s penitentiary have more of an idea of how to conduct themselves at a public meeting than the majority of citizens who regularly attend our town council meetings.” Ouch.

He labels public-records requests – one of the fundamental laws that helps citizens keep the government in check – as “fishing expeditions,” and said because of the law, he won’t be responding to e-mails or writing any letters.

He’ll be skipping all future council study sessions until “rules of engagement” have been established.

And he calls for a change in government from the strong-mayor system to one run by a city manager. “The form of the government in Ruston is broken,” he said. “There is too much going on in too many different areas to expect the mayor to be able to manage the town effectively or even just keep up.”

Click below to read the full letter:

=> Read more!

There's more Ruston coming your way today.

First stop is Olympia, where I'll be catching up with the mayor and a councilman, both of whom are lobbyists. After a quick stop at the newsroom, I'll chatting with more folks in Ruston.

If you're a Ruston resident and have opinions about the tense atmosphere in your town, please e-mail me. I really do want to hear from both sides.