Forum: Sometimes fact can be stranger than fiction

Published 1:30 am Saturday, August 8, 2026

RE: Jake Goldstein-Street’s Herald article of Saturday, July 25

This is one of those times. Two articles on page A-3 of Jake’s article were both informative and entertaining. The first, detailing the upcoming removal/replacement of statues in our state capitol, was interesting, due, in part, to the cost of moving, installing and supporting large statues of Marcus Whitman and Billy Frank, Jr. According to the article, lawmakers approved $335,000 of, I suppose, our tax dollars, for this exercise. Lt. Governor, Denny Heck, was quoted, “I’m getting pretty filled with emotion when I think about how close we’re getting to this”.

Denny, I’m getting filled with emotion too, when I think about the growing deficits in city, county and state governments’ budgets throughout the state, and the two years taken for varied panels and leaders to decide on locations for Messrs. Whitman and Frank, Jr. in the capitol.

On to the second article; the headline: “$1M restoration for WA. Capitol vandalism is recommended by lawmakers, refers to last year’s break-in and ensuing damages to the state capitol.

It appears that our assembled government officials, staff, and police and security personnel, collectively, failed to secure taxpayers’ property in Olympia. The cost of this breech of security has a remarkable price tag, estimated at over one million dollars!

What kind of dollars? Well, either insurance dollars or taxpayer’s dollars. The primary loss is to a historic WOOL RUG in the Reception Room of the capitol. The cost to restore the rug is estimated at roughly $959,000… (No one is suffering the stigma of a cut-rate carpet in Olympia). Not surprisingly, the rug has to be sent to New York for said restoration. The cost of shipping our rug to New York is quoted in the article as $240,000…one would hope that our negotiators at least got a round trip at this price. The Herald article quotes Lt. Governor Denny Heck, again:

“It ain’t just a rug, it’s a piece of artwork…” I surmise this article will not be readily shared with the homeless community.

In addition to the costly carpet caper, two busts, of George Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr., were busted, at $5,500 each to repair. A piano was burned, also to the tune of $5,500. Add $23,000 to repair the teak floor under the carpet, another $29,000 to restore burned Mohair draperies. (yes, Mohair…) and $4200 to repair marble floors and stairs, and we’re starting to talk real money here. Said Senator Marko Lilas, D-Edmonds, “It’s important to do the right thing and to keep our capitol in as best shape as possible.”

There is truth in this wisdom.

A fly in the ointment seems to be the insurance company, which is clearly not as easy a mark as the taxpayers. They are nearly a month overdue in their damage assessment. Hmmmm.

Of note, this is the first of two acts of vandalism to hit the capitol lately. In June, a man shattered a dozen windows but did not gain entry.

Somewhat incredibly, the man who broke in and burned the capitol/contents last October, as described herein, is charged with….wait for it…..2nd degree burglary and 3rd degree malicious mischief. First offenders typically may get 30 to 90 days in jail if no previous record exists for the burglary and…malicious mischief in the third degree applies to damages valued at $750.00 or less. This offence outstrips the definition of malicious mischief, in any degree, by a country mile, a distance unfamiliar to Olympians, who may be more aware of metric measurements. In any event I suspect restitution is out of the question.

It took the vandal only ten minutes to ring up damages of $1Million, plus, but after ten months, the rug has not departed for New York, the floors aren’t refinished, the draperies are not renewed and the insurance isn’t resolved..

Somehow, I do not get the warm and cozy feeling that our leaders in Olympia have our taxpayers’ property, inclusive of our hard-earned money, along with our physical property, near and dear to their hearts, minds, or pocketbooks.

Hello, Olympia, it is said an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Jonathan Wright lives in Stanwood