Former Rainier City Councilor calls on current administration for ‘more transparency’

One of the unique landmarks in Rainier — a community gazebo that was located at Holiday Park — was allegedly torn down without any consultation from the Rainier City Council nor the residents of the town who often used the space as a spot for picnics, memorials and even weddings, according to the former city councilor.

Following the removal of the long-standing gazebo during the morning hours of Monday, April 6, George Johnson, with We Love Rainier WA and a former Rainier City Councilor, told the Nisqually Valley News on Friday, April 24, that he’d like to see more transparency come from the current City of Rainier administration.

Throughout the years, We Love Rainier WA has decorated the gazebo at Holiday Park for holidays like Chritsmas, Easter, and Independence Day — aiming to bring the small town some joy through decoration and celebration.

Johnson added that the gazebo itself was built and paid for by community members of Rainier.

“When I got on the city council, I was there for a little over four years, I felt that my duty was to the citizens of the community — not the City of Rainier. I think the city works where the city comes first and the people come second,” Johnson said. “That gazebo was built by the citizens and paid for by the citizens a long time ago.”

Additionally, We Love Rainier WA has decorated the gazebo with festive lights — which Johnson claimed the City of Rainier was aware of.
Johnson also claimed the gazebo was in “pretty good shape” when it was used last year in December to celebrate Christmas.

“It just seemed ridiculous that it was taken down. I don’t think the city council was aware of it,” Johnson said. “One of the things that upset me is I don’t think there was a plan to replace it when they tore it down. They just tore it down.”

Johnson also described the gazebo at Holiday Park as a community landmark that previously hosted weddings, luncheons, parties and memorials.

“It fit the community. It was small and unintrusive, but it was very pretty in the setting it was in,” Johnson said. “My guess is they’ll replace it with some kind of four-post shed and call it a done deal. The charm is gone. There are issues with the city and the people aren’t even aware. I laugh — everybody has these ‘No Kings’ rallies across the country. They should look a little closer to home. There’s a lot that goes on that the citizens don’t know about.”

Johnson, who has resided in Rainier for over 35 years, said that he feels bad for the community — which he described as “a great one.”

“There are great people who live in this community. They don’t really have much of a voice,” he said. “Anybody can say, ‘you should come to a meeting, you should do this or that.’ Right now, the meetings are at 5 p.m. That’s a very bad time for people with families. Tenino and Yelm, they (stream) their council meetings. Rainier doesn’t. People really don’t know the issues.”

Johnson also clarified that he doesn’t intend to throw any stones at a single individual or a group of individuals — but noted there’s a strong culture within Rainier that’s been upheld at the city level for three decades.

“I’m just frustrated. I’ve lived here a long time. This is a great community, just an absolutely great community. We have a great school system. We have a lot going for us here,” Johnson said. “I’d just like to see the city support the community or the individuals in the community and make this a nice place to drive through and visit.”

Johnson did specify that one of the Rainier City Councilors, Tom Arnbrister, has expressed interest in sitting down and talking with him about the gazebo situation.

Nisqually Valley News contacted the City of Rainier on Monday, April 27, in an effort to speak with Mayor Robert Shaw in regards to the gazebo. Shaw said it was brought to Rainier Public Work’s attention in March that the gazebo was needing “some attention” as it was becoming unstable and that the department was becoming concerned about its safety.

“If we were to get another major wind storm and some of it falls down, there’s a major liability there,” Shaw said. “At that time, city staff decided that, because of its condition, we needed to bring it down.”

The decision itself was a city staff decision, according to Shaw.

Additionally, the mayor said at the Rainier City Council meeting a week ago, it was discussed that the council would look at potential replacement options in the future to either build or put in a different type of structure.

“At the last council meeting, it was left that the council would talk about it in greater detail in the future about if they want to build or restructure, where would they want to build it? What would they maybe want to do if it wasn’t a gazebo?” Shaw said. “We want to do it right and have it built, so we would have to get it into our budget to replace it.”