Councilman involved in scuffle with neighbor

The Daily World

Aberdeen City Councilman Jim Cook allegedly punched his neighbor in the face following a verbal dispute on Monday that resulted in the Aberdeen Police Department getting involved.

A police report says that Cook was cutting wood with his chain saw shortly after 7:30 a.m. when his neighbor Ryan Thomas came out and asked him to stop since his father had been up until 4 a.m. working and was trying to sleep inside the house.

Cook allegedly refused, saying "everyone was up and going to work as it was Monday," according to the police report.

Hearing his son and Cook argue, the father, Jeffrey Thomas, emerged from the house and began to argue with Cook over an ongoing fence line dispute, the police report states.

"Cook was leaning over the fence yelling, so Jeffrey said he pushed Cook back on to his own side of the fence, at which point, Cook punched Jeffrey in the nose," the police report states.

"Once Jeffrey was punched, Ryan jumped the fence and tackled Cook," the police report states.

Medics with the Aberdeen Fire Department were called to look at the injuries -- a bloody nose on Jeffrey and a dislocated right shoulder on Cook.

Aberdeen Police Capt. John Green said that neither Cook nor his neighbors wanted to pursue charges.

Cook didn't return a message seeking comment on Friday.

Cook is currently running unopposed for re-election in Aberdeen Ward 1. He serves on the city's Public Works Committee and is the mayor's appointee to the Chehalis Basin Flood Authority.

Neighbors! Can't live with them. Can't fit them into the trunk of your car. It shouldn't come to blows, but I have to say, I think I would have had words with my neighbor, too... if I had any neighbors. Issues like this are why I don't.

Jim is a good guy and to be fair to him he was pushed. I cannot imagine him walking away from that one.

He does live in Southside and bad neighbors and disputes can happen in the best of neighborhoods and with any neighbors (we all remember Timmons) but odds in his neighborhood are better.

With this publicity maybe he should run for mayor.

Crux of the matter:




We have a two-door-down neighbor who starts mowing his lawn every Saturday morning between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m. during the mowing season. We are awake, but it's our one morning a week to relax in bed, watch Monk from 6-7, Bulls and Bears and then Cavuto until 8...so mower noise that early is annoying. In our old neighborhood, we all had an understanding that no mowing until 9 a.m. on Saturdays. That was a good arrangement. Maybe LJ could impress upon my neighbor that he's not maximizing my happiness.

Maybe regarding the punch in the nose. But, firing up the power saw at 7:30 in the fricken morning? Unforgivable. He should have punched himself in the nose.

You know how it is with the working class. You gotta slop the hogs, feed the chickens and get the wood before you go to work. Training like that from childhood makes it hard to think of 7:00 Am as being anything but working hours.

I bet the tweakers and welfare cases have problems with it though.

He's offering you an opportunity to demonstrate some industriousness by getting you out of bed at a working-class hour.

I understand about some folk getting up with or before the sun and getting busy. But, when you live in a neighborhood, some of those neighbors don't. Some go to bed when the sun comes up. There are all kinds of reasons to wait for a decent hour (I'm thinking 9:00, but 8:00 wouldn't surprise me much) to fire up a chain saw right under your neighbor's window... just common sense, imo. I've never met Mr. Cook. Maybe he doesn't have much.

We try to start noisy projects after 10 AM, to keep our guests happy.

Jim has a house and kitty corner from his house he has a bunch of lots that have been filled in. Those lots have fenced lots bordering them. I am guessing that is where he does his wood cutting, in the middle of this big area. It sort of feels remote.

Power saws do carry but what can a guy do? If you can't sleep go buck up a few logs into firewood! At least he waited for daylight.

Starting up a chain saw at 7:30am, inside the city with nearby neighbors is rude. I don't care if it's a Monday, Friday, or Sunday. Mr Cook could have been an adult about it and simply stopped for about an hour. What would it have hurt? Nothing.
I beleive he responded the way he did (verbally) because of the history of fence line dispute. Had there not been that history I doubt it would have come to pushing/blows.