A T-shirt with the face of Tenino Mayor Eric Strawn between two marijuana leaves is being sold at the Healing Center in Olympia to raise funds for the Tenino quarry pool.
The shirts are not endorsed by the city of Tenino, Strawn said.
The shirts were made by artist Jaime Hadley of Jaime Lyn Creations in Tenino and are being sold online for $20.
The shirts feature a black and white photo of Strawn with the words “Mayorjuana” and “Tenino, Wa.” on top of the Kanaka Maoli flag, what is believed to be the original Hawaiian flag.
A similar flag hangs in Strawn's office, he said.
According to the artist’s website, 25 percent of T-shirt proceeds go to the Tenino quarry pool. Strawn said he was approached about the T-shirts in July.
“Anything anyone wants to do that is legal that would help benefit our city -- if anyone wants to sell some pothead mayor T-shirts for $10 a piece, that’s their business,” Strawn said. “If that is one of the things that is said about me, I can get a chuckle out of that.”
Strawn is a medical marijuana card holder for a degenerative elbow injury and arthritis, and said he frequents the local medical marijuana collections facilities.
Only a few shirts have been sold for the months they have been available at the Healing center, according to owner Ciaran Wilburn.
“It was just a good cause, so I figured we would throw it up there,” Wilburn said. “We hope it does the quarry some good.”
Funding for the city quarry is “significantly in the red,” according to council member Dawna Kelley-Donohue. She and the council were unaware of the T-shirts.
“It’s sort of typical,” Kelley-Donohue said. “It’s not uncommon to find out about things after the fact.”
The city of Tenino has seen a fair share of controversy, including a pending investigation involving an incident with Strawn in the city of Lacey.
The council is in the process of appointing a committee to investigate the alleged incident.
Chelsea Krotzer; 360-754-5476 theolympian.com/thisjustin 360-754-5476 @chelseakrotzer
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.