Monday, November 10, 2014

Christmas Comes Early for Dick Pilling

I'm sure that the ever racist/sexist/homophobic Dick Pilling would say he loves, loves, loves Jesus Christ. After all, to be an accepted, red-blooded American Republican leader like Dick, you pretty much have to throw a little love towards the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

What, me worry?

Well, after this last election, I'm sure that Dick has a new favorite Holy Trinity - and come January they'll all be sitting right there in the courthouse. Three Democratic County Commissioner candidates in a row have gone down in flames, leading to this - a county that will be governed by the Republicans, for the Republicans.

Goodbye to Mike Doherty, who was a good guy, and really did care, really did work hard, and really did know the ins and outs of local and state government. Hello to three goons who don't know, don't care, and don't care that they don't know. As ugly and dismal as things have been in Clallam County, I suspect it hasn't hit bottom yet.

Hey, liberals! Hey, environmentalists! Hey, pretty much
everyone except for me! F@#& you!

Now, I key out Dick Pilling not just because he's a right-wing zealot, and not just because he's a right-wing zealot deeply involved with Clallam County politics. No, I key out Dick Pilling because, in his business life, Dick's a realtor. His profession is, in a sense, Ground Zero for change and growth in Clallam County. If things are going good, then you'd expect more property to be selling, and property values to be rising.

But if things are going bad...Well then, you'll have the opposite. And I suspect that there'll be a lot of the opposite coming up soon. (Which isn't to say things haven't already been rough with just two Deep Red Commissioners...) That makes Dick a sort of experiment. Will he see the correlation? Will he make any connections? Is it more important to score political points than business points?

In other words, will Dick keep smiling as things fall apart around him, wrapped up safely in his ideological cocoon?

And how about you, dear reader? Do the results of this last election make you want to throw some business to a local realtor, and get out of town? The road out is twice as wide now...

47 comments:

  1. Well, as we've seem for awhile now, it isn't just the Repubs that are living in a fantasy world.

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    1. Sure seems like the local Democrats are living in a fantasy world as well...As are all the people thinking that Clallam County will ever be anything other than what it is...Clallam County.

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  2. And the cluelessness continues. Sissi "looks forward" to everybody "working together" or some such blather.

    I get the feeling we won't be working together, but that we will start hearing a LOT more from the Agenda 21 crowd.

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  3. Pilling and the local Rs must be especially happy that Peach won and didn't have to spend much money to do so. If the figures that the PDN printed are anywhere close to accurate, he spent just a fraction of what Sissi did on his campaign.

    Lord knows these fools aren't actually fiscally conservative (our local economy proves that), but this at least gives them a chance to say they are. And it sure does demonstrate that it doesn't take a lot to get the local conservative voters motivated to vote. Just print an R next to your name and you're half the way home already.

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  4. At least Sheila Roark Miller is gone, which is nice, and Lee Whetham didn't make it onto the county charter review committee. Still, by my count there's still a majority of far right kooks on it, so stay tuned for whatever crazy crap they try to pull. Sigh...

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    1. Glenn Wiggins, Maggie Roth, Rod Fleck, etc...Dried up old leftovers. No, not the seasoned voices of experience, just the tired, shrill, uninformed voices that we've been hearing for years and years.

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  5. Did Sissi really expect any other outcome? Really?

    Clallam County is a poor, rural county. In other words, a place more likely to be Republican-friendly. Past elections have shown that to be true.

    Her own party has been beset by all manner of troubles in the last few years, with some of them being very public. That erodes trust within her own voting base.

    Demographic shifts in the last decade, related to the two items above, have only made Clallam County MORE receptive to Republicans, and MORE difficult for Democrats. Sissi did best in the precincts within Port Angeles proper, but Port Angeles has been losing population, which again, likely affected her voting base there.

    Finally, Sissi has hardly been a stand up and take charge kind of council member. She's been more of a go along to get along kind of politician, and that doesn't really speak to her leadership abilities, or get voters particularly excited.

    As I understand it, Max Mania got Sissi into politics by convincing her to run for city council. With her expensive bid for a county commissioner's seat going down in flames, I wouldn't be surprised if she followed his lead again and just got out of town. She's fairly young, and has education and skills, so why stay in a place that doesn't value any of those things?

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  6. As some might have noticed, the following was posted recently on the other blog:

    "Anonymous said...
    Ha ha, the Red Fucking Rooster is closing...ASSHOLES...Stuffy Air next? I hope so. Time for a reset, get all the assholes out of here.

    2:25 PM, November 08, 2014"

    Really? "Time for a reset.."? The solution is to drive away people who have different views than your own? That is what this country was founded upon?

    This sentiment was echoed in the PDNs article about the meeting at City Hall last week over the Navy's desire to turn the National Park into a warfare testing range. " Most of the people attending were from Port Townsend.." Therefore, we don't have to pay attention to what they said. Them vs us.

    Why Sue Forde et al have such significant support. Remember, Sue almost beat out Tharinger, a few elections back.

    The underlying, real issue. Why this area is as it is.

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    1. Also on the other blog, Tom Harper is crying crocodile tears over Sissi's loss, even though he helped scuttle the last Democratic candidate for commissioner. Those actions have ripple effects, Tom, and trust that has been shattered needs to be rebuilt, not shattered again.

      Or, put another way, if you put poison into the system, you're only going to get poison out of the system. Of course, Tom doesn't seem to allow comments that are critical of him or his blog through, so I'm guessing he's not big on change or growth.

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    2. Personally, I commend Tom for sticking to his "no moderation" stance. I think people need to see what their neighbors actually think. Why cover up the reality that there are racist homophobs here who undermine progress?

      What seems to get missed, or misrepresented is that it isn't Tom who writes all the crazy stuff. It is your fellow Port Angleans. Your next door neighbors. Your shop keepers. Your political representatives. Tom just provides the rope.

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    3. Tom absolutely moderates his blog. I have made several comments there that never made it through. I would be shocked if others hadn't had the same experience. He may not throw up as many barriers as Paul Gottlieb does, but he does regulate what makes it through.

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    4. You're right. I have seen a few instances where Tom did filter comments. That still doesn't mean that he writes all the crazy, regressive crap that shows up there.

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    5. Anon 4:55 PM: I don't think anyone is suggesting that he writes all that crazy crap himself. We're just saying, and you're agreeing, that he does, in fact, filter/edit/censor/moderate comments.

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    6. So, if we agree Tom isn't writing the crazy regressive stuff, is it possible might he allow the crazy regressive stuff to be posted, to show the world what crazy regressive thoughts and beliefs are here in wonderful Port Angeles?

      So that those who might naively think that Port Angeles is made up of thoughtful, intelligent people who make decisions based upon fact and compassion for others might see that Port Angeles has a healthy population of reactionaries who care for little but to preserve their ability to rape, pillage and plunder?

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  7. If you look at the precinct numbers, you get a clearer picture of Bill Peach's victory. Sissi mostly carried Port Angeles proper. She and Peach essentially split Sequim. And Peach pretty much won everywhere else in the county.

    In other words, the Democrats do best in Port Angeles, and can be competitive in Sequim. But the problem for Democrats is that Port Angeles is shrinking, and the people leaving are, it sure seems, mostly of the Democratic-leaning variety. Meanwhile the other, more Republican-leaning parts of the county are gaining population.

    Dems move out, and Reps move in. It's an understandable, self-reinforcing cycle that, at this point, is probably pretty tough for the Democrats to break. Once the Republicans ruin this area just a bit more, no person who's even halfway liberal would even think of living here, or moving here.

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  8. Mike Doherty did the work of two commissioners with all the committees he was on, and groups he was involved with. With him gone, I very much doubt that any of these three...people will pick up that slack, which will only serve to further isolate Clallam County from the outside world, new information and ideas, etc.

    Goodbye, Mike, and hello sorrow!

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    1. Doherty wasn't perfect, but this county was damn lucky to have him serve. His real interest in the process of governing, his deep knowledge of all the people and agencies that the county has to deal with, all that and much more will be sorely missed. I have a hard time picturing McEntire, Chapman or Peach ever coming close to putting in the hours that Mike did, or to acquiring anything near his level of knowledge.

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  9. CK, I'm sure you're right about Dick Pilling being gleeful right now, but everyone I know is pretty depressed. Dashed hopes are painful things, and we've had so many dashed here I've lost count.

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  10. CK, have you changed any of the internet stuff in the last couple days?

    Up until two days ago, when I typed in "Port Angeles", "Unearthed" came up in the first three offerings on Google. Now, it isn't there at all. I have to type in most of the word for Unearthed to show up.

    Seems like somebody doesn't want the site to come up with "Port Angeles"? Am I just overly suspicious, or did you change some kind of search settings, or? I'm not super computer savvy.

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    1. Hmmm...Yes, I'd noticed that sudden change as well. And no, before the change, I hadn't changed any of my search settings. But I have now, to make this blog a visible PORT ANGELES PORT ANGELES PORT ANGELES resource online. If you're looking for information about Port Angeles online, I want you to find this blog.

      Please let me know if you see any changes (hopefully back to what it was before) in the next few days.

      Interesting, isn't it? Too many people forget that the bad news isn't caused by the people talking about the bad news. No, the bad news is caused by the people making bad decisions. This blog hasn't caused Port Angeles to be the dismal place it is. Russ and Barb and Cherie and John Brewer and Paul Gottlieb and Jim Jones and Karen Rogers, and too many more to name, they're the ones who've made Port Angeles what it is.

      Trying to cover up the truth doesn't change the truth.

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    2. This morning, the same. No "Unearthed" shows up.

      I agree, trying to ignore reality doesn't make it go away. I'm very glad you make the effort to warn people about the realities of Port Angeles.

      Thanks!

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    3. If someone is monkeying with this blog, I doubt it's an upset local government or business group. That seems unlikely to me, as does the PDN. Now another website or blog that felt like they were losing traffic to this blog, that seems like someone who'd have a motive.

      Whatever the case, thanks for providing this forum, CK. Every little bit helps, if only to ease the pain.

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    4. Personally, I appreciate your moderating this blog however much you do, CK. It IS a forum for venting and sharing info, but does NOT descend into random rants and ugly rumor mongering.

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    5. Sure seems like the traffic to the other blog, or at least the number of comments posted, has gone down and down since Unearthed came along. I guess that could be a motive to mess with this blog, jealousy or some such thing.

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    6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    7. Peter Ripley, dunce that he is, offers up more information on his blog than Harper does. At least Peter leaves his apartment, and goes to meetings and actually sees what's going on. The PDN writes slanted, incomplete stories, then Harper regurgitates part of that, and thinks he's making "news" or something. Weird.

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    8. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    9. Its BECAUSE of how Google crawls the web. Without regularly updated posts it falls from the higher ranking it had secured early on. It isn't a conspiracy, its how Google sorts webpages. If CK would update posts more often it would be back up in top-dog spot, in short order. Geez...paranoid much, people?

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    10. Well, Anonymous 4:41 PM, I have to somewhat disagree with you. I'm sure there are all sorts of ways to monkey with search results/rankings, if someone is motivated enough. I'm not saying that I know that that's what's happening here, just that it's possible.

      In any case, clearly people are still coming to this blog. The comments come in, and it averages about 150-200 hits a day, except for Fridays and Saturdays, which are generally a little lower.

      But do let me know how Unearthed shows up in your search results, please. Needless to say, it's a subject I'm somewhat interested in. Thanks!

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  11. Wait wait, don't pack up yet. There is still hope for the city of Port Angeles. They are much more democratic than is the surrounding county. And look at it this way, the critical races were 52% to 48%. this means that if one percent of the conservatives didn't vote or one percent of the democrats got off their ass and voted the outcome would be quite different. The simple solution is to develop a ground game where people visit voters as soon as the ballots arrive in the mail. Ring the doorbell and ask them to vote while you're there. IF they ask advice give it. If they vote at least we get a true reflection of the mood at the time. Also, come November of '15 three city council seats are up for grabs. They are Danny Boy Digiglio, Sissie Bruch and Cherie Kidd. Sissie may or may not run but in any case if we get 3 progressives on the city council they can turn at least one other vote and staunch some of the bleeding now going on at city hall. They may even get a handle on the escalating utility costs. They may even cancel the last half of the ill advised CSO project. That alone would save taxpayers $26 million. There is hope within the city limits. Outside the city limits--not so much. However, Port Angeles taxpayers and utility rate payers are the cash cows for most of the idiotic projects driving us nearer and nearer to bankruptcy. If we can motivate one percent more voters we can turn this travesty into something we can all be proud of. Start now, recruit some viable candidates, bring them up to speed on the challenges ahead, foster independent thinking, inform everyone you speak to, start the campaign early so there is created a real dialog within the city. People are more outspoken than the PDN would have you believe.

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    1. Your post is ridiculous, frankly. Utterly ridiculous.

      First of all, after all that's just been said and done with the election that just took place, and you STILL can't spell Sissi's name correctly? That doesn't speak to you being an informed voter who is paying attention. (You also spell Dan DiGuilio's name incorrectly, by the way.)

      That leads to the next point, which is your fantasy about finding three progressives to run for City Council. The local progressive and environmental community had to beat a lot of bushes to find Max Mania, and once he won, he beat more bushes and finally got Sissi to run. And that's been it since then. Well, other than all those uncontested races last time. Uncontested. As in, there weren't candidates out there on the center-left willing to run. None.

      And then we come to the most bizarre part of your "plan." To quote: "...if we get 3 progressives on the city council they can turn at least one other vote..." Huh? Where do you get THAT from? Your whole plan to "rescue" Port Angeles rests on that very large assumption? Whoa there! You're assuming a lot, and offering zero by way of an explanation of how and/or why such a thing would happen.

      Oh, and finally, to take your example of the 52% vs. 48% split...You say if there was a shift of one percent on each side, "the outcome would be quite different." No, no it wouldn't. Then the Republicans would win by 51% to 49%. Again, your lack of attention to details (and basic math) doesn't mark you as someone who gets it.

      Rather, it marks you for what too many of the liberals/progressives/whatevers around here are: Naïve and out of touch. That is but one of several reasons that Clallam County is, and is likely to remain, a more conservative than not place.

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    2. If the first poster has anything to offer by way of names (like their own, for instance) or actual plans as to how to pull off this coup, I'd like to hear them. Short of that, you're just a dreamer.

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    3. @Anon 9:52 I agree with you. Those that have replied are just lost in defending their pre-existing views, and forget "the constant is change".

      Sure. There are arm-chair quarterbacks who can write very eloquently, but that still doesn't mean their assessments are correct. Having been involved in city/county level politics for decades now, I have seen complete turn-arounds happen. Cities bigger than Port Angeles that were completely controlled by Republican regressive TeaParty real estate types, that were flipped in one election by just the effort you describe.

      And the change stuck. I recently visited one community that I saw flip 40 years ago. Despite predictable efforts over the years by the big monied interests to retake the city, it remains firmly in citizen control.

      Change isn't a dream, it is a reality. Change happens whether we get involved, or don't. The only question is to what degree do each of us care enough about the outcome, to get off our asses and make an effort.

      And, it isn't about some semi-magical/mythical leader who is going to ride into town, and with the wave of their all mighty hand, make our community a wonderful place.

      For perspective, look what kind of people have lead us into the sinkhole we have now?! Which would you point to as being a better person than, say, you?

      It isn't the person/candidate, but the community that supports them. It is a choice.

      Or, we can just stay home and complain. The changes still happen, with us, or without us.

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    4. THREE

      UNOPPOSED

      CITY COUNCIL

      RACES

      LAST

      TIME.

      No one will even bother to run, so how do we get to vote for these amazing change agents???

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    5. And you think that because there were 3 unopposed seats last time, that is the final statement on the issue? That it will ever be so? Seriously?

      Again, it isn't about some magical "change agent" riding into town to save us from our lazy selves. Ain't never gonna happen.

      Yeah, we all have gotten lazy, and too important to take time out of OUR lives to get involved. Much easier to be critical of those who tried. Like Sissi, for example. How many posts were here on this site alone, critical of her and every imperfection people could find?

      How many post from people suggesting ways to help her (and the cause?)

      'Nuff said.

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    6. "driving us nearer and nearer to bankruptcy"
      Newsflash, the city IS INSOLVENT. Look at how it handles its accounting, only a convicted crook covering his deceit (with a double ledger system) would raise more red flags. We're insolvent, hence the grants to the general fund; hence the utility raises; hence the other nonsense. We're bankrupt, folks. I wish the city would just go belly up and let the state step in. We need some heads to fly.

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  12. The OP sounds like a kid saying "Hey! Let's put on a show!" without understanding anything that such an undertaking requires.

    As far as I'm concerned, the voters have spoken loud and clear. The broken status quo is fine with them, and if you don't like it, leave. I am inclined to take them at their word, especially after the last few election cycles here, and am seriously thinking about getting out next spring. I'm not just tired of being disappointed, I'm tired of living in a disappointment.

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  13. Ano 11/12 9:52
    What a moron!
    Get some remedial math and some Socio 101.
    You need to get basic education............
    WOW!

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    1. Anonymous 9:52 AM, you do the Roughriders proud!

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  14. Dick Pilling is so stupid, so clueless, he should be a Clallam County Commissioner.

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    1. And yet, since 2008, during the worst recession since the 1930's, our county commissioners have NOT increased taxes and fees EVERY single year (as both city councils have), have lived within their means WITHOUT borrowing money (which has to be paid back by increasing taxes and fees), have NOT cut any Public Safety programs or departments, while reducing staff in all other areas to make ends meet, and have maintained an adequate emergency reserve fund, in case really bad things happen. So...why are they assumed to be so "...stupid and clueless"?? Maybe Anon 11:57 should take a look in the mirror for that one.

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    2. Dick Pilling has his hand so far up the backsides of the three gentlemen in question, there's no need for him to hold office himself. He's holding something else, thank you very much.

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    3. Anonymous at 6:49 - what you're not acknowledging is that the County has been royally screwing it's employees, all part of hardworking families here in Clallam County, all the while putting on a big show that they're living within their means. The few County employees get to have reductions in hours and pay and take on the burden of helping balance the budget, rather than spreading that deficit across ALL of us residents who utilize those services to show the true cost.

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    4. Anonymous 3:57 PM - You have it exactly right. The county's employees have been the "loss leader" for too long, creating an unreal, unsustainable budgetary situation. Services cost money. Employees provide services. Thus, employees cost money (taxes). A healthy society gets this. I don't think we have a healthy society here in Clallam County.

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  15. So, per an earlier posting topic, and per the more recent comments about math, spelling and "informed voters"...Someone recently found this blog by searching for the phrase "port angeles waist water"...Is that waist deep in the Turd Tank perhaps?

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    1. Up to our waists in debt to pay for all the local foolishness?

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  16. Also, I just got home from seeing the movie "Birdman," starring Michael Keaton as a washed up actor who once played a superhero, who is trying to revive his career by starring in a Broadway adaptation of a Raymond Carver story. Given the Carver connection, it would be a natural to play this film in Port Angeles, but...Now there's no movie theater in Port Angeles. But it's worth the trip to Port Townsend to see.

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