Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Doing It In Public

It's sure interesting to see the public and apparently very personal pissing contests that keep coming out of the courthouse - and those are just the ones that hit the PDN. (Needless to say, there are plenty that never get that sort of coverage, but still exist nonetheless.)
 
As we all know, there's been a lot of coverage lately of the sniping and slapping between the big dog (King Jim) and the little dog (Mike Chapman) on the County Commission. But now, with Selinda Barkhuis commandeering a Charter Review Committee meeting to go after County Administrator Jim Jones, their ongoing conflict is back in the crosshairs.
 
In case you haven't read the article, here's a sketch of what happened. Several elected officials came to the Charter Review Commission to explain what they do, how their jobs are affected by the charter itself, that sort of thing. When it came time for County Treasurer - and Charter Review Commission member - Barkhuis to speak, she just launched into an account of her ongoing problems with Jim Jones.
 
This, in turn, seems to have caused some of her fellow Commission members to launch into her:
 
Charter commissioners questioned her choice to run for the Charter Review Commission.

“As an elected official, is this the appropriate thing to do?” Commissioner Glenn Wiggins asked.

He asked Barkhuis if her reason for running for the commission was to contribute to the county’s charter, “or do you want to see change within your office?”

“I am here because I don’t know where else to go with my issues,” Barkhuis said.
 
Sounds like it was an interesting meeting. And, while I certainly have no trouble at all believing that Jim Jones is a HUGE problem at the County, especially for a woman holding office, I also have a problem with the notion that Selinda would run for the Charter Review Commission because she doesn't "know where else to go" with her issues.
 
So what do you think? Is the Charter Review Committee the place for these discussions? Is Selinda right or wrong to take this focus on the CRC? Anyone want to defend Jim Jones in all this?
 
Meanwhile, in other terribly unimportant news coming out of the courthouse...
 
Coffee stands in which the baristas are bikini-clad may get special regulation in unincorporated Clallam County.
 
First-year Community Development Director Mary Ellen Winborn asked commissioners Monday to consider “appropriate local regulations and control” of the drive-through coffee stands at which scantily clad baristas serve up customers' favorite espresso drinks.
 
There are no bikini baristas in Clallam County, and sexually oriented and adult-entertainment businesses are not a common land use, Winborn said in a memo to the board.
 
The study was prompted by a citizen who recently inquired about placing a bikini-barista stand in a commercial zone east of Port Angeles, Planning Manager Steve Gray said.

No formal application had been submitted.
 
Winborn offered a solution:
 
Require coffee stands that meet the definition of partial nudity to post a highly visible warning sign that says something like “This Premise is Not Family Oriented” or “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content Ahead.”
 
So, if you're going to be addressing the "issues" of appropriate clothing in businesses in Clallam County...Are you going to tackle the Walmart issue? Google the phrase, "People of Walmart," and you'll see more than any coffee stand could ever hope to show you...
 
 
 
 
 

41 comments:

  1. So, the Director of Community Development thinks zoning laws are the way to impose a Dress Code on businesses in Clallam County? Talk about overreach.

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    1. Absolutely silly. Talk about overreacting to a nonexistent problem. Quick! I saw someone in a bikini down on the beach! Better get it certified as "Not Family Oriented."

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    2. Yeah, missing Roark-Miller already. This woman's already going off on some wild tangents. And has too much of a nanny state touchy-feeling approach to her constituents.

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    3. My thoughts, exactly.

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    4. Winborn needs to relax her death-grip a little. This really is not an issue. I've seen more boob hanging out around town, than you'll ever "see" at a coffee stand. And, what exactly is not "family like" about someone in a bikini? I realize it's winter, but, "HELLO?" I can go see bikinis at the beach. Should that have a warning sign, too.

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    5. I think I'll open a frumpy wife coffee stand -- fuzzy slippers, hair in rollers, and a robe, partially open showing a flannel night gown. Think there will be an issue with that, too?

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    6. What ever helps a business stay afloat in this rat-infested hell-hole. I don't care. Hope they open and are successful.

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    7. I DON'T miss Roark-Miller, at all. Who says she'd have handled this any differently, unless you think she'd look the other way for a bribe, or something. I don't see why you'd think this would be any different. Not like any of the applications for titty bars have EVER been allowed in this area.

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  2. I'm amazed the PDN poll. Not so much the "yes it bothers me"/"no it doesn't bother me" (36% and 52% right now) but the "what about guy baristas" question. That's true, you don't see many guy baristas. Way to point that out PDN. Not sure how I'd feel about a dude in a speedo serving me coffee, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about a woman in a bikini serving me coffee either.

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    1. I don't think I give a crap about who serves me, as long as I get the coffee. This is such a non issue. Just keep your boobs out of my coffee, dearie.

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  3. WTF!?
    Why is a newly elected representative of the people pushing an issue and attempting to set new legislation AHEAD OF BEING REQUESTED TO DO SO BY THOSE SHE"S SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT? If that becomes a trend with Winborn than we elected another mistake!

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  4. Better go after Seven Cedars and their regular local bikini contests then too. It would be nice if we got some classy entertainment here but apparently those bikini events, glo-stick dances and burlesque acts are what butters their bread. Way to give the kids something to aspire to. Stay Classy Clallam County!

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  5. Ms. Barkhuis has a rational and normal public demeanor. I hope she really is a grown up and that she is not waging a public war against the person holding the County's purse strings because her budget request was not honored. That happens often between County administrators and local department heads and should be categorized as a sour grapes response by an unseasoned elected official.

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  6. Agreed that Jim Jones is a problem, and an expensive one at that.

    But Selinda is seeming like a fanatic about this, hijacking meetings, posting comments in the middle of the night, etc. She's in full-on hyperactive chipmunk mode, and that makes her seem a little crazy, which is the best thing Jim Jones could hope for.

    Tone it down just a bit, Selinda, and keep it focused. Get Jim Jones in your crosshairs. Right now you're firing wild.

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    1. I've heard he's a problem for years, so why isn't he FIRED?

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    2. I actually don't blame Selinda for continuing to talk about an ongoing problem. Sure it gets old, but who is protecting Mr. Jones, and why hasn't he retired, yet?
      Sounds like he either has a lot of dirt on someone, or he's just a butt-buddy of someone important. Who's his lover?

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  7. Restraint of trade. If the market wants it, and supports it, what difference does it make? This isn't NUDE coffee, it's covered nipples. Big deal.

    How many ways can we spell "uptight"?

    (yawn)

    Whats next?

    Give women tickets for breast feeding in public?

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  8. Selinda is certainly within her right as county treasurer and as a member of the charter review commission to address the problems she is having with the county administrator. In fact 11 of the 15 members of the charter review committee signed up for the sub-committee to study the position of county administrator. This is a ticklish subject. We have the highest paid county employee who admits that he answers to only two voters--the county commissioners who vote in tandem. If Jones is using county money in a manner not consistent with the law--and if Jones is misrepresenting the law and an attorney general's opinion--in order to give McEntire his way on spending issues then the charter review committee certainly needs to re-define his role and make Jones answerable to all the voters and not just two. If the charter review committee so desires they can rewrite the job description for the county administrator. If Jones is offering Selinda an employee if she will do something illegal this is a quid pro quo to extort favors from the treasurer and this is a crime. Since Jones is also the sheriff's lap dog the sheriff is not going to make any waves either. If Jones misleads county commissioners in their ability to spend taxpayer money "in their sole discretion" then he should be fired. We should applaud Selinda for coming forward with these issues and having them heard in a forum where something really can be done. My personal hope for this commission is for a re-write of the job description and hold Jones accountable to all the taxpayers.

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    1. My friends in your office tell me that they wouldn't need an extra person if YOU worked full time like Judy Scott used to. The 20 to 25 hours per week you do work are spent writing your blog instead of being a "working " Treasurer. Shame!

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    2. Ms Barkhuis has a mega-need for recognition. At the beginning of her presentation to gardeners assembled to learn about tomatoes, she led with her political title and recent election success.

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    3. I don't believe you have friends in her office.

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  9. Doesn't Barb Frederick still need a job?

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    1. Do NOT go there, please.

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    2. please, she would do just as poorly as she did in her last job.

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  10. Since when is someone wearing a bikini, something lowcut, whatever "sexual in nature". Have you LOOKED at what kids are wearing to high school? Have you looked at what is in magazines? Have you ever watched an award show on television? Are these "sexual in nature".
    Get your head out of the gutter, folks. A woman with a low cut top, a bikini, or waltzing around in an evening gown is NOT SEXUAL IN NATURE.
    No pole dancing, not nudity, not suggestively gyrating.
    This is insanity for a government agency to even try and mandate what amounts to a "uniform" and/or denying a business because of some unproven, dubious "link".
    It is nowhere near as exploiting as some of the so-called events at the stupid ass casino. It is nowhere near as humiliating as the Irrigation festival royalty.
    How embarrassing that this town is lead around by the churchies and their closeted b.s. (We all know what they do -- it's why the adult shop moved so it would have a back alley entrance.)

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    1. yeah, why can't somebody bring back the midget toss...

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    2. Well, a woman in a bikini at the beach, on her own time, taking up some sun, should be allowed to do so freely and not be sexualized, = parading girls in bikinis as baristas is humiliating and demoralizing and is obviously there for the purpose of sexualizing them.Shoudl the government madnate it? Not necessarily. Just don't be fooled into thinking that bikini baristas are there for some wholesome purpose. It's selling sex, plain and simple.

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    3. really? So, you're an expert at what is and what is not "humiliating and demoralizing" to a woman? First of all, stop calling those past puberty and into young adulthood "girls".
      And, as for the purpose of sexualizing them? Oh brother, buddy, have you looked at any magazines aimed at the youthful female? Have you looked at trending clothing styles? OUR CULTURE demoralizes women, marginalizes them. Blame society
      The truth is this is, yet another, way to keep women from making money. Men tip more at those coffee shacks than the other ones. It's all "look but don't touch". So if a dude wants to shell out a few more coppers to look at boobs, who cares?
      Its attire, and who gives a crap? Seriously? You're either, old or fat. Since when did you become moral master of the universe?

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  11. Selinda, please - PLEASE - run for County Commissioner next time out. You're wasting your time holding a lower office. Only the Commissioners can get rid of Jim Jones.

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  12. So is Mary Ellen Winborn getting pressured by someone to "offer a solution" to a non-existent problem? Or is this something that she really, really thinks is an issue that needs time and energy devoted to it? Anyone know her, or have any inishgts?

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  13. The issue regarding bikini clad barista's is that some owners of coffee shops encourage the women to prostitute themselves. Until prostitution is legal and it is safe for women I think it is a problem.

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    1. That's quite a jump from wearing a bikini to being forced to turn tricks. How about waitresses who wear form-fitting clothes? Should we arrest people at job interviews if they show up showing off too much cleavage?

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    2. That is like saying that you shouldn't allow men in bars, because it leads to rape. Sometimes, maybe, but not every time.

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    3. It is so nice to see that the churchy morons are propagating crazy concepts again. Bikini=prostitution. OH BROTHER.
      So, how do you envision this link working. Guy drives up to get a cup of joe, gives a big tip and then climbs into the teeny shack, and spends 10 seconds, maybe, without spilling hot coffee on his junk. Then gets back in his truck and goes off with a smile?
      What planet are you from 7:06am? Bunny, maybe that's how you run your business, but it's now how it works in any sane world.
      Port Angeles prostitution is more like some daddy renting out his kid to his buddies. Please.

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  14. I would kinda like to see Mary Ellen in a bikini...

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    1. I debated about allowing this comment through...I really did. Then it struck me that, given the subject of the conversation, it might actually be an appropriate comment. It might even make a point. Kind of.

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  15. What point are you trying to make? You are still talking about objectifying women.CK, I think you are the one making a jump, I wasn't raising an issue regarding what waitresses wear or arresting people at job interviews. Why would a woman be arrested for showing to much cleavage? What are you talking about? I am specifically talking about bikini clad barista's working at coffee shops. I encourage you to speak to a woman who has worked in a bikini at a coffee shop, get some insight as to what really goes on, just how safe it feels for her.

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    1. If a woman objects to working in a bikini, then I would strongly suggest she not apply for a job at a bikini coffee shop.

      If a woman is working at a coffee shop, and suddenly her boss says to wear a bikini, and she doesn't want to, then either quit and/or sue.

      So far as I have heard, NO ONE has ever been forced to work in a coffee shop wearing a bikini. No one. We're not talking about slavery here. We're talking about business owners making a tacky, stupid decision.

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    2. Oh, and by the way...I agree that prostitution should be legalized. But it will never be "safe," nor will any other job. Jobs involving contact with other people in any capacity will always entail risk. Talk to a convenience store clerk or two, and I'm sure you'll hear some hair-raising stories.

      And, ironically and appropriately, many years ago, when I worked in a coffee shop, I had a knife pulled on me. I was not, however, wearing a bikini at the time, but I did have a baseball bat with me behind the counter.

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