Thursday, June 9, 2016

In the Spirit of Fair Play and Healthy Competition - NOT!

Courtesy of the Port O Call, here's a story worth discussing and underlying issues worth worrying about...

Recently, in response to an article in the June issue of Port O Call, about the Economic Development Council, Port O Call heard chatter about not having its papers printed locally.  We tried that.  Here’s the story.

Back in 2013 when casting about for a local printer for our first edition we were referred to Sound Publishing, the parent company of the local daily paper.  Port O Call contacted them, got a price, agreed upon a date and time of delivery and waited like a proud parent in the delivery room.

The agreement was for them to deliver the papers at the same time they delivered the daily paper.  Port O Call was told to be at the loading dock downtown around
midnight when the daily paper arrives.

Just before close of business we got a call from the printer and he said there was a change of plans.  Now they wanted to deliver the first edition of Port O Call to my home instead of downtown at PDN’s loading dock.

We agreed, gave them the address, and waited, and waited, and waited.

By
3:00 am Port O Call decided to take a ride down to the loading dock  at PDN to see if they went back to the original plan.  Upon arrival at the PDN loading dock it was dark and quiet.  Port O Call knocked on the door and eventually a kindly gentleman came to the door.  When asked if the inaugural issue of Port O Call had been delivered by Sound Publishing he invited us in to look around.  It is a big warehouse but was mostly empty.  There were many nooks and crannies to be searched and in a few minutes we found them.

They were as far from the loading dock as could be and hidden under a tarp.

The kindly gentleman got a forklift and brought them to the dock and we rescued our first issue from the grasp of Sound Publishing and PDN.


Later that day I ran into then publisher of the PDN, John Brewer who said, “I see you found your papers.”

That was my first foray into business locally and silly me I thought we could all compete in a friendly manner and try to serve the public from our different perspectives.

Now, if the daily paper, a long-time member and cheerleader of the EDC, will go to such extraordinary lengths to quell competition what does that say about the larger community represented by the EDC?


For instance we all know that healthy competition along with supply and demand are what make an economy thrive.  Good honest competition is good for all business because in order to succeed a business must remain focused on the customer.  When two businesses compete for the same customers they must offer the best goods at the best price.  The customer benefits from good healthy competition.

When it comes to wages the workers come out better when there is competition for labor.  If there are more jobs than there are workers then business owners must compete for labor.  If there is no competition then there will be more workers for limited jobs and the workers’ wages will become stagnant and even fall.

The EDC while promising to bring in new companies with new jobs and stimulate an increase in wages actually does the opposite.  Imagine the EDC courting Weyerhauser Timber company to locate a branch here and compete with Green Crow.  Ain’t gonna happen.  Imagine a competitor of Interfor seeking help from the EDC to locate a new plant here to make plywood and compete with Interfor for wood product and workers.  Ain’t gonna happen.  Imagine a gift shop attempting to open up down on Railroad Street.  Reckon they would roll out the red carpet and help them get financing and train workers?  Ain’t gonna happen.

Try to imagine how much assistance the EDC would offer to Home Depot if they wanted to open a branch store here and compete with EDC member Hartnagel for customers and workers.  What if the corporate honchos of Whole Foods reached out to the EDC for assistance in opening a new natural foods store in town.  Would the EDC roll out the red carpet for these new ventures or would they do like the PDN did and attempt to thwart the launch of a new competing business.

Thus far the “new and improved” EDC has not landed one company to bring jobs here.  They have done nothing to stimulate better wages.  In fact they are working in the opposite direction.  They brag about how many new members they have.  Are we to be excited they have new business members supporting closed markets and slack wages?  Can't these new members fund the EDC without taxpayer money?  Green Crow President, Randy Johnson, chair of the EDC has given over $100,000 in contributions to Republican candidates and causes.  Has he made a similar investment in his local EDC?  Hardly.

Johnson is running for county commissioner in District 2 as an "independent."  Yeah, right.

If the EDC was standing on its own two feet and not using taxpayer money for its control of the local economy there would be not a peep from Port O Call.  However, when an organization takes up to 70% of its budget from hardworking taxpayers and uses that money against the best interests of the taxpayers there is a real problem.

Either we compete on a level playing field or we become stagnant and a few companies will forever control the local economy and the wages paid in that economy.  Let’s stop putting in more and more taxpayer money to prop up a losing proposition.

Speak to your county commissioner and tell them to end this charade.

34 comments:

  1. Our community's leaders slice their own throats (and ours) one paper cut at a time.

    Obvious, pathetic, and oh so self-destructive.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can see how the established businesses here are working to "grow the economy"!

    Yet another story to demonstrate how short sighted and stupid the leadership in this town are. As if hiding those papers, and making things difficult for a fledgling business here, is a smart idea. Sure, some people will pack it up, and close down. The established, select businesses around here may be able to drive off some potential competition, but not all. Those that survive, now know what they have to contend with, here.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Where there is no vision, the people suffer.

    Where the leaders have the ethics of gangsters and drug dealers, the people suffer even more.

    Put it all together and you get Port Angeles.

    Suffering.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The EDC, and the politicians who enable them, are co-conspiritors in a white-collar criminal enterprise. Bribery, corruption, abuse of public office, theft of public funds, and more.
    You can yell at the politicians, but the prosecutors are our real problem. Mr. Wilson did right by demanding a prosecution of Kidd, here is yet another demand to be made (hopefully by other fully-functioning adults who desire a clean town).
    Stop this utter nonsense now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No kidding. I completely agree.

      Delete
  5. John Brewer ought to be tried for crimes against the community. He managed and approved of so many years of twisted, false and poisonously misconstrued "news" that it will take us many more years to recover, if we even can. He's a nasty little troll, and ought to be regarded as such in the community he has done so much to undermine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now the twisted Brewer bastard is President of the business association and is still spewing bile into the community. Seems those businessmen would know better but somehow he has them fooled.

      Delete
    2. Punky Brewer the Pixie King.

      Delete
  6. CK. The Peninsula Daily News is putting out its "Best Of the Peninsula 2016" voting guide. Now would be a good time to vote for the competitors of the opponents of council/business that are against public choice.
    I.E. Coldwell Banker Gase is for forced fluoride, perhaps another real estate business above this selection could get the "Best of Real Estate Vote". Same for Dentists, Storage, etc...
    Maybe this "survey" err, "vote" can make a difference.

    http://ww2.peninsuladailynews.com/contests/bestof2016.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good suggestion - wish I'd thought of it. Have at it, people.

      Delete
    2. buggy system, sucks, forget it. And, who gives a damn....PDN is just a big sink hole of time.

      Delete
    3. I won't do ANYTHING that will give them any "hits" to crow about. Another "clickbait" scam to get patronage numbers to justify their advertising rates. The PDN has shown they are just tools of the very same people we complain about, and the PDN happily does their bidding.

      So, I will tell every one I meet:"Don't patronize the PDN". Nothing. Ever.

      Delete
  7. It is interesting to see what passes for news in the PDN. Today the headline is about a fellow who went swimming and got out because the water is cold. Front page news ain't what it used to be. Oh, they did have the obligatory Lincoln Theater story.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Not to distract from my own posted topic here, but...WHAT IS IT with Port Angeles and hit and runs? Amber Steim had to kill a SECOND person with her car before getting in trouble. Paul Gottlieb hit a pedestrian and wasn't tested, fined, anything. Now another person has been killed...The car in question has been impounded...But the driver is still free and "cooperating" with the authorities?

    What the..?

    I look forward to learning who the driver/owner of the car in question is. That may clear up some of the mystery about the hands-off treatment they're getting from law enforcement.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm guessing they're effectively connected. Obviously this going under a need to know basis - and we don't need to know!

      Delete
  9. And, is Port Angeles just going to be renamed "GastroPub"? The owners buy the Lincoln, and the former Maurices, both which have been symbols of how nothing is happening in Port Angeles. So, we'll end up with a bigger Gastropub located in the former Maurices, and another Gastropub-like venue at the Lincoln, and the new Gastropub Sports Bar down the road on First.

    And, here we are again. Yet another one owner town.

    Fabulous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder who the Moneybags is that's supporting this Gastropub buy-out? Why do they think this town can support such a huge expansion?

      Heed the lessons of Haggens, Gastropubians! Over expansion can be perilous - but your Mysterious Moneybags financier will use it as a tax write off!

      Delete
    2. I'm sure the existing event spaces (such as they are) aren't exactly going to say thanks for adding competition. This isn't Seattle or Ashland; there are only so many people who will buy tickets to so many arts/culture events.

      Slice those pie pieces thinner, folks.

      Delete
    3. Anon 5:21 You are right on target.

      "Slice those pie pieces thinner, folks." Exactly.

      Recipe for success?

      Delete
    4. Most of these event spaces start off with a great deal of ballyhoo and initially attract a lot of people - then repetition sets in as there's a finite number of artists and bands in this town and people stop coming.
      Look at Studio Bob and the Metta Room - bot were pretty big deals at one time but who goes there now?

      Delete
  10. Not to worry, when the Cascadia Rising event occurs and the tsunami barrels through town picking up the mountains of logs stacked on Marine Drive they will level the town entirely and block all the escape routes. Most everything on Front and First Streets will be leveled. Traffic will be non-existent. The hospital will roll off the slope and all the relief attention will be sent to Seattle and we will be on our own for up to six months. How much food and water have YOU got stored away?

    ReplyDelete
  11. You'd think that bored millionaires would actually like to come by here and buy it up, just for grins. But then the question is always what to do with a building or three. A fleeced town whose citizens are broke = no sales.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If I had money to throw away, I know of a lot of places a LOT more fun and a LOT more interesting than Port Angeles.

      Might as well go spend you money buying up buildings in Syria!

      Delete
  12. Does that block of downtown PA need another restaurant, practically next to Bella Italia? And plus Kokopelli is expanding nearby. Whatever you think of the future of the Lincoln Theater, how much theater will be left after the restaurant is built?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YES. The more restaurants the better. Competition is good for business, not BAD for business. Get the PA taint out of your head.

      Delete
    2. Yes yes we need more restaurants. Travel and tourism is up substantially and they are looking for nicer things. Also moving into downtown to create a Restuarant Row is an excellent ideas. Would like to see Sabai & Wildfire move into openings

      Delete
    3. It's been mentioned here before that tourists bypass PA in droves. The motels in PA are all crap. Downtown is unappealing and creepy. There are an excess of art/performance venues and a dearth of people to attend. This is a depressed area and most people don't have the spare change for high-end restaurants. All in all, I don't know what the Gastropub folk are thinking but, as someone mentioned earlier on, this sounds like a tax write off in the making.

      Delete
    4. Right. ONE restaurant downtown that cannot even match McDonalds for patronage is busy for part of some days during the week, and THAT is supposed to be the answer for Port Angeles ongoing empty streets?

      Gee, I go by the new restaurants, also downtown, and they sit largely empty most of the time. But, we won't mention those, right?

      But, go right ahead, and throw your money away investing in Port Angeles. You sure will not be the first to walk away, poorer for the experience.

      Delete
  13. We are a small town with a depressed economy over governed and over regulated. We need to consolidate our county government and utilities and get rid of over half of those employees.. I think for the real positions of power we need appointed officials instead of elected officals. And by appointed I mean cut up the fucking phone book and put everyone over 21 name in a large bingo barrel. Start with our very top local government positions and start pulling out names until you get someone crazy enough to agree to do it to answer their phone. I don't give a crap if they vote ,if they are a felon fresh out of prison,someone who never got though the sixth grade, bipolar, ,the house bound homeschooling pasters wife, , axe murderer, pot head,have 25 non running, unlicensed cars in their yard, 60 cats in their house, or even if they haven't got a clue what the hell they are supposed to do. Let it be their civic duty to figure it the Fuck out. That would shake things up a bit and make life around here alot more interesting. I for one am sick to death of these professional small town politicians. They trade these lucrative government positions that they rape and pillage back and forth like they were at a 1960's Marin County key party. As a matter of fact I think the only thing that should disqualify anyone living inside city or county limits from taking office is if they have held public office before. Things would get real interesting around here and I bet all of the public appathy from the local voters who just sit around the old commode watching our town and our county circle the drain would dissapear!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll second this motion...

      Delete
    2. Bif - Dale Wilson has already declined.

      Delete
  14. The article from POC is yet another schizophrenic rant bouncing from the PDN conspiracy to hide his bundler of newspapers, to the EDC which is somehow affiliated with the POC/PDN feud, to Green Crow competing with Weyerhauser, to Home Depot competing with Hartnagel ending with a fizzle.

    Help us Dale - do you want local or do you want big box?
    Or are you just losing money with your bird-cage liner and are a frustrated old man?


    He needs help and those of you closest to him should see he gets help before he ends up living down by Peabody Creek.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL! Ya know you're doing the right thing, when you see non nonsensical comments like Anon 2:36

      Do you really think anyone is taking your ongoing efforts to discredit Dale, seriously?

      If only you had the brains and ability to accomplish one tenth of what Dale is doing for this community. Then somebody might start to listen to your stupidity.

      Grow up.

      Delete
    2. I understand Peabody Creek is quite nice this time of year...

      Delete