The City's Public Works and Utilities director, Craig Fulton, balked this week at a recommendation by the State Auditor's Office that his department's Light Operations scrap copper and aluminum wire should be better protected from theft.
Craig Fulton's just an anagram for Glenn Cutler.
But has he also taken on the icky duty of being a
father figure for Paul Gottlieb?
Balked? At a recommendation from a State agency that has a great deal of leverage to tug on your leash? And that is riffing on a past problem your department had? And you balk? Meanwhile, coming out of the mouth of the person who is supposedly in charge of Mr. Fulton, we hear both a different story and tone...
City Manager Dan McKeen said at Wednesday's City Council meeting that ensuring public trust in the City exceeds the monetary value of the copper and aluminum wire. "We are on the same page," he told the Auditor's Office staff...
Yes, but what page is your own Public Works director on? Don't you two talk before he goes out to shoot his mouth off in public? Has he no shame for the trouble he has brought to the City? Who is really in charge in City Hall? Is it you, Dan McKeen, or the malevolent Ghost of Glenn? Progress? Learning? Growth? I don't think so. What year is it in Port Angeles City Hall?
And speaking of time warp questions...How much time does it take to charge someone in Port Angeles for hitting, running, and killing someone? From what's been presented to the public, you've got the victim, the car, and the driver, all identified. So..?
CK, you forget to include sexist in your rundown of the personality qualifications to be public works director for the city. Glenn Cutler would NEVER have stood for some mere woman from the state telling him what to do, and it seems Fulton is no different.
ReplyDelete"No different" is the real story here. Time passes, faces change, but the culture in city hall stays toxic. We've got a weak city council, who have chosen a weak city manager, who enables unresponsive, out of control, and occasionally criminal departments and department heads. Is today really different from the "bad old days" of Karen Rogers and Mark Madsen? Not really.
Personally, I'd define Fulton as a symptom, not a cause. The whole system is broken, and, at the end of the day, that brokenness is on OUR heads, because we don't run for office, and keep electing the same fools over and over again.
And to higher and higher offices. From city to county to state, we're in bad shape here. For my part, for the duration, I'll NEVER vote for an incumbent from Clallam County, for any office. New blood is desperately needed.
Essentially, I agree. Yes, it is our responsibility. This sad excuse for governance that we have in Clallam County and Port Angeles in particular represents us and our commitment to a better community. Most of us just can't be bothered.
DeleteIt is as if sitting on that riding lawn mower or watching a game on TV is more important than getting involved in community affairs.
The dominant motto: I got mine, and screw you if you try to do anything to restrict my abilities to do anything I want. Some will show up to a meeting if something is proposed that will DIRECTLY affect them, or they think it will.
But the big picture, what-it-takes to create a decent community to live in? Who can be bothered.
So, we end up with rhetoric and slogans, and less than half of eligible voters bother to show up once every two years to cast a ballot. What does that tell us?
Wasn't Fulton hand picked by Cutler?
DeleteGarbage in, garbage out.
Not jumping to anyone's defense, but before the Court of Public Opinion passes judgment, maybe we ought to hear from the defendant. Has Mr. Fulton explained why he refused to put in some theft controls?
ReplyDeleteYes the article says:
Delete"Fulton responded that it could cost more than $2,000 to buy a new bin or build a more secure fence to protect a few hundred dollars’ worth of recyclable copper and aluminum that are regularly removed and sold anyway.
Fulton said the area has a chain-link fence and is sufficiently secure. Fulton questioned the need “to spend thousands of dollars to protect $200.”"
Now that sounds like BS to me because they could put a simple camera in for very little money. No it probably doesn't make sense to do some huge structural improvement but what would it hurt to put on a padlock? It just made him look really bad.
YOU would THINK they could use the proceeds from the next few months of recycling copper and aluminum to pay for the upgrade. Oh wait...we aren't THAT fiscally responsible, are we.
DeleteWonder who is snagging the recycling and profiting from it. Sounds like an "inside job" to me.
How soon we forget the "slush fund" from the other recycling. What are the doing with that $$ now?
Anon 7:55 AM, what I find so infuriating is the attitude. These are, in theory, (well paid) public servants, but the attitude is so often like the headline here says, "You're not the boss of me!"
DeletePeople under Mr. Fulton's watch (and before him, admittedly) fucked up. They need to just own that, apologize, and move on, rather that striking any sort of defiant tone.
We the people pay these city employees well. In return, it's not too much to ask that they be professional, polite and accountable.
LOL, I'm not sure I can even envision a Port Angeles that is "professional, polite and accountable." What would THAT look like?
Delete"Now that I know where they store the copper and there isn't any camera -- time to get the old bolt cutters out and get me some." -- sez local PA ne'er do well.
ReplyDeleteThere's no point adding more security if it's the staff with access doing the stealing...
ReplyDeleteEXCELLENT point.
DeleteThough I'm sure that the (so-called) college is thrilled to have $9 million dollars to play with, and that our local embezzlers, pickpockets and all purpose thieves must be salivating at the thought of getting their grubby little fingers into that pile of money, I can't help but think that the people (suckers) who recently bought the Lincoln Theater must be less than thrilled. This town can't support the tiny little theaters and arts venues it already has, and now we're talking about adding two more big venues to that, that will compete with them, and with each other.
ReplyDeleteThat's all messed up, and seems like a recipe for disaster. Even when something nice happens in Port Angeles, it has a downside. Count on it.
Watch this turn into another Gateway Center where you get a $4 million dollar structure but pay $9 million for it. All out of town contractors too so no one can trace the cash flow.
DeleteI really felt for the woman who had left that bequest because I can't help but feel the money is going to be pissed away in large part. We just can't seem to be allowed to have nice things. If anyone thinks about making such a gesture in the future, they should attach a LOT of strings as to how the money can be used.
ReplyDelete