Wednesday, February 15, 2017

"I Quit!" --- Eventually

Selinda Barkhuis...Heroine or drama queen?

Clallam County...Cesspool of corruption or...Cesspool of corruption?

I find it notable and revealing that this story, which is very much the definition of a Big Story, is buried way down the page on the PDN's website, rather than being right up top where you can't miss it.

Good luck with your (expected) lawsuit, Selinda. Here's hoping you can make 'em sweat a little more.

13 comments:

  1. A talented, capable person seeks a different job when miserable at a current one. This announcement is another salvo of her retirement fund-a lawsuit. She has already publicly said all the appropriate legal terms-"hostile work environment," "stress...."

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    1. Okay. Yes, it might be valid to say a person is arranging facts to support a manufactured claim, in some circumstances. But the abuse, stress and workplace harassment the local crazies.. oh, I meant to say county administration and others in leadership positions have wrought upon Ms. Barkhuis is very well documented.

      I'm surprised she has lasted this long, quite frankly.

      Add to the list of other women that were in local governmental administrative positions, who also resigned because of similar abuse and harassment.

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    2. The sexism in both city hall and the county courthouse is baked in deep. The list of women who have fallen victim to it is long. Just one part of the overall plan to keep this place as backwards and retarded as possible.

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    3. Remember our county attorney, Mark Nichols cost the county about $3 million for a court case challenging his dismissal of older female workers. Age and gender discrimination all in one fell swoop.

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  2. Of course she has a lawsuit coming, who, in her predicament wouldn't? It's time to pull the pin on this banana republican swamp. As long as we let the bastards continue their rapacious ways we are all fucked. Go get'em Shelia and kick'em in the balls--for all of us.

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  3. It was on the front page of the PDN today, in very big letters. I didn't buy a copy; just saw it as I was walking by in a store this evening. Don't know what spin Gaul Potleaf put on it all, but I can only imagine.

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  4. I was going to ask why the local leadership does all these really blatantly stupid things. You know? It is like seeing an outlet on the wall, and deciding to stick a metal fork in it.

    Why?

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    1. Because they can. It's as simple as that. They get away with it.

      Let's not forget the queen of corruption, Karen Rogers. After a decade of effort, a group of locals finally got the state to investigate her. She got a weak, weak slap on the wrist and the state's preliminary report was sent to her by the then city manager. She profited, and was not punished. Same for her cohort Larry Williams. And Grant Munro.

      Look how things go here in the political arena. How many good women ran for county commissioner? Three in a row, and each and every one of them was undercut from within the local Democratic party. So we got something like 20 years of do nothing, morally bankrupt Mike Chapman, who cynically cycled through multiple political parties to keep his "career" viable. But he did NOTHING, led on NOTHING. He has been rewarded by being bumped up to the state level, where he joins his fellow do nothing Steve Tharinger.

      When good people do get elected here, they either get driven out (Max Mania) or compromise themselves in a misguided attempt to "get along" (Betsy Wharton, Sissi Bruch) with the criminals holding office.

      It's like Trump. He's not as stupid as he seems. But he plays that role because it works. It keeps his fans happy. In other words, in the short run, anyway, it pays off. Same here. Huge public works projects? Mountains of debt? Crazy and abusive behavior towards staff? Behind the scenes swindling? It happens because it benefits a few, and those few have realized that, when it comes to Port Angeles, there's no oversight. There are no real penalties for stealing and lying. No one cares.

      No one cares.

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    2. Indeed, apathy reigns supreme here, but never underestimate how few people it can take to make some progress. I for one can't wait to see who declares to run for PA council. Not that any change there will change the county, but the majority of the white-collar crime originates with just a few bad men.

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    3. Is it apathy, or a lack of unity of purpose?

      I realize, as we see so clearly right now, that there are those who work to create suspicion and division as the basis of their constituency. There is no doubt the Big Parties, like the Dems and Repubs have developed into a huge machine that works predominantly to sustain itself. The last election was not lost to the Democrats because of "The Russians", but because they engaged in awful behaviors with Sanders in their efforts to have Hillary as their candidate. And she was a crappy candidate. But, "the machine" won't acknowledge that.

      The facts and realities were not lost on the general public, who became ever more cynical of the attempts to manipulate them, and here we are. With the "outsider" candidate who promised to "drain the swamp", who now is demonstrating what a bad idea it is to have unqualified people in important positions. Like picking somebody off the street to do the surgery you need. Sometimes, training and demonstrated competency are really important!

      Here, as elsewhere, people want decent people to do what it takes to keep the town running.

      I wonder sometimes if some of these people do outrageous things they know they can get away with, in part to create even more apathy. "Why bother, you can't change city hall". Heard that so many times. Yes, an excuse, but the people saying it will quickly come up with the examples.

      As we know, the "good" candidates need to be supported openly and strongly, after they take office. Otherwise they just get beaten down, and nothing changes.

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    4. Hahaha I taked my little brother into sticking a Bobby pin in the light socket. Surprisingly enough even though he was the one stupid enough to do it I still got my ass kicked and didn't get to go to the movies.I think they all need their asses kicked. It cured me!

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  5. Look at these fucking idiots emailing spreadsheets back and forth instead of using a network drive, and they can't even operate Excel correctly. Costing US a cool half million and all they've got to say is "oops, we're only human and made a mistake" MONEY PLEASE!

    http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/spreadsheet-errors-cost-clallam-494157/

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