tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post6823871915807115299..comments2023-09-23T08:26:38.233-07:00Comments on Port Angeles Unearthed: It Never Ends - Part IICrypt Kickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560627730845451894noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-87845884716350739852014-04-07T00:29:32.047-07:002014-04-07T00:29:32.047-07:00except they can't even do that right....except they can't even do that right....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-44241212970191301652014-04-04T05:16:28.147-07:002014-04-04T05:16:28.147-07:00In my experience, the City Council has ducked ever...In my experience, the City Council has ducked every opportunity to defund or hold the PADA accountable. One on one Council members will express concern or outright disgust, but when they get together in the Council chambers...stasis reasserts itself. I'm not holding my breath.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-9239095948740204262014-04-03T23:20:25.632-07:002014-04-03T23:20:25.632-07:00Anyone have any information on the kerfuffle that ...Anyone have any information on the kerfuffle that was known as the "clallam business incubator"? I have never heard anything good, but could never get my head around what it was -- exactly -- or who made money on it.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-8831335391374986972014-04-03T22:51:11.805-07:002014-04-03T22:51:11.805-07:00In other communities, citizens groups are very pow... In other communities, citizens groups are very powerful. Council doesn't have much choice in the matter. <br /><br /> But, given the lack of any interest in forming one in Port Angeles, I guess we'll just continue doing the same old, same old. Easier to blame others for what we're not willing to do ourselves.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-41177782598135352762014-04-03T21:49:41.615-07:002014-04-03T21:49:41.615-07:00PA United will receive an update at the end of the...PA United will receive an update at the end of the month (April 29th) from the three organizations (PADA, PABA, Chamber) after having met in private with attorney Patrick Irwin to determine whether a working relationship is possible between the groups. This could be a pregnant moment. Through this process, the City is creating enough political cover to defund either PADA or Chamber should they bow out - or for that matter, fail to perform in the future. As I see it, this is a greater test for the City: will they follow through on their promise to cut fat and reward performance. This would be new territory for them. The truth is that all three of these organizations contribute little, if any value and need to go away. The whole PA United is looking more and more like an exercise in futility.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-86925138489758302002014-04-03T21:25:34.147-07:002014-04-03T21:25:34.147-07:00But per another poster's comment, how much do ...But per another poster's comment, how much do you want to bet he's had spotty "evaluations" during his tenure as City Attorney? By any measure he's a dismal failure and a costly embarrassment. But if he's not measured at all..? <br /><br />This one is in your court, Dan McKeen. And of course, Dan McKeen is in the City Council's court. And the City Council takes their legal cues from...Bill Bloor.<br /><br />Perfect.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-55769749278534536622014-04-03T21:18:29.219-07:002014-04-03T21:18:29.219-07:00Thanks again to everyone for being part of this bl...Thanks again to everyone for being part of this blog experiment. Even though this post was, as stated above, kind of dry, today was the second-best day we've had yet in terms of numbers of viewers. I'll take that as one kind of feedback. If you've got other kinds - stories of the moment vs. stories unearthed, for instance - please let me know. Crypt Kickerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04560627730845451894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-6007722689295101382014-04-03T21:14:36.429-07:002014-04-03T21:14:36.429-07:00Those who can't troll, troll in Port Angeles.Those who can't troll, troll in Port Angeles.Crypt Kickerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04560627730845451894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-17594146434989679432014-04-03T20:07:43.159-07:002014-04-03T20:07:43.159-07:00Those who can't do, troll.Those who can't do, troll. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-51996577518652225642014-04-03T20:04:14.085-07:002014-04-03T20:04:14.085-07:009:23AM represents a fairly typical Roughrider poin...9:23AM represents a fairly typical Roughrider point of view. "Things was real good when we had more mills a-workin'." <br /><br />Too bad the mills are gone, and not coming back, and the modern world has left you behind in poverty and ignorance. But, then again, you and your meth-addled dropout kids (who live in your basement and pop out bastard children of their own) are probably in the "blissfully ignorant" category, not actually knowing just how pathetic you are compared to pretty much anyone else, from anywhere else.<br /><br />Those of us who know better will keep trying to do better, and make the community better. However, we won't wait for you to thank us for our efforts. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-84359159992924654332014-04-03T17:17:33.143-07:002014-04-03T17:17:33.143-07:00They give out money away and just don't care. ...They give out money away and just don't care. Inexplicably, they're more concerned with the financial health of a Japanese-owned multinational than they are with the health of their own town. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-17842871067736072672014-04-03T16:30:21.584-07:002014-04-03T16:30:21.584-07:00While I get what you're trying to say here, I ...While I get what you're trying to say here, I have my doubts that many City Council members would be, uh, warm and friendly towards your view that they "don't have the time or the expertise to read or understand what they are asked to vote on." <br /><br />Mind you, I'M NOT DISAGREEING WITH YOUR ASSESSMENT. But in terms of changing things, or getting the City Council to operate in a different way, I don't know that this is how I'd pitch it. <br /><br />In the best of all worlds, the members of the City Council would get paid more (wait, wait) so that people who aren't retired or business owners could afford to run for the spots. Right now, you have to be able to pay your bills some other way, which severely limits the pool of possible Council candidates. With real pay, I think the voters would also be more likely to expect real results, not this slow (and not so slow) slide into debt and oblivion. <br /><br />Just a few thoughts to share, for whatever they're worth...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-58471729737383323812014-04-03T16:21:11.399-07:002014-04-03T16:21:11.399-07:00Not a single Council member asked this question. T...Not a single Council member asked this question. They just nodded and went along with what staff proposed. The millions that the City's various utilities have in reserves was never even raised as a possibility. Crypt Kickerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04560627730845451894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-74647105819737069812014-04-03T13:54:48.537-07:002014-04-03T13:54:48.537-07:00"I agree. Things aren't going to change a..."I agree. Things aren't going to change and that's OK with us. We like the cancer in our lungs just fine and would hate to see anything change. We accept cancer just the way it is, so quit crying about it."<br /><br />That about right?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-72016015774340206972014-04-03T13:11:09.213-07:002014-04-03T13:11:09.213-07:00EXCELLENT QUESTION. Is the ghost of Glenn Cutler s...EXCELLENT QUESTION. Is the ghost of Glenn Cutler still guarding these reserves? Why don't they get hit before we do?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-84263086241844155272014-04-03T13:06:03.600-07:002014-04-03T13:06:03.600-07:00Anonymous 10:17AM - Spoken like a true redneck. I ...Anonymous 10:17AM - Spoken like a true redneck. I mean, really, you think that there's NOTHING that could be better about Port Angeles? And people from "out there" should just stay away, because they might want to change your white trash paradise? <br /><br />Sorry, but, that's not how democracy works. That's also not how capitalism works. I'm sorry if you're so scared and threatened by the real world, but, those of us who have issues with how things are done here aren't about to simply shut up or go away in order to keep you in your (seemingly very small) comfort zone. <br /><br />Jesus wept...Sheesh!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-29880673995983899472014-04-03T12:57:35.010-07:002014-04-03T12:57:35.010-07:00@Anon 12:05
It isn't impossible, at all. As...@Anon 12:05<br /><br /> It isn't impossible, at all. As shown by peoples in countries elsewhere, we can stand up, get involved, do the research, and demand things be done differently. But, it seems we are too fat and lazy to do much of anything but complain.<br /><br /> I agree with you. We can't know it all, all by ourselves. But we can takes parts of agendas items, reports and recomnmendations, review them, and join with others to see what is actually going on. We CAN join with others who care enough about our childrens' futures to demand better, based on our evaluations of the informationt these council members are voting on.<br /><br /> Yeah, you're right " now-a-days, "we" don't work very hard. <br /><br /> Are we really interested in "Building a future..." ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-80816143998417703642014-04-03T12:15:17.666-07:002014-04-03T12:15:17.666-07:00Amen to that. Bloor may have almost risen to his ...Amen to that. Bloor may have almost risen to his level of competence when he was part time municipal counsel to a tiny town in eastern Washington, but he never should have been hired to be city attorney in Port Angeles. The people who hired him (and here we go full circle to the very first topic in this blog --- the Karen Rogers council and shady city officials) obviously wanted a weak attorney that could be easily manipulated into saying and doing whatever they wanted. Bloor should have been fired years ago. His incompetence has cost citizens literally millions of dollars. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-18622473853758485312014-04-03T12:05:53.682-07:002014-04-03T12:05:53.682-07:00It is almost impossible for "us" to fix ...It is almost impossible for "us" to fix these problems. "We" don't have (or make) the time to research the issues and demand our Elected Representatives support things that are in our best interests. "Big money" and "Rabid Special Interest Groups" are the only ones our representatives hear from. If the squeeky wheel gets the grease, "we" are not squeeky enough. We get the govenment we are willing to work for. And now-a-days, "we" don't work very hard. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-25260542139713294032014-04-03T12:00:36.822-07:002014-04-03T12:00:36.822-07:00Anon 10:17 AM:
If I may completely pick apart you...Anon 10:17 AM:<br /><br />If I may completely pick apart your strange response...<br /><br />"Nothing needs to change." So, with sky-high rates of unemployment and substance abuse in Port Angeles, nothing needs to change? With a downtown core that is clearly dying, if not dead already, nothing needs to change? With schools that have staggeringly high dropout rates, nothing needs to change? With a city government that is, at best, totally inept, and saddled with huge amounts of debt, nothing needs to change? With that same city charging ridiculously high utility rates, so high that a third of the people here can't pay their bills every month, nothing needs to change?<br /><br />"If people don't like it in PA they will move, and good riddance to them." So, if anyone comes here, and is dissatisfied with any of the things I listed above, they should just love it or leave it? No one has any right at all to speak up or try to make things better? Their only option is to move away? Do I understand you correctly? <br /><br />As a side note, have you ever heard the expression, "The only constant is change"? Just wondering, because, like it or not, things DO change. <br /><br />"...thousands of PA people like it here, just the way it is and are proof we don't really want to see all the things you whine about change at all." First of all, just because there are people living here, that doesn't prove anything. There are still people living in war zones, and in North Korea, and I'll bet they aren't exactly happy about it. Many, like many people in PA, find themselves essentially stuck somewhere, due to circumstances. And again your full throttle defense of the status quo. So those of us who "whine" about wasted tax dollars and corrupt government are wrong? You support wasted tax dollars and corrupt government? Sounds like it, since you don't want anything to "change at all."<br /><br />Then, perhaps strangest of all, you compare Port Angeles to giant cities like Seattle and San Diego and Las Vegas, when, in fact, in terms of size and pretty much everything else, these places are NOTHING like Port Angeles. It's not even apples and oranges - more like apples and potatoes. If you absolutely prefer smaller places to live, then, duh, OF COURSE you'll prefer Port Angeles to an actual huge city. But as any part of a sensible argument about the inherent merits of Port Angeles, your comparison makes zero sense.<br /><br />You sound like someone who was born here, is afraid of change, and has little experience with the world outside Clallam County. You sound like someone who would rather see Port Angeles die than evolve. Given how things are going here, you may well get your wish. So if suicide's your thing, just stay tuned. Port Angeles is sticking its head through the noose right now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-51357069670293761832014-04-03T11:35:27.822-07:002014-04-03T11:35:27.822-07:00Hello, City Council. I just have one question for ...Hello, City Council. I just have one question for you regarding the payout to Nippon.<br /><br />Why isn't it coming out of utility reserves?<br /><br />Why isn't it coming out of utility reserves?<br /><br />Why isn't it coming out of utility reserves?<br /><br />Why isn't it coming out of utility reserves?<br /><br />Why is this money coming out of the general fund, which is to say, my pocket? Why isn't it coming out of utility reserves? Aren't things like this what they're for?<br /><br />Why isn't it coming out of utility reserves?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-477476121711471852014-04-03T11:00:56.240-07:002014-04-03T11:00:56.240-07:00You raise another important issue. What our tax do...You raise another important issue. What our tax dollars pay for. Here, we're talking about the City giving more money to Nippon. After we gave them $85 million to build that biomess plant. <br /><br /> As we look around, we hear constantly how there are "budget cuts" for school programs, social welfare programs and more. Food Stamps? Reduce the funding. We can't afford to fund our schools, police or fire departments. The arts? Forget about it. We even close down our local government periodically, because of "budget cuts".<br /><br /> Everything now is discussed in terms of whether it generated jobs, or how much it costs. <br /><br /> In years past, we paid our taxes, knowing the roads would be paved, potholes fixed and the street lights would come on at dusk. It was assumed we were paying for the services we needed, and it all got done.<br /><br /> But, as Eisenhower so wisely warned us, corporate whiz kids saw opportunities in all that tax money, and have been busy ever since figuring out how to get as much tax money transferred over to their private accounts as they can. Subsidies, tax loop holes, contracts and all the endless new ways they get paid to figure out. <br /><br /> So, we have evolved into a country that can't fund anything for it's tax paying citizens, all the while there are more billionaires and millionaires than ever before. Cities like Detroit go bankrupt, while the top 25 riches corporations in the US pay no income taxes, at all. We don't even have use of all that money sitting in the banks, because the corporations, being such good patriots, have moved the money to oversaeas banks. We give Nippon $85 million, but can't fund the paving of our own streets.<br /><br /> We have allowed the corporations to reframe our priorities. We accept the way they have set this all up. It isn't about "making a profit". Not when they are making record setting profits, each year greater than the year before. There comes a point when the situation goes beyond absurd, to where we find ourselves, now.<br /><br /> Most all seem to be waiting for somebody else to "fix" these problems. We each do today, what we did yesterday, and the problems only get worse. When will we figure it out? Nobody is coming to save us? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-79338476011847041632014-04-03T09:41:42.837-07:002014-04-03T09:41:42.837-07:00As has been pointed out before, the root of our pr... As has been pointed out before, the root of our problems is "staff". As you make note of, different council people come and go, but the problems continue. Yes, we could wish that the council spent more time understanding what they are voting on, but that just isn't happening.<br /><br /> And, how many of the general public read all the reports, and catch where staff is making all these mistakes? Now THERE is where a "solution" lays.<br /><br /> A citizens group to be formed, made up in part of "experts" in various fields who actually read and analyze staff and consultant reports, and that very publicly advises council members of the pros, cons and errors prior to council votes. <br /><br /> This is much like what big time political groups do when a big issue report comes out. Staffers are each given a small portion to read, so that it all can get read quickly, in time for the "reaction" interviews you see on TV.<br /><br /> In the case of the City Council, we all see, and know they don't have the time, or the expertise to read or understand what they are asked to vote on. This is why they rely on staff recommendations, and why we see the "go along to get along" voting.<br /><br /> A citizens group to be formed to "do the work" makes sense. Really, it IS our responsibility. The "old guard" sits around waiting for somebody to ride into town to miraculously "fix" all our problems, and make Port Angeles a wonderful place. But that is just fantasy. <br /><br /> It is OUR community. We need to review what staff is telling the council, and give those that ultimately vote for us our intelligent and relevant perspectives. Then we'll have a more representative form of local government.<br /><br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-4279770421407262502014-04-03T09:23:48.989-07:002014-04-03T09:23:48.989-07:00I agree. Things aren't going to change and th...I agree. Things aren't going to change and that's OK with us. We like things the way they are just fine and would hate to see anything change. We accept Port Angeles just the way it is, that's why we retired here. So quit crying about it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3071606563611538039.post-71888812543961135552014-04-03T08:43:58.757-07:002014-04-03T08:43:58.757-07:00Brad Collins has about as much spine as a wet pape...Brad Collins has about as much spine as a wet paper towel. I have gotten well and truly sick of his usual routine - talk an issue or a project down, then, when the vote is taken, vote for it. Sometimes he will say he's voting for something "reluctantly" to try and give himself some cover or..?<br /><br />So far as I know, Brad, Teresa Pierce is gone, her little stupid lies have gone public, and we've all moved on. You're in there to represent the people of Port Angeles - why not try doing that for awhile? Grow a spine, and turn your brain back on. If you can't do that, at least please turn your mouth off. I'm not the only one who's sick and tired of hearing your strong NO statements followed by a weak YES vote.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com