Port Angeles B&B

Being that this is Port Angeles we're talking about, that B&B stands for Bullshit and Bullying, needless to say.

Starting with the BS...I think we all know that the only people who could ever rank Port Angeles as a Top 10 small town are people who have never actually been there. The only Top 10 Port Angeles belongs in is the Top 10 Places to Move Away From - and I know. Life is indeed so much sweeter elsewhere.

But one person who might be believing the totally unbelievable hype is Police Chief Terry Gallagher. You see, Terry wants to open a B&B at his house. Yes, a B&B. Now, doing this wouldn't violate any City codes, but it would violate a covenant that Gallagher signed along with his neighbors - including the past and present mayor, Dan DiGuilio. Apparently Terry Gallagher doesn't care about pissing off his neighbors, or the mayor, so I assume he's planning on retiring soon. Good riddance.

The only kind of B&B that might make money in Port Angeles.

 

Ah, but we're not quite done with talking about Terry quite yet, since he does play a major part in the story of Yvonne Ziomkowski's wrongful termination from the City. You see, back in the day, Terry wanted to spend a bunch of money (and go for a bunch of grants that wind up having costs in the long-term) to buy telecom toys for his department. As the head of the City's finances, Yvonne didn't support his spendthrift ways.

"I'd just like to say to my friends, neighbors,

and co-workers...Fuck you. Don't make me do something

you'll end up regretting."

 

So, when a new City Council got elected, and the slimy good ol' boys in City Hall were freaking out, they wanted to put Yvonne - who knew pretty much everything that went on behind closed doors there - out of commission, to prevent new, nosy Council members from being able to pick her brain. That's when Terry and Kent Myers went across the street and asked that Yvonne be investigated by an outside agency. That made her off limits to Council members.

"You mean after all that smearing and lying and backstabbing

and everything else I did to make Port Angeles a great place

to live, I still got kicked out?"



And so, Terry got his toys. Kent Myers got the boot. And poor Yvonne got her name and reputation smeared, lost her job, and has been fighting the City ever since.

Of course, it hasn't been a fair or even fight. From everything I've heard, Yvonne's own attorney, Karen Unger, is doing all she can to scuttle Yvonne's case. Remember, this all went down years ago. In the past few weeks, I've talked to at least half a dozen people who should have been deposed by Unger by this point, but apparently Unger hasn't deposed a single person yet. Not one. In the meantime, the City has been deposing witnesses, alternating between stalling things and then trying to hurry them along, and even accusing Yvonne of filing a SLAPP lawsuit (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), which doesn't even make sense.

"Oh, sure, I could make money doing my job and all that,

but I figure, why break a sweat? Plus, I really don't want to

get Terry Gallagher mad at me, so..."



Meanwhile, I keep hearing that Toxic Teresa Pierce - who hasn't quit or been fired - may be coming back to a job at the City. While still proceeding with her utterly baseless suit against the City and Brad Collins. Whom she would then be having to work with again. Despite her "permanent disability" due to the non-existent harassment she never faced.

Crooked attorneys. Crooked City Managers and Police Chiefs. Crooked political parties. Everybody lying and stabbing everybody else in the back. Widespread apathy and a stagnant economy. A crumbling infrastructure. Rampant substance abuse. The same small circle of sharks circulating in and out of cushy jibs and positions of influence. A downtown that's a ghost town. A newspaper that's not fit to wipe your ass with. Sinkholes and assholes. Gee, yeah, Port Angeles sure does sound like a Top 10 town, alright.

A Top 10 waterfront view, for sure! The Turd Tank, too!



Gosh, I'm just ever so sorry that I left such a fabulous, wonderful and totally not at all corrupt place. I'm absolutely sure that all the other people who have fled Port Angeles (remember those shrinking Census numbers!) feel that way too.

No, really.

Leadership Roundup (AKA Clallam County Circle Jerks)

Starting with your friends in the County Courthouse...Selinda Barkhuis has upped her pissing contest with the ever-slimy Jim Jones by taking it to the blogs. You can find her at patoday.com, where she once again accuses Jim Jones of lying and generally being a filthy undesirable scumbag (can't argue with that), as well as takes two of the three County Commissioners to task for, well, allowing Jim Jones to be a filthy undesirable scumbag (can't really argue with that, either). She ends her latest post by urging people to contact said County Commissioners and tell them to fire Jones.

No, tell us what you really think, Selinda. Hmmm...

Crossing the street to City Hall...Handsome young Dan Gase, totally non-conflicted City Council Member, having recovered from being called a "traitor" by the Tree People of Lincoln Park, has managed to spew out a new newsletter in his guise as handsome young Dan Gase, totally awesome realtor. His message reads, in part:

Let's begin with the total listing count of residential properties. On January 1, 2014 we had a total of 210 homes on the market. On July 1st that number increased to 273 homes! That is a 30% increase in inventory during this six month time period...because there may be a pent up desire in the minds of many to sell their homes...the same homes that they wanted to put on the market over the past few years...I foresee many more listing (sic) in the coming months if conditions remain stable.

"A pent up desire in the minds of many to sell their homes...I foresee many more...if conditions remain stable." Wow, tell us what you really think, Dan. Do you think all those people selling their homes are just wanting to upgrade to an even bigger house in Port Angeles? Or could this be part of the exodus of intelligent, capable people leaving Port Angeles? Hmmm...

Speaking of which...It feels so good to be living somewhere other than Port Angeles. So good I cannot even tell you all. Let me just give you one example. This week, our local City Council, responding to the protests of the public, voted to reject a very suspect "public-private" partnership that seemed risky and foolish. You know, the kind of thing that would sail right through the Port Angeles City Council. And you know what? Not only did the City Council here do the right thing, the newspaper covered the meeting fairly accurately, and had the article about it in the next morning's paper - not one two or three days after the fact.

Good government, minus Paul Gottlieb, equals a greatly improved quality of life. And that's just one example of many I could give. So what are you all waiting for, people? Help prove Dan Gase can be right about something - put that house on the market and get out while you can.