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.
CK
ReplyDeleteGlad to read you again.
Seems odd though, not know where you're talking about.
Not meant as a harsh criticism, just off some how.???
Jim Jones will go down in history as the leader of a self-destructive cult hidden in the middle of nowhere, and denying reality.
ReplyDeleteThen there's the other Jim Jones, who went to Guyana...
yeah, the Olympic Peninsula's Port Angeles is about as remote as Guyana
DeleteHey Dan, just keep doing what you've been doing on the City Council - remaining stable and all - and I'm sure that LOTS more people will want to sell their houses here. LOTS.
ReplyDeleteWhere for art thou, CK? And, thanks for rubbing it in....
ReplyDeleteBut thanks for keeping up the blog.
I appreciate your continuing the blog as well. I intend to stay in PA, and maybe do a small part to help the area live up to its fine potential...I may be deluded, I see.
DeleteSelinda's latest rantings make her sound like a complete idiot.
ReplyDeleteFrom day one, she has been an arrogant, self centered, spoiled braggart.
Once again, she promotes herself under the mantra "My shit doesn't stink!"
With her circus-like blog, she has finally reached political perfection by scrambling for attention at any cost.
Another elected loser!
So, let us look at a little history of the printed public statements made by Ms. Barkhuis shall we? First, while running for Treasurer, she accused the previous Treasurer of somehow profiting from money a former employee was convicted of embezzeling; then she accused the former Mayor of Forks of lying about how the money was spent at the Forks Pool, then she accused board members of the Quillayute Valley Park & Rec District of diverting public monies for their own private use; then she declared that neither the Clallam County Prosecutor NOR the State Attorney General properly intrepreted the law when they contradicted her assertion that the County Commissioners had no authority to forgive a loan made to that same Park & Rec District; and now she claims that the County Administrator lied during a Commissioners Work Session last September 30th, and provided a certified written transcript of the meeting (which she ordered and paid for with taxpayer funds) to bolster her claims, but if you bother to read the transcript, it clearly proves that all three of her claims against the Administrator were completely false. So, what are we to make of all this...is she delusional, or is it that she just can't understand what she hears and reads? In the past, she herself, has claimed that since English is not her first language she does have trouble understanding sometimes. In either case, you have to feel sorry for her. No one but her is ever right, on any subject. It must really suck to be her.
ReplyDelete> First, while running for Treasurer, she accused the previous Treasurer of somehow profiting from money a former employee was convicted of embezzeling;
DeleteI'd say it was more like accusing the former treasurer of being incompetent, than her actually profiting from it...
And I would argue you are similarly overstating all of the other arguments.
I'll say it again: I'm no fan of Selinda, per se, but boy, do I love seeing all the rats in the courthouse cage attacking each other. Grown ups? Good government? Professionalism? Nah. Just good ol' Clallam County dysfunction, corruption and grandstanding. You know, the things that have made this place the thriving success it is.
ReplyDeleteApparently Dan is living in a dream world.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Zillow.com 7/10/14 the picture is even more bleak for Clallam County:
By Agent(595)
By Owner(18)
New Homes(7)
Foreclosures(4)
Potential Listings
Pre-Foreclosure(91)
If you add this up that's 703 listings in the area. Last month it was hovering around 500-600.
I know Dan, he's a very nice guy (that's about it). When he became a city council member I thought "good a person who may actually do something". Boy was I ever wrong. I brought a city matter to his attention and he just brushed it off and did nothing (smiled a lot but did nothing).
I'm glad he didn't go to Olympia as our representative. I have lost respect for him as any sort of political figure (he's still a nice guy). He's just a yes man when it comes to anything political. He's the prefect guy for our present council. He can just sit there and do what he's told like a good boy.
Just short of 100 homes in foreclosure or pre-foreclosure. Or, put another way 1/6th of the number of homes available by agent are available due to (what I would assume to be) financial hardship. Or, put another way, it seems extremely likely that far more homes will be foreclosed this year in Port Angeles than will be built.
DeleteTHIS is what our local leadership has done to our community and economy. THIS is the reality they have created.
You are correct that more homes will be foreclosed than built. Talk to any builder in the area and ask them how many homes have they built in the last 2 years. Look at the building permits notices in the paper. Most are for remodels or ductless heat pumps.
DeleteHas anyone noticed the house being remodeled across the street from city hall? The owners have put in over $120K (and they are not done) into that remodel (to rent as office space). With all the new building requirements it was actually less expensive to remodel than try an build new.
The owners still had their challenges with the city. Just the regulations to deal with your roof runoff is enough to discourage anyone. You just can't slap up gutters anymore. You have to have the runoff plumbed into the storm water system not just be reabsorbed into the earth (I wonder how they deal with all the rain that doesn't go into the storm water system???).
So thank you City of Port Angeles and Clallam County to make it damn near impossible for anyone to try and build new unless you have very deep pockets.