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.
Yes,but, how do you really feel about Port Angeles?
ReplyDeleteYvonne got such a raw deal, and Dan McKeen, who did exactly what she got fired and penalized for, should roast in hypocrite Hell for allowing this to play out the way it has. I'm sorry that Yvonne found herself stuck with a lame duck lawyer on top of everything else. She's a decent woman, and doesn't deserve any of this. Meanwhile, Kent Myers is off into the wild blue yonder, and Terry Gallagher is going to open a B&B. Sexist discrimination doesn't seem to have any consequences in Clallam County, does it?
ReplyDeletePort Angeles: No Consequences, and No Results.
DeleteOr perhaps...
Port Angeles: Still (F)logging a Dead Horse.
Or maybe...
Port Angeles: All the Sexism, without any of the Sex Appeal.
Or finally...
Port Angeles: Where most of the people can't count to the Top 10, because they lost too many fingers in accidents at the mill.
How about, "Port Angeles - Come get your portion of our public debt!"
DeleteThe fact that the people putting Port Angeles on this list cite the resurgence of downtowns in small towns as a factor in their decision making only proves they've never been here, and have no clue. Downtown Port Angeles is a testament to failure, a showroom for empty storefronts, a monumental asphalt nowhere.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, our downtown IS a good representation of the town as a whole. Old and dying and seemingly abandoned.
Chief Gallagher has always struck me as a little too sanctimonious, a little too aw shucks, to be believable. Sounds like, if nothing else, he's certainly not a man of his word.
ReplyDeleteA deal's a deal, Terry. Your personal desires don't trump the agreement you signed with your neighbors. Don't be a jerk.
This sour grapes act of yours is getting old.
ReplyDeleteSour grapes suggests someone who is sorry for a decision they've made, something they've said, etc. That's not the case here. I am SO GLAD to have left Port Angeles. I hope that all the smart, capable and caring people o the same. It's a terrible place to live, and I don't believe it can be saved.
DeleteHere's but one example out of a thousand I could give you about why I'm so much better off after leaving. Remember how little Clallam County is ranked third in the state for opiate overdoses and deaths? Yikes! The county I'm living in now has been ranked the first or second healthiest county in the state for over a decade. Oh, and we have jobs, trees, a strong economy, people with education, responsive local government, and even a movie theater downtown. My quality of life is 1000% improved since leaving Port Angeles.
So, again, no sour grapes here. As a poster above said, downtown Port Angeles is a monument to failure. I'm leaving this blog up as a monument to the foolishness of living in Port Angeles. Hopefully this is a resource that people considering visiting or (God help them) moving to Port Angeles will find. Don't go there, people. It's truly terrible, one of the worst places I've ever had the misfortune to experience. So learn from my experience, and stay away. Life is too short to waste any time in Port Angeles or Clallam County.
Hey Anon 7:36 AM...Deny reality much?
DeleteNo, "sour grapes" is using a false premise (..everybody is crooked, no business is thriving, only persons who have never been there could like it there..) to make a rationalization supporting a decision previously made. I am happy you believe you are so much better off, now that you have moved. I am still happy I'm here. Are things perfect, no, of course not. No place ever is, or can be. For me, and for many others I know, it is worth fighting to make it better.
DeleteAnonymous 10:57 AM: In Clallam County, you'll sure get the fighting, but I doubt very much you'll ever get the better. Too many morally bankrupt people are vested in keeping this area just the way it is - backwards and easy pickings for crooks.
DeleteLike CK, I believe the only solution is to get out - which I'm working on. Clallam County is a deep, black pit where good intentions go to die.
Obviously the folks judging livability in "micro-cities" didn't read this blog before ranking Port Angeles among the top ten. They also must not have visited on a day when the stench from the mill permeates the downtown and neighborhoods. Nor did they check the city's financial situation, with the heavy debt load and oppressive utility bills. They were correct that the beauty of Olympic National Park and surrounding wilderness areas make the town ideally located to take advantage of these gifts of nature. But, the scorn and contempt displayed by local "leaders" toward these natural assets somehow escaped the notice of the "livability" raters.
ReplyDeleteI know quite a few people who also thought Port Angeles would be a wonderful livable community, and moved here only to find the opposite. Unfortunately, many of these fine people have since become disgusted enough to move away. I guess that's good for the local realtors, though. Churn those homes and make those commissions while you can!
The irony of this "Top 10" website citing the proximity of ONP as a reason to recommend Port Angeles, when the powers that be in Port Angeles have generally been so hostile towards the park and all things natural, is pretty rich. Uninformed readers wouldn't know that, in Port Angeles, all parks are seen as being good for is yet another place to be logged. (Hello, Lincoln Park!)
DeletePort Angeles being on that top ten list is simply ridiculous. They say we're taking steps to protect the environment, have a thriving downtown, low crime - all total falsehoods.
ReplyDeleteBut watch all the usual suspects - the very people who have run the town into the grave - line up to say what a great job they're all doing. Then watch the website that sold them this bill of goods sell them a whole lotta ad space.
Gimme a break!
Please do note that, on the PDN article about the top 10 listing, there are no comments, not even from the usual PA boosters. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, knows it's a crock of shit.
ReplyDeleteSo Crypt Kicker, you say "PA should be the Top 10 Places to Move Away From - and I know. Life is indeed so much sweeter elsewhere." But you stay here. It makes me wonder if you are just like so many others I know who whine but are incapable of any constructive action to fix problems real or imagined.
ReplyDeleteUh, have you not seen any of the many references I have made to the fact that I HAVE MOVED AWAY FROM PORT ANGELES? It's pretty clear. Please see my comments above from yesterday at 10:02 AM which, yet again, state that I HAVE MOVED AWAY FROM PORT ANGELES.
DeleteI didn't whine; I packed. And now life is so much better. As a public service, I keep this blog up, since I still hear a lot about what goes on there. (Little of which is Good News, by the way...)
Obviously the OP isn't exactly reading what's posted here, just venting. The same thing he is accusing others of doing.
DeleteNice that terry has so much consideration for his neighbors.
ReplyDeletePort Angeles is, as mentioned, very much in the Washington State Top 10 for places with drug abuse and overdose problems. Port Angeles is also in the Top 10 of places with extremely high drop out rates. I'm willing to bet it's also a Top 10 city in terms of the ration of public debt to population - especially as that population continues to shrink and that debt continues to grow.
ReplyDeleteYes, Port Angeles is certainly a Top 10 kinda city.
Never fear, Port Angeles! Edna Peterson still believes in you!
ReplyDeleteSteve Markwell, back in Forks, back in the news, and back in trouble. Does the fact that the state is coming to get him mean his "friend" Matthew Randazzo doesn't have quite the pull he always brags about? Aww...Still, it's a shame (and a crime, in my opinion) that Markwell is once again collecting dogs. He's clearly got some mental health issues, and then some.
ReplyDeleteSo. So many accusations you make in your blog. Interesting ones no doubt. I sure hope you have evidence and proof to back up your accusations and claims because libel suits are expensive and if the people you talk about are as terrible and vindictive as you portray them - they might sue. Be careful and be sure you have your ducks in a row.
ReplyDeleteThat aside - too bad you moved away but found yourself unable to move on. Been there. Not a pretty place to be and you cannot simply move away.
Best of luck.
The people who would "get me" would first have to know who I am, which they don't, and where I am, which they also don't. So if they're out there ripping people off, beating their wives, or otherwise doing evil in the world, by all means, let them draw even MORE attention to themselves by trying to silence those who would simply tell the truth.
Delete