I could have done this post as UPDATES to earlier posts, but they were long enough already, and, frankly, the new news on one of these represents enough change to warrant a new post.
DALE VS. DAN
Well now, this is interesting.
The City moved ahead with their (lame, lame, lame and indefensible) choice of the Chamber of Horrors to continue their (lame, lame, lame and non-existent and ineffective and indefensible) "marketing" of Port Angeles. They did this even though it was a truly lame and indefensible thing to do. And they did it despite knowing that Dale Wilson was likely to challenge them on it.
But the City jumped, so Dale responded, which put the sleazy slide back to the Chamber on hold temporarily.
Now, Dale has stated he'll withdraw his request for an injunction if the City publically interviews the top three finalists. I didn't see this one coming, but it's a simple and kind of wonderful way to go with this. I like it because it puts the City Council on the spot, as well as the Chamber. Given all the money they've been given, what does the Chamber of Snorers have to show for it? I LOVE the idea of the Chamber having to justify themselves publically, and I LOVE the idea of the Council having to explain their reasons for supporting the lame and indefensible Chamber in public, too.
Of course, it's not hard to imagine that the City would like to avoid this spectacle, this embarrassment. So they would, naturally enough, want to have some sort of reason to say no to this reasonable and quick-resolution offer. Enter the Mayor, who said the interviews would "delay implementation of tourism marketing and visitor center contracts." Well, duh, Dan. They've already been delayed. Is this lame excuse the best you could come up with? That a couple of weeks more delay will somehow cripple the Chamber's "marketing" efforts? Please, Dan - your desperation is showing. You're grasping at straws, Mayor McBungler.
The Mayor will defend the contract with the Chamber!
He will fight fire with liar! Or something!
I look forward to the next chapter of this one...
TRAM IT DOWN THEIR THROATS
Hey, for once, the PDN got something right. Their headline for their you-knew-it-was-coming coverage of the other Dan's Magic Tram reads: Entrepreneur's idea for tram to Hurricane Ridge would face huge federal, state hurdles.
Well, the headline is mostly right, anyway. I wouldn't call Dan Williams an entrepreneur, since his "entrepreneurial" efforts over the last decade haven't resulted in a single concrete thing.
Anyway, the article makes it clear that Dan's Magic Tram isn't coming anytime soon - despite his insistence that he hopes to see it up and running by 2020. That and his other statements all make it clear, as if it wasn't already, that this guy is a crackpot.
How does Dan hope to over come these many hurdles, which include numerous environmental issues, shoreline issues, the aforementioned federal and state issues, and could require an act of Congress? "We are looking for the welcomeness of the community to get behind this," says Williams.
Oh.
This guy sounds like he's been cribbing notes from Scott Nagel, then twisting them all up. He has funding - really! - and he has big movers and shakers behind this project - really! - but he just can't tell you who they are. He couldn't get a $2 million dollar zipline built, but now there's no doubt - none at all! - that he can get this $200 million dollar (his figure) tram built. With even more hurdles in place. By 2020.
If you aren't interested in buying a tram, could I
interest you in a clock?
I'll tell you what...If Dan Williams can actually scrape up just a quarter of a million dollars, I'd suggest that he and Scott Nagel get together, buy the Lincoln Theater (with real money and everything), and then convert it into a cuckoo clock factory. Now that's a business both these guys seem perfectly suited to.
DiGuilio - back for his second go round no less - should have known better than to handle this this way. He was a drone-like bureaucrat in his work, and he's a drone-like bureaucrat as mayor. No leadership, no creativity, and no ability to understand voices that aren't singing from the same (boring) page he is.
ReplyDeleteWilson warned what he was going to do, and he did it. In response, the best the mayor can do is double down on dumb. Sad. Protecting an unjustifiable position is not exactly fighting from the moral highground, Dan.
DiG didn't come up with this response on his own. He is parroting whatever the city manager and city attorney dreamed-up. Staff gave the council bad advice to begin with, and Dan DiG doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to think for himself and act any differently.
DeleteDon't underestimate the city manager. He and Nathan are the ones who fought for having the competitive bidding process in the first place, The first time in ten years it has been put out for bid. Look no further than the four toads on the city council who short circuited the competitive process and GAVE it to the chamber. No competition in that huh?
DeleteDiGuilio is an embarrassment as mayor. As the OP pointed out, at heart - pardon he expression - he truly seems to be a heartless bureaucrat. I see no passion there, no imagination, and certainly no courage. He's not even a good symbolic leader. No, Dan DiGuilio is just one more Port Angeles city council member who clearly sees his job as doing whatever staff tells him to, and making no waves.
DeleteAnon 11:40 am: I'm amazed that anyone would offer even faint praise for Nathan West at this point, or Dan McKeen for that matter. Both have had to know for YEARS that they were parties to wrong policies, wrong priorities, financially unsustainable projects and budgets - the list goes on and on.
DeleteNow that things are ready to well and truly fall apart in a way that is undeniable, and they may (or may not) be making some small baby steps towards doing the right thing...Well, I for one don't think that's praiseworthy in and of itself. It would just mean they're doing their jobs, just a little less badly than before.
But, having said that, I totally agree with your assessment of the toads on the city council. Through their inaction and lack of leadership, everything else is allowed to slide in city hall. They set the tone and the bar, but they set it incredibly low.
"I'm amazed that anyone would offer even faint praise for Nathan West at this point"
DeleteTwo words: positive conditioning. If we the people say we want X, but complain when a politicritter does X, even if it's just a little, then the politicritter won't want to do X in the future. However if we offer praise when the politicritter does X, then they're more likely to do X in the future.
It's like with dogs. If the dog keeps pissing on the carpet, smacking him with a newspaper builds negative reinforcement. If the dog starts barking at the door when he needs to go out, and you smack him anyway, then the dog's going to get confused. If you let him out and praise him he's more likely to bark whenever he needs to go out. Positive reinforcement.
Basically our politicians are dogs that have been pissing all over the carpet that is Port Angeles and we need to smack them with newspapers more often. The PDN has to be good for something, right?
Anonymous 11:38 am: Point well taken. Really. It's just kind of hard to do at times, you know? Personally, it would be easier to phrase it along the lines of, "It's good you've done less bad here." But I'll try to be good myself.
DeleteAnon 12:56: Oh I understand completely. I really had to try not to eyeroll and yell "FINALLY!" here. And I'm trying not to be too cynical about how little this is in the grand scheme of things. I'll just give praise when praise is due and hope there's more of this until we have an accountable government... in a decade or generation or something.
DeleteCrap. My cynicism bled through after all.
Seems like not much generates comments on the PDN site anymore, but the tram is getting lots of comments, and they're pretty much all bad or cynical. Maybe the locals are getting wise to the smoke and mirrors nature of these schemes?
ReplyDelete"Welcomeness"...Sigh...
ReplyDeleteThanks to Dale for pushing the issue. I really admire that he thought through how to highlight the inaction and lack of real leadership of both the City Council and Chamber, and made to effort to file the suit to bring it all to a head. Well done. We need more like him. A lot more.
ReplyDeleteThe tram line? What a fantasy. Really. Hard to believe there are people in town who support Dan and the Tram Dreamliner. The Revitalize meeting this Thursday will be interesting. (At the Landing ) Will be interesting to see the thoughtful comments of those attending.
Yes. Though I'm still on the fence a little with my views of Dale, in this case, he handled things wonderfully. Whether or not he intended it as such, the stupid city walked right into his trap, and now they are stuck with having to expose and admit their own stupidity one way or another. Whether that takes the form of avoidance (per Dan DiGuilio) or the form of a real public airing of qualifications (per Dale Wilson) doesn't matter. Either way, it's another forum to expose the lazy, sloppy and expensive way the city conducts the people's business.
DeleteTHIS JUST IN: The Lincoln Theater is STILL FOR SALE. I repeat, the Lincoln Theater is STILL FOR SALE.
ReplyDeleteAnd continuing with this hot story...The Lincoln Theater is STILL FOR SALE as of this morning.
DeleteStay tuned for further updates on this rapidly developing story.
Some day, we should compile a list of all the fantasy "This will save Port Angeles" proposals that have been brought to town over the last 15 years or so.
ReplyDeleteLadies and gentlemen, start your helicopters...
DeleteYes, helicopters, convention centers, Timber Town, Nathan West's Boardwalk Dream Beach, the new sidewalks, the Lincoln Theater, the zipline that predated the Magic Tram...And so many more.
DeleteIf there's one born every minute, then that one must not only be born here, they're immediately put on the City Council or the County Commission. Port Angeles is Suckertown, USA.
How about the decommissioned aircraft carrier that was going to be parked in the harbor, and be a mega tourist attraction? The LevEx magnetic train that was going to carry tourists from the mega developed Rayonier site to downtown Port Angeles for their shopping pleasure?
DeleteHow about HarborWorks vision of all that development on the former SuperFund contaminated site at Ennis Creek?
That PDN article really surprised me. I thought for sure it would be something like "Downtown-to-Park Tram Will Create Million Jobs, To Be Built Any Day Now!!" But, no, the article is actually somewhat restrained.
ReplyDeleteEven the usual rah-rah cheerleaders are non-committal. West and Charles neatly side-step the issue, but the subtext is clear.
Also, way to go Dale. (And Dan and Nathan, if the above commenter is correct, for finally getting the marketing up for bid)... I'm disappointed in our fine mayor. That kind of lame, circular excuse is like what Barb was noted for. Perhaps the city will hire her as the new spokesperson?
When the big news is that Swain's expanded and McDonald's will hold off on re-modeling...PA has a problem. To say nothing of the bungled marketing and reasons the school districts are peddling for a ridiculously high levy/bond vote. (I got kicked off Revitalize PA for calling the town a cesspool...ha). Coming soon...Ghost Town of the NW.
ReplyDeleteI hope you attend the Thursday Revitalize PA meeting. Seems like they always have a number of first-timers, so it keeps them guessing who's who.
DeleteThey think the "powers-that-be" are paying close attention to what they are doing. LOL! Could be, but not for the reasons they think.
Wow...all of us that have been kicked out of revitalize PA's facebook page should set up our own facebook page: cesspool PA?
DeleteIMO the tram is intended to feed the fantasies of the anti-wilderness, anti-park, anti-government, log-it-all, property-rights crowds. Williams has a following there ... they will spin this out for years, about how our tyrant environmentalist bureaucrat overlords stand in the way of blessed progress and prosperity.
ReplyDeleteWhich would be a lot more feasible, outrage-wise, if Dan had money on the table to actually make this happen. Only he doesn't, and he doesn't have it behind the scenes either, which makes the whole "if not for the Big Bad Government" thing kind of a hard sell. Doesn't it? Or do I misunderestimate the gullibility of Clallam County right-wingers?
DeleteJust think back to Sue Fordes' campaign comments when she was running against Tharinger. And, she almost won. What more need one know?
DeleteDon't worry about money. All the public ever saw of the zipline could have been done for a few thousand bucks: create a corporation, get a permit from the county. Heck, if your retired and having fun... Other people piss it away in casinos -- whatever.
DeleteHe did not negotiate a lease for the land, did not get a building permit, never demonstrated financial backing. But, I've seen comments (several places) from people who apparently believe the zipline was "shot down" by the govt. I cannot prove that was the goal, but it was a result.
So my guess, this is the same, just scaled up. When I see more than a Facebook page I maybe will take it more seriously. Maybe I will even eat my words, we shall see.
As for gullibility, I'm not saying that -- but some people rely heavily on what I would charitably call articles of faith. Outrage would not be the goal, more like reinforcing the narrative.
Sue Forde, exactly who I was thinking of! But here's Dan Williams, PDN, 5/22/11: "When asked what he would tell someone opposed to a tram going overhead, Williams responded: 'I’d rather have that going over my house than a Chinese bomber or ballistic missile and them saying, ‘Give me my money back.’ Because we owe trillions of dollars to China,' he added, when asked to elaborate." Well, OK then.
DeleteAccording to the daily paper Mayor Dan is "leery" of my proposal to have them interview the people who spent long hours putting in bids for operation of the visitor center and marketing the city to tourists.
ReplyDeleteI have to ask him this, and will at the next council meeting: Mayor were you leery when you sent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to the Business Incubation Project? Were you leery when you spent millions on Harbor Works, an attempt to sell property you did not own? Were you leery when you received a bill for $15 million for the Gateway center valued at maybe one third that amount? Were you leery when the city paid one million dollars for a downtown real estate lot reeking of toxic waste? Were you leery when a former mayor was operating her own consulting company out of city hall and writing checks to her clients out of the city coffers? Were you leery when Pen Ply got a quarter million dollars behind in utility bills and then stiffed the taxpayers with that amount? Were you leery when....(okay you guys can finish the list)
Yes, please!
DeleteTonight's the night. Go get 'em, Dale. Hope you enjoy slack-jawed, glassy-eyed stares, because that's what you're likely to get in return.
DeleteCity Council was last Tuesday night. Yes, City Council just did as they were asked by staff, as always. New Chamber Prez. Moron.. er, I mean Moran could barely read the presentation on all the wonderful things the Chamber claims happened last year.
DeleteAnd, yes, Downie said the little cruise ships that come here were a significant economic benefit for Port Angeles. Millions pass on by, but the 4,700 that passed by in those little ships are a big deal? He said he is working on more.
Why look for more, when you can't satisfy the millions already coming here?
I never saw Dale Wilson's visitor center proposal, only the COC & Edna's. What did it involve? I mean, building and staff and so on.
ReplyDeleteThe Lodging Tax Advisory Committee wouldn't allow the council to see my proposal. They were afraid they might consider it. Scott Nagel and other chamber loyalist--those who have been nursing off the chamber teat for years didn't even allow my proposal to go before the council. In one incident one of the chamber loyalist rated the cost as a ten for the chamber and they were $1700 higher than mine. Mine was rated by the same committee member as a zero and it was less than the chamber's. Go figure.
DeleteYet another article in the PDN this morning about the tram - why is the PDN giving any credibility to this? Then, there was a spot on KIRO TV about it this morning and I was SO EMBARRASSED for Port Angeles.
ReplyDeleteBidding out the contract for marketing is the correct thing to do. Perhaps with Russ retiring/leaving this coming year, this will be the time to do it properly and finally cut the Chamber out. It was "too late" in the process this year. Of course the City Council would have to have the guts to hire a firm that actually does marketing for a living (most likely out of the area) and drop the Chamber. The Chamber needs to learn how to live without the personnel subsidy from the marketing contract and act like, well, a chamber of commerce.
ReplyDeleteNathan and Dan should be applauded for bringing this through the RFP process. This next year could actually see results if they do it again with enough time. Hire someone from Seattle, Portland , wherever, as long as they know what the heck they're doing. Anyone can do better than the "PortAngeles.org" site.
Russ ain't leaving. He will step down as ED and take a job as their marketing manager or some such. If you read the PDN article closely you will see he didn't commit to leaving the chamber just stepping down as ED. Brewer white-washed that story for the desired effect. Brewer and the chamber are bobsie twins.
DeleteWho, exactly, does Russ give blowjobs to? He's not a nice man. He's rude. He's inconsiderate. He is easy to anger. He routinely comes out of left-field, with some crazy stuff, that no one can figure out, and rants like a mini-king. He's not even pleasant, and he keeps his job? Hell, he isn't even nice to the little businesses. He snubs them whenever possible. So, who is he sleeping with to keep the job?
ReplyDeleteLook at all the repeat losers we have holding elected office. You can't tell me that they're all still there because they were so inspiring or efficient. Dan DiGuilio is mayor for the second time. What, he was just SO good the first time we had to bring him back? I don't think so. His only claim to fame is that he's not quite as stupid or unimaginative as Cherie Kidd.
DeleteIn that context, the retention of Russ, awful as he is, makes a certain amount of (non) sense.
Problem is, no one will run to replace them. Folks think they are not qualified. With what we've had for the past few years Peter Ripley is looking pretty good. I hope and pray we will never let another city council seat go unchallenged. If we do we'll get another Dan Gase.
DeleteGawd Heppus
DeleteThe only reason is still with the chamber is they cannot afford to fire him. He is due $40,000 in deferred compensation and the chamber has no money until the city pony's up again. Even then they can't skim forty big ones to get rid of Russ so he's with us like a case of skabies. Under your skin forever. If First Fed wanted to do something really big for the community they would pay off this deferred comp and be shed of this cancer on commerce.
Does this mean that if Russ doesn't get paid, ever, he is immortal?
DeleteBig difference between immoral and immortal.
DeleteFire him and let him SUE the chamber. If they don't have the money let them dissolve and declare bankruptcy. We can always start a NEW chamber. Not that difficult. https://www.uschamber.com/sites/default/files/legacy/chambers/files/printablefinal.pdf
ReplyDeleteThat chamber needs to go, anyway, it's so tainted with bad taint.
All liars.
ReplyDeleteAnything on the hope of making a 8% commission..........
LIARS.