As we approach the deadline for filing to run for office - just two days left - there certainly doesn't seem to be a rush to throw the bums out. So far there are mostly incumbents filing for re-election, and few contested races. Sound familiar?
So, some obvious questions arise...Is anyone here planning on running for office? Though there is clearly a desire to replace the existing order, does anyone believe that a few new elected officials here and there will be game-changers? In other words, will a complaining population turn out to be a compliant population in the end? If so, is that realism, cynicism, or defeatism? How complicit are the voters in Port Angeles and Clallam County in their own dissatisfaction?
More specific questions I have include...Does anyone think that Shan Pak is going to get a free (and unopposed) ride to the City Council? Does Sissi Bruch merit re-election to that same body? Does Lee Whetham merit such a quick promotion? Does Cherie Kidd deserve anything other than shaming, shunning, and permanent banishment? Will the Democrats actually field an opponent for Dim King Jim?
And what do you think that the entrenched and (for lack of a better word) evil staff members at various governing entities think of all this? Are they worried? Anticipating change? Laughing at the thought of "change"?
Just two days to go, folks...
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Ladies and gentlemen, we have a theme! Sort of!
Yes, in addition to looking like the Year of Uncontested Port Angeles City Council Races, Part II, it is also starting to look like the Year of the Longhairs. Yes, indeed. We already had ponytailed Shan Pak running for the Port Angeles City Council, and now Mark Ozias, executive director of the Sequim Food Bank, is running (as a Democrat) against Dim King Jim for County Commissioner. See photo of Mr. Ozias below, and expect to see said picture lots more during the campaign. Also be prepared to hear lots of hippie/longhair jokes from the local right-wingers.
But ha ha ha, the joke's on them. I don't know Mr. Ozias, but he doesn't look like someone who is ready to play hard, fast and dirty enough to beat Dim King Jim, who loves the art of attack and smear. But we'll see...
ReplyDeleteConservatives beware of McEntire
Jim McEntire is an embarrassment to conservatives and dangerous to the fiscal future of the county.
McEntire signed up for re-election as county commissioner claiming to be a “common sense conservative.”
Conservatives ought to check out the balance of the county’s Opportunity Fund when McEntire came into office 3 and a half years ago and then see what the balance is now. There is a 90 percent diminution of the account with no infrastructure to show for it. He tried to give a half million to his pet EDC group until residents filed suit to stop him.
Then he gave them one hundred fifty thousand from the general fund aka property tax money.
We have nothing to show from that expenditure except higher salaries.
On Tuesday of this week he gave the Port of Port Angeles one million dollars to outfit a building for a project for which we don’t even have a business plan. Sure they want to recycle composites but how the hell do they plan to do it? No one knows. There was no public hearing and no contracts involved. No strings attached.
We’re going to wind up paying Boeing to ship their waste here and we’ll just stockpile it because there is no market for the product.
At the same meeting he gave the city of Port Angeles $278,000 for their “Waterfront Improvement Project.” This is deceptive. That money is going to the Port also, according to Nathan West, to improve access to Pier 4, owned by the Port.
McEntire was formerly a port commissioner. That stint was unremarkable except for questionable expense reimbursements.
McEntire has led the charge for an unneeded twelve million dollar public sewer project in Carlsborg. Similar plans have tripled in cost and nearly bankrupted two Washington counties. The residents don’t want it. The county doesn’t need it and it hamstrings anyone attempting to sell their home in the area.
At the latest County Commission meeting it was pointed out to McEntire that the promise of the Opportunity Fund paying off the sewer project is unworkable because the law enabling the Opportunity Fund expires before the project is paid for. McEntire replied, before a room full of people, if the state did not renew the Op Fund then they would be responsible for the debt. A simple phone call proved this to be dishonest. The sewer project is a debt on the property taxes of the entire county if the Opportunity Fund expires. The Op Fund balance will likely expire before McEntire’s term ends.
Common sense tells you if this was a genuine policy mistake that proves him to be derelict in his duty as a county commissioner. If he knew better all along it makes him a liar.
Conservatives should realize McEntire is giving conservatism a bad name.
Perhaps it is that politicians and those that follow their antics seriously are a caricature here. Clallam county too economically & intellectually depressed to harbor those with will to be exposed to slings & arrows of whining, but ineffectual, minority. Howling in the wilderness a good purgative, but similar to tree felling if no one there does it make any meaningful noise? Whether It is mainstream press Myopic boosterism or your own dark cloud of negativity for all public projects without full disclosure of potential benefits without parody, or perhaps adequate reporting on how City/County is being required by State or Feds to do something (CSO comes to mind) there doesnt seem to be a rational written voice that encourages dialogue, and therefore investment.
ReplyDeleteI think the answer is pretty self evident. Virtually no one is interested in running for these offices, because virtually no one sees the "system" working for the good of community, any more. Why bother, it has all been corrupted to serve the interests of the few.
ReplyDeleteTime to look at other ways to make our communities be more representative of our needs.
I want them all gone, to be sure. And I will not vote for a single incumbent. But I am not crazy enough to sign up to run myself. Not here, no way.
ReplyDeleteIt's the staff, stupid. Changing faces up front - literally, the fronts for city staff - won't change a thing. There needs to be a wholesale flushing of rotten staff members in City Hall. Without that, nothing will change.
ReplyDeleteBut who? How?
DeleteI'm not being snarky, I know the staff is a problem. I'm just wondering what the solution to this problem is. We can't vote staff out of office, how can we get change here? Anyone know the solution?
I don't think it is that hard. If enough of us actually showed up, meeting after meeting, and demanded the city manager be fired, the city attorney be fired, and demand specific changes, sooner or later they would have to take action. They only get away with all this crap, because NONE of us do anything but gripe.
DeleteThese elections only show how un-involved WE all are!
"Clean House" campaigns have been done in other cities. People show up (en masse) with signs, make statements during public comment, write letters to the editor, etc. All with the message of "we need new leadership in all positions in City Hall."
DeleteWhere's Russ Veneema?
DeleteWhat's sad is I'm nervous about replacing McKeen just because his predecessors were SO horrible. I'd almost rather keep the status quo than chance another crappy city manager from outside the area who's just using PA for a stepping stone and a golden parachute.
DeleteYes, but.
DeleteIf McKeen and crew all get replaced BECAUSE all kinds of people stood at the podium and demanded "Clean House!", then any new city employees will know they are being watched closely, and will be held accountable.
It is the same issue backwards and forwards, with the same solution. We not involved, so they do what they want, but if we're involved, they can't do what they want.
the question is...if one were to throw their hat in the ring, is it better to try and run against the newcomer, or the tried-and-true newcomers?
ReplyDeleteI think that might be the hesitation.
no, the question is: run the bums out? Or, thwart new leadership by running against the weird new guy?
DeleteSadly, history is repeating itself with three uncontested elections to the City Council. No change is evident here.
ReplyDelete"Garbage in, and ya get garbage out."
DeleteWith so few even making any kind of effort, AND, people like Revitalize Port Angeles thinking it is only about ignoring the problems we face, is it any wonder nothing is changing?
People have to make an effort. It isn't about "somebody has to come along and save us".
Mark is a highly principled guy. I had some dealings with him a few years back. Hard worker. Don't know that he has held political office before. Will vote for him over Jim, without hesitation.
ReplyDeleteYes, but...McEntire will eat him alive.
DeleteNot so sure. Mark is no dumb bunny. If he does his homework and reminds voters of what Big Jim has actually done, he certainly will have impact.
DeleteIf you're reading this, Mark, thank you for running. Thank you for making the effort. You're a hero just for campaigning against him.
I know nothing about him other than he isn't Jim McEntire. And that's enough.
DeleteIf the two democrat candidates get a good ground game going they could defeat McEntire in the primary and only two democrats go to the general election. Someone tell the so-called democratic leadership this can be done. Why give McEntire two shots at the prize?
DeleteAnonymous 10:11 AM - What you propose is never, ever going to happen. For one thing, the voting electorate is fairly evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. What you're suggesting would have to hinge on Republicans voting for a Democrat in the primary. That's not going to happen.
DeleteYour idea would also require some sort of weird truce/agreement, that had both Democratic candidates essentially saying "Vote for one of us, either of us, just not Dim Jim." That's awkward at best, unrealistic, and, again, isn't going to happen.
What is more likely to happen is that the division between the two candidates will create some friction. There will probably be some voter bleed-off in the general election as well, due to Democratic candidate A losing a few votes (the undervote) to those who had supported Candidate B in the primary.
The smart thing, the strategic thing, is to get these things worked out ahead of time, funnel all your time and resources into one candidate, and aim straight for the general election. Obviously, that didn't happen. And given the recent history in Clallam County of Democratic electoral shenanigans, it wouldn't be surprising to me if this current arrangement has created some amount of worry. At least for those who've been paying attention over the past several years.
Remember: The Clallam County Democratic party has torpedoed their own candidates for County Commissioner several times in the last few election cycles. That is a (no pun intended) primary reason there are currently three Republican County Commissioners - despite Mike Chapman's change of life crocodile tears.
Dan Morrison is trying to sell part of the land he got in a sweetheart deal from the Port. 22 acres assessed at 343k and he's asking 500k. Is he trying to raise money to pay that wrist-slap fine from Ecology? Or maybe raising money to fight the fine in court? I'm betting the sprint boat track just isn't profitable and he has bills to pay.
ReplyDeletemore sweet heart deals where the butt-boys profit, and the rest of us lose. Just like CPI (our local fiber optic cable for internet) given to the hubby of a long-time city staffer, then sold for a profit to Wave.
DeleteI am shocked that no one seems to care about a federal project, given to a private company, then sold for profit. Why didn't the city just sell it to Wave, or lease it, and make the $$$?
This town stinks.
Mike Chapman's ongoing, slow motion nervous breakdown is fascinating to watch, even just via the (surely incomplete) coverage in the PDN. Very weird.
ReplyDeleteI see the Governor has declared a State Wide Drought Emergency today.
ReplyDeleteThe news story assures residents of Seattle not to worry too much, because they have water stored for later in the year, when conditions are "expected to worsen dramatically".
But, we don't have any water stored for later. The only thing the City did was to spend gobs of money to build a tank to store SHIT!
So, later in the year, when "conditions worsen", and there is no water, remember to say "Thank you" to Cherie Kidd, and the others that will be campaigning for re-election.
Because they did such a great job of thinking ahead. THAT's leadership.
Two new candidates will sign up for election today. One will challenge Cherie Kidd on the city council the other will challenge Jim McEntire for County Commission. Film at eleven.
ReplyDeleteNo planning, no ethics, no leadership, no water....And no one to run against the lame, lame, lame incumbents. Two new guys are running for the same city council seat as of now, but no one is running against the lame, lame, lame incumbents. Lame, lame, lame will get us the same, same, same. The same lack of planning, the same lack of ethics, etc. The downward spiral seems unstoppable.
ReplyDeleteSo, what is keeping all the whiners on this blog from running?
DeleteHardly. I may think Revitalize Port Angeles is brain dead stupid, and their "My fingers are in my ears and I can't hear you" attitude would mean nothing changes, but that can't be said across the board.
DeleteMark Ozias IS challenging an incumbent. Or, are you just talking about the Port Angeles city council?
Anon 4:00 . What position did you sign up for? I'm assuming nothing is keeping YOU from running.
DeleteAnon 4:00. Most of us whiners can't possibly run for a public office because we are doing the heavy lifting working our asses off paying the bills and taxes that the public employees need for them to flourish. It's extremely painful having to watch the wreckless behavior of our leaders throw away my hard earned money on their pet projects and
Deletelegacy building efforts. These leaders live and breath from the publics wallets and yet treat them as underclassmen. I wish I wasn't having to struggle so hard to exist to be more involved. The balance of givers versus takers is dangerously disproportionate. Most of these public"servants" wouldn't even know which end of a shovel to use to dig a hole.
Which is why you need to figure out which of the candidates who are running understand work, and sympathize with your struggles.
ReplyDelete