Let's all remember a couple of years ago...We were told that the trees in Lincoln Park were a clear and present danger to planes being able to land at Fairchild Airport. You remember...The story was that the trees were an immediate threat to the ability of the airport to operate and blah blah blah. And so the push began to log the lumber and "unencumber" the landing approach.
OR ELSE!
Well, here we are today...Kenmore found that the trees weren't the threat to their business, the lack of business was. And here we now, and I mean right now in the here and now, have Jerry Ludke, airport manager for the Port of Port Angeles, saying that he doesn't expect any trees to be cut for at least another two and a half years - and that that is not an impediment to an airline using the landing approach.
Meanwhile, you've got City Council member Brad Collins saying that he is sure the City Council would support cutting the trees, even though they've yet to actually vote on that. All this is also against a backdrop of a situation in which the required environmental assessment of cutting the trees has yet to be done.
So let's look at this package of lies and obfuscation, shall we? The trees are an immediate threat and have been for years...Except that they're not. The trees were gong to force Kenmore to leave...But they didn't. The City Council will support cutting the trees...Even though they haven't officially done so. And we can make all these pronouncements and promises...Even though the environmental assessment hasn't been done.
I'd even add to the mix of any airport discussion the Port's big property giveaway to Dan Morrison for his land raping sprint boat track. That was land that could conceivably have been used to extend the runway and make the tree issue moot. But no, the Port gave the land to Morrison, even though they "knew" at that time that there were (supposedly) runway and approach issues.
So, the sum total of all this, at least of what we know for sure? Well, Dan Morrison illegally filled in wetlands on the property the Port gave him, and is going to be fined the paltry sum of $14,000 for his illegal land raping actions. And the Port and City both seem hell-bent of logging Lincoln Park, even if it's not strictly necessary.
In other words, again and again and again, the City of Port Angeles makes it clear that it is incredibly hostile to the environment. It will not take any step to protect the environment or natural resources unless it is forced to do so. All of which makes the City of Port Angeles ever more out of touch with the times, which doubtlessly makes it ever more unlikely to succeed economically or otherwise.
But hey! Let's spend money we don't have to build artificial beaches! We don't need trees on beaches. Just logs to look at while we watch the sand being washed away from under our feet...
Available at Swain's! Free for elected officials!
It would be interesting to see a list of all the lies and obfuscations City staff and others have presented to the public in order to get what they want.
ReplyDeleteWe saw recently the City say that the soils in Port Angeles are so porous, that they gave a break in the price of bulk water to encourage people to water their lawns year round.
But, while trying to justify their CSO mega project, the city and staff said the complete opposite conditions exist, and that the soils in Port Angeles are so impervious as to be like concrete. That water will not soak in. And that is why they had to spend $50 million to build the ridiculous Culter Turd Tank and Puntenney Pump Station. Another "I hate the environment" project.
It probably would be pretty easy to put a list of the lies and obfuscations together, since they rely so heavily of deceiving the public to do pretty much anything. On the other hand, since they rely on lying so much, it is pretty tangled web of deception.
No hope until we get rid of these leeches.
Poor Lee Whetham. He staked out his run for port commissioner on the strength of cutting those pesky trees at Lincoln Park and now the Port done knifed him in the back by saying we don't need to cut no trees. Lee, you better get in line with Cherie Kidd and get them suicide barriers up on the bridges. That is a sure-fire election gambit. Just don't tell anyone that only 4% of suicides are jumpers. 45% use guns. Lee and Cherie need to be out at the Fairgrounds next time they have that big gun show and do what you can to stop that nonsense. Of course the NRA has more clout than them tree-huggers eh?
ReplyDeleteHere's my prediction...The whole gun issue won't come to a head until there's a shooting at the County Courthouse. Think about it...It's a place where people get bad news or have heated exchanges, there's no real security, no metal detectors, some of the staff members and County Commissioners are known to carry guns, and, let's face it, Clallam County has more than its fair share of gun-totting, anti-government wackos. Is it really hard to imagine someone like Scott T. Collins or Willis Gormley finally snapping and opening fire there? Not for me it isn't.
DeleteSo, in my opinion, it's a matter of when, not if.
I like this notion of the Port trying to screw Whetham's campaign. Given the screwy, back-stabby nature of politics here, it's easy enough to believe. BUT...I thought he was one of their inside guys. So what gives? Obviously he's a self-serving scumbag, but is he perhaps not one of the "Chosen Ones" inside scumbags?
DeleteClallam County: Where we make public promises of votes for projects that aren't necessary, aren't evaluated, aren't sustainable and aren't in the public interest.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder the economy here is in the toilet.
It's so twisted and screwed up here. The story never changes, in that the story is ALWAYS changing. There's no crime problem; we have a big, scary lack of police officers! The trees need to come down; the trees aren't a problem. We have no money and need to cut services; we found a new, non-essential project to spend money on.
ReplyDeleteOn and on and on and on. The lies never stop, and that's the only truth we have here: "We will lie to you."
The last big attempt to log the park was an attempt to get a bunch of FAA grant money.
ReplyDeleteI'm ashamed to say I once voted for Brad Collins. I won't make that mistake again.
ReplyDeleteOur FIRST big problem is having a newspaper that is just a propaganda machine. Never any real reporting, no perspective, nothing that would actually make the rag live up to a "news" paper. Next, we have a lone radio station that is NOT anything more than a relay station for publicly traded talking heads.
ReplyDeleteThe few "locally" produced shows are just crazy, inane. I don't really want to hear about a couple of old farts chatting about nothing I can even fathom. We need some public access radio, only our local NPR affiliate just streams the Seattle NPR stuff. No local programming.
The lack of information portals has been the problem. Thankfully PortO and CK have come up with something. Not perfect, not at all, but it's getting better. It's marginally hopeful.
Its clear that we haven't had representation for a long time, and Max WAS run out of town, that should have been a crime. But it wasn't.
I am having a great struggle with the concept of running for office because I've spent two decades hearing (from locals) about how I was an outsider, and just don't "get it". I've had the undercurrent, and the back stabbing, and all the innuendo and b.s. and the "you can't fight city hall" drummed into me. I can't see that running would be anything more than shoving money into a rat-hole.
I'm reluctant to do much more than sit back and comment on this blog, because, I've been beaten into hopelessness, just like the next guy.
If you go door to door in town telling that story you will win by a large margin. folks all over town are just as fed up as you are. they don't want the next few years to be like the last few years. you have until May 15th to make up your mind. I hope you will run.
DeleteGlad to hear you're considering running.
DeleteI think it is a mistake to think that because things were a way before, they will always be that way in the future. Things do change. We're not depending on the telegraph for news these days, any more than traveling by horse and buggy. Did you hear about Teslas' "Wall of Power" home battery system, announced yesterday? For $3,500 and expected to be half that in 3 years? Goodbye city electric bills! And they think they have revenue problems now?
Things ARE changing, and you can be part of that change.
Yes, Max was run out of town, and that is a shame. I'm not sure it was a crime, but it definitely was a shame.
DeleteDo you know who bought Max's house? Shan Pak, who is now making noises about running for City Council. I can't imagine that will be pretty or pleasant for him. The good old boys will be sharpening their blades with extra care.
Shan's the man, I'm all in. Problem solver is what we need.
DeleteCounty records show that Shan-Ng Pak and Tetyana Obukhanych purchased several properties over the last 1-2 years.
DeleteGoogling Tetyana Obukhanych shows an anti-vaccine advocate. Now maybe it's not the same person, and even if it it is they may not share the same beliefs on the subject. But we need to be really cautious about who we elect because we're already so deep in the hole.
Can we start electing people who have an IQ over75? Please?
ReplyDeleteQualifications for running for public office: Must have an IQ higher than the temperature of whatever room you are in at any given time.
DeleteJust paid my taxes. $5,640. Last year when I paid $5,100 the girl behind the counter taking my money commented about how much they were. I told her that really it's $8,000 to me because that is what I had to earn, really, in order to write them their check. She said "oh yeah I never thought of it like that". My house was built in 1922 for $2,200. Crazy times.
ReplyDeleteHey there now ...Those port commissioners spent a couple of years sitting on their asses collecting and spending port revenue thinking up that Brilliant 5 year master plan! I knew it was bullshit. it was really tough to figure out. I had to navigate all the way to the FAA website. it took me all of 2 minutes to find out that there had never been any safety concerns about the length of the runway and that shortened as it was the freaking thing was still plenty long enough to safely land a 737. What I found out was that the Port had applied for some grant from the FAA for 50,000 bucks ... I think thats all it was ...anyway one of the runways had to be a certain length to get this money. Now I think that they could have extended the runway from the other end but they had already sold the other end of the runway property to that excavation guy that they are all buddy buddy with so he could make his sprint boat race track. I bitched I screamed. I pointed out that they were trying ruin a park I happen to LOVE for a stupid 50,000 grant ... but all I heard in return was that I was not a pilot and there would be bloody bodies and mangled planes littering the park and runway just because a tree hugger idiot such as myself selfishly wanted to keep the park trees when everybody knew you could not take your kids there anyway because of all the dangerous drug paraphernalia that littered the park grounds! Those Port commissioners will lie when the truth would do better. I swear to God they could be buying beer and hotdogs and charcoal in Safeway and they would tell you they were on their way to the Opera.
ReplyDelete