...How do you keep Cherie Kidd up and at her computer all night?
First of all, no, she's probably not up all night looking at online porn. (Probably.) No, all you have to do to keep birdbrain Cherie up all night is announce a new BEST TOWN EVER contest online, and boy, she'll stay up all night, clicking and voting away because, well, it's another great day in Port Angeles! Yes, a great day all night long! Click...click...click...
Never mind, as has been pointed out already, that Port Angeles didn't actually meet the (very loose) criteria for the contest, and got in as a mild wild card. Never mind, as has been pointed out, that there is no prize, other than extremely dubious "bragging rights." Never mind, as has been pointed out, that this is such an obvious shill for driving web traffic (like Cherie's eterna-clicks) to a website to jack up their numbers, and thus, their ad rates.
We put the "con" in contest!
No, never mind ALL of that, because the leaders in Port Angeles can now say they're running a City that might be the BEST TOWN NEVER. Oh, oops! I mean EVER. Gosh, this is important! Drop everything and click...click...click...
Yes, from the mountains (of debt and garbage) to the seashore (where you can see the Turd Tank and the previously mentioned garbage), clearly Port Angeles is ever so great, ever so fine, ever so perfect, and ever so close to being...THE BEST TOWN EVER.
I began this with a riddle, so let's end with a modified version of an old joke. You know, it's the one about a cemetery being so popular people are dying to get in it. Well, Port Angeles is such the BEST TOWN EVER that people are jumping off bridges to get out of it. In fact, it's such the BEST TOWN EVER that unusually large numbers of people are doing drugs to escape it. That persistently high unemployment rate? Those people aren't looking for jobs; they don't want to work and pay their bills. No, they just want to have the luxury of simply living in Port Angeles, because it is the BEST TOWN EVER.
BEST TOWN EVER? Sure...If you've never been to another town.
A photo from the future...Proud Port Angeles
residents celebrate living in the BEST TOWN EVER!
Yeah, great. A young woman comes and speaks to the city council about trying to find some hope amid the desolation and drug abuse of Port Angeles, and gets no response. But some meaningless, stupid contest like this comes along, and watch the city council get all puffed up with pride. I can hear Cherie at a PABA meeting already, spewing her standard "great day in PA" BS.
ReplyDeleteYeah, great.
Obviously, this stupid contest is not a story. No, the real story is the distraction it provides, the out it gives elected officials to say, "See? We're doing something right!"
DeleteSo it's not hard to imagine the City Council devoting brain space (such as it is) to this stupid, pointless contest, while simultaneously ignoring the pleas of their own citizens for help, for hope.
THAT is the real story, and the real shame.
Now if it were a "how dumb is your city council" contest...we'd be number one.
DeleteLooks like PA is getting knocked out by Santa Barbara in this first round. Good! Get rid of this distraction, which only serves to further confuse people like Cherie Kidd and her ilk. At least they can TRY to focus on the tasks at hand, rather than some silly contest.
DeleteI'm sure that Santa Barbara is really, really worried about this...
ReplyDeleteRight now we're up against Santa Barbara. That last photo looks like Barbara (Frederick) swallowed Santa. Surely there is some sort of message there...
DeleteI wasn't aware that Barb was DATING Santa.
DeleteUgh! Please, don't go there.
DeleteOh lord...I was just on the PDN site, and read the ridiculous comments Diane Martin made...Here's a local environmental activist and gardener, who wants us to play host all winter to a GIANT FLOATING OILRIG AND EYESORE. Yes, indeedy. So here's one of our local "progressives," someone who is involved with the local Democratic party, someone who claims to care about the environment, advocating that Port Angeles host a GIANT FLOATING OILRIG AND EYESORE.
ReplyDeleteWith friends like this, who needs enemies? No wonder we're in the terrible shape we are, when this is something the environmentalists want.
Yep. She's right in line with Peter Ripley's comments there. In fact, she's seconding his initial comment. Pretty pathetic.
DeleteDiane Martin is a big, fat idiot, and we already have Barb Frederick filling that (non) job, thank you very much.
DeleteAnother example of how "great" Port Angeles is was demonstrated at the City Council meeting Tuesday night when the City gave proclamations to the city employees who worked to create the $50 million CSO project!
ReplyDeleteShowing their compassion for the residents they represent, the City Council stood up and applauded Kathrin Neal for her work on "saving residents money " with her "out of the box thinking" in creating the city's "most expensive project".
Yeah. I can see it. Port Angeles is the best city in America, because one third of it's residents can't afford their utility bills. That just to have a house hooked up to city utilities, but not use any, can cost $160 a month! If this is the best in America, how can the rest of the country afford to do anything?
If ignoring a young woman who asked for hope for the youth of the town is ignored by the entire leadership of the town, and we call this "the Best", can you imagine what "Worst" must be like?
Don't forget to change the name on utility service (not service, just the name) on a bill is $30.00, so if you have a family member who has passed on, or you get married and change YOUR NAME -- the fine for that is $30 bucks, and they won't waive it.
DeleteOh yes, I forgot that Port Angeles has its own version of the Death Tax. Tacky, terrible and totally unnecessary.
DeleteThese stupid pointless contests generate overly excited buzz, which seems to be what powers the internets any more. Advertainment! Toss a shiny app out there, count the clicks, and go get some craft beers somewhere. We'll just see a little more tourist traffic next few summers, so woohoo! for that sector anyway.
ReplyDeleteAt least with this one I actually recognize the magazine holding the contest. Outside is a fairly respected magazine and not just some fly-by-night web site.
ReplyDeleteJust because you recognize a magazine name, doesn't mean it's being published by the same publisher. You do know that 99% of those mags out there have been abandoned to unscrupulous owners who don't give a rats ass about even keeping up appearances of what used to be a "magazine". Click-bait is rampant with the online mags. None of them are doing more than eeking by.
DeleteIs our ENTIRE economy now built on people selling ads? It sure seems like it sometimes. No, we don't make anything, we just sell stuff...
DeleteNo, we're just enticed to BUY stuff. We stopped being citizens, long ago. We're the consumers of the United States of America.
DeleteWell, it's official: Lee Whetham is gonna have to work for his pork. Connie Beauvais of Joyce has also announced her campaign for Port Commissioner. This gives the voters a clear choice between a crook and a kook.
ReplyDeleteAnyone with a brain and/or some ethics wanna throw their hat in, too?
Sadly, CK, as you know, "Brains need not apply."
DeleteHow about water, Connie?
ReplyDeleteI see the PDN is now saying what was reported in the Port O Call two months ago. We are facing a really serious water situation, and nothing of consequence is being done.
Even at the last Port Angeles City Council meeting, they had an hour long special meeting to be updated about the areas' water situation. The focus of their discussions? That the city will lose utility tax revenue when people can't use as much water as they have been, and therefore rates should be raised. Not a word about finding ways to ensure there IS water for residents.
Yes, it will be interesting to see what happens, and what comes of it.
People forget, or don't take into consideration, that these towns are on a geologically narrow strip of downward sloping land. To the south are the tops of the mountain range, and the north is the Strait, where all the water is flowing towards via gravity. That strip is about 15 miles wide. In terms of geology and water, it is not a great picture.
But, as we know, few people think about it, and fewer still understand what is at play. As long as water comes out when they turn the faucet, all is good.
There is no plan, beyond "conservation", because virtually none of them can conceive that there could be changes resulting in the situation we find ourselves in, now. They obviously still don't "get it", as they still speak of rationing and conservation. Great ideas when you have storage reservoirs, and through rationing, one can stretch out the availability of a limited amount of water. But here, once the water runs it course down the slopes and rivers to the Strait, there is no water to ration or conserve.
As was mentioned previously, the staff showed a graph indicating serious low water situations by the end of summer for 9 out of the last 15 years. That is, almost two thirds of the time, Port Angeles experiences serious low water availability situations.
How much have you heard about this, over the last 15 years? Any plans to do anything to build adequate storage reservoirs, anywhere? Besides the infamous $50 million spent on Cutler's Tank o Crap?
They throw money at all kinds of crazy things, but when it comes to a basic life sustaining, community sustaining element essential for economic viability
like water? Nothing.
We'll be lining up at water trucks with our buckets, like you see in Africa.
People who own houses might seriously consider selling now, before the lack of water becomes part of the required disclosures. Having to put that out to potential buyers won't help sales, or prices.
DeleteA nice piece of Self Promotion by Port O Call!
DeleteLOL!
Be careful...Dale gets offended so easily.
DeleteIs it ironic or kind of cruel that the PDN poll today asks people which summer blockbuster movie they most want to see...In a town without a movie theater...
ReplyDeleteCalling Scott Nagel! The Lincoln Theater is still for sale!
Deletewe have a movie theater, just who in the hell knows what's playing...some moron can't program the sign correctly. I'll continue to boycott the place until they figure it out.
DeleteIt's been playing the same show for a LONG time now..."This building for sale."
DeleteI suspect it'll be held over again...
I don't usually get online Friday nights - I like to save that for family time. But I had to share what I saw in the Safeway today.
ReplyDeleteGoing through line ahead of me was Dan Gase. As he's checking out, I can hear him reminding the clerk to "remember to go online and vote for Port Angeles for best town ever!"
We're drowning in debt. This summer, we won't be able to drown in the river, because it will probably run dry. Our schools are failing. Our population is shrinking. We have sky-high substance abuse rates. On and on.
But this is what is occupying Gase's mind, getting people to vote in some stupid, pointless online contest. One that, painfully, flies in the face of the reality so many people here face. There are no jobs here, Mr. Gase! People can't pay their utility bills. Our city council is, at best, incredibly inept, if not nakedly corrupt.
But you're focused on a silly distraction?
It just makes your head feel like exploding...
Simple people think about simple things. Remember that at election time.
DeleteSome of you brainiacs need to show up at city council and raise hell.
ReplyDeleteWe saw what happens, just this week, with that young woman.
DeleteBut, I do agree. We do need to go to city council, and speak out. Stand at the podium until they do react. One after another. Force the issue.
" I'm waiting for a reply, Mr. Mayor."
No more play along, nicey nice. They've demonstrated they don't warrant it.
Here's a plan. Each week request a free c d of the last city council meeting. Take it home, take it apart, return at the next city council and show them how goofy was their last performance and how they could have done it better. Just a few of these type "in your face" appearances and they might be shamed into doing more homework before approving every shiny bauble the staff dangles in front of them.
DeleteI like that!
DeleteAudio of meetings is put up on the web by the city. You can access them here: http://wa-portangeles.civicplus.com/583/Meetings-Agendas
I tried to check my facebook twice tonight but missed out on all the news and gossip from my idiot friends and family. No updates on the ol newsfeed from my favorite groups. Nothing but that stupid contest . I scrolled and scrolled but I could not get passed the fucking hundreds of impassioned pleas to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE vote and make us look like we are so great we beat the pants off of Santa Barbara. Who ever is torturing my news feed with this bullshit has obviously never been to Santa Barbara or she wouldnt be asking me. I thought about just heading over to read the local crap our favorite Canadian owned news editor runs but then noticed he was in on this waste of my time . So now our newspaper editor is blowing up my facebook page as well. So I did the next most logical thing. I turned off my computer and washed my dogs ass. (Shes been needing it for some time.)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that Cherie, and apparently Dan Gase, have sore wrists from all the click...click...click they've been doing. Would that they put so much mental energy (such as it is) and effort into their duties as so-called community leaders.
DeleteBut hey, it's always been easier and less risky to be a cheerleader on the sidelines than it is to be a real player out on the field. Rah, rah team! "It's another GREAT day in Port Angeles!"
Yes, another great day to shoot up or jump down. It's another great day to not have a job, and not be able to pay your bills. And soon, it'll be another great day to simply run out of water. The hope ran out a long time ago, though...
If you couldn't figure out how to silence the "revitalize" folks on facebook, that makes me sad. Try clicking in the upper right corner of the post and UNFOLLOW. Get a clue, dude.
DeleteI didn't want to unfollow the revitalize folks on my facebook page dude. Occasionally someone on there has something interesting to say. I just do not want to wade through the hundreds of posts about this stupid contest. So I blocked outside magazine, Dude.
Delete"The Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce wasn't notified of the entry and learned about it on a Facebook post, said Charlie Comstock, member services manager for the chamber, on Wednesday." That (and more) speaks volumes as to why the CoC does not connect to anything. Crap, guys, no one's going to come to your house and tell you. Yeah it is a Totally Stupid Thing but that is how you promote tourism in 2015. A.D.
ReplyDeleteThe chamber couldn't find it's ass with both hands and a map. That is a very good example of how they fail us, at each and every turn, every day, every month, every year. The chamber fails to do the job it is paid to do.
DeleteJust try getting any information out of them - they say they will get back to you, and never do.
Losers.
Oh, please.
ReplyDeleteI know Santa Barbara, and Port Angeles, you're no Santa Barbara.
Let's think about the price of a home, usually an indicator of the value of something. You know, diamonds are worth more than peanuts, and people are willing to pay more money for diamonds, than peanuts.
You want to know what homes sell for in Santa Barbara?
Oh, and yes. Homes SELL in Santa Barbara.
People actually BUYING something usually indicates it's perceived value. Conversely, if people DON'T BUY something, it usually means it has little value in the market.
How about patronage? Hundreds of thousands and millions of people pass by Port Angeles every year, coming via the Coho, and the ONP. Yet the sidewalks in Port Angeles are empty most of the time. Usually, if some place is valued, people demonstrate their interest by being physically present there.
But, as someone said, these silly contests create "buzz". Create interest in Port Angeles. Is this what the boosters really want?
Do they want people to come and see how we treat our youth? Residents overdosing in intersections? Clearcut forests, logyards , oil derricks and oil tankers? Do they REALLY think people who are patronizing a magazine focusing natural beauty and good food are going to be impressed by what they find in Port Angeles?
"I know Santa Barbara, and Port Angeles, you're no Santa Barbara."
ReplyDeleteThe "vote" on this was so close, and given the respective sizes of the two cities (Port Angeles, 19,000 and dropping; Santa Barbara, 90,000 and growing) it's telling that SO many votes came from Port Angeles. Yes, FROM Port Angeles, not FOR Port Angeles. We all know the vast majority of votes FOR Port Angeles came FROM Port Angeles. Not from visitors, not from fans, not from people in the know. Oh no.
This tells us two things. One is that Santa Barbara is big enough, and prosperous enough, and well known enough, not to care about a stupid little "contest" like this. They know they're doing well, so why sweat the small stuff?
The second thing this tells us is that Port Angeles is DESPERATE for attention, any kind of attention, no matter how small or fleeting or meaningless, so certain pigeon-brained members of the City Council probably injured themselves with marathons of click...click...click.
Meanwhile, the residents they're supposed to be serving, in the BEST TOWN EVER, are scrimping, struggling, shooting up and jumping down.
Apparently you haven't seen that much of Santa Barbara - especially beyond the "tourist-safe zone".
DeleteSanta Barabara has several slum areas that make Gales Addition look like a resort community.
Right.That's why houses in Santa Barbara sell for millions, and houses in Port Angeles don't sell at all.
DeleteI think this contest is hilarious, but not for the reason everyone is talking about. Look, it's for "Outside Magazine" right? Do you REALLY think this is about Port Angeles at all? Is this about Port Angeles or Hurricane Ridge? Port Angeles or the Rainforests? Port Angeles or the Olympic Discovery Trail?
ReplyDeleteIt's like the cruise ships. Yes, PA makes a big deal about cruise ships arriving downtown. As I understand it, most of the people on the ships hop on a shuttle and go to... Hurricane Ridge. The Rainforests. Elsewhere. The amount of tourists passing by is astonishing but how many stop in PA and how many... Well, go to Hurricane Ridge, the Rainforests, Second Beach...
Once again Port Angeles gets the award (well, nominated as a write-in) just by being close to a major tourist destination. And once again Port Angeles is completely clueless and doesn't know how to handle the goldmine in its backyard.
as desperate as the ugly girl before the prom. Yeah, we're pathetic.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, we're in trouble. Not having water is a REALLY, REALLY, REALLY big deal.
ReplyDeleteThe people who study these things say this winter, and the resultant no snow pack is the new normal. That as time passes, not having water is going to be a regular problem.
Composites recycling? Millions spent on the waterfront projects? How about paying attention to being able to deliver water to the residents of the town? The city staff have known this is a concern, for years. But.
ReplyDelete"It is a worrisome development, say hydrologists. Snowpack acts as a natural reservoir, a bank of moisture that melts slowly and keeps rivers flowing through the heat of the August dry season when spawning salmon, big wheat fields, and apple orchards are most in need of water."
"Yet, snowpack in the Pacific Northwest is endangered. If mankind continues putting carbon into the atmosphere at current rates, the extraordinary warm winter of 2014-15 will resemble average conditions in the Cascades and Olympics by mid-century, according to projections from the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington."
Snowless conditions in the Cascades this winter are a cautionary signal for the entire American West, which is undergoing a “major hydrological shift” from snow to rain because of higher temperatures, according to a paper from University of Idaho researchers published last July. Their analysis projects that the area in which temperatures are cold enough for snow in the 11 western states will decrease by roughly 30 percent by mid-century.
“The future looks like this,” Amy Snover, director of the Climate Impacts Group, told Circle of Blue. “Less snow because of warmer temperatures. So much here depends on snowpack. Losing it is one of our biggest vulnerabilities.”