From the PDN today...
The Revitalizer: Leader of Revitalize Port Angeles aims to reinvent town while accentuating the positive
Leslie Robertson
is the unstintingly positive Facebook presence, posting messages to support
people and businesses all over town.
“Positive,” she said, “is what works. It’s always easy to find the negative,” and blame others for whatever is wrong on any given day.
Yet “positive is what gets things done.”
Yet “positive is what gets things done.”
“Instead
of censoring ideas, Leslie encourages debate, only asking that it remain civil
and on topic,” Carol Sinton said.
Robertson
has no degree in urban affairs, marketing or public relations; “college didn’t
stick,” she said.
She is
a 1983 high school graduate...
Richard Schneider
and Robertson don’t agree on every little thing, but they’re of like mind when
it comes to the Facebook page: They want a safe, productive forum with civility
as the cardinal rule.
“Anything really useful can be said respectfully,” he added.
“Anything really useful can be said respectfully,” he added.
From what many of you have posted here, I'd say that you may have a slightly less rosy view of this busy-body high school graduate. And the PDN seems unaware of the irony of invoking the lyrics "accentuating the positive" in their headline, while leaving out the next line about "eliminate the negative." Ah, but such feel-good censorship is what the PDN is all about, isn't it?
Now, I don't mean to be mean, but really...Is a Port Angeles native whose resume consists of high school, working retail and starting a Facebook page really the type of sharp, experienced and worldly person to lead the town out of the wilderness and into a prosperous 21st century? A prosperity based on another bit of lyrics, "where never is heard a discouraging word"? I mean, can a person or a town succeed in reality when they deny the very existence of reality? Isn't there a limit to how much you can paper (or newspaper) over real problems?
Hey, if she can get dozens of people to click "Groovy Town" thousands of times there may be work for her when Cherie Kidd retires. Teams need a cheerleader no matter what the scoreboard shows.
ReplyDeleteFormal education isn't the be all - end all either. We have had more than a few PHD types around here that didn't exactly light the community on fire with their ideas. A good idea is a good idea, no matter how much formal education the presenter has.
ReplyDeleteYes, but, there's a real limit to how much savvy and success we can expect from someone who didn't get any further along than, "Go, Roughriders!"
DeleteI know education isn't a guarantee that someone is actually smart or wise, but, with no other markers to go by, I'd say this town needs a lot more help from people with a lot more education. If all we want is to continue to do so little with so little, well, only a high school diploma is required.
But couldn't we aim a little higher? Please? Or are we going to settle for people like this as our "leaders"? Sure, she's more educated than Edna, who never finished high school at all, but isn't that setting the bar remarkably low?
Formal education isn't all that it is cracked up to be (look at the "leaders" of the college here, what boneheads). However, the PDN did a HUGE disservice to the Revitalize people with that stupid article.
DeleteThey have started the trend to vulcanize opposition to the group AND to stroke the egos of the group, and the problem with "leaders" such as these: they start to believe the press releases about them.
I sure hope she's level headed enough to swerve away from that cliff. As for the dude, he's impossible. Really, really impossible. I think he's the reason that people got pissed off on Facebook.
He is snarky. His facebook messages come off as mean-spirited, egotistical, downright rude, in an uptight, stick-up-his-ass sort of tone. No humor at all. None.
It's the reason that many shun Revittles:"No thank you, I do not need to get scolded like a child."
She's nice enough. Too bad she made the awful choice to pair up with him as the "leaders" of the happy crowd.
The article in the PDN sucked. I think it's their way of trying to undermine the group, seriously.
If you knew you had cancer, a really bad case of cancer, and your doctor just said, "We're going to put a pretty, pink bandage over that and call it good," would you have any faith in that doctor?
ReplyDeletewould it matter? If you had a really bad case of cancer, doesn't matter what color the bandage, or what color the treatment: you're going to die, sooner than later.
DeleteMaybe writing your will, and attending to your bucket list is more important.
Bad analogy.
Uhhh, CK ... you screen the comments in here. You maybe shouldn't get too critical with that aspect of it?
ReplyDeleteIf by that you mean I screen out comments critical of myself or this blog, well no, that's not quite accurate, actually. I get bashed or taken to task here fairly regularly, and sometimes I deserve it. I give, I get, life goes on.
DeleteOh yes, I also screen out nonsense, sexist questions from people who are too damned lazy to Google Cherie Kidd's age for themselves.
DeleteEither that, or the people sending them in are too old and senile to know how to use Google...
Kidd=69 years of age
DeleteAlso, I'm very reluctant to just post live links, especially to things like YouTube videos of Rush songs that are likely to be wildly off-topic and then some. My apologies to Canada.
Delete65+ can mean anything from 65 to 110. Just trying to figure out which spectrum, because with all that makeup who knows?
DeleteMeanwhile, how old is that droopy dog I mean, Deputy Mayor Downie?
Seems to me that if we want change, we'd better eject Kidd and in 2017, eject as many incumbents as we can.
Then, we can talk about change.
And what the hell is wrong with Rush?
DeleteMy read? Revitalize accepts no blame, only accepts credit for anything that can be construed as "positive".
ReplyDeleteBecause John Brewer is a fan, and Revitalize has been criticized here for their stances on the homeless and needy, you see three articles in today's paper, and two carry-overs from the Sunday paper that laud Revitalize in attempts to bolster the group.
This follows at least two commendations from the City Council, and attendance to the group's meetings by Cherie Kidd and Nathan West.
Of COURSE the city's so-called leadership loves the group. The premise, as seen by their supporters posting here, as well as in the PDN, is that the problems (if there are any) of the town and area are not because of anything the local leadership did. Ever. Port Angeles is suffering the lingering effects of the "national epidemic".
This is right in line with the position that Revitalize first came to light over, their blaming the needy in this town for the lack of success in their businesses. Again, nothing they are doing poorly or wrong. Nothing about them. Blame others.
How convenient. The City council can commend them, because Revitalize isn't holding them accountable from running up the debt, and high costs of utilities 36% of residents can't afford any more. Yeah, no problem there.
No holding the City Council accountable for creating all the problems in town, because Revitalize sees the town as wonderful, and the victim of the "national epidemic". Just like the downtown business owners see themselves as wonderful, and the victims of people who won't patronize their businesses, the needy and anything else.
What is crystal clear are the empty streets and sidewalks. That hundred and thousands are dropped off right in the middle of downtown town every day, and ALL get out of town as fast as possible is an inconvenient truth. That millions can visit the Olympic National Park every year, and have for decades, and the town is vacant, is not an issue for Revitalize.
The real-life, every day judgement of millions of people who know nothing about Revitalize, or of Cherie Kidd, or of the politics of Port Angeles, stay away from the town as if it has a "don't stop here" sign at every outside entrance, reveals nothing to this group of cheerleaders. Their answer? Change the street signs. Change the direction of traffic so people getting off the Coho ferry have to drive through downtown against their will.
They should change their name to "It's not my fault".
I prefer to call them Reavers, like the fictional group of humans in the television series Firefly (and film Serenity) who live on the fringes of civilized space and have become animalistic.
DeleteThe Reavers started out as an idealistic group of humans, that were exposed to drugs that made them happy and passive, then the drug's side effects turned them (the ones that weren't so passive and happy that they laid down and died) into raving, violent lunatics, attacking everything that wasn't "them".
I fully expect this to happen with our home-grown Reavers. Just wait.
Truth is always stranger than fiction.
Um...."Blaming others for what is wrong on any given day."
ReplyDeleteSo, is she saying that I should take personal responsibility for foolishness like, say, the Turd Tank? I lived here, it happened under my watch - so I guess I have to blame myself for it?
That makes very little sense.
Frankly, I didn't vote for these council members who have jacked up our debt to unsustainable levels, cratered our local economy, and created a huge mess that will take at least a generation to fix. But I'm supposed to not affix blame to anyone for that? Other than myself, maybe?
That makes no sense. None. But, hey, pot is legal now, so....
We don't have any problems because Port Angeles is so fabulous. If we had any problems, it is because of the haters. Haters are so negative. If they were positive like we at Revitalize Port Angeles are, things would be even better than they are now!
ReplyDeleteThings in Port Angeles are getting better every day. We talk with each other, and tell each other how wonderful we are, and how fabulous Port Angeles is, and everything. And, when we get together, we talk about ways to get other people to like us even more than they do already.
11:17, you're comments would be really funny if they weren't so true.
DeleteYour.
DeleteLike the clique of school girl cheerleaders they are so often described as. Who looks to cheerleaders for serious solutions?
DeletePort Angeles.
Indeed it's: your comments
Deleteas in "all your bases are belong to us"
I never got Revitalize. It started as basically a brainstorming group on Facebook. Lots of ideas were thrown out that probably will never happen. Seems like it took over the "spruce up" activities from the PADA and picked up trash and painted some benches. Otherwise it was mostly harmless. I figured it'd just operate quietly for awhile, make a few very minor improvements to PA (mostly just routine maintenance like painting things) and then fade away.
ReplyDeleteSo how the hell did it get the power it has now? Not even power, just... prestige I guess? People love it or hate it, but why? Painting a park bench isn't front page news and it's not worth critical blog posts. It's just something that should happen. Running a Facebook page of ideas for the town is great and all but not THAT great and not THAT terrible. But they got a LOT of publicity, good and bad, and that led to this contest, the front page article and God knows what else?
So what gives? Is there something I'm missing? Why is this group getting so much press? Why should we care about Revitalize at all? Why are we focused on them instead of, say, city hall? I think they're becoming just another distraction the media loves so much, but are they actually worth our time?
You ask many worthwhile questions.
Deletethat is easy, the sycophant PDN "features" reporter, the resident boot-licker, who couldn't keep a job until she landed here (2006) and then the fawning started. So much for a UC Berkeley "J-school"degree. (Those who can't write, get j-school degrees.) You'll know her stories,they're the ones without a natural lead, without a point, and without a clue.
DeleteOh, the ones that are, pretty much, a waste of space, slanted, and really BORING. Yeah. Gotcha.
DeleteOf course they like Leslie. She is a Port Angeles girl. Bred and born here. Raised up in the culture.
ReplyDeleteborn and bred, or born and inbred?
DeleteWho else remembers how every episode of FANTASY ISLAND started?
ReplyDelete"Smiles, everyone, smiles!"
DA PLANE, Boss, DA PLANE!!
DeleteExcept, of course, in Port Angeles, there are no planes.
Deletenot many small people in tuxedo's either.
DeleteOnly 15 miles away, yesterday, this town saw something other than empty streets and empty sidewalks.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cheknews.ca/first-ever-car-free-day-victoria-hit-105389
Yes, while Port Angeles' paper runs stories about the 25th anniversary of the listing of the Spotted Owl, highlighting the down turn in the timber industry, and pointing readers to Revitalizes' excuse of the "national epidemic" for why the streets and sidewalks are empty, Victoria experiments with car free streets in the center of town. And, unlike here, where the City Council chased the closest thing to that, the farmers market, off the streets, the city council, downtown business association and media supported the effort in Victoria. They say they are looking to institutionalize car free areas in the business districts of Victoria, and are working towards that vision. While in Port Angeles, the residents chief concern is not being able to park their cars right next to the stores they want to shop at.
DeleteOnce again, we see the City council, with it's repeating commendations, and the PDN choosing the wrong approach to focus their attentions upon in the towns efforts to improve Port Angeles. As has been said so many times, you can't fix problems unless you recognize they exist. Blaming the homeless and needy as the reason why the streets and sidewalks are empty in Port Angeles isn't going to get the people getting off the Coho to patronize your shops. Being all "positive" while blaming a perceived "national epidemic" for your shortcomings isn't going to turn this town around.
It IS appropriate to be critical of bad ideas. It IS appropriate to hold local elected representatives for their failed actions and bad judgments. It IS appropriate to point out Revitalizes' belief that the town's primary problem are the effects of a "national epidemic".
NOT recognizing these fallacies, not holding elected officials and civic leadership accountable for wrong-headed actions and approaches only perpetuates what has been going on for years now.
On a related note...Per the "state level speakers" coming to try and pimp...I mean pump up the Lincoln Theater fundraising campaign...Well, here are some stats from Olympia, the town containing the theater to which they are trying to compare the Lincoln...
ReplyDelete"Olympia is the capital of the State of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. The population was documented as 46,478 in the 2010 census. Olympia is a major cultural center of the Puget Sound region. Olympia is located 60 miles from Seattle, the largest city in the state of Washington.
Thurston County's population as of the 2010 census, was 252,264.
In addition to primary and secondary schools, Olympia has a number of institutions of higher learning, including The Evergreen State College, South Puget Sound Community College, and Saint Martin's University."
Olympia is a regional center for fine arts. A number of theatrical experiences are available with companies such as Capital Playhouse, Animal Fire Theater, Olympia Family Theater, Theater Artists Olympia (TAO), Olympia Little Theater, and Harlequin Productions at the historic State Theater.
Top employers in Olympia include the State of Washington (20,000-25,000), local government (10,000-15,000), Providence St. Peter Hospital (1,000-5,000), Tribal government (1,000-5,000) and the Federal government (500-1,000)."
In other words, the largest employer in the City of Olympia employs more people than live in Port Angeles. And those colleges. And right off I-5. And near Seattle. And so on and so on.
It's not an apples and oranges comparison. It's a watermelon and one single little raisin comparison. Port Angeles isn't Olympia - and isn't Olympia glad.
That's a good point. Seems like Port Angeles is always being compared to someplace bigger and with a lot more resources. Victoria and Olympia are both capitols.
DeleteOn the other hand, there is a lot of similarities too. Olympia, Victoria and Port Angeles are all waterfront towns. Guess which built beautiful, walkable parks that take advantage of this and which didn't? No offense to ODT, but that's not exactly a "city" project and I don't even think the city knows what to do with it. Hence why it just stops along our waterfront. All towns are nestled in some beautiful natural environments. Who has better city parks for mixed use? Who has a walkable, bikeable town? We're just now barely starting to recognize that these things contribute to that "quality of life" that people outside the area keep talking about. Unfortunately, it's coming off as a little too late.
Positivity without a reality check does no one any good. This town faces some real problems. Giant, ugly problems due to years of neglect and outright incompetence or corruption. Plastering over everything with smiley faces won't solve that.
DeleteBut I would also argue that the opposite is just as bad. Outright negatively provides no solutions to our many problems, just the same as outright positivity. If we want to make progress in this town we have to recognize the problems AND believe there are solutions. IF we want this town to progress then we have to work on those solutions. Simply standing around saying "everything's great, no need to worry!" or "everything's all fucked up, it's all just lipstick on a pig, there's no point in doing anything!" isn't going to get us anywhere.
Speaking of Olympia electeds pimping in the hood, Steve Tharinger came down to the Democratic Nomination meeting on Saturday to pimp for his man Mark for county commissioner. Why you may ask. Because the other candidate wants to stop Tharinger's pet project, the Carlsborg Sewer project which will increase the value of Tharinger's buddies while screwing the locals in Carlsborg who don't want or need the Carlsborg sewer to collect sewage and pump it to Sequim. Tharinger does not weigh in on the antics of the county commission which he knows a great deal about as he used to be one. Instead he finds a weak candidate and then persuades his low-information party members to support him. This way he is sure to get his sewer either way. Either McEntire will get re-elected and build the sewer or Mark will get elected and the sewer will go in anyway. What pitiful excuse for leadership. Being able to get elected does not equate with leadership.
DeleteAll great comments. Thanks!
DeleteIt is positively certsin that the Paradise Fire will pay out lots of hazard pay and overtime and create particulate pollution off the charts.
DeleteWelcome to how those in Olympia play the game "romance the rubes"
DeleteNo, formal education beyond high school isn't necessarily everything, but even vocational school of some sort, a trade, or proven experience in an applicable field should be able to be demonstrated before giving somebody like that credibility. Change and growth happen slowly but even here on the Peninsula I am impressed with the efforts that Sequim and Port Townsend put in to make their towns more attractive to both locals and tourists alike. I had a friend visit recently who commented that the last time she was in Port Angeles, it just seemed like it was a dead town. But she enjoyed the core downtown of Sequim with its little shops, new restaurants opening up, the farms, the recreational opportunities, concerts, surprisingly vibrant for the population, including the brand new Civic Center and plaza showing that Sequim is planning for the future and is forward thinking about what it wants to be.
ReplyDeleteAs has been said before, Port Angeles has to decide what it is presenting itself to to world as. Plans and volunteerism is all nice, but what's the goal? Rah-Rah "We're the Best" cheer leading is cute, but towards what end?
ReplyDeleteDriving into town, most see the smokestacks, log yards and oil tankers first. They stand out very dominantly. Given that thousands and millions are driving to, trough and away from Port Angeles without stopping, it is pretty safe to say most are not finding these attributes attractive. In the slightest.
Ya can't promote yourself as the outdoor recreation paradise, when the dominant activities in town are the rape, pillage and plunder of the environment.
It is like expecting vegans to be attracted to a slaughterhouse.
But as is seen in the PDN, blaming protection of the endangered Spotted Owl on the towns' decline still makes the front page.
And, remember, there are plenty of other places for people to vacation at. Have any of the civic leaders looked to see the size of the crowds, well, pretty much anywhere but here? Get a clue!
Sure, but Port Townsend has that gosh-awful cabbage/rotting smell as you drive into town. You might not SEE the mill, but the first whiff is pretty unbelievable. And, if you go to Craigslist you see the pissed off posts (i.e. http://olympic.craigslist.org/rnr/5032817683.html)
DeleteIt isn't the place, it's the contents.
Beavis said it best years ago. Fire!!!!!!! Wait. It's only June. The real pain for PA is coming in July/August/ and September. October is historically the driest. Oops. :D
ReplyDeleteAre you suggesting Port Angeles isn't absolutely wonderful, fantastic, the Best Town EVER? That there might be ( I'm not saying there is) a problem here? Oh, I can't listen to you, that just sounds negative.
DeleteLa La La
OMG! Truth is stranger than fiction. Bounced checks. Lol. Somebody please contact Komo/Kiro. So funny. :D
ReplyDeleteI know...and the taxpayers will have to foot that $35 NSF charge from the bank..Oh my!
ReplyDeleteIf Barkhuis is successful, she demonstrates that because she can solely control the purse strings, she can solely control the county.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind, I'd like to go back to the topic: Revitalizer as Denier in Chief.
ReplyDeleteAs we saw in the PDN, Leslie and her "Revitalize" groupies pin Port Angeles' problems, and their poor business performance on what they call the "national epidemic" of the recession of 2008. The PDN also tagged on the Spotted Owl listing of 25 years ago, for good measure.
But, if analyzed, do any of these excuses hold water? No, I'm not going to bore you with the -AHEM- exhaustive research into the regional issues that the PDN and others provided to support their contention of the causes that result in the current economic malaise as represented in the empty sidewalks, empty streets, empty hotels, etc as seen in Port Angeles. If you pay me enough, I'll provide the analysis to address those more directly.
I just want to take this opportunity to point out a few really obvious flaws in those convenient excuses, for those who actually, really, do want to work on Port Angeles moving forward.
The premise is that Port Angeles is a victim. The problems the downtown businesses experience, of little foot traffic and limited sales, are the result of the economic down turn created by the Great Recession of 2008.
The problems have nothing to do with Port Angeles, but of situations beyond the control of Port Angeles and it's elected and civic leadership, so the stated excuse explains.
As with many of claims like these that try to create a false "truth", there is a grain of truth to what is said. Yes, there was an impact to the area with the impacts of the economic turn down of 2008. If compared to the hardest hit communities in North America, Clallam County actually fared fairly well. Many of us saw families living in cars, with children being fed at school, the result of the families not able to make house payments. Neighborhoods where half the houses were empty, or more. Detroit has 60,000 empty houses, now.
Port Angeles was not impacted like that. And today, a visitor would be hard pressed to see the impacts of the Great Recession. The log yards are brimming with logs. Log trucks abound on area roads and highways. Tankers sit in the harbor, waiting for repairs. The ferry continues to do it's daily runs to Victoria and back. Houses are being bought and sold.
Is Port Angeles experiencing loss of jobs, because area industry has shut down? Not according to the Economic Development Council, whose quarterly report highlights how jobs with health benefits and pension plans go unfilled. How numerous employers in the county can't even get new hires to show up for work. How ads generate little response.
With thousands passing through Port Angeles every day, with millions more each year visiting the adjacent Olympic National Park each year, and jobs going unfilled, it is difficult to describe Port Angeles as the victim of forces outside of it's control. However convenient it is to state that as an excuse.
Clearly, by not recognizing it's own internal problems, and instead assigning blame for it's failures on outside influences, Port Angeles' elected and civic leadership intentionally avoid facing the issues required to actually solve the city's problems. And so, solutions will be difficult to realize.
"Port Angeles' elected and civic leadership intentionally avoid facing the issues required to actually solve the city's problems. And so, solutions will be difficult to realize."
DeleteNail on the head. Thanks for your thoughtful and oh-so-accurate comments.
"according to the Economic Development Council, whose quarterly report highlights how jobs with health benefits and pension plans go unfilled. How numerous employers in the county can't even get new hires to show up for work. How ads generate little response."
DeleteYes, I've seen plenty of "help wanted" signs... At places like Gordy's and Domino's.
I'm not (entirely) trying to be dismissive. I'm well aware that Port Angeles has a labor force that's, shall we say, a bit weak. The best employees already have jobs and are hanging onto them for dear life. Some of them may even be making enough money to live here. I'm not, not without some major compromises like a retirement fund or health care, but I'm sure there are some people who are doing okay.
Now I've had to look for a job several times while living here. Each time I've seen more people looking for jobs than employers looking for people. And it hadn't exactly been a worker's market. Each time I've had to take a larger pay cut just to have a job. Each time I've felt more degraded as I took a job lower than my skill level.
You make it sound like there are plenty of family-wage jobs in Port Angeles that simply don't get filled. Maybe there is now, it's been awhile since I've looked. I'm hanging onto my job, bad as it is, for dear life because I know it could get worse. But every time I have looked for a new job I haven't found that to be the case. I've found too many people looking for too few low-wage jobs.
And the thing about crappy jobs is it increases employee churn. It doesn't surprise me that people don't want those jobs, or that they leave them quickly. And high-skilled employees will take note. The ones who can, particularly the young ones, will leave the area. They'll take their skills and earning potential elsewhere. The employee market that's left will either find one of the few good jobs out there, or they'll be the kind who bails on their jobs quickly.
I'm sorry if this is turning into an incoherent rant, I'm just frustrated with the job market here. Honestly I wish I'd moved a decade ago, I might have still had a chance at getting a decent career instead of just a crappy Port Angeles job.
Your comments are not an incoherent rant. You're voicing real concerns, and the real situation. Port Angeles is hobbled by a combination of a skills/education deficit (or, brain drain), compounded by the youth flight you also mention, and a persistently higher than average unemployment rate. I don't think the real, actual unemployment rate in Port Angeles has dipped under 10% for years, no matter what the "official" rate is.
DeleteThank you for your comments, and...Geez, I'm just sorry you're stuck where you are.
I take a different view of what is being said and revealed in this conversation.
DeleteLook at what we see. Thousands of people passing through town, and we still have empty sidewalks and streets. Dozens of jobs with benefits go unfilled, and we have high unemployment figures. Employers who complain that new hires can't be bothered to show up to work. Ads for these jobs in the Sunday paper get one applicant.
The EDC Quarterly report quotes the administration at ACTI as some who say one of their biggest problems is "just getting employees to show up". Attendance is one of their biggest problems.
So, what do all these things tell us? It would seem that, regardless if you are a visitor who knows nothing about Port Angeles just passing by, or someone who lives here, the view is the same: Port Angeles isn't worth making an effort for.
I'm sure there are people who will think that is a snarky comment, but I intend it as a serious observation.
What is the common denominator in what we see? People get off the ferry, and head right out of town as fast as possible. Locals shop over in Sequim, Walmart, Swains, anywhere but downtown. People can't be bothered to apply for jobs, or show up for jobs they get.
What is the common thread? Is it really accurate to blame some outside issue like the recession of 2008? If everybody is so poor from the recession, why are millions driving by on their vacations? Why won't they show up for jobs if everyone is so poor? Why is everyone shopping in Sequim, if they don't have any money?
One thing seems pretty clear. People may like the Olympic Park, and the natural beauty of the region, but there is not much evidence people like Port Angeles.
"One thing seems pretty clear. People may like the Olympic Park, and the natural beauty of the region, but there is not much evidence people like Port Angeles."
DeleteYep.