Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Living In A Post-CAO World

Today, we got our first look at the CAOs that were passed yesterday. They can be found at this link.

The County came out with a press release regarding Council CAO approval. As we review and analyze the final version, we will be providing our own commentary. At this stage, it appears as if many of the last-minute changes made by the Council were cosmetic. Councilwoman Pratt is quoted as saying that the CAOs represent "hard work" and "compromises," but the final CAO text appears to represent neither. It makes us wonder whether Pratt has a grasp of either concept.

Consider, as a brief example, the Reasonable Use Exception in the General Section. Aside from adding some meaningless platitudes up front about respect for private property, the Council left it alone. It's still the same old unreasonable Reasonable Use Exception that we've seen in every unacceptable draft up to this point. Nothing substantive has changed.

One of the local newspapers said the CAOs were "blessed" by the County Council yesterday. We think they have their religious imagery mixed up. The citizens of the County were cursed by it.

In a separate matter that might have implications for CAO implementation and general governance, a lawsuit was filed today to overturn the election results regarding Proposition 1 (Actually, the prayer for relief requests that all three propositions be invalidated. See comments below). Among other things, the suit seeks injunctive relief to stop the scheduled county-wide elections for three new councillors. Readers also may remember that there already is a separate lawsuit in progress regarding the behavior of Fralick, Miller, and Pratt and their secret CAO meetings. The year 2013 is shaping up to get off to a bang in what may be a year of continuous litigation for the County.

Interesting times.

17 comments:

  1. You smell that? Do you smell that? Ink toner, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of ink toner in the morning. Smells like . . . . . like . . . victory.

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  2. OK, whatever that toner smell means. Me? I'd say we are in very deep shit.

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  3. We are in deep shit, and if I am not mistaken, the previous commenter was doing a parody of Apocalypse Now where Kilgore (Robert Duvall's character) says that he loves the smell of napalm in the morning ... it smells like victory. Instead of firebombing us with napalm, the Council firebombed us with paper and exploding legislation.

    Regardless, we are in deep shit.

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  4. Good thing Randy got that new "public safety tax". How handy is it that ,now they have more of our money to keep us in our place.

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  5. Who wants pie
    I think what you may be smelling is the pie the county has baked for us. When they ran out of "best available ingredients" they just put in some poop. Who wants poop pie!
    For the rest of their lives I hope they look at what they have become as they brush their teeth and try to get the taste of their pie out of their mouth.

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  6. Trying to decide whether to apply for open space critical area resource protection, if we all applied en mass it could be a nice tidy mess. I think we need an underground railroad.

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  7. You need a conditional use permit for an underground railroad, and its likely that habitat would be impacted.

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  8. Never mind the bad smell. The very real problem we have is that courts are slow, like real slow resulting in a limbo for us that could be lasting until we are all completely exhausted and probably a little crazy.

    I too would like to be a little mean to the deserving: HELLO TO WORKING PEOPLE; No reservations, oops the cell phone went kaput, for Miller and Fralik. leave em sit forever...oh, it was a shift change...you all know how to play this. No food service, No movies, No check out. NO NOTHING!

    As Nick Jones so rightly said: "Does Amy Trainer know where her food comes from?"

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  9. Let the work go out across the land.

    Shun them.

    The CAO has too many parts. They know that. The process was corrupt. They know that. They spent hardly an hour considering the comprehensive plan after thousands of hours of public and tortuous deliberation over the fate of frogs. They too, know this.

    Shun them. Turn away from them in the grocery stores. Look not in their eye. Offer them no small act of kindness. Let their remaining days grow grey and chill.

    Curse them in turn for the curse they have laid on their neighbors and former friends.

    Shun them. May their gardens wilt. May any remaining prosperity of theirs dwindle and decay.

    Shun them Shame them. Ignore them.

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  10. We all in common have no respect for their kind, their willingness to forbade our autonomy. This so separates us, we may need to form a pact to support each other in protection of our need to steward our lands. These clowns are so inept they fail to realize the potential negative environmental implications of allowing lands to remain unmaintained for fear of county enforcement. who wants to ask permission to do the right thing, I feel contempt to even consider such an action. And I am sure I am not alone. Who will consider to ask permission to install a play structure for their children, how does this make anyone feel. Just a little Contempt maybe?

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  11. Could some of the anonymous writers either use a pen name or their own? This would allow us to better follow the arguments and know which one says we are smelling the flowers, the ink toner, or the excrement.
    More to the point of my comment: The lawsuit filed yesterday requests that the Court invalidate Propositions 1, 2, and 3 (not just Proposition 1).
    Janice - pleased to use her own name - Peterson

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  12. That is true. It appears that most of the arguments in the complaint are directed against Proposition 1. It also appears that the injunction is directed towards the elections (Proposition 1). However, I acknowledge that the prayer for relief, under Item #85, requests "For the court to invalidate Propositions 1, 2, and 3."

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  13. How long before the FOSJ files their own suit, or appeal to the GMA Board because the CAO is too "loose"? It is not sufficient to protect "values and functions".
    How long before the FOSJ files its first complaint against some land owner for a violation of some part of the CAO?
    How long before the FOSJ tries to sue every landowner in the County For violation of the Aquifier sections, since the entire county is a critical area?
    How long before the citizens wake up to the evil that is the FOSJ?

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  14. As the famous racing driver Sterling Moss once said: "When something really terrible happens, that's when you must drive harder and faster." (Not an exact quote, no doubt.)

    Since the County Council makes it's own rules of procedure, when the new Council is seated the new majority should immediately change the election of chair to coincide with the Council election cycle and then immediately un-seat Miller and replace her with Peterson, the most experienced person of the new majority.

    Also, as an aside, such a rule change is beneficial to the electorate as the newly elected are usually going to be a majority more representative of the current will of the voters.

    When Peterson was chair, things actually were moving forward even with the obstructionists he had sitting with him.

    As Pratt says; were the voters confused? (Not about you Lovel. We know that because they also kicked Howie out.)

    But were they confused about prop 1? I don't think so, I think they were so pissed off generally that they wanted a major change no matter what it was.

    Much as this latest suit is a huge happening and we cede more and more control to the lawyers and courts, still maybe this one is righteous.

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  15. Under "normal" circumstances, the Council Chair changes with each calendar year, and the Deputy takes over. If that same paradigm were to be followed here, Stephens would be the next Chair.

    I guess we'll have to wait and see how it all sorts itself out. We could have Stephens starting in January, but ultimately, it is up to the new Council to decide whether or not to follow tradition.

    Personally, I hope they break with tradition. I don't think our government traditions have been serving The People very well.

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  16. Stephens should do the right thing and cede to Peterson. Otherwise the incoming members should nominate him and Peterson should seriously consider it. If the new comer from Orcas has a problem with that or is unwilling to take a stand on this beforehand, we will learn a lot quickly about who he is. Fralick's poodle. I do not see how the new Council is going to roll over on this issue and say, what's done is done, let's move on.

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  17. That person from Lopez who never does his homework and is as awake as Howie is asleep? That Guy?

    "God Bless Us, Everyone." Tiny Tim, or in today's World: "Oh, Lord, Pleeeze."

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