Sunday, January 24, 2016

The Biggest Stories Behind the Shortest Agenda Items

There is a brief agenda item for the upcoming Tuesday Council Meeting. It says:
COUNCIL & COUNTY MANAGER UPDATES: Appointment of Dale Roundy, Pete Moe and Richard Grout to the Planning Commission.
It would appear from the wording of the agenda that our Council has already decided who the appointments should be, but that would have required the Council to have taken action already, outside of a public meeting. That wouldn't do that, would they? But that's not the most interesting aspect of these appointments. Read on.

Let's look at each of these appointments. But first, let's explain the purported process being used by the current Council regarding appointments. Appointments for the Planning Commission (like most advisory committees) have a certain geographic assignment within the County. For instance, Dick Grout would be filling a position from San Juan. Pete Moe would be filling a position from Orcas. Dale Roundy would be filling a position from Lopez.

Furthermore, according to the out-of-date protocol being used by the current Council, the Councilman representing each vacancy brings forward a nominee for a vote before the entire Council. Therefore, Richard (Dick) Grout is Bob Jarman's nominee from San Juan Island (Jarman's residency district). Pete Moe is Rick Hughes' nominee from Orcas Island (Hughes' residency district). Dale Roundy is Jamie Stephens' nominee from Lopez Island (Stephens' residency district).

Let's look at the appointees from the bottom up and examine what they have to offer to the public good.

Dick Grout - he was the Planning Director for San Juan County who urged the BOCC to fully plan under the GMA, way back in 1990. After leaving his county position, Grout was employed by the Department of Ecology for a couple of decades and headed up their Bellingham Office. Since his days as San Juan County Planning Director, Grout has been very vocal and involved in shoreline issues, even up to the current day where he has been a reliable opponent of the Honeywells. Grout also has been a candidate to be our County Manager in the past. TH readers may also remember that Grout has surfaced in previous TH articles, particularly as he was associated with an email about the Council campaign four years ago, talking about Lisa Byers and Laura Jo Severson.
Dick Grout, Jim Slocumb and myself are all willing to walk with Lisa for doorbelling. Jim can put together maps and information lists and can map out routes to walk. I truly believe it will be the difference in winning the election. I’ll point to Laura Jo Severson as my proof. Ron Zee, Jim Slocumb and me took a short grandmotherly type, new to the island, that couldn’t string together a paragraph and got her to within 99 votes of Rich Peterson simply by doorbelling. Think what an articulate woman from Orcas could do.
Why would Bob Jarman put Dick Grout forward as his choice for the Planning Commission? Seems like strange political bedfellows. Reports are, however, that both Jarman and Mike Thomas are still in trouble with Ecology over the Portland Fair wetland situation. Reports are that the Attorney General (AG) is investigating Jarman and Thomas quite seriously, and Jarman/Thomas can't seem to shake the AG. Reports are that Jarman has been going around town asking specific people for their help in getting Ecology to back off. Was Dick Grout one of them?

Dick Grout chimed in about the "civil investigation demand" related to the purported Medicaid fraud on San Juan Island. Grout revealed his extensive experience with the AG as well as his usual "guilty until proven innocent" attitude in a letter to the Journal this past November. Maybe Grout's AG experience could come in handy in helping Jarman fight the AG too? ... if he were properly incentivized, that is. As Grout says in his Journal letter:
I worked for the state of Washington for several years before I retired. My job included regular interaction with the attorney general’s office. I’ve worked with a number of assistant attorney generals to develop similar interrogatories and “requests for production” of documents. I know from that experience that you don’t get served with one of these demands unless the attorney general’s office has good reason to believe there’s a fire beneath the smoke.
Whatever the reason for putting Grout's name forward, it must be pretty compelling for Jarman to do it. It's out of character.

[Note: in the latest version of the January 26th agenda, Grout's name has been removed].

Pete Moe - **** edited because of extreme hypocrisy ****

Dale Roundy - what if you were in charge of the water supply for a village (e.g., Jamie Stephens) and there was groundwater contamination near one of your water supply wells ... and you didn't tell anyone? Well, let's clarify, certain people knew about it. The local Planning Commissioner (Barbara Thomas) was copied on emails. The local Land Trust knew (Sandy Bishop and Rhea Miller). Even some local self-styled "environmentalists" who frequently concern themselves with water issues (Madrona Murphy) knew. So did a former Land Bank Commissioner (Nancy Greene). The soil and groundwater contamination was known to be within a short distance of one of your lesser-used water supply wells, but overall the full extent of soil and groundwater contamination was still unknown. As far as anyone knew, the contamination had been in place FOR YEARS. The last laboratory result of groundwater contamination showed that there were concentrations of benzene 10,000 times higher than the drinking water standard, but you never bothered to test for that particular contaminant at the well head of the water supply well ... so you really have no idea if the benzene and other contaminants ever got into the water supply.

So certain people knew, but it's not like you sent out a notice to your water users, or breathed a word about it to the papers.

In this case, what do all the "people-in-the-know" have in common? Well, aside from being friends and keeping one another's secrets, they all have a stake in the property values of Lopez Village, where the contamination is located. For instance, they own property in the village ... or they make their living related to development/design of village buildings ... or their relatives work in construction projects in the village ... or they are just about to finance or get bank loans for projects related to their village properties. Even if your property is not directly affected, try explaining that to a bank! It would be quite a mess if something like soil or groundwater contamination were to start busting up property sales in the village.

But that's exactly what happened. Meet Dale Roundy. Dale Roundy owns a residence across the street from the Lopez Community Land Trust (the LCLT). The LCLT is run by Sandy Bishop and Rhea Miller, and Dale Roundy's wife is on their board. Dale Roundy wanted to buy a property in the heart of Lopez Village, and Roundy had an environmental review conducted first. The review turned up the fact that there was contamination in a nearby property, also in the heart of the village, that had never been cleaned up or even fully delineated. As a result, Roundy backed out. The sale collapsed. Other potential buyers behind Roundy backed out too. A minor stir was created as information leaked out to just a few people ... but they managed to keep a lid on it, and the whole thing died down.

Now Roundy is slated to be on the Planning Commission ...

Email from Jamie Stephens to the County Health Department Manager, Mark Tompkins

134 comments:

  1. I'm starting to get an inkling of just how corrupt the county government is. Shocking.

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  2. Same O, Same O; so it is all still done behind closed doors. We took the past bunch to court and lost, but it was worth it to see many of the justices roll their eyes in disgust.

    Are there no honest people in this place who will run to RUN County government openly and with a dedication to serving the public?

    Give me a hard working, honest, truck driver and I'll vote for em.

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  3. The Islandist has some additional information about the groundwater contamination.

    islandist.xyz

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    Replies
    1. Why isn't this a violation of the Critical Aquifer Recharge Area CAO?

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  4. All these clowns care about is getting re-elected. Rick apparently needs the money now.

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  5. Nominating people from your residency district is exactly wrong. That sets everything up for conflicts. You should be able to nominate anyone who is NOT in your residency district.

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    Replies
    1. Or pointed out fact issues?

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    2. There must be a Sarah Palin bot putting in mystifying comments and replies.

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  6. The County's offer to fund ORS comes straight out of the blue.

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  7. The thought that Lopezians might have been drinking benzene while arguing about the theoretically harmful effects of wifi is just too much. The other Lopezian question that comes to mind is whether the groundwater contains GMO benzene. The oil spill folks from Lopez have been kayaktivating, but I didn't hear anything about the fuel spill right in their village.

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  8. Maybe the site of the benzene plume can be added to the tourist sites on the Lopez app everyone is hyperventilating about on LopezBonkers.

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    1. Forgive me for being so confused, but didn't more than 150 Lopez businesses (there are 150 businesses on Lopez?) support the National Monument? They said it would be good for business, didn't they? Now they want all that "business" to stay away?

      http://www.islandsweekly.com/news/157559975.html

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    2. Yeah, big surprise there. "Designate" a monument, "nothing will change" except --Oh, yeah, we can't let PEOPLE anywhere near it.

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    3. Meth lab explodes on Lopez. There's contamination in Lopez Village. What do Lopezians want to talk about? Wifi. OPALCO "conspiracies." An iPhone app that will bring ruinous tourism to Lopez, and the people complaining about it are the ones who supported the National Monument, whose sole purpose was to bring ruinous tourism to Lopez.

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    4. I can't understand why my fellow islanders complain about the legal pot farms on San Juan Island more than the illegal meth labs. I guess if we really want to clean up the meth labs, we need to report them for land use and easement violations.

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    5. @9:56 No one seems concerned that the Lopez School Superintendent was sucker punched and assaulted by a student last Autumn either.

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  9. Well, turns out they're the wrong kind of tourists. Rich microsofties running hobby farms = OK. Rich Seattle lawyers with weekend homes who claim residency so they can vote in local elections and avoid smog tests = OK. Interns coming to work at the Land Trust for college credit = OK. Poor slobs who can only afford to stay at The islander (hisssssssssss) and want to take the kids kayaking and hiking = Booooooooo. Since they're so close, Tom Reeve should ask Obama to send a better class of eco tourist.

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  10. Hearing some chatter that the kabuki theater for today will be Jarman claiming that he's trying to walk back the Grout appointment but that the story will be that Jamie and Hughes will outvote him to appoint Grout. Here's why that won't sell: If selection of a candidate by the council idiot representing an island is a prime directive, Jarman can't sell the idea this was forced down his throat. Unless he simply wants to admit that he and Rick are both ball-less shitweasels who are letting Jamie run the council. A sucky re-election platform. Who. The. Fuck. is going to vote for Jarman?

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    Replies
    1. Did you watch what Jarman did today?

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  11. Well OK. Benzene plume under Lopez Village in the drinking water. From that old gas station. What did the Miller-Stevens Cartel know and when did they know it?

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  12. Summary:

    San Juan - Jarman proposing Grout is evidence that the world has turned upside down, or maybe just Jarman has.
    Orcas - the county is funding an agency and then putting its management on county committees. Nothing new there. It's a county tradition.
    Lopez - the only people who get appointed to county committees from Lopez all have to drink from the same well, literally and figuratively.

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  13. I haven't been to Lopez in a very long time, but isn't the old Lopez Village Market close to Jamie Stephens' shoreline house and property?

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  14. "Edited due to extreme hypocrisy"?
    Let me guess, a rabble rouser from Orcas who wants other people's corruption exposed got upset when you exposed theirs or their pals corruption got butt hurt?

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    Replies
    1. Or perhaps some key facts were wrong?

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    2. Isn't that what they all say? I think I'm entitled to bad facts so I can make up my own mind. Very disappointed that TH won't let me do that. I thought this place was different. Guess not.

      What did it say because it sounds like you know? Is Pete Moe the alien love child of Elvis and Sasquatch.

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    3. Key facts were wrong. We must be talking about Orcas Issues and the Journal.

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  15. Hasn't Jamie been notably against expanding broadband, because he has a monopoly on properties in the village that have it? If you want high speed internet, you must get it from his highness.

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    Replies
    1. You're closer to reality than you probably realize. Except it's her highness, not his highness. And it's probably one of the main reasons she's supposedly running for the opalco board.

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  16. What's the story with the Pete Moe edits?

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    1. What are you referring to?

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    2. I second that question. Those were some pretty interesting dots to connect. Which key facts were wrong?

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  17. I love the freudian slip in Jamie's email...

    "I would lie to talk to you"

    Probably closer to the truth than most realize.

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    Replies
    1. It's the closest he's come to real transparency since he was elected to the council.

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  18. Wow. This really is helpful to see all of this laid out. I had an inkling at some of the corrupt behavior we have seen but there is so much behind the scenes we don't realize.

    Thanks to the TH for keeping up posted.

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  19. SJC Corruption problems cannot be solved when there are powerful or well connected people who don't mind corruption when it's one of their own or favors them or a project they like.
    Corruption is corruption.

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    Replies
    1. Right - for the county to work for everyone, there can't be an acceptable kind of corruption.

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  20. Good news: Bob Jarman has decided to make himself available in a town hall setting so that he can explain himself.
    Bad news: The town hall will be in Mt Vernon. At the end of February.

    http://www.islandguardian.com//features/archives/00002920.html

    If printed this as fiction, people would criticize it for not being believable.

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    Replies
    1. I think you're a little confused about the time and place. Is that you Bob?

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  21. I am willing to bet Jarman doesn't even know who Grout is and appointed him because Rea Miller - er, I mean Jamie, told him to do it.
    Of course Jarman forgets his own name and gender a few times a day so it's not surprising.

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    Replies
    1. He has known Grout for 25 years, so it's about time Bob showed his loyalty to him.

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  22. "ball less shitweasels".
    You are correct. By their very nature, balless shitweasels can not admit their own shortcomings.
    Jamie, by contrast, is just a standard shitweasel.

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  23. I am a little confused why anyone here actually cares who gets on the planning commission and who doesn't.
    The property rights folks had a slim majority on the PC for a while, most notably during the passage of the ill conceived and ill fated CAO.
    Why didn't Blanchard, Carlson and Eumentraut put the brakes on this non-sense? These guys were the gatekeepers and could have made substantial changes to this CAO or delayed it until it could be fixed.
    Nope, instead, it got passed and then they proceeded to just sue the county over the very ordinance they helped pass.
    The best thing to come out of all of this was Sandy Mackie's payday of half a million dollars to lose a legal fight.
    Tell me, why again, does it make one bit of difference who is on the planning commission?
    Dick Grout is definitely Agenda Driven. The guys on the planning commission now could be best described as Agenda Lip Service.
    We. Are. Screwed.

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  24. Facts, people, facts--First, I'm curious how three members constituted a majority of the Planning Commission? Tim Blanchard wasn't on the Planning Commission until after the CAO was passed, and he spent countless hours before the Planning Commission and the Council opposing it. You may recall Dehlendorf's fit about Blanchard's appointment to the Planning Commission because he was a CSA board member at the time. The Planning Commission was hardly a gatekeeper, given Council's decision to let CDPD control its agenda. Ultimately, the Council we elected--who ARE the gatekeepers--let it through. Finally, at least Blanchard, Ehrmantraut and Carlson show up and try. More than can be said about a lot of couchpotato trolls.

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    1. At the time of CAO passage, the "property rights" folks had 5 of the 9 spots.
      Blanchard has a term that expires in 2016, meaning he was put on in 2012.
      Are you sure he wasn't around then?

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    2. He came on the PC right after the passage. It's the others that are to blame, not Tim.

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    3. Like it matters.

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    4. Dehlendorf was complaining about the appointment because the CAO had been passed and CSA had already sued.

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    5. That must be Bob again or Sarah Palin is joining in now. Dehlendorf complained today because the CAO had been passed and CSA had already sued?

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    6. "Finally, at least Blanchard, Ehrmantraut and Carlson show up and try. More than can be said about a lot of couchpotato trolls."

      Using different words, this is a point often made to me by my friends in CSA, and over time, I am inclined to accept it less and less. I don't have enough time to follow every detail of county government, so I guess that puts me in the coachpotato troll group, and I have appreciated my one or two CSA contacts keeping me informed. I like the newsletters and emails. Then I look at the minutes for the Planning Commission or the council and I'm disappointed. That's where it all falls apart for me. I note that some, not all, but some CSA board members on the Planning Commission voted for the CAO. CSA board members voted for the CAO and then opposed them in court. Isn't that what the Friends did? I see that CSA board members voted for the amendments to the CAO after the remand by the Growth Board. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

      Showing up and trying isn't being just another yes-voting warm body at the table.

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    7. Forest for the trees syndrome. I'll wager there are reasons why CSA board members have voted yes, but it's too complicated to explain. That's the crux of it. Once a person gets wrapped up in complicated committee proceedings, they've already been compromised. Nothing that person does will make sense to average people anymore. Average people see the forest. Politicians see the trees. A CSA voter may think they have won an important concession somewhere, but normal people will look at it and think, "Big deal. It's still a sinking ship."

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  25. 3 years and counting where is the exchange, am i the one deranged
    its not like we are sitting on the corner begging for change
    we had it all before and never asked for more
    but in a blaze it went away and know one knows for sure
    that year was earmarked with more arson's than ever before
    we never put anyone up on charges
    some people must know more
    fire chief related to the prosecutor but he scooted out the door
    with this many scandals in a county this size
    its not hard to acknowledge what for
    i hope the attorney general can show these clowns the door

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  26. The exchange just needed a bunch of taxpayer money from other islands in order to get up and running.
    Slick Rick is intending to deliver, money, among other forms of payoffs.

    This corruption is sickening.
    I agree, we need the AG to get involved, but they are apparently too busy prosecuting the State Auditor. Oy Vey.

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  27. Arson? 5:01 got in ahead of me and said it all in cogent terms, I'm not even sure anyone can call Ehrmantraut a "property rights" person, more an equal rights kinda person.

    In fact, in my lights, all these guys are just very reasonable thinking people, far divorced from the mania dogma we live with.

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  28. Why not Dick Grout?
    At this point, what difference does it make?
    Jarman and Hughes failed to even try to get us out of GMA. SMP and CAO are done. Jamie runs the show and has 2 willing ball-less shitweasels helping right along.
    The only difference I see between Dick Grout and some of the people we had/have on the Planning Commission is that he won't be disparaging legislation at the same time he is voting for it, and then going on to sue the county over the stuff he voted for parts of and didn't try to stop.
    Actually might make sense to have Grout on there, from a bottom line point of view.
    At least he isn't hypocritical about "property rights" meaning, only for certain people and not, say someone who got approved to have a small legal marijuana farm.
    Oh well, at least our monument will stay clean and well planned.

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    1. This place has conditioned itself to behave counter to its interests, both on a collective and individual basis. I say, let 'er rip. Give it to Grout. Re-elect Bob, Rick, and even Jamie when his time comes and watch the show. No matter what side you're on, our beautiful island paradise is the croniest of crony paradises, and nothing will break through that.

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  29. How did CSA get involved in any of this? That has to be trolls. This is about the Councilmen peddling influence and favors for their friends and secret-keepers.

    As far as passage of the CAOs go, Jamie voted for them twice, if I remember correctly. Hughes voted for them. In maybe the only smart thing Jarman has ever done, he did not vote for them. But the main part of the CAOs were passed under the Council consisting of Miller, Fralick, Rosenfeld, Stephens, Peterson, and Pratt. Peterson voted no. All others voted yes. Miller rammed it through in the last month of their tenure.

    The Planning Commission at that time consisted of Lackey, Carlson, Fuscher, Gamble, Thomas, Adams, Ehrmantraut, Agosta, and Susan Dehlendorf . Votes were taken on each of the CAO elements. On some CAO elements, some CSA board members voted yes when others voted no. There was no voting block on the CSA side.

    Before you spout off, try looking up the meeting minutes online first, unless you just enjoy being a troll.

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    1. Yeah, a number of CSA'ers supported a bunch of shit they could have stopped.
      This isn't trolling, it's reality.

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    2. I don't believe that, but regardless of who is on it, we get bad outcomes. That's the ultimate reality. It probably doesn't matter who is on the Planning Commission.

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    3. The reality is that, other than CSA and CAPR, and a handful of enlightened farmers, most citizens sat on their butts and did nothing about the CAO. There's always room for more volunteers if you choose to do something instead of just carping.

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    4. The reality is that CSA, CAPR, and your enlightened amigos are no better at governing than any of their opponents. You can waste your time thinking your better than everyone else, but I don't know who you're kidding. Don't think you're doing anything more than carping too just because you're volunteering to be a member of a dysfunctional acronym.

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    5. Not Dehlendork, but I can't believe the arrogant statements of @10:08. As if you have to belong to one of those lofty organizations or volunteer to be enlightened. I work my butt off just trying to feed my family, and the last thing I need is for some self-impressed jerk to lecture me about what I should have done. I dunno who you are @10:08 but you don't sound any different from the Fiends, and maybe there isn't any difference anyway. You're all trying to save me, but I haven't seen much concrete reform or change around from anybody. Lots of hot air, but no change.

      Thank you Bob Jarman for all the change. Thank you Rick Hughes. Thank you Jamie Stephens. But most of all I want to reserve my eternal gratitude for @10:08 and all his enlightened volunteering buddies at CSA and CAPR for making my freeloading non-volunteering life so much better.

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    6. No one is claimed to be enlightened, except with respect to certain facts that you seem bound to ignore. I'm simply saying that criticizing the government and criticizing the people trying to fix government leaves you accomplishing nothing. And no one is trying to "save you." Everyone but the Fiends is pretty much out of energy and resources.

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    7. You're not claiming to be enlightened, except you're claiming to be enlightened. I don't see anyone fixing government.

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    8. Not "enlightened." Not trolling, ignorant of the facts. Not blindly labeling people ("property rights" people?). And not completely bitter and delusioned.

      Many of us are just trying to do something that seems right. Though I agree that it gets more difficult all the time.

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    9. "Many of us are just trying to do something that seems right."

      Not bitter. Not delusional. Not seeing the trying. Maybe I'll see it at Jarman's town hall. Can't wait for his facts.

      If Jarman is the sock puppet of Jamie, what is the Planning Commission? At a time when the Planning Commission could have been validly at war with the council on a list of issues, there was no opposition at all.

      I know. They tried.

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    10. No, you know very little but are clearly more interested in flame trolling than honest discussion. Bye, Felecia.

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    11. Thanks for trying.

      Delete
    12. The problem when we get “our people” on commissions and boards is that, even when they don’t get coopted right away, they get suckered into the loser’s game that The Machine wants us to. Every aspect of county government is process oriented. Anyone who’s run a business where they were trying to get anything done is results oriented. It’s the difference between talking a lot and having something to eat.

      The minute someone on “our side” gets appointed to anything, they immediately forget why they were sent there and they get interested that the process was respected and that Barbara Thomas didn’t give them the stink eye and that “consensus was achieved”. So the end product of their appointment doesn’t become substantive change, it becomes “did we have a good meeting?”

      If the county had a project to build an elephant and what they came up with was a cockatoo, they’d be besides themselves with happiness if the meetings went well and a bullet point got added to Hughes’s lame ass annual list of the council’s many “accomplishments”. Screw that, we’ll never get anywhere until we realize that we might piss some people off. There might be yelling. Someone might say they’re not going to be your customer any more. Someone might turn their back on you in the grocery store.

      Jesus we’re a bunch of pussies.

      “If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom — go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!” – Samuel Adams

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  30. Every single one of the county committees are part of a patronage system. Anyone who thinks the committees represent the public is a fool or a conman.

    They should be abolished wherever legally possible, but we might as well hope for something more realistic, like the Second Coming.

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  31. Me? I'm just going to save my money to pay my ever increasing tax bill. This place is destin to be all that the local middle class doesn't want. I see it arriving sooner rather than later.

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  32. The exchange was just a bunch of garbage moronic Orcasians didn't want to pay to dump.
    Why should SJI or Lopez have to pay for Orcasian's dirty faced kids pawing through mounds of trash in hopes of finding a better tomorrow?

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    1. One mans trash is another mans treasure. the Exchange was filled with useful items that's why it was established, to keep such things out of the waste stream and stop the consumerism that is being forced on us at every angle. It never cost anything to put up and was in use for 30 years, we have done a lot of fundraising as a community to make it happen again and the county has mandated that most of the money raised to this point be put into county property infrastructure, the road layout, building retaining walls and fixing issues with the site which had nothing to do with the exchange (except that it was in the way of the road they needed to install).

      if the county had let them rebuild it would be done already and never cost the taxpayers a cent. the nonprofit running the dump has done something the county couldn't do, work within a budget and improve the facility. the county operated their for years with a skeleton crew 3 and 4 managers but the budget could never seem to be in the black at the end of the year. now its a non profit running it putting a lot of the money made at the facility back into the site, improving lands that they don't even control just in order to get back what the community already had.

      It's OK for the Land Bank to buy the Coffelt farm and try to put in a New Dairy with tax dollars but putting up a building on county's solid waste property to reduce the waste produced by a community is bad? Its ok for the land bank to maintain an airstrip for model airplanes with your money but heaven forbid you have to pay for a facility dedicated to reducing our carbon footprint. This is where the environmentalists show their true colors. your green and more green

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    2. It's a thrift store. Who cares where it is. Orcas'ns decided it should be rebuilt where it is, so Orcas'ns shouldn't complain if the chosen site has fatal defects and is too expensive.

      If you're blaming failure on the county because you were in an effective partnership with the county on the land and they acted like, the county, then you bear the responsibility when they turn out to be an awful partner. Not much foresight.

      It's an Orcas problem. No one else should have to pay for Orcas's thrift store whether it's built on county land or not.

      Delete
    3. The county is giving ORS the money they shouldn't have to spend to begin with.

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  33. Only mental midgets would be proud of having to clothe their children from a junk exchange because they keep electing idiots who pass punitive laws that drives out business and reduces working class people to food stamps and welfare.
    Its not just Or as either.
    Look at what happened to Jenny Rice on SJI - the so-called "property rights" crowd drove her LEGAL pot farm out of business and destroyed over 10 good paying jobs.
    Then you have Rea's little bitch Jamie who has been trying to destroy Jones Family Farm for years and if he and his idiot minions succeed it will be the end of 10's of jobs, but hey, the ball-less shit weasels Hughes and Stephens will still have their Mercedes SUV and fancy Jaguar.

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  34. I still have hope (faint) that changes at the top, the County Council, would make a difference.

    We were told if we, the tax paying public, paid council members a decent wage we might get good people or at lease more people interested in taking the job. Obviously this idea had little factual basis and turned out to be completely wrong.

    In most "communities" planning commissioners move up to be council members and in both positions people only receive a very modest reimbursement for direct expenses. (We did pay baby sitting money to one guy where the wife worked the pm shift.)

    In reading and calculating the latest school levy, I agree with 9:16, getting priced out of this place is happening sooner rather than later. Also my call that in time almost all shops will be closed in Winter is also happening a lot faster than even I thought it would.

    Welcome the Monument! What an effing joke and another huge mistake.

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  35. "and Stephens will still have their Mercedes SUV and fancy Jaguar"

    Jaguar? Where have you been? The latest faux-euro trash car of choice is a Tesla. In between the Jag and now was an e-class Mercedes. To properly keep up with all this, you should follow the society column in the Overpaid Public Servant section of San Juan Islander - I'm sure Kvisto keeps up with all this.

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  36. Is anyone considering going to Jarman's balless shitweasel open house tomorrow?
    Any idea what he is doing?

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    1. It'll be the political equivalent of a turducken: Bob will demonstrate that, proper sockpuppet that he is, he's got Jamie's hand shoved up his ass, while Jamie has Sandy's shoved up his own.

      Delete
    2. Where does Rick Hughes fit in to this picture?

      Oh wait, Jamie has two hands, never mind.

      Delete
  37. Anybody else wondering if all this helps explain the current dump the establishment popularity of Mr. Trump? Still don't know if I would vote for the guy, but these local establishment machinations and many of the weird comments above suggest it just might be a very good idea. Other than that, a truck driver with some common sense would also seem a vast improvement.

    ReplyDelete
  38. http://www.sanjuanjournal.com/news/366602271.html

    Bob Jarman is running for Council.......what a joke. Good luck with that I hope people are fed up and find another candidate who is honest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Bob Jarman is running for Council.......what a joke."

      Unfortunately, the joke is on us. Jamie and Rick are just hoping they can carry grandpa to the finish line one more time so they'll have a few more years of sufficient opportunities for graft.

      Delete
  39. How do we find out more about the AG investigation?

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  40. Perhaps at one time it was likely that fishermen, (sorry girls, you should be included, but back then I'm relatively sure you were not) truck drivers, carpenters, and other workers were elected or maybe appointed to the levers of control in this county...as small as it is.

    Maybe now with wages as lousy as they are, we could pull a couple of these people with families to support, into the political fold. Not GOP or Democrat, but people who want a decent wage and who will work for it.

    When you do the work to study the issue you have the power, the power over those who don't and those who collect love from their friends.

    In short, a person who actually knows facts could rip Bob Jarmen a new ass hole.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Summary of the BSW open house sponsored by Greenhouse Bob....

    It took him 2 years to figure out how things worked.
    Now he understands how it works.
    He didn't mention he is running for reelection, but that is evident by the "it took a while to figure it out" schtick.

    He said ummm a lot. Admitted that certain people didn't work out how they hoped at CDP. I can't tell if he meant gibboney, but that is the logical conclusion.

    He seemed lost. Low energy.

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  42. "certain people didn't work out how they hoped at CDP. "

    The "mistakes were made" defense. They love that at the county. Getting them to use an active verb or a personal pronoun is like asking them to vote for Donald Trump.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's how I feel about the last election. Mistakes were made.

      Delete
  43. Reports are, however, that both Jarman and Mike Thomas are still in trouble with Ecology over the Portland Fair wetland situation. Reports are that the Attorney General (AG) is investigating Jarman and Thomas quite seriously, and Jarman/Thomas can't seem to shake the AG. Reports are that Jarman has been going around town asking specific people for their help in getting Ecology to back off.


    A person is welcome to their opinion, but when things are printed that are not true and damaging, it needs to be pointed out. If I am under investigation by the Attorney General, it is news to me. I have never been contacted by the AG’s office regarding any of my actions (or non actions)! If you have proof of this, please print it. If not, this is just damaging, slanderous hearsay.
    “Getting the Dept. of Ecology to back off” is also news to me. Saying that I and Mike Thomas are “going around town trying to get support” is absurd! We have NEVER done that. As far as the Dept. of Ecology was concerned, as soon as they made their findings and discovered this involved a neighborhood dispute, they washed their hands of the matter and turned it back to the County.
    I believe I still live in the United States and am entitled to face my accusers. You need to check your sources.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Does the same go for the people you and the Council have blacklisted from serving on various committees? Would you care to share those names or would you like that just to be someone's opinion too?

      Tell us Bob.

      Delete
    2. Not surprised at all that it's a surprise to you.

      Delete
    3. If you are under investigation by the AG, they might not necessarily notify you. That is standard.
      It isn't slanderous to speculate.
      What I do know is that a large ethics complaint is being filed against Thomas.
      And I also know that You (Jarman) and Thomas can both potentially be sued under the Federal Clean Water Act and that a number of people are contemplating doing that.

      You should be resigning, not running for re election. We are the people that supported you the first time and you have proven to be an utter failure and have done nothing other than advance Jamie's agenda and support his blacklisting of candidates from committees.
      Bob, you will lose in spectacular fashion. Worse than Rob Nou. He lost 68-32. You won't crack the 30% mark.

      Delete
    4. I heard the same, Bob, before I read it here. Heard it from someone who says they were contacted. As with anything, the underlying facts could be untrue. I guess we will know in the fullness of time, but someone is wrong in this situation.

      Delete
    5. Isn't it a little late to be demanding transparency?

      Delete
    6. Bob, as long as we're talking about the absurd, could you explain in layman's terms what in the Sam Hill this means?

      "Completed an Oil Spill Response Capacity Study vital to state and federal legislative advocacy."

      It's listed as part of your extraordinary year of accomplishments. Extraordinary. If you go around town talking like this, don't be surprised if you're misunderstood.

      Delete
    7. @11:07 don't know how you singled one out. Nothing in the list makes sense. They could only make sense to government employees.

      Delete
    8. You don't understand what that means?
      It's actually quite simple.
      Wasting Money on a colossal scale with cutesy buzzwords and talking points. Bob is trying to learn the lingo. When he tries to spew it, it doesn't flow.
      Bye bye money.
      I'd say good bye to sanity in local government, but that was decades ago when it passed on....

      Delete
    9. "I believe I still live in the United States"

      Jeez Bob, if only you'd remembered that when dealing with Jenny Rice, Sheryl Albritton, Dave Honeywell, etc. Or do the benefits of citizenship only attach to you? What a corrupt, petty little bureaucrat you've turned out to be. Enjoy the remainder of this term because I cannot imagine how you'll cobble together the votes to win reelection if anyone with a pulse runs against you. I voted for you last time, as I think a lot of good people did, thinking you were exactly the opposite of how you've turned out. I doubt anyone will be making that mistake again.

      Delete
  44. So your letter, Bob, says "still in trouble with Ecology", that would imply that you were "in trouble" once already and you think it is over.
    In the interest of full disclosure, could you explain what happened, what the trouble consisted of, etc.
    Thanks. We would be interested to know moving forward in to this new election cycle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think he was just quoting from above, but I still would like to know Bob's side of the story. Bob says, "As soon as they made their findings and discovered this involved a neighborhood dispute, they washed their hands of the matter and turned it back to the County."

      When does Ecology wash their hands of anything?

      Delete
    2. When they are short staffed (had just lost two regional wetland specialists at the same time). They did not do a complete delineation and accurate rating. Doug said he did not have the time and bottom line is the guys don't want to deal with San Juan politics so they are trying to ignore it.

      Delete
  45. "but I still would like to know Bob's side of the story"

    Bob would like to know Bob's side of the story. Jamie and Gaylord will eventually tell him what his side of the story is, but until then he'll be in the same haze he's spent the last three years in. If we learned anything from the Albritton case, we learned that the county's MO is simply to make shit up after the fact to try and explain what unbelievable corruption they've done. The appalling thing is that they think we'll buy this shit. It's insulting.

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  46. Bob
    Welcome to public office, we didn't hear Lovell Pratt whining when you and yours were slandering her.
    I love your comment about this bein' 'MERICA!
    Your time in office has been a slap in the face to everyone who elected you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lovell Pratt - there's a name I haven't heard in a while. Who'd have thought that I'd regret voting against Lovell.

      Delete
    2. No. Don't do that. Pratt wasn't good. Turns out Jarman isn't either. False choice to look back 4 years. We need a new bad choice. We need to move away from the usual bad choices.

      Delete
  47. Bob, if you are reading this, have you considered reaching out to the voters you hope to gather support from and say "sorry". Sorry that you messed up the portland fair thing, sorry that your best intentions got sideways.
    It might go along way in rebuilding the trust of the public that has been shattered by the regular corrupt actions by council, senior management and the PA's office.
    Like they say, the coverup is worse than the crime. Especially so in this case.

    Try it, it might be worth a shot.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Yes, try it, and while you're at it explain why you sat on your hands in the GMA debacle. Why explain? Because, it appears very likely you made some back room deal with Jamie and since you then knew you had no votes you simply did nothing, rather get the whole issue out in the open in front of the public, as any decent leader would have done.

    Now your County will continue to suffer forever with the totally unnecessary burden of the GMA. THANKS for nothing!

    ReplyDelete
  49. It sad when people can't own it. When you admit you messed up there is not much people can say. WHY? Because you are being honest and that is a good thing, AND people will forgive if you give them the opportunity to do so! We a council with public service experience. This island cannot afford any more learning curves. We need a County Manager who has the strength to tell a Council Member "NO" when they cross the line.

    ReplyDelete
  50. And we need a council who will fire a county manager who crosses the line rather than rubber stamping the county manager's wish list.

    ReplyDelete
  51. More than ever we need a Council that that is younger, that is family oriented, and that is really involved in the community. It might be nice if such people actually had common sense and would earn their pay by parsing out the crap from the good provided by staff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OK then lets talk Sheryl Albritton into running. Her experience is far more extensive than Jarman the telephone man and she just proved she is a fighter. I have lived here for 18 years and met her in my math class.

      Delete
    2. Hi there!! I am seriously thinking about it.

      Delete
    3. Well then you should already have a pretty good idea of the challenges you face, corruption, cronyism, empire building, waste, fraud, abuse, all running rampant...Probably a lot of support out there for someone such as yourself.

      Delete
  52. If Jarman only knew how bad Thomas, Stephens and Hughes ridicule him when they are meeting without him around....
    He would not be so friendly with Jamie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He does. I mentioned to Jamie once I votes for Bob and he rolles his eyes at me.

      Delete
  53. Wouldn't Thomas, Stephens, and Hughes meeting without Jarman be a violation of the OPMA?

    ReplyDelete
  54. The council has violated the OPMA repeatedly in the past session. Hopefully someone will take them to task on it soon.
    That sort of thing is just one symptom in a list of many of the corruption that we have discovered in San Juan County.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Has anyone read the county ordinance on committee appointments?
    These guys can't seem to obey any rules.
    How is this ok?

    ReplyDelete
  56. Two balless shitweasels walk in to a bar...
    The bartender says "Hi Rick, Hi Bob".

    ReplyDelete
  57. I know we are all frustrated but it is time I start commenting here. We need leaders who do not bring comments like this. Believe me I understand and feel the same BUT we need to bring classy back to San Juan Islands. Experienced leadership and not people with little or no experience in public service.

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  58. I have decided to run for San Juan County Council Dist. 1. No one should ever have to go through what we have. By the people for the people.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Fantastic! Thank you and yes, "By the people, for the people."

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  60. Looking forward to supporting Sheryl.

    It'd be nice to have ONE honest, trustworthy person in a county-wide elective office. Even one.

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  61. Great Sheryl. Looking forward to a time that we have at least one council member who isn't a eunuch.

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  62. "When I do good, I feel good, and when I do bad, I feel bad, and that's my religion. Honesty is the finest force for good in the world, and it always will be." Abraham Lincoln

    ReplyDelete
  63. What’s this I hear about Jamie’s two handpicked Lopez members of the planning commission, Dale Roundy and Steve Rubey, not even bothering to show up for the last planning commission meeting? Apparently being politically correct is a better attribute than actually showing up. So Lopez is not represented on the commission. Ghost members.

    Let’s think on this. Jamie insists on picking the Lopez members. Wait, what the fuck am I thinking, Jamie insists on lifting his leg on all commission openings for all commissions. We essentially have one-person rule in the county because Jarman and Hughes haven’t had an original thought since they ceded authority to Jamie. Jarman I understand, because he’s not even awake most of the time in meetings. Hughes, though, it’s simply a lack of a spine. Wonder how Orcas residents feel about being represented by Jamie’s lapdog?

    Anyway, since he’s got three years before his seat is open again, Jamie feels he can pretty much do anything. Appoint ghost members to commissions? 10-4. Write memos documenting violations of the Open Meetings Act? Sure, why not? Have his wife, who’s on the sewer district board push to move the sewer district offices into his skitchy building? Hell yeah – what business is it of yours? Sub-bill the tenants in the building for fiber, a practice that is specifically prohibited under the Rock Island terms of service agreement? Mind your own business. And then there's the water in Lopez Village. Wonder if Jamie drinks bottled water at home.

    Just when you think the corruption here can’t get any more pervasive, Jamie comes up with a new idea.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Jamie:

    Old story (June 2015): "we are worried about ground water pollution."
    New story (Feb 2016): Lalala....everything is fine.

    Was he telling a lie last June or is he telling a lie now?

    Or he is simply exercising privilege of kings and emperors - whatever he utters is the truth? "I, King Jamie, declare this day, formerly known as Thursday, to be Friday. The day formerly known as Friday will henceforth be known as Jamieday."

    Incitatus for planning commission.

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  65. Jamie should be made to step down. Too many conflicts of interest.

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  66. In response to the question as to whether he has too many conflicts of interest, the Sun King, Jamie XIV, is reported to have said, "L'county? L'county c'est moi," as he waved and drove off in his Tesla.

    ReplyDelete