Friday, January 25, 2008

Total Recall?

Well, I had to laugh at Patrick McGee's portrayal of the latest in-fighting amongst the beleaguered Clatsop County Commissioners on northcoastoregon.com (click on "Take a Look" near the top of the page):

North Coast Oregon

And I also got a huge chuckle out of Sam Patrick giving the finger during a recent commission meeting. Okay, okay, it's juvenile, but sometimes The Finger can say more than volumes of bullshit. Speaking of which, I believe he used the word "bullshit" too, and I suspect it was apt.

He was a good boy and publicly apologized. I hope he didn't mean it.

However, the majority of the Clatsop County Commissioners have become a joke, and nobody with two brain cells to rub together is laughing. I seriously doubt that when they were elected that most people had a clue what kind of power this group would have over the LNG issue. Or, that they would be so completely clueless and so brazenly ignore their constituents.

Hell, I'm still having trouble believing the majority of the commissioners aren't hanging their heads in shame for trying to sell us out to LNG interests. I have no idea how they can even look at themselves in the mirror every morning, much less face their families, friends, neighbors and constituents.

So hey, I'm all for recalling Richard Lee. Especially if it will give the renegade commissioners the wake-up call they so sorely need, i.e. clean up your act, or your asses are outta here.

In fact, when I saw the petition guys in front of the Liberty Theater today, I made a special trip around the block so I could find a parking space and sign it. I hope everyone else in his district does, too.

Click here to see Elleda's photography at the Astoria Photografpix web site

12 comments:

The Guy Who Writes This said...

I admit I was disheartened by their LNG decision as well. LNG is bad all around, however their vote wasn't about how bad LNG was, it was about zoning. At all the hearings where people were invited to speak, the board made it known that this was about zoning and they wanted comments on zoning. It was rare that anyone spoke out on zoning.

You are going to see the same thing go down if they ever want to put a Wal*Mart somewhere in the county that isn't zoned for it. We will have people testifying about the evils of the company, and then the board will pass zone changes because people were addressing matters of passion rather than matters of zoning.

Unless Lee is brought up on criminal charges there is little chance that son of 4-123 will be successful.

Elleda said...

As I recall, though, many of the impassioned speeches were right on the topic of zoning ... how changing the zoning so LNG could come in would impact the river, the salmon, the environment, Clifton Road, our way of life, etc.

Not to mention, for whatever bizarre (and extremely suspicious) reason, several of the the commissioners completely ignored their own staff's recommendations.

As to 4-123, I was totally against it. The DA is a state employee - let him hassle it out with the state if he's got a gripe about his pay. Period. It makes no sense for the county to be paying him anything.

I do hope this recall works, and that it is a wakeup call. Gray Davis thought the recall wouldn't work in CA when he infuriated the people with some truly dumbass moves. He got booted so fast his head is probably still spinning.

And that's just what SHOULD happen to rogue politicians who don't listen to or care about their constituents.

Anonymous said...

The LNG problem is what this is all about.

You are feeling what you thought was control slipping away and are using this motive to refocus attention back on the subject.

Just because a group of 30-40 against vs 10-15 for at hearings does not automatically make this an assumed majority.

The emotions that cry out at these meetings are old and an childish play on officials decisions.

These politicians have a thankless job and the more flack they receive from the so called local experts the more I hope they toe the line and ignore you.

I do not support a recall as it is only a so called political move for you and others to throw Lee out, elect 2 others in May, and replace them with candidates of your persuasion to sell your so called, were right and that's the way it is ideas.

Elleda said...

Anon -

Lordy, you're making it sound like it's a GOOD thing to ignore experts and common sense.

And being a commissioner is hardly a thankless job. I have no doubt the position greases the skids for other opportunities.

In any case, when you do your job poorly, you deserve to get fired.

The voters "hired" the commissioners who are defying them, and now it's time to "fire" those commissioners by recalling them.

Anonymous said...

What do you mean by those??

Is that all but Mr. Finger??

So the thought process tells us that they only run for
commissioner to grease the skids for later in life??

I suppose the same is true for The Astoria City Council
folks also?? A slippery slope you must live on.

Anonymous said...

"The voters "hired" the commissioners who are defying them, and now it's time to "fire" those commissioners by recalling them."

----------------------------------------


Only a small portion of "the voters" of district 3 feel that way, though. Just because they make a lot of noise doesnt mean they have a chance in hell of actually succeeding. Besides, this is about Marquis' wife and her sick wish for revenge on the people for her coming in second against Lee in the general election. All that LNG stuff is just baloney.

Elleda said...

Ah, the Astoria City Council. I only hope an election comes before they ruin the view by letting the waterfront get totally cluttered by condo-builders.

Anyway ... all of this is moot. The voters will decide.

Anonymous said...

I assume you are one who never saw the waterfront in the 40s and 50s.

I wonder what opinion you would of had of that "working waterfront?" What would you have proposed then to stop or eliminated?

I propose stopping the "Sunday Market", Cruise ships, and tourists as they use vital resources that help with "Albert Gores" so called global warming fabrication.

Elleda said...

Nope, never saw the waterfront in the 40s and 50s except in pictures. Fine. It was a working waterfront, and fishing was the town's principal economy, so it's what you'd expect.

But it doesn't matter any more. NOW it is NOT a working waterfront, and hasn't been for decades. The buildings that were there are going or gone, and the view is there for everyone to enjoy. So why ruin it for a few greedy condo-builders?

Think global warming is a crock,so we agree on one thing, anyway. And the only impact Sunday Market and cruise ships have are on the local economy.

The market draws out of town tourists to town who spend. And the city of Astoria SURE likes cleaning up with all those vendor fees. The city makes a fortune from the vendors, actually, if you've ever read the figures.

The cruise ship people buy in local shops ... the few shops that have the sense to open early when the ships come in, anyway.

Your wonderful city council is deleriously happy with both the market and the ships as a source of revenue for the city. Complain to them if you don't like either one. But don't expect them to listen.

Elleda said...

Just thought I'd add this ... the city makes a minimum $25 per Sunday per vendor x 200 vendors = $5,000 a week.

Plus, they get 10% of any sales over $250 for each vendor, and who knows how much that is, but say another $1,000 (a VERY, VERY low estimate).

Deduct the $1,000+ a week the city pays the Comperes (they get $50K+ a year to manage the market - wouldn't you love THAT job!).

So you're back to the minimum of $5,000 a week for 22 Sundays, or at least $110,000 to the city's coffers for the season from the vendors.

The city makes $35 per vendor when a cruise ship comes in. There are usually about 25 vendors, so that's $875 per ship. There are 17ships scheduled to stop this season that aren't on a Sunday. So that's almost $15,000 to the city from vendors just for the ships.

Anonymous said...

The way I understand it, the City doesn't have anything to do with the market. Compere x 2 run it and collect all the money and pay the City for using some of the facilities....

Elleda said...

You are right, it is managed by the Comperes and a board. But from what I gather, everything goes back to the city, which then turns around and pays the Comperes.

The market is really nothing more than a revenue-producing machine for the city. Plus, don't forget, Joyce Compere is on the city council, so the two entities are completely entwined.

There have been days where the weather has been so horrific that I've said, when paying my daily fee, "You should let us slide on the fee, or better yet, you should be paying us vendors for showing up so you could even have a market today."

And I always get the same answer ... it's not up to them, the city expects to get the money from each vendor, no matter what, and nobody slides on the fee.