The nature of the encroachment upon American constitution is such, as to grow every day more and more encroaching. Like a cancer; it eats faster and faster every hour. The revenue creates pensioners, and the pensioners urge for more revenue.The seekers more numerous and more corrupt, and every day increases the circles of their dependents and vanity, luxury, foppery, selfishness, meanness, and downright venality swallow up the whole of society.
John Adams
I have been asked by many to bring the blog back on line. I will do so but there will be a major change. Understand that people where filing complaints with Goggle as well as the Sheriff. To keep the blog up and stay out of jail a piece of software needed to be installed. So whatever privacy you had was broken. Now you can sign in as well. Sorry but others created this problem.
Watch out people of Cascade Locks as here they come again. Many supporters of the Five Alarm recall are signed up to be appointed to the City Council. They set out to destroy the last Council and used the fire department as one of their tools. Do you really want this bunch handling your tax money again? God forbid!
Politics aside, I strongly feel that anyone who participated in the recalls, yes, all of them whether or not they are 5-Alarmers should not be considered for a seat on the Council. They should not profit from their actions.
On a political note, I would prefer to see citizens who are able to listen, interact well with others and with an ability to compromise get onto the Council. Stop making it an us vs. them scenario because truthfully, things can't get much worse around here. These past few months and selfish actions have hurt the town, not them, but the town as a whole.
Some good news is that Cascade Locks has been chosen as a possible site of one of the new electric car charging stations. Another reason for folks to stop here.
Janissary, If you throw out all of the people involved with the recall effort on both sides you won't have anyone left. When you sign a petition you are involved. The town has hurt themselves by not being involved enough in their own town government to go and get the facts before casting their ballots. I realize that the Hood River News printed many, many lies that helped to support the recall and Police men that live in town also lied to the public to try and advance his position to be a councilman. But ultimately it is the public who needs to sort out the truth for themselves and many did not take the time to find out the truth. Many in our community do not watch the council meetings or even know who the mayor is. They rely on their neighbors to tell them how to vote. We live in a lazy society. Reading the auditors report and minutes to a council meeting or letters from the Department of Revenue is just too much. It is just easier to listen to the lies. I wonder if there are four impartial people left?
1) Exercising your right as a citizen by signing a petition that allows the whole populace to participate in a decision and
2) Standing in front of our elected body meeting after meeting after meeting attempting to bully them into quitting just to save a friend from losing a job he had abused (who resigned anyway) plus actively participating on a panel excoriating people who are our neighbors and volunteers and fellow council members.
Perhaps when the other one-third (Thanx, Bobby for the truth) have a fighting chance without having to choose sides, and perhaps when we value a person for their ability 'play well with others, we can rescue our town. Until then, hello County of Hood River.
If the five alarmers get back in council and they continue the same old spending spree we might as well open the door for Hood River and put out the welcome mat.
After listening to Lorang & his "we need to all get along and treat one another with respect and learn to apologize." I offer this:
Simple Steps to Forgiveness
• Don't take anything personally • Don't attack yourself or others for mistakes • Claim the gifts hidden in perceived injuries • Take responsibility for the part you play in upset and injury • See all events as opportunities to grow and mature your soul • Forgive yourself first • Pray for help in forgiving • Develop a strong sense of humor • Re-commit to your goals and get back on track • Stop rehashing past injuries and don't talk about them any more • Talk about today's positive event
I will add, don't do this only when you are in power or trying to get it again. It was more important to do it when you were not.
Some think the recall was about bringing back past personalities. They are wrong. It was about losing fire/ems. I do not want anyone to die because a small group had a vendetta against the old Fire Chief. They can dislike him, they can remove him, but if they do, they better have a plan to replace him. They didn't have a plan. So they had to go. We don't need that type of dangerous foolishness leading our town.
I am now starting to get angry with those councilors who weren't recalled as they have had plenty of time to appoint at least one new council person so they would have a quorum and then get the fire/ems back on its feet. They could hire off duty paramedics from Stevenson or Hood River or Portland with the understanding they job probably wouldn't be permanent. They could hire several part timers if needed. They could accept volunteers. They could do several things but nothing has been done. I want those services now.
The new CA and lawyer have a wonderful, transparent plan to replace the recalled councilors. The problem is, when your house is on fire, there isn't time to fill out an application, mail it to Hood River, have them review it and then send out a fire truck. Your house is burnt to the ground. That is the situation we are in now. The house, city, is on fire and we need those services now.
A person either supported the recall or they didn't. No one was neutral. Either you wanted fire/ems or you didn't. If the recalled council had a plan and some of the old fire/ems was replaced but the fire/ems had continued, there would have been no recall. We don't need councilors who have illegal meetings or are unethical or who are so opinionated they won't listen to other ideas. What we need now are people who will work to restore fire/ems and have the best interests of Cascade Locks at heart.
Mr. Kononen, Your great buddies from the 5-Alarmist club raised a huge stink at the meeting where then-Mayor Fischer attempted to do just that. Had Bobby Walker been appointed that evening, we would currently have a quorum, we would be able to fix the problems we now face with the Windsong road bond, the illegally owned/placed tower, the bills we need to pay, the fire dept. But they are sensing victory. They only want THEIR people on the Council, no one else, no other point of view.
Might I refresh your memory as to the fact that the Fire Chief quit. And, after him the volunteers. I don't want those turncoats and quitters back in the fire dept. I don't trust them anymore with my life or my property.
Perhaps you should have considered why the other people in the action wanted to recall the Council so bad. I'm afraid it is naif to pretend it was only about the fire Dept.
Arni, I am curious how you are going to pay for all of these hires you want to do. This department was projected to be $60,000 in the red at the end of the past fiscal year. I say projected because the end of the year reports are still not done almost 5 months after they were due. Sounds to me like you want to continue the same old same old without any fiscally responsible spending AGAIN, after all they say don't worry about it we have the electric department (which is still owed almost $500,000 by this department already). What are you going to suggest? Raising internal payments-which are actually franchise fees and are not allowed under the current tax limitation initiative?
I can say after receiving my property tax statement from Hood River County today and seeing that my property values went down but still my taxes went up I am in no mood for an increase of any kind anywhere else.
Bobby Walker did the honorable thing when he refused to be appointed in another unethical attempt to get around the will of the voters. There was no public announcement prior to the meeting. Your example is one that illustrates the worst of the previous council. Mr Walker may be a good candidate and the current group of 3 could appoint him immediately if they so choose. Someone should have been appointed by them in my opinion.
As far as the budget is concerned, one must understand the "special" budget the mayor had the auditors create that left out much of the fire/ems income. In particular, it left out the property tax income. That manipulative and deceptive activity again illustrates why they needed to be recalled.
There is money in the current budget to hire the help we need. We don't need to make 120 equal payments for the fire hall loan. That can be adjusted and a variable payment can be put in place. Done correctly, that would add another $45 to $50 thousand dollars back to the general fund. We could let the tourism committee pay for watering the flowers, which is in their purview in my opinion and save an additional $10 thousand. The money that some accuse the fire dept of "misappropriating" and was spread to several city departments could be pulled back. I just came up with a quick $100 thousand and all of it without raising taxes.
Doing all of those items will take some time as I imagine the new council will go very slowly and deliberately. There is $32 thousand immediately available though and that will cover the immediate need.
Different people surely had different agendas for the recall. Mine was about not having fire/ems. I didn't say bring back all the old personnel, nor did I say they shouldn't be brought back. I just want a fire/ems dept. There are a lot of issues that will not be immediately resolved, but there were some volunteers who didn't quit or ask for leaves of absence that received a letter from the prior mayor saying they were fired. Oops, he doesn't have that authority on his own. Another reason for him being recalled. We have a council not a dictatorship. A dept could be put together quickly if there is the will.
I would much rather discuss "how do we do it," than rehash the past. How do we move ahead?
1) Honorable actions, yes, just not practical. It should have been done that night just to be able to keep town working. Who would you suggest they appoint? And when? One of YOUR 5-Alarmist buddies? Not feasible. Bobby was at least willing, thought ahead and cares about town, not politics.
2) Why do you think one department should take that much of the only reliable income the city has? Perhaps because of your need for that dept. over others? That's not real democratic, is it?
3) Suggesting we not pay back the loan is dishonorable. We have already put off not paying for 3 years. What do you think Your creditors would say about your payment "plan?"
4) Watering flowers is the tourism committee's problem? Really? Do you really think that they would agree with your assessment? So does that mean you agree they should get their legally allowed percentage?
5) The Dept. that does the work should receive the revenue. Ask any bookkeeper/accountant.
6) The volunteers developed a bad case of blue flu and most voted to not respond and then decided to try and save their careers after the State Fire Marshall showed them just how childish and self-damaging their reactions were.
You don't want to re-hash anything? Nice timing, Mr. K. Why now? because you think you won? Your group has likely dealt a fatal blow to our city and you would like to move ahead. How? By appointing your chosen without any input from the citizens? How messy elections really are.
I want an election. The three that are left can't even decide on who will run the meeting, let alone appoint someone quickly just because you want it. Why would you think the dozen or so of your fricking committee can run a town of 1100 and still represent all of us? After the cost of a recall, why not dock us for the cost of an election? In for a penny, after all...
Nice try at normality after the nuclear bomb you folks dropped on us. Getting scared that if the fire dept. is not restored soon your friends and you will lose credibility? I'm sure most of town is scared. But asking for what you want right now after YOUR gang undid everything strikes me as really, really piggy.
1. I did say Bobby Walker was honorable and I believe he did the right thing considering the situation.
2. That dept should only receive the income that they always have received. Using a deceptive budget to try to show they were operating in the red is wrong.
3. I certainly didn't say to not pay back the loan. I did say to change the terms though.
4. It was the council who decided to take flower watering out of the Tourism budget in the end. That has nothing to do with the TRT.
5. I assume this means that when other depts used money from the fire hall loan, they don't have to pay it back? They never should have had it to begin with. It was an accounting error.
Asking for the restoration of some sort of fire/ems is not too much to ask. I have no credibility issues here. All I could do was to recall those preventing the fire/ems from functioning. After that, it is up to the council. Calling the majority of the city a gang shows that you are out of touch. Suggesting we "undid" everything ignores the numerous ways the last council defunded, demoralized and destroyed the fire/ems dept. The city voted and decided they wanted a fire/ems dept. That is still what I want and if that is piggy, so be it. Taking it away to get rid of one person put everyone in town at risk, a foolish thing to do, and anyone who thinks that is a good thing doesn't have the best interests of the city at heart.
Janissary, you may as well save your breath as those people are delusional. Blaming an audit as being manipulated is insane. They pick & choose what part of the facts they can misconstrue. Their entire battle was based on half truths & downright lies. They actually started to believe their own lies and still are sticking to it. OMG! What a bunch of sad power seekers.
17 comments:
I have been asked by many to bring the blog back on line.
I will do so but there will be a major change.
Understand that people where filing complaints with Goggle as well as the Sheriff.
To keep the blog up and stay out of jail a piece of software needed to be installed.
So whatever privacy you had was broken.
Now you can sign in as well.
Sorry but others created this problem.
Cody
Watch out people of Cascade Locks as here they come again. Many supporters of the Five Alarm recall are signed up to be appointed to the City Council. They set out to destroy the last Council and used the fire department as one of their tools. Do you really want this bunch handling your tax money again? God forbid!
Politics aside, I strongly feel that anyone who participated in the recalls, yes, all of them whether or not they are 5-Alarmers should not be considered for a seat on the Council. They should not profit from their actions.
On a political note, I would prefer to see citizens who are able to listen, interact well with others and with an ability to compromise get onto the Council. Stop making it an us vs. them scenario because truthfully, things can't get much worse around here. These past few months and selfish actions have hurt the town, not them, but the town as a whole.
Some good news is that Cascade Locks has been chosen as a possible site of one of the new electric car charging stations. Another reason for folks to stop here.
Let's all send in a positive comment on this.
Whoops, too, excited. Here's the link:
http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/OIPP/EV_TigerSiteRankings.shtml
Janissary, If you throw out all of the people involved with the recall effort on both sides you won't have anyone left. When you sign a petition you are involved. The town has hurt themselves by not being involved enough in their own town government to go and get the facts before casting their ballots. I realize that the Hood River News printed many, many lies that helped to support the recall and Police men that live in town also lied to the public to try and advance his position to be a councilman. But ultimately it is the public who needs to sort out the truth for themselves and many did not take the time to find out the truth. Many in our community do not watch the council meetings or even know who the mayor is. They rely on their neighbors to tell them how to vote. We live in a lazy society. Reading the auditors report and minutes to a council meeting or letters from the Department of Revenue is just too much. It is just easier to listen to the lies. I wonder if there are four impartial people left?
Darlene Sullenger
I see a great difference between
1) Exercising your right as a citizen by signing a petition that allows the whole populace to participate in a decision and
2) Standing in front of our elected body meeting after meeting after meeting attempting to bully them into quitting just to save a friend from losing a job he had abused (who resigned anyway) plus actively participating on a panel excoriating people who are our neighbors and volunteers and fellow council members.
Perhaps when the other one-third (Thanx, Bobby for the truth) have a fighting chance without having to choose sides, and perhaps when we value a person for their ability 'play well with others, we can rescue our town. Until then, hello County of Hood River.
If the five alarmers get back in council and they continue the same old spending spree we might as well open the door for Hood River and put out the welcome mat.
Darlene
TOO LATE...
After listening to Lorang & his "we need to all get along and treat one another with respect and learn to apologize." I offer this:
Simple Steps to Forgiveness
• Don't take anything personally
• Don't attack yourself or others for mistakes
• Claim the gifts hidden in perceived injuries
• Take responsibility for the part you play in upset and injury
• See all events as opportunities to grow and mature your soul
• Forgive yourself first
• Pray for help in forgiving
• Develop a strong sense of humor
• Re-commit to your goals and get back on track
• Stop rehashing past injuries and don't talk about them any more
• Talk about today's positive event
I will add, don't do this only when you are in power or trying to get it again. It was more important to do it when you were not.
Some think the recall was about bringing back past personalities. They are wrong. It was about losing fire/ems. I do not want anyone to die because a small group had a vendetta against the old Fire Chief. They can dislike him, they can remove him, but if they do, they better have a plan to replace him. They didn't have a plan. So they had to go. We don't need that type of dangerous foolishness leading our town.
I am now starting to get angry with those councilors who weren't recalled as they have had plenty of time to appoint at least one new council person so they would have a quorum and then get the fire/ems back on its feet. They could hire off duty paramedics from Stevenson or Hood River or Portland with the understanding they job probably wouldn't be permanent. They could hire several part timers if needed. They could accept volunteers. They could do several things but nothing has been done. I want those services now.
The new CA and lawyer have a wonderful, transparent plan to replace the recalled councilors. The problem is, when your house is on fire, there isn't time to fill out an application, mail it to Hood River, have them review it and then send out a fire truck. Your house is burnt to the ground. That is the situation we are in now. The house, city, is on fire and we need those services now.
A person either supported the recall or they didn't. No one was neutral. Either you wanted fire/ems or you didn't. If the recalled council had a plan and some of the old fire/ems was replaced but the fire/ems had continued, there would have been no recall. We don't need councilors who have illegal meetings or are unethical or who are so opinionated they won't listen to other ideas. What we need now are people who will work to restore fire/ems and have the best interests of Cascade Locks at heart.
Mr. Kononen, Your great buddies from the 5-Alarmist club raised a huge stink at the meeting where then-Mayor Fischer attempted to do just that. Had Bobby Walker been appointed that evening, we would currently have a quorum, we would be able to fix the problems we now face with the Windsong road bond, the illegally owned/placed tower, the bills we need to pay, the fire dept. But they are sensing victory. They only want THEIR people on the Council, no one else, no other point of view.
Might I refresh your memory as to the fact that the Fire Chief quit. And, after him the volunteers. I don't want those turncoats and quitters back in the fire dept. I don't trust them anymore with my life or my property.
Perhaps you should have considered why the other people in the action wanted to recall the Council so bad. I'm afraid it is naif to pretend it was only about the fire Dept.
Arni, I am curious how you are going to pay for all of these hires you want to do. This department was projected to be $60,000 in the red at the end of the past fiscal year. I say projected because the end of the year reports are still not done almost 5 months after they were due. Sounds to me like you want to continue the same old same old without any fiscally responsible spending AGAIN, after all they say don't worry about it we have the electric department (which is still owed almost $500,000 by this department already). What are you going to suggest? Raising internal payments-which are actually franchise fees and are not allowed under the current tax limitation initiative?
I can say after receiving my property tax statement from Hood River County today and seeing that my property values went down but still my taxes went up I am in no mood for an increase of any kind anywhere else.
Bobby Walker did the honorable thing when he refused to be appointed in another unethical attempt to get around the will of the voters. There was no public announcement prior to the meeting. Your example is one that illustrates the worst of the previous council. Mr Walker may be a good candidate and the current group of 3 could appoint him immediately if they so choose. Someone should have been appointed by them in my opinion.
As far as the budget is concerned, one must understand the "special" budget the mayor had the auditors create that left out much of the fire/ems income. In particular, it left out the property tax income. That manipulative and deceptive activity again illustrates why they needed to be recalled.
There is money in the current budget to hire the help we need. We don't need to make 120 equal payments for the fire hall loan. That can be adjusted and a variable payment can be put in place. Done correctly, that would add another $45 to $50 thousand dollars back to the general fund. We could let the tourism committee pay for watering the flowers, which is in their purview in my opinion and save an additional $10 thousand. The money that some accuse the fire dept of "misappropriating" and was spread to several city departments could be pulled back. I just came up with a quick $100 thousand and all of it without raising taxes.
Doing all of those items will take some time as I imagine the new council will go very slowly and deliberately. There is $32 thousand immediately available though and that will cover the immediate need.
Different people surely had different agendas for the recall. Mine was about not having fire/ems. I didn't say bring back all the old personnel, nor did I say they shouldn't be brought back. I just want a fire/ems dept. There are a lot of issues that will not be immediately resolved, but there were some volunteers who didn't quit or ask for leaves of absence that received a letter from the prior mayor saying they were fired. Oops, he doesn't have that authority on his own. Another reason for him being recalled. We have a council not a dictatorship. A dept could be put together quickly if there is the will.
I would much rather discuss "how do we do it," than rehash the past. How do we move ahead?
1) Honorable actions, yes, just not practical. It should have been done that night just to be able to keep town working. Who would you suggest they appoint? And when? One of YOUR 5-Alarmist buddies? Not feasible. Bobby was at least willing, thought ahead and cares about town, not politics.
2) Why do you think one department should take that much of the only reliable income the city has? Perhaps because of your need for that dept. over others? That's not real democratic, is it?
3) Suggesting we not pay back the loan is dishonorable. We have already put off not paying for 3 years. What do you think Your creditors would say about your payment "plan?"
4) Watering flowers is the tourism committee's problem? Really? Do you really think that they would agree with your assessment? So does that mean you agree they should get their legally allowed percentage?
5) The Dept. that does the work should receive the revenue. Ask any bookkeeper/accountant.
6) The volunteers developed a bad case of blue flu and most voted to not respond and then decided to try and save their careers after the State Fire Marshall showed them just how childish and self-damaging their reactions were.
You don't want to re-hash anything? Nice timing, Mr. K. Why now? because you think you won? Your group has likely dealt a fatal blow to our city and you would like to move ahead. How? By appointing your chosen without any input from the citizens? How messy elections really are.
I want an election. The three that are left can't even decide on who will run the meeting, let alone appoint someone quickly just because you want it. Why would you think the dozen or so of your fricking committee can run a town of 1100 and still represent all of us? After the cost of a recall, why not dock us for the cost of an election? In for a penny, after all...
Nice try at normality after the nuclear bomb you folks dropped on us. Getting scared that if the fire dept. is not restored soon your friends and you will lose credibility? I'm sure most of town is scared. But asking for what you want right now after YOUR gang undid everything strikes me as really, really piggy.
1. I did say Bobby Walker was honorable and I believe he did the right thing considering the situation.
2. That dept should only receive the income that they always have received. Using a deceptive budget to try to show they were operating in the red is wrong.
3. I certainly didn't say to not pay back the loan. I did say to change the terms though.
4. It was the council who decided to take flower watering out of the Tourism budget in the end. That has nothing to do with the TRT.
5. I assume this means that when other depts used money from the fire hall loan, they don't have to pay it back? They never should have had it to begin with. It was an accounting error.
Asking for the restoration of some sort of fire/ems is not too much to ask. I have no credibility issues here. All I could do was to recall those preventing the fire/ems from functioning. After that, it is up to the council. Calling the majority of the city a gang shows that you are out of touch. Suggesting we "undid" everything ignores the numerous ways the last council defunded, demoralized and destroyed the fire/ems dept. The city voted and decided they wanted a fire/ems dept. That is still what I want and if that is piggy, so be it. Taking it away to get rid of one person put everyone in town at risk, a foolish thing to do, and anyone who thinks that is a good thing doesn't have the best interests of the city at heart.
What part of Pricher quit don't you get?
What part of we needed a quorum, but you recalled them all and then yelled you didn't want Bobby appointed before we lost a quorum don't you get?
What part of no quorum is left to fix what you want fixed don't you get?
What part of your actions have taken away any immediate fix and yet you say you want it fixed now don't you get?
What part of it may take up to 6 months ( and I'm being an optimist) to hire and train a fire/ems and restore our contracts don't you get?
What part of it's your fault don't you get?
Your group used a nuclear bomb where a hammer would have sufficed. What part do you need explained now?
Janissary, you may as well save your breath as those people are delusional. Blaming an audit as being manipulated is insane. They pick & choose what part of the facts they can misconstrue. Their entire battle was based on half truths & downright lies. They actually started to believe their own lies and still are sticking to it. OMG! What a bunch of sad power seekers.
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