The Mudslinging has begun...

Yesterday, a "Hit" piece on my campaign for re-election as Mayor arrived in mailboxes. I've received a number of phone calls from people who are positively outraged at the mean-spiritedness they've seen my opponent demonstrate throughout this campaign — but said this was over the top.

So let's get the facts correct...

In the hit piece it claims I'm one of the highest paid Mayors in the state. That is incorrect. I'm the 23rd highest paid full-time Mayor. It also claims I gave myself a raise that tripled my salary. I guess my opponent still doesn't understand how the City Council process works. The Council made the job full time. It had previously been part time (15 hours a week). The rate of pay has stayed the same as it was part time — in spite of all other City employees receiving contract raises twice since I've been in office.

It also states I make twice as much per capita as the Mayor of Bremerton. The Mayor of Bremerton makes around $119,000 plus benefits. I make slightly more (less than $1,000) than the Mayor of Poulsbo, a smaller city with 25 percent fewer people than Port Orchard. The salary is a little over $62,000 plus benefits — modest by government standards. EVERY single department head that reports to the Mayor makes significantly more. 

Is my opponent, a 27-year government retiree, intending on reducing the salary, or going back to part time? No...

He stated in that piece that I'm responsible for the proposed increase in water rates. He KNOWS that's a blatant lie. The Council is considering raising the rates because by law, Water and Sewer are enterprise funds and must be self-sustaining, which because of the age of the infrastructure and needed repairs, they are not. The Mayor doesn't get to vote on this — which he also knows, or at least he should.

The Mayor is the chief administrative official of the city — and basically what amounts to the CEO of a $30 million municipal corporation, of which the voters, are the stockholders, and the City Council is the Board of Directors. The job is actually much more about business management experience, and strong leadership skills, than it is about politics. My opponent has not one single day of business management experience. Is this guy qualified to manage $30 million of our tax dollars? 

Finally, he claims I "maneuvered" the sale of my business property to the City and sold it at an inflated price. This too, is a blatant lie — and he KNOWS it is. 

The City filed an Eminant Domain claim to buy my property for the Tremont Street widening project. I did NOT want to sell it — much less sell it in such a depressed market — and will be forced to move my business when the project gets underway. The City paid the appraised value, and not one dollar more.  The City Council approved the sale price. I recused myself from every discussion involved in the sale and was never allowed to see documents on comparison sales — in spite of the fact we had a full-blown commercial appraisal done (which is our right) that showed the value significantly ($150,000+) higher.

My opponent has NOT articulated a vision for the future of our City, because he doesn't have one. He, and the puppetmaster pulling his strings, want absolutely NO changes, and for our City to either stand still or go backwards. He has absolutely NO platform other than he isn't me.

He has not attacked my accomplishments because there is nothing to attack, and even admits the City is pretty well-run. So he has resorted to attacks on my character and my integrity. 

Is this his idea of leadership? Is this what he considers integrity? If he will lie this blatantly to the voters just trying to get elected, how badly will he lie if he gets in office?

 

This has been the nastiest political campaign the City has ever seen. I would strongly encourage you to watch the Kitsap Sun video of our interview with the editorial board. You will quickly find out how much he doesn't know about Port Orchard, how it works, or what the job entails. The prospect of his election is downright scary.

The death of a personal hero...

I've only had a few heroes in my life... My Dad, Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Lee Iaccoca, Tony Robbins, and Steve Jobs.

 I'll miss you Steve...  

 Photo: Tim Gallagher

 www.apple.com 

http://mobile.politico.com/iphone/story/1011/65274.html

Washington Tourism Efforts bennefitting Oregon Workers

In what I'd consider a boneheaded budget cutting move, the state eliminated its tourism office, saving $2 million a year to support an industry which generated $15.2 billion statewide in 2010 revenues. That looks like a pretty good ROI to me. But hey, I’m just a business guy with 32 years of experience, so what do I know?

In response, the state’s tourism industry stepped up to try and keep those tourism dollars flowing, and formed a new association called the Washington Tourism Alliance (WTA). And what was one of the very first things it did? It announced, “a strategic partnership with the Washington Lodging Association (WLA) and Saga City Media Inc. to publish the official Washington State Visitors’ Guide beginning in 2012.”

What's wrong with this picture, it that Saga City Media is an Oregon company. No Washington publishing company was even alerted to the possibility of competing for this contract, much less given the opportunity. 

In an email when I questioned why not, David Blandford, who is with the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau, responded, “Out-of-state companies were not given an opportunity to bid either. WTA is partnering with the Washington Lodging Association which had an existing publishing partnership with Saga City Media Inc. Saga City is based in Portland but is very active in support of the tourism industry in Washington and the Pacific Northwest.”

I’ve seen a lot of Saga City’s work, and they're a quality company that puts out good work. However, the quality of their work is not the issue. Washington jobs is. Besides our own company, I personally know of at least five other in-state publishers who could do this job just as well. And the fact that an association that supposedly is in the business of promoting in-state jobs is intentionally funding Oregon jobs, without giving in-state companies the opportunity to even compete for the work, is in my view, beyond hypocritical.

In a WTA press release, Todd Thoreson, WLA Chairman of the Board and Regional Vice President of Hotel Operations for Red Lion Hotels Corporation, stated, “With the recent loss of state government funding for tourism marketing within the State of Washington, we are at a critical juncture that requires all hospitality industry stakeholders to work together and pursue solutions that can ensure our success in the future. We believe this partnership is a step in the right direction that helps us achieve this goal.”

You know what Todd, I’ve been a Red Lion customer, stockholder, and have belonged to your R and R Club for many years. But I will personally boycott Red Lion Hotels until this situation changes. I strongly believe that dollars generated in Washington State should stay here to create Washington jobs, and the WTA has a moral obligation to put this contract out to bid to Washington State publishers only — as it should have to begin with.

Grinding America Down

This came to me in an email. And while I personally don't particularly agree with everything stated in this video, there is certainly some food for thought — especially if you came of age in the 60's and 70's.

Unfortunately, some glitch in Google's software doesn't allow this video to be posted here, but the link below does work. It's only about 4 minutes, but worth the time. 

http://www.therightscoop.com/open-thread-grinding-america-down/

The Lowdown On Port Orchard's Code City Fiasco

There has been quite a bit of news coverage recently about the proposed change in the form of Port Orchard's City government from a Second Class City to a Code City, which the City Council had approved in May. Out of the 281 Cities in the state, only 11 second class cities remain.

There is no difference in the way we would do business with our citizens, or in the transparency of our City government. The main difference is in how we do business with the state. Being a Code City allows us to choose our own destiny, and not be under the state’s thumb as second class cities are. That’s all there really is to it.

However, a small group of citizens supporting my election opponent began a petition to call for a vote on this issue. Neither myself, nor the council had any problem with that. In fact, I would have signed the petition myself if someone had just asked me.

The problem comes in the fact the originators of the petition didn’t submit the required number of signatures to the City in time for them to be validated by the county Auditor, so the question could be placed on the November ballot. If they had, it would have cost about $5000 — normal for a ballot measure during a general election — and something we budget for.

Since they didn’t, it would have been placed on the February election ballot — at a cost possibly as high as $45,000. To avoid this, the City Council rescinded the resolution to change to a Code City.

However, what is most disturbing to me is that once originators of the petition missed the deadline, they then publicly accused the city of intentionally withholding critical information from them about when the signatures were due.

That is patently false.

And because of that accusation, I feel compelled to respond to the misstatements and half-truths set forth by the originators of the petition in a blog posting in the Port Orchard Independent on August 17.

They publicly blamed “new administrative procedures” set forth by the City for their failure to submit the petition in time for the November ballot.

That too is a lie.

There were no “new” procedures of any kind, nor have they identified any such “procedures.” The petition process is governed by state law and those requirements have been unchanged for years. The truth is, the originators of the petition never even talked to the City Clerk about deadlines — or anything at all to do with the petition — until after August 16.

The petition originators wrote, “...we still have no documentable information” concerning the August 1 deadline — which is when the signatures were actually due. This is a red herring. The night before they posted this comment in the Independent, the City Attorney explained to the petition originators at great length how the August 1 deadline was determined.

The bottom line is, for the referendum question to have made the November ballot, state law required the Council to adopt a resolution no later then August 16. The Council’s regular meeting was August 9. The next meeting was August 23 — after the deadline. Signatures needed to be submitted to the City Clerk a week before the meeting date so they could be sent to the County Auditor for verification.

This is not a new procedure. As a long-time planning commission member, one of the petition originators should have been well aware of this requirement — some form of which is shared by every city in the state.

The petitioners claim, “Twice the City was asked, prior to the passage of the resolution, to place this matter on the ballot.” This is only partially true.

A total of four people testified at the two public hearings we held. The same petition originator asked this at both hearings — although no one else did. Is it any wonder that the Council concluded the public saw this issue as a matter to be left for Council action?

Finally, what should be the very first question anyone undertaking such a petition effort would normally ask? Wouldn’t it be, “When are the signatures due, and to who?” This makes me wonder if all the accusations aren’t little more than a smokescreen to hide the fact that on August 1, the petition originators had only 93 unverified signatures. They needed approximately 250 verified signatures by August 9, to place this question on the November ballot.

It is not the City’s fault that the organizers of the petition did not perform the proper due diligence. Frankly, I believe they need to take responsibility for their failure to do their homework about the due date. I also believe they owe the City Clerk a public apology for falsely accusing her of hiding information, in what appears to me to be a blatant attempt to cover up their mistakes.

I’m certain the Council will reconsider the change to a Code City at a later date, as they feel very strongly that the change is needed. However, when that will be, is still in question.

Geography Of The Recession

The old adage is that a picture is worth a thousand words.

This map shows how the unemployment rate has changed since January of 2007 when it was 4.6 percent, to what it is today. Viewing it only takes a few seconds. Right click to pause. The darker the color, the higher the rate of unemployment.

When you get to the map, click the arrow in the middle and watch how things have changed. Take note of the areas of the country hit hardest and in what order that occurred. It’s incredible to see what “The Great Recession” has done to our Republic.

President Obama took office in 2008. The change, beginning in 2009 was brutal, and has continued during his administration. And for those who want to blame it all on Bush, while he did increase spending in a manner I personally view as irresponsible, it doesn't hold a candle to what has happened since. And remember, beginning in January of 2006, for the entire last two years of the Bush administration, the Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate. Bush and the Republicans were basically powerless to oppose them and the policies they put in place.

When you've finished, stop for a minute and ask yourself what is it going to take for the American people to get their heads out of their ass to start becoming aware of the trouble we are in? When are we going to say collectively “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” If this doesn’t bother you, then you need to stop drinking the kool-aid. 

http://www.latoyaegwuekwe.com/geographyofarecession.html

Food For Thought...

I couldn't have said it better myself. Here's a guy who articulates a lot of what I think America thinks...

Just saying...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SGyVNippvA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Government Employees... Who Knew?

Just a short video you really should watch as it’s a real eye opener...

If you are like me, and seldom watch a forwarded video, I urge you to watch this one. I didn't realize that the numbers were this large, and quite frankly, it was very shocking to find this out. It’s short — only a couple of minutes — so doesn’t take long to watch, but you'll find it well worth your time...

If this doesn’t open you eyes nothing will...

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=xOAgT8L_BqQ&feature=player_embedded

The Problem With Public Housing

The problem with public housing is that the residents are not the owners. The people that live in the house did not earn the house, but were loaned the property from the true owners, the taxpayers.

Because of this, the residents do not have the “pride of ownership” that comes with the hard work necessary. In fact, the opposite happens and the residents resent their benefactors because the very house is a constant reminder that they themselves did not earn the right to live in the house. They do not appreciate the value of the property and see no need to maintain or respect it in any way.

The result is the same whether you are talking about a studio apartment or a magnificent mansion full of priceless antiques. If the people who live there do not feel they earned the privilege, they will make this known through their actions.

The pictures below illustrate the point:

The Resolute Desk was built from the timbers of the HMS Resolute and was a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes. It is considered a national treasure and icon of the presidency.

Mr. Obama, you are not in a hut in Kenya, or public housing in Chicago. With all due respect, get your damn feet off our desk!

The World's Largest Army

Here’s an interesting bit of information someone passed on to me. I can't vouch for its validity, but it does raise an interesting point and provide some food for thought about how well-armed Americans are compared to other countries.

Supposedly, after the Japanese decimated our fleet in Pearl Harbor, Dec 7, 1941, they could have sent their troop ships and carriers directly to California to finish what they started. The prediction from our Chief of Staff was we would not be able to stop a massive invasion until they reached the Mississippi River. Remember, we had a 2 million-man army and war ships — all fighting the Germans. So, why did they not invade?

After the war, the remaining Japanese generals and admirals were asked that question. Their answer — they knew that almost every home had guns and the Americans knew how to use them.

The world’s largest army — America’s hunters! Think about this...

A blogger added up the deer license sales in just a handful of states and arrived at a striking conclusion:

• There were over 600,000 hunters this past season in the state of Wisconsin alone. Allow me to restate that number...

• Over the last several months, Wisconsin’s hunters became the eighth largest army in the world.

• More armed men than in Iran..

• More than in France and Germany combined.

• These men deployed to the woods of a single American state to hunt with firearms — and no one was killed.

That number pales in comparison to the 750,000 who hunted the woods of Pennsylvania and Michigan’s 700,000 hunters. Toss in a 250,000 hunters in West Virginia and it literally establishes the fact that the hunters of those four states alone would comprise the largest army in the world.

The point?

America will forever be safe from foreign invasion with that kind of home-grown firepower. Hunting — it’s not just a way to fill the freezer. It’s a matter of national security. That’s why all enemies, foreign and domestic, want to see us disarmed.

Food for thought when next we consider gun control.

The above numbers are just the hunters that purchased deer hunting licenses. I guarantee you there are at least 4 times as many guys that have guns, know how to use them, and don’t have a deer hunting license.

We absolutely will always have the World’s largest army — as long as we do not let the government take our guns away.