6/6 Week in Review: Commissioner Meetings

OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK

Submitted to Shelton Blog by Tom Davis Mason County Progressive

So many uninteresting things happened this past Tuesday, I don’t know where not to begin.

First up was the Mason County Commissioners Meeting at 9:00 AM:

The agenda included nine “action” items, all of which passed unanimously in about 2 1/2 seconds. Then came an invitation for the public to serve on two advisory committees: Area Agency on Aging, and Solid Waste (pun unavoidable).

Next on the agenda were two public hearings: Adoption of the Shoreline Master Program, and Resolution 11-05 to annex four properties into Belfair Water District #1. The first hearing went off without a hitch, passing unanimously, but the resolution was poorly written, and Tim & Jerry sent it back to the water district for a little nip and tuck.

Then, just as I was about to nod off, the chamber erupted into what can only be described as the Great Geezer Throw-Down: two elderly gentlemen apparently escaped from the Belfair Water District, and one of them accused the other of trying to trip him while leaving the commission chambers. Words were thrown in lieu of punches, but someone went looking for a defibrillator, just in case. Voices and blood-pressures rose to dangerous levels, but the altercation ended as suddenly as it began, with the bang of a gavel. In the end, two red-faced geriatrics hobbled out to their respective ox-carts followed by what I hoped was the odor of revisionism.

The next uninteresting thing happened at the Port of Shelton Commission Meeting, at 2:00 PM:

I got there about 5 minutes late because I still had a piece of hearing-aid stuck in my shoe. But I could have saved myself the trip, because I walked right into Jack Miles and Jay Hupp knee-deep in a sand-box fight of epic proportions.

It seemed that Jack wanted the documents he requested through a freedom of information act put in his Commissioner’s box at the Port’s office, and Jay wanted Jack to shut up and die. As expected, Port Director, John Dobson took Hupp’s side, and both men held Jack while Commissioner Tom Wallitner kicked him repeatedly in the testicles. (Okay, that’s not what really happened, but for those familiar with Port shenanigans, that’s what it looked like.)

After that, things went pretty well:

Dobson availed us of a fascinating scheme whereby the Port shrewdly accepted $180,000 worth of manufacturing equipment from Oly-Fab’s parent company, Sealaska, in lieu of cash to satisfy lease obligations; and then magically turned the equipment into surplus to be sold back to the new and improved Oly-Fab, now called TruFab.

But did such asset juggling represent a Fab deal for the Port? All we know is that the general manager of the now defunct Oly-Fab and the newly formed TruFab is one and the same, Donald Putvin. And in yet another torturous twist of events, it was revealed that Commissioner Hupp’s Son-In-Law is Mr. Putvin’s Nephew.

Wow, who would have guessed? But not to worry, because the Port’s legal tight end, Skip Houser, jumped in to say he had called a bunch of his colleagues to ask if such a situation might constitute a conflict of interest and, unremarkably, everyone queried told him, “No conflict, no problem. God bless you, my son. You’re doing the Lord’s work out there.”

Now for a real Hallmark moment:

It turns out that Commissioner Hupp’s long-lost, non-blood relative, Donald Putvin, was present at the meeting. Apparently unbeknownst to Commissioner Hupp, Uncle Putvin had been working right next door for about 20 years. Jay was so moved that he walked around the table to shake hands with his distant relative and new Port tenant. I tell you folks, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

But the day had one more uninteresting factoid before surrendering to reality, the dreaded public comment period:

I testified that maybe the Port should present the fairgrounds to potential special event promoters at the Special Event Trade Show held each year. More potential promoters, more money for the Port, right? But apparently that’s not how the Port does business; guess it’s just easier to give it to the Hansens.

And just to drive the point home, John Hansen takes to the podium and says, “I have two words for the bloggers out there: Internet Libel,” and then he goes on to trash the Port whistle-blower in an open public forum while she’s in the performance of her duties. A real stand-up kind of guy.

Blessedly, the end of the meeting was now in sight, and we were all waiting for Commissioner Hupp to put us out of our misery. But he just couldn’t resist one last slap at the public, and announced there was a group of people out there intent on tearing the Port apart, and how he wasn’t about to let that happen. To which I can only say, all the people who are trying to tear the Port apart, Mr. Hupp, are living right there in your mirror. But then isn’t that always the last place we look?

Enough for one day...

Photo by Terry Why