Mason County, WA USAWHEN BICKERING IS A BLESSING
Submitted to Shelton Blog by John Cox Mason County Progressive
Regarding the 8/25/11 letter to the editor of the Shelton-Mason County Journal submitted by Brian Avery titled "Avery urges voters to support Dick Taylor" in which Mr. Avery states, "the bickering at the port has to end and since I will not be the one to end it, please support the only candidate who can -- Dick Taylor."
The "bickering" you refer to, Mr. Avery, is a sign that Port Commissioner Jack Miles is doing the right thing for the citizens of Mason County who don't have their hands in the taxpayer pockets or own half the forest land in the county, or who would clear cut the world and still not have their greed satisfied.
This is why we continue to BACK JACK and recommend others to do the same.
Yes, the primary was a bit close, but Jack is still in the race to retain his Port of Shelton Commissioner seat, hot though it is.
Dick Taylor and his supporters, many of whom adhere to the "corporate greed creed" are trying to make one of the main election issues, the manner in which Jack Miles was discharged from the Marines. Facts are facts, and Jack did what he did, and it doesn't bother me in the least. In fact, I admire him for standing up for his convictions.
I feel I can say this because I am a veteran too. I participated in the cold war as a sonar tech on a nuclear submarine with the primary mission of spying on Soviet submarines in the Pacific, and if the truth be told, one of my personal primary missions at that time seemed to have been getting drunk in various ports around the world.
That's how it seems looking back. I did a lot of things that, if caught, might have jeopardized my "honorable" discharge. I also didn't do some things that I should have done that would also have jeopardized my DD 214. Instead, I was lucky and/or lacking in the courage of my convictions at that young age. Anybody who has lived more than 5 or 6 decades and thinks they are any better than Jack Miles is a hypocrite, or has never really taken an honest look at themselves.
So now that Mr. Avery is out of the picture, we are back to the battle of the "archetypes". For me this is one of those GOOD vs EVIL duels. Dick Taylor wearing the black hat and Jack Miles wearing the white.
Actually, I don't know if Dick Taylor wears a hat, but the fact that he supported ADAGE, and still supports biomass incineration says volumes to me. It tells me that as a Port Commissioner, he would agree with anything that Jay Hupp says. My problem with this is that I personally tend to not agree with just about everything Jay Hupp says as a Port Commissioner. I know! I know! Who am I to disagree with Jay Hupp? I am but a mere citizen.
And that's the problem. Commissioners Jay Hupp and Tom Wallitner, and Port Director John Dobson do not want to hear anything that the citizens who do not support their positions have to say. If not for the laws of this state, I am sure the door to the Port would be shut tightly to any citizen who asks too many questions or opposes the plans of the present Port Regime.
And then there's Port Commissioner Jack Miles. He's the only commissioner that has any respect, whatsoever, for the average citizen. When he disagrees with the other Port Commissioners, you know it. There is no guile. There is no back room debauchery. There's just Jack telling it like he sees it.
What Jack Miles does is definitely not "bickering". It is standing up for what is right. And of course the present Port Regime despises him for it.
Photo by Christine
Well put, Sir, and boldly put!
ReplyDeleteWhen one Port Commissioner stands up for the folks who elected him, against two port commissioners and their executive director, it is bickering in the eyes of a loser, the guy who lost gets the title of loser and his opinion and recommendations are irrelevant.
The peoples opinions are what matters now and what will matter on election day.
Miles has shown that his interests are the same as ordinary, hardworking, struggling, trying to survive families.
Taylors interests are his industrial friends, and his record shows this clearly for all to see (and his campaign donors speak to this well too).
Jack = people interests
Dick = corporate interests
Ohhhhh, Doctor- when truth is in the air, excuses go out the window! I could write five pages on why we should not vote for Jack Miles for Port Commissioner, but I could easily write ten on why not to vote for Dick Taylor, and therein lies the problem. Everything John Cox says in his post is true; it’s just not true enough.
ReplyDeleteI too suspect the reason the Port wants to bring Dick Taylor into the fold is to have the next biomass to energy proposal fly completely under the radar; Mr. Taylor was one of the first and most staunch supporters of that irresponsible endeavor. I would add only that Dick Taylor is exactly what port management does not need: another pilot minded, short-sighted, ineffectual bureaucrat, loaded to the gunnels with credentials, yet achieving only moderate success in his own life, now trying to convince us he knows the path to economic recovery; in other words, just another flying dinosaur.
But if it is truth to which you aspire then it is incumbent upon me to say, by the same measure of success, Jack Miles doesn’t register on any metric. And it is also true that Mr. Miles participation at the port over these past six years has done little to enhance his public image or hone his professional or business acumen. But the circus tent really went up on Jack when he attempted to file a restraining order against Port Director, John Dobson. And if only for that reason, it would wise for Mr. Miles to take to heart the old saying, “It is better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.”
But here’s the rub: You can learn to be a good businessman, and you can even learn to be a smarter man, but you can never learn to be a different man, and Dick Taylor has shown his true colors by putting special interests ahead of public health, while Jack Miles has consistently cast his vote on the side of the public good. It all boils down to a question of ideology: when push comes to shove, do you want someone at the helm who values business over all else, even public health, or someone with a proven track record of fighting for the people’s rights?
Jack Miles is not a lot of things, but what he is, is a man who has taken the blows and never turned his back on us. If Jack is elected, he can learn to be a better leader, but Dick Taylor will always be just another clone of what we’ve been battling against for going on two years now. And that, my friends, is the true reason we should all cast our votes for Jack Miles for Port of Shelton Commissioner.
Jack is young and open-minded.
ReplyDeleteDick is a dinosaur as Tom Davis notes.
We do not need another dinosaur in leadership at the port; we need a lot more young, likely to make mistakes, but capable of learning, Jack Miles.
SUBMITTED BY Clint
ReplyDeleteDick Taylor is already having coffee with Hupp at Lynch Creek. Yes, they are planning to end the bickering and the representative government at the Port.