WEEK OF 6/18/12 MEETINGS IN REVIEW

TOM'S TALES FOR THE WEEK

Submitted to Shelton Blog by Tom Davis Mason County Progressive

Monday, June 18, 2012

2:00 PM: Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) Briefing

As previously reported, last week’s briefing of the BOCC included a slow roasting of Mr. Frank Pinter, Finance Manager for the Sheriff’s Office. This week, Mr. Pinter returned for yet another turn on the spit, only this time he brought along a few friends.

There’s nothing quite like having the second string of the Green Bay Packers walk into a room to make you feel like a soup bone; when that much cop-power shows up, you know we’re in for a good, old fashioned showdown.

Here’s what happened:

The Sheriff was serendipitously notified that the Commissioners were thinking about having jail administrator, Tom Haugen, report directly to them. And that was enough to bring out the big guns. The problem is there’s not enough staff to oversee the inmates. But what ensued was less a conversation about staff and money, than it was a hasty retreat to safer ground. In the end, it was decided to put all options – except that one – on the table. But not now. Unfortunately I’d left my Captain Video secret decoder ring at home, so that’s all I can tell you.

6:00 PM: City of Shelton Commissioner’s Meeting

I got there at my usual time (10 to 6), to find someone sitting in my usual seat (as near the exit as possible). As it turned out, the crowd was there to support Jay’s Farm Stand located up on Olympic Hwy. North.

Here’s what happened:

About 13 months ago Jay's opened up, displaying produce inside the store and outside, under portable (“membrane” covered) carports. At the heart of the matter was the structural integrity of the carports. The City claimed that when owner, Lee Dixon, applied for a business license and permits, he was told the carports did not comply with city building standards, and he agreed to replace them with something that didn’t look like it blew in off a tsunami.

Long story short, that didn’t happen, and after a year of playing "catch-me-if-you-can", the City threatened to close the business down.

But hell hath no fury like the fruit and apple activists from around the area who came to support The Little Farm Stand That Could.

My own stand was quite different: I rose to remind Mr. Dixon that pitting the popularity of produce against local building standards was not in anyone’s best interest, and that while the community supported him, it was reasonable to expect him to support community building standards. Lucky for me, no one thought to bring tomatoes.

In the end, the Mayor reached for the low hanging fruit, moving to give Mr. Dixon another 45 days to comply. And then we all went out for burgers and beer.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

9:00 AM: Regular session of Board of County Commissioners (BOCC)

There were few items on the agenda and no public hearings, and Tim Sheldon has now missed four BOCC meetings in 2012.

I found his absence today particularly annoying, as my comments were aimed at the County’s long-standing association with RDC/Allied Waste, the recipient of a recent 8 year, $15M long-haul, solid waste disposal contract.

Supporting documentation had revealed the original contract between the County and Allied went into effect in 1993, and through a process of amendments and extensions, was due to expire on August 26, 2012. But a new contract (the County calls it an amendment, but it’s really new) was approved at the BOCC meeting of June 5, 2012. And that contract runs through August 26, 2020, with a three year extension option. This brings the total length of the original contract 30 years to term, without benefit of having ever gone through a competitive bidding process.

Even for politicians, that waste contract stinks to high heaven.

2:00 PM: Port of Shelton Commission Meeting

I was surprised to see the Port’s attorney, Charles (Skip) Houser, at the Port. Given the vast sums he’d made representing the Port in the ADAGE and Hall Equities debacles, I’d have thought he’d be somewhere down in the Bahamas surrounded by 79 virgins and a wheelbarrow full of Pina Coladas. But maybe that’s just me, projecting.

On the action agenda were three items, though only one is worthy of reporting: “Timber Harvest Bid”. Somehow the fairgrounds worked its way into the discussion, even though it was not on the agenda.

Last things first: The potential timber harvest of 100 acres of Port property on Johns Prairie Rd.

Commissioner Hupp presided over a power-point presentation aimed at not harvesting the 100 acres, at least not yet. As expected, his presentation was as succinct as a dagger in the eye. (You gotta hand it to the guy; he’s as convincing when he’s right as when he’s wrong.) But long-time observers of political histrionics have learned that when it comes to decisions involving money, being right doesn’t carry much weight, so I expect those trees will go the way of the Dodo bird.

And now the reason Attorney Houser traded his Speedo in for a suit and tie:

In an effort to support his desire to have the fairgrounds moved to another part of Sanderson Field and avoid any FAA blowback, Director Dobson crawled into the attic in search of archived documents. But why get dirty when you can hire someone whose used to traversing cramped, dark spaces?

Enter Attorney Houser.

In a soliloquy to rival the length of the Magna Carta, Mr. Houser laid out the sequence of events that brought us to the current deed restrictions on fairground property. And though the FAA may in fact have the authority to exercise those restrictions, it seems unlikely they will do so. (It’s kind of like when your older brother made you flinch, but never actually threw a punch; in other words, a “fake-out”.)

Nevertheless, I encourage all who care about protecting the fairgrounds to throw that punch by responding to the Port’s invitation for public comment (cut off date July 31), at www.portofshelton.com.

Not to overplay the analogy, but when you go up against Big Brother, only a knock-out blow will do.

Later…

Link to Port of Shelton fairgrounds press release pdf:
http://www.portofshelton.com/downloads/FairgroundsFutureUsePlan.pdf