Archive for Sound Off
Fool Me Once, Shame on You…
Posted by: | CommentsBuckle up kiddies, it is going to be a topsy turvy ride. I hope you have the stomach for it. We are about to go back onto that trill ride known as the DuPont-Fire-Levy-Tilt-a-whirl. Refrain from eating a big lunch because by the time both the city and the opposition stop spinning you around, you may be tasting seconds in your own buffet line.
Didn’t we just go through this? Weren’t we just waiting for the light to change, not making eye contact with the “volunteer” sign wavers? Didn’t we just clean out our inbox of emails from concerned citizens crying foul at the levy amount? And, didn’t we bookmark and check with obsessive frequency the Pierce County Elections web site, seeing what the vote differential was and how many outstanding votes remained?
The mayor recently added some new information to the city website (which proves that either a. She requested the information posted six weeks ago or, b. She can add information to the website when she wants to).
Let’s take a looksy at what she wrote here.
Here are a couple of highlights (or lowlights) that caught my eye. In the first paragraph, regarding the last levy request of $1.80/Thousand, the mayor writes:
“As you might recall, this measure was confusing and your City Council has taken great efforts to be sure that this current measure is well crafted and at a level that will meet the needs of the citizens…”
Confusing to whom? The citizens, or those who drafted it? I understood it perfectly. The city was asking for $450 per year for the same housing value stated here. Perhaps the mayor should restate the sentence so that it more accurately portrays the truth of the matter. In a perfect world, it would look something like this:
“As you might recall, your City Council and I were drunk with excitement at the possibility of fully funding the fire department with this levy and freeing the existing general fund money allocated for fire service to be used on pet projects. That is, until we were informed that this would be in violation Washington state law. By then, the ballot verbiage was already filed with the county. Oops.”
Another nugget contained within this letter is the reference to what we get for the money from Fire District #2:
“…the City would receive…public education programs for our schools, technical rescue services, hazardous materials response, dive rescue, and many other quality programs that our City does not currently offer.”
Does this sound a little like your teenage daughter trying to convince you how buying her a showroom new BMW 3-series is actually a better deal for you than buying her a used Hyundai?
Just how many “technical rescue”, HazMat, and dive rescue situations occur that warrant this level of service? Well, we could check our fire call reports except for the fact there is a glitch in the system at this time. Oh well, at least the fire department will be able to teach our school children fire safety without charging a nominal fee as a city event.
For additional information, another FAQ is provided.
Now, I must caution you, because if you get nauseous easily from spinning around, you may want to avoid this next section. Also, if you choose to click on the FAQ link you may be overcome with an overwhelming desire to check the bottom of your shoe. Don’t worry, you did not step in anything, that is just the stench of obfuscation.
Of note:
Are we annexing into the Lakewood Fire Department?
The answer given is “No” and there is a line regarding such an effort would require a vote of the people. What is not said is that is the city’s end goal, as documented by the mayor in her November 10, 2008 memorandum. Under point 5, she writes:
“[The April 2009 ballot measure] would also be consistent with our message that eventual annexation is our goal.”
Why don’t we just use volunteer firefighters?
According to the mayor, the Fire Services Task Force concluded that having volunteers would not meet the City’s fire service needs. That point has been hotly contested since it was announced. I cannot say for sure, but what I do know is that the DMC still states that we are to have a combination fire department.
13.01.010 Personnel.
Under the provisions of RCW 35A.12.100, the Mayor is in charge of the Fire Department. The Department shall consist of a Chief, one Assistant or Operations Chief, and other career and volunteer officers as necessary for the effective operation of the Department and as funded in the annual budget. Staffing for emergency response shall be primarily volunteer personnel augmented by career personnel. Up to 25 volunteers are authorized by the Department. (Ord. 97 § 1, Art. 1, Oct. 8th, 1970; Ord. 04-763 § 1).
As I read it, the law of DuPont states we are to have both career and volunteers, yet the city has not lifted a finger to change this code. Curious at best.
Why the rush to put the issue on the April ballot?
For the answer to this, I will refer to what is written in the FAQ.
“The ballot measure in April provides enough time to hire and train the personnel necessary to implement a contract for service. It also provides necessary time for negotiations and ratification of the contract for service by both the City of DuPont and Lakewood Fire District 2. Waiting to put a measure on the August or November ballot would simply not provide enough time to properly implement a contract for service in January of 2010.”
But that is not what the mayor said in her aforementioned memo.
“Putting a measure on the ballot in April would also allow for a fall back position for the general election in November.”
Fall back, as in a battle of attrition? Try again in August? Then again in November? How can the answers to the same questions change in four months?
The city makes it so difficult to support this important issue with poorly crafted documents. If we need all of this time to get personnel ready; and we need more money to stay within our agreement with Lakewood; and if annexation is our ultimate goal anyway, then why are we asking for another levy? Why not just get annexation on the table for discussion and citizen input then put that issue on the ballot?
To answer my own question, probably because the city keeps turning these ballot initiatives into a referendum on whether the citizens trust City Hall.
Train Whistle No Longer Blows Its Lonesome Song
Posted by: | CommentsWe are fast closing in on a dubious milestone in DuPont’s brief business district history. Our awarding winning planned community that at one time hosted a street of dreams now has a new landmark. Think of it as the retail spot that time forgot.
Yes, it has been nearly one full calendar year since the most public and wild embracing of our dubious branding effort closed the blinds for good. Last January, Dynamite Jack’s went out of business, catastrophically failing after a bizarre month.
Of course, we all know the spot better as Harbor Rock, and for all intents and purposes, it was Harbor Rock that closed. In fact, that is the sign that still adorns the building.
Just what was Dynamite Jacks? At the time, it seemed like the worst idea of all time. Had the owners of Harbor Rock lost its mind? A plastic banner heralded in a new era that did not last as long as the William Henry Harrison presidency. By the time you actually got in to check out the changes, it was gone. Some would say mercifully so.
The changes took an ordinary looking bar and restaurant, one that previously embraced the oft emulated coffee shop palette, and replaced it with something that can only be described as something between Jackson Pollack and the Tate-LaBianca crime scene.
“I’ll have the “Death to Pigs” pulled pork sandwich, please.”
In addition to the extraordinary paint job inside were artifacts “celebrating” our town’s heritage as a place that once manufactured explosives. Whatever the desired intent the end result was more closely linked to our history of a Superfund site. Gone were the standard issue black and white server’s garb. It was replaced with dungarees held up by suspenders. There was also an obnoxious train whistle that announced the spinning a wheel of (mis)fortune where you could get a 25% discount off your Cobb Salad.
What a mess. They could not be serious. Thankfully, they still had a fully stocked bar where I needed two fingers of Jameson’s just to make sense of it all.
Recently, a new theory was offered to me over the din as I sat in lament one evening at Farelli’s. Perhaps the changes at Harbor Rock were always intended to be temporary. Maybe the owners knew they were going under and decided to ruin the interior to spite their landlord. Wouldn’t it be perfect? The lease is written in such a way where the tenant is responsible for all interior modifications.
Basically, what that means is you pay the rent you can do whatever you want to do inside, including projectile vomiting paint onto the walls. What better way to say Effhew to the owners? That’s what I think of your $25 a square foot.
The January 9th edition of the Hometown Clipper ran a story and interview called The Cost of Doing Business in DuPont. While it made no mention of the nutty theory I heard shortly beforehand, it did offer a glimpse into the world of operating a business in DuPont Station.
The leasing agents (The Neil Walter Company) and ownership of DuPont Station remain steadfast in their assertion that their $25 per square foot rates are competitive for the region. Business owners disagree. And, if you read the article where it cites Hawks Prairie as a basis for comparison to DuPont Station you have to stop and ask what does Lacey have that DuPont does not?
Traffic.
It seems insane to charge Hawks Prairie prices in DuPont when you consider the disparity in the volume of traffic. It also seems to be corroborated by Anytime Fitness owner, Helen Ireland, “I think the biggest issue is that DuPont does not have the people or traffic to justify that high of a lease. I may be paying the same in Yelm; however the traffic is amazing out there. I have been open for nine months and have hundreds more members than DuPont after three years.”
What is bothersome to me is what I perceive as the somewhat cavalier attitude expressed by DuPont Station owner Mike Rabstoff. From the Clipper: Developer Mike Rabstoff of DuPont Station Partners said rent costs can not be entirely blamed for business failure. “In any retail community you have businesses that come and go. One business closing does not a failure make,” said Rabstoff during a phone interview. “Any time that a tenant decides to scale back or close, there are other factors involved. It’s not because of the setting, quality of the development or the community,” he said.
Really, Mike? Then how about three, four, or five failures? What does that say? It may not be “…because of the setting, quality of the development or the community” it may be due to some decisions that were made. It also speaks to the vision and marketing of the property.
The citizens of DuPont were giddy with excitement when that stretch of Wilmington was developed, it represented freedom from having to trudge up to Lakewood or slog down to Lacey. We were like a sixteen year old getting our keys to our first clunker. We were a little too blinded by the thought of what could be than tempered by the reality of what was.
A jewelry store? A self serve ceramic decorating studio? Sure, they didn’t have a snowball’s chance, but what about a smoothie shop? A bakery? A coffee house?
It was a dubious pairing of ridiculous businesses for the community and inept business ownership in some of the cases, to be sure. It also reflects the willingness to rent to anybody regardless of the viability of the tenant. Basically, if you can afford the $25 per square foot then here are the keys.
As much as I want to see a viable business occupy the old Harbor Rock I shudder to think what could go in there next. Who will be willing to fork over the nearly $120,000 a year in rent?
It also makes you wonder what the outlook is now. DuPont Station could not keep spaces leased when the economy in this region was still sound. Now they have that soft pillow of the poor economy to lay their heads upon. Just how much responsibility does DuPont Station bear in this matter? After all, the remaining development around Ross Plaza has slowed and even Venture Bank cannot rent out its retail space. Will the planned growth be enough to push the central business district over the top?
There still remains the here and now, and sadly, it appears DuPont Station is just as happy to let the Harbor Rock space remain vacant and collect no rent rather than lower the rent to attract a possible anchor to the corner spot at Center Drive. Probably because lowering the rent will require messy lease renegotiations with the rest of the tenants hanging by a thread. Selling the property to invigorated ownership is out of the question too, since it likely is nowhere near the claimed valuation of $62M listed on the Miravest, Inc. website.
For some reason, marketing the property in DuPont has also fallen off of the radar. Just for giggles go ahead and click the Miravest link and go to the page representing DuPont Station. The website listed on that page is no longer in existence. There is your Miravest DuPont Station marketing plan. Bupkis.
An interesting aside is that the dead website link that Miravest used in marketing DuPont Station was www.dupontstation.net. Dot net. Why not dot com? If you google www.dupontstation.com you will find that it is offered for sale. Some eighth grade google skills will reveal that the phone number provided is to none other than Arsland, Inc.
Et tu!
If you are still not convinced that DuPont Station ownership is behaving like absentee landlords then just go back to last summer. Anything thing jog your memory?
The fact of the matter is that the people of DuPont have been spoon fed a steaming pile for the last several years regarding this property. Take, for instance, this second hand smoke that was blown up our colon in 2006, “Mike Rabstoff (DuPont Station Partners LLC) provided an update on Economic Development for 2006/2007. He stated that currently they are working to provide a 106 unit apartment complex, Walgreens, Kindercare, and grocery store. He also informed Council that DuPont Station Partners donated as a gold level contributor to the Centennial Celebration Event Fund.” – Source: DuPont City Council meeting minutes, June 13, 2006.
Gold level? In DuPont? Say it ain’t so!
Do you think any of these potential businesses balked once they found out what their rents were going to be?
So while DuPont Station is transmogrifying Wilmington Avenue into a Pottersville, the city wrings their hands claiming to be powerless. It is private property and if an owner wants to keep a property vacant so that it contributes to blight, well, what can they do? Surely, a community development director, with actual marketing experience, who can oversee the direction of the sputtering local business district would seem a logical start. Can someone please give me a shout out on who is fulfilling this role currently?
One year and little motivation to fill the Harbor Rock space. So, this is how we are preparing for the 2010 golf tournament, greet our visitors with vacate store fronts? Of course, as DuPont Station sits idle and collecting no additional tax revenue for city, the city hatches a plan to impose a tax on the golf course. If the city is so keen on creating a new tax then why not consider a vacancy tax? A commercial property not adding to the city coffers is actually taking away from the city coffers.
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose – Glacier Northwest to Flip Coin with DuPont
Posted by: | CommentsThe city has spoken on the GlacierNW proposed mine expansion and the story was carried in this morning’s edition of the Tacoma News Tribune. The story is reprinted below.
Dig, says DuPont, but protect canyon
City wants Glacier Northwest to use pipeline, not ravine, in expansion of gravel mine
The City of DuPont gave its blessing Friday to a dramatic expansion of the Glacier Northwest gravel mine, with one major condition.
Rather than carving out a V-shaped gap in the Sequalitchew Creek ravine, the city wants the mining company to bury drainage from its expanded mine operation in a 500-foot pipeline.
“There is real strong sentiment here that that canyon should not be breached,” City Administrator Bill McDonald said. “It’s a beautiful canyon with historical significance, and people feel strongly that the condition it’s in now needs to be protected.”
Glacier Northwest, which has a 387-acre gravel mine in DuPont, wants to expand its operation onto an adjacent 177 acres. The mining company wants to dig about 80 feet into the new site, cutting through an aquifer and removing about 35 million tons of high-quality gravel over 14 years.
Residents have vigorously objected to the expansion, maintaining it would hurt streams and wetlands.
Pete Stoltz, who’s been overseeing the permitting process for Glacier Northwest, said Friday that the company hadn’t had time to analyze the city’s proposed conditions in terms of cost or productivity.
“We’re still evaluating the staff report and the changes that have been made,” Stoltz said. “We’ll have to look at it from a technical and engineering standpoint before we can tell exactly what it might mean.”
However, Stoltz said he doubted the change would significantly affect production. Installing the pipeline might be cheaper than re-contouring a more natural intersection between the two creeks, he said.
If allowed to proceed, Glacier Northwest will break through a natural aquifer in the mining operation.
In an environmental impact statement prepared by the city, the preferred alternative was to deal with the water flow by constructing a new creek in the bottom of the mine after gravel had been removed to harder glacial till.
The new creek would have flowed through a 70-foot-deep notch in the Sequalitchew ravine in order to connect with Sequalitchew Creek and then out to Puget Sound.
Two critics of Glacier Northwest’s expansion plans, former DuPont Mayor Judy Krill and Tom Skjervold of the Nisqually Delta Association, hadn’t seen the city’s report Friday, but both were skeptical about the pipeline idea.
“That might be a step in the right direction,” Skjervold said, “but I don’t think it begins to address all of our concerns.”
Skjervold said Glacier Northwest’s proposal ignores a 1994 settlement agreement that established a buffer zone around Sequalitchew Creek and the ravine.
The Nisqually Delta Association has hired an attorney, Skjervold said, and the group is prepared to take action to ensure that the 1994 agreement is followed.
The city’s approval of the project is significant, but not the final word on Glacier Northwest’s expansion. The city’s recommendation now goes to a hearing examiner, who’s charged with making the final decision.
The public will have the month of February to review the city’s decision. Then, on the evening of March 3 and all day March 4, the hearing examiner will listen to arguments at public hearings.
The hearing examiner’s decision can be appealed to Pierce County Superior Court.
Glacier Northwest also will need approval from the state departments of Ecology and Fish and Wildlife and, possibly, from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Stoltz said.
Glacier Northwest also is involved in a gravel project on Maury Island. The company is building a tube and conveyor system to carry gravel to barges.
The company ran out of time this week to complete work in the water for the project, which must be halted until Aug. 15 to protect spawning herring and migrating salmon.
Opponents fighting the project resorted to civil disobedience during the past month. On Tuesday and Wednesday, they launched a flotilla of kayaks to get in the way of cranes and pile drivers.
If you have lived in DuPont for the last several years, this should not surprise you in the least. The public outcry is easily dismissed by the town leadership and the idle rant of a select few. The city clings to the apathy that comprises this largely transient town.
What is interesting about this article that appeared in Tacoma this morning is that there is absolutely no mention of any of the other issues associated with the expansion. Nothing stated about the noise, dust, or other environmental impacts. Nor, does it state just how much money is being wagged in the cash strapped city’s face. Rest assured, it probably isn’t much. Certainly not enough to restore the fire department or expand city services.
Don’t worry, salaries have already been covered.
So the next step is the hearing examiner in March. Glacier should plan a picnic for those days, or to fund the train restoration. Anything suitable to distract the citizens all the while appearing to be magnanimous.
Remember, they are not expanding the mine, but restoring salmon habitat!
Well, that was the original plan before the city proposed a pipeline to drain the water from the aquifer. Not divert, drain. Of course, GlacierNW won’t mind since it saves them some money in having to breach the creek, probably something they never really wanted to do in the first place due to the costs involved.
So we are left with the city promoting this novel win-win proposal. The water won’t flow down the creek (as if this was the only issue) and GlacierNW gets to save some scratch by ordering a pipeline from a catalog.
Next time there is a town hall meeting, be sure to grab a bottle of water and a snack because that is all you are getting.
The Coffey Brood
Posted by: | CommentsCouncilman Ehrenreich offered his opinion on the budget and the obligatory words speaking against the COLA rate of increase. He also said that it is a very lean budget. No question that deriving any budget is an exhaustive process.
I decided to skip to councilmember Penny Coffey’s discussion points. Part of the reason is to keep the ball rolling but also because there are few things that Ms. Coffey said that I adamantly disagree with and those points need to be addressed.
To Penny Coffey’s benefit, she is responsive to my inquiries and was forth coming on her opinions–especially the fire service issues and levy. Though I may not always agree with her I acknowledge that she always strives to have DuPont reach the full potential of her vision.
Knowing this, it is unfortunate that she did not utilize her time to discuss some excellent points she had made regarding COLA and the comparable with other cities. She was absolutely correct that renegotiating the union contract this late in the game would have been costly in the associated attorney’s fees. She is also correct that stability is an important virtue that DuPont had been lacking. However, there are some circumstances other than salary that created that situation of years past. Also, stability at too high of a price isn’t stable at all. You also need to consider the citizens since they are the ones writing the checks.
Councilmember Coffey has a vision for DuPont, unfortunately, I do not think it is a vision shared by many in this community based on previous failed ballot proposals and the lack of consistent citizen input. For whatever reason, it has been a hard sell to the new, expanded DuPont and Northwest Landing. Ms. Coffey’s vision is more closely aligned with the glossy color drawings presented in the original blue print of what DuPont could be. It is a builder’s vision. However, somewhere along the way people moved into town and ruined everything.
Councilmember Coffey mistakenly asked me my salary and benefits. I am unsure of what her point was but if it was to compare industry to government then it is a weak argument. I wrote about this prior to the budget vote. It also was evading a point of why the COLA would go to not represented employees. And, it does not address questions of productivity versus wage.
There are too many points to be made but one does not escape: That the 5.8% COLA that was negotiated and then approved by the city council was egregious in the first place. Somebody within the city leadership needs to take responsibility for that.
I will wait a month of Sundays for a cold day in hell before that happens.
DuPont Grocery Survey
Posted by: | CommentsI got a couple of emails today from some local people seeking opinions on one of our favorite water cooler discussions around town: A Grocery Store in DuPont.
Click here for a grocery survey that will take less than 5 minutes to complete.
Two Way Tie for Last
Posted by: | CommentsI have mentioned previously that I am sick of the campaigning. Enough is enough, right? Does anyone really change their mind this late into the game? Apparently, the Washington State Democratic Central Committee thinks so. We all received their latest direct mail jumbo post card in the mail.
The post card has photos of the Tacoma Dome and the new span of the Narrows Bridge, along with the tag-line “Has Mike Carrell Really Done Much For Pierce County?” near the address box that probably contains your name and address. But, if you flip the card over you get to see the point the WSDCC is trying to make. The implication is that the Seattle legislators, being the savvy sophisticates that they are, were able to the voters there money for new stadiums, the “crumbling” viaduct and a new 520 bridge, among other things.
For some reason unknown to me, there is an image of a USB plug beside the bullet points of what Seattle got. Evidently, it must symbolize the obvious technical superiority of those in King County while the mouth breathing knuckle draggers here in Pierce County can only dream. Only dream of unfettered spending to create an enormous budget deficit, presumably to pay back the political favors of elections past.
Yes, we are gritty slobs here in Pierce County, but dare I say we can at least count our ballots correctly (though I haven’t looked behind the refrigerator lately to see who we may have disenfranchised).
That is not to say that we were completely without some legislative largess. The post card goes onto say that Mike Carrell (R) got money for a shelter for DuPont’s Dynamite Train!
Congratulations DuPont, you have made the radar screen of the Washington State Democrats in Seattle. Yes, we with our measly $25,000 stipend. Too bad we didn’t have some wheeler dealer as our representative, we probably could have built a new stadium for the former Seattle SuperSonics next to the Home Course!
What exacerbates the indignity of being called out for our modest train shelter is the source cited by the Washington State Democratic Central Committee: Yours truly, RealDuPont.com. Actually, the direct mail post card lists the following youtube link to the video posted on this site April, 27, 2008:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hND82UexEfw
I really have nothing against Mike Carrell, other than he looks like he placed third in a Tony Bennett look-a-like contest, but I am not sure that this is a good strategy to give him the boot. Do you really want to remind the Washington State 28th legislative district that Seattle and King County get more goodies from the state than you do?
I guess I should feel honored that someone, somewhere used my website as a means to smear another candidate, but I do not. It is just more high school gossip mongering and drama instigating, but with adults in the leading roles of trying to win a popularity contest. I am put off by the shameless pandering and the hiding behind children as a means to exhibit qualification. Yeah, that is Mike Carrell, in his own nauseating post card, beachcombing with a group of kids when he could have been spending their future earnings on a stadium.
I have read the resumes of both candidates and I am ready to make an endorsement. Drum roll, please: I will be writing in the name of someone else, thankyouverymuch.
So, Mike Carrell (R) blech and Debi Srail (D) groan, please pick up your junk mail and litter (signs) from the side of the road. You are both wasting my time.
Musical Interlude: Geek Rock
Posted by: | CommentsI cannot resisit offering up the Young Knives and Vampire Weekend for every kid singing into their hairbrush in front of their bedroom mirror.
Young Knives perform Terra Firma
Vampire Weekend perform A-Punk
Public Humiliation 101
Posted by: | CommentsI seldom buy print newspapers anymore as I have fully converted to the online form. I have to admit, I miss it. I used to love to luxuriate reading the Sunday NY Times when I lived in Los Angeles (ironic, ain’t it?). I also loved to be the first to pluck the sports section from the morning Detroit Free Press; beating my slob roommate to the punch so I did not have to try to decipher the box scores through grape jelly stains or corners soaked in his Captain Crunch milk.
This morning I went to Lowe’s to buy some baseboard moulding but first I would get breakfast at Elmers. I paid the outrageous fifty cents for the News Tribune.
Amongst all the Palin-Biden blah blah I found an editorial about our fair city. The complete text is provided below:
DuPont fire levy a mess, but the only real option
THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Published: October 3rd, 2008 12:30 AM
Talk about holding a gun to your own head.The City of DuPont finds itself in a fix, and it’s one that is almost entirely of city officials’ making. Either voters approve a costly, flawed six-year property tax levy lid lift next month, or the city will drop ambulance services.
For DuPont residents, the decision really comes down to one question: How much do they trust their elected officials?
Certainly, the bungling that has gotten DuPont into this predicament doesn’t do much to instill confidence.
This crisis has been years in the making, as fire services have gradually consumed a greater portion of the city’s budget. Today, one in three general fund dollars goes to provide around-the-clock firefighting and emergency medical services – an unsustainable diversion of tax dollars.
Complicating matters, the growing city can’t keep firefighters. High turnover and slim pickings for new recruits prompted the city earlier this year to enter into an emergency agreement with the Lakewood Fire Department.
Under that contract, the city estimates its costs for fire services will rise to $3 million next year, almost half of the city’s general fund budget.
The DuPont City Council, looking for ways to come up with dollars, decided to ask voters for a six-year increase in the city’s property tax. But the council aimed too high.
Instead of trying to relieve just some of the pressure fire services are putting on the general fund, the council shot for the moon. It proposed to shift the burden for nearly all fire expenses to the new taxes. The result was a ballot measure asking for a stunning 180 percent increase in the city’s property tax rate.
The city’s strategy was certainly bold; it also was possibly illegal. State law prohibits cities from asking for a levy lid lift for a specific purpose and then using the extra taxes to supplant existing funds used for that purpose. In other words, if DuPont’s tax measure brought in an extra $2.6 million, every dime would need to go to new expenses.
The City Council has reconsidered, recently passing a resolution stating its intent to assess only some of the authorized tax – somewhere between 32 and 96 cents of the allowed $1.80 tax rate (per $1,000 of assessed property value).
That’s cold comfort for taxpayers, who already are facing uncertain economic times. The tax measure could end up costing them $400,000 next year or $1.2 million – or perhaps more if the city finds a way to categorize existing services as new.
But given the alternative, voters have little choice but to hold their nose and vote for this stinker. The city clearly can’t continue letting the fire department drain the general fund without crippling cuts to other city services. It will be forced to pare back advanced life support, leaving DuPont residents at the mercy of distant private ambulance providers.
The long-term answer might be annexation to the Lakewood Fire Department (which charges its residents just 87 cents per $1,000 of assessed value). We recommend voters approve the levy for fire services, and then demand accountability from the council – not just for how it spends the money but also for developing a better plan for protecting the city.
This is truly embarrassing. Not the embarressment of grandpa wandering the streets in his bathrobe feeding the squirrels; or the embarrassment of your kid saying “I farted” in Sunday church service; or even your mother showing your dorky middle school photos to your prom date (getting back at you for farting in church). Nope, this is civic embarrassment to a new level.
And of course, we have our elected leaders to blame.
This should make the next town-hall meeting a little more interesting. I have been saying that they city should open these meetings, heck, any meeting with a public apology. Now, I feel that is too late. We are tired of their obfuscating anyway and an apology would be as phony as a three dollar bill.
So the editorial staff at the TNT is recommending that the people of DuPont pass the levy or else. Perhaps. But it also goes to show you that no matter how much bread you use, it is still a shit sandwich.
Bon appetite!
Everything Must Go!
Posted by: | CommentsQuadrant is showing signs (literally) of getting desperate in DuPont. For the last several years, a steady stream of prospective house hunters made their way down McNeil Street at an excruciating 5 MPH below the speed limit to make their way the sales office and to tour the model homes.
More House, Less Money, was their battle-cry!
Now, whether it is over building, or perhaps the soft housing market, Quadrant has resorted to the lowest of low in marketing: The Human Billboard.
(Sorry, I do not have an MBA, so I cannot explain the complexities on how it works and its overall success rate)
Those working on the sign ordinance, take note.
Once the province of businesses along South Tacoma Way, Tacoma Mall Blvd, and 38th Street, Quadrant is now using it to advertise their affordable upscale homes. It is interesting that the method often used to schlep “Close Out” or “Going out of Business” sales would be used to sell homes direct from the builder.
I am going to talk to my lender because “Buy One, Get One Free” cannot be too far behind.
Debriefing the Operation
Posted by: | CommentsIn spite of what the calendar says, summer is coming to a close this weekend. If the recent weather is any indicator, summer ended last week. Soon the less hardy of us will retreat to our vinyl clad rain caves.
The city got their last event in under the wire, during a break in the autumnal weather. However, whether the city sponsored “Operation” was a success or not will reside with who you ask.
The city, of course, will give a resounding yes! But, I am not so sure.
It bears mentioning that the planning for Operation: We Love Our Military (then, We Love Our Soldiers) began way back in February. It was also around this time that the city was still giddy with their recent branding report. Much was made then about doing more to help our struggling business district, particularly along Wilmington. From that point forward, the Operation seemed to morph into something bigger than it needed to be. A crusade, perhaps?
I was skeptical at first. When held up in comparison to our Elvis impersonators, Tea Luncheons, and Daddy Daughter dances, it seemed to be just another contrived event. What made this one stand out, however, was the fact that it was going to be spearheaded and driven by the city, not the ROA.
The city sponsored events before, as you may recall, but this event stands out because it effectively divided the city into two parts: Those with ties to the Military and those without.
It is this part that I will honestly say is offensive to me. I do not feel that it is the responsibility of government, particularly a local government crying for money, to effectively divide the city in two, then choose to celebrate one half while expecting the other half to help foot the bill.
That point was further driven home during the pancake breakfast where non-military families were required to pony up the hard currency if they wanted some chow.
Not exactly Jim Crow, but mildly repugnant nonetheless.
In addition to the incessant pimping of the event by the mayor, the flyer announcing the event itself struck me as clumsy. We were, as a city, to “honor and pay tribute” to our military. Honor? Sure. But pay tribute? Isn’t that what vanquished nations and peoples had to do for conquering armies in ancient times? I probably would have used the term venerate instead, it is not quite as subservient.
OK, that is a stretch and I am sure (quite sure) that no one thought this event through that far, but still, the city would be well served in trying to unite the citizens at this time of “crisis” rather than driving a wedge between them. Isn’t it a sign of a good leader to unite the citizens?
I have no problem with people wanting to honor and celebrate those in our community serving in the military. If they want to do that outside of Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Veterans Day, they are free to do so. But that should be the choice of the citizens, not the city leadership.
This is a sad example of least common denominator populist pandering that reaches for the lowest hanging fruit. It also makes it difficult for the city to say no to any other sliver of our population who will request official recognition with a day of note or an event. Good luck there, mayor, with the ACLU attorneys. At least then you will see DuPont on the six o’clock news.
Any volunteers to foot that bill?
This brings me back to the first point on whether the event was a success; a success worthy of nixing the DuPont Music Festival and replacing it with hot dogs, pancakes, a raffle, and a twenty-five year old movie?
Weren’t these events supposed to generate interest in our town from those outside of it? From my observation, it seemed like business as usual along Wilmington, save for the fact the Farrelli’s sold some beer in a cyclone fence cage on Saturday night. Is it really honor if you are hoping to self promote our town on the back of our military?
It is also interesting to note that there was nary a peep from the regional media outlets, which seem to cover all the other feel good news. There, again, the event missed the mark.
I think I would have rather seen that $14,000 in donations used to buy a permanent monument, acknowledging the role of our military families in this community, to be displayed predominantly in Ross Plaza. With that, we would have a place to visit on the previously mentioned holidays; and a place where visitors to DuPont could see our admiration on display all year around.
At least then it would be a single expenditure and we could do away with a party for part of the town. It would also force the mayor to play a different tune on her jukebox.