Sunday, March 22, 2020

Dear Pacific County Sheriff

and County Commissioners...;.

Click on each page once or twice to enlarge:





12 comments:

JoAnne said...

I could t agree more! My concern from the start was the majority of Surfside HOA members were not fully aware of what has been going on. The website only giving members the opportunity to voice approval for this arrangement was not the way this organization should operate! I have a,ready expressed my feelings about not being able to afford this expense, plus if we pay all the money, who is going to be the employer? I think our county taxes should be sufficient and if not then the county needs to come up with a solution
It’s time we start cutting back on our budget, not increasing it!

Steve Cox said...

I sent a letter to all of the Trustees on Friday much to the same effect as Patrick's comments. I also called James Clancy who claimed that the Weekender has had updates on this matter, and that the BOT's position is that they cannot spend more than the approx. $75,000 annually, that has been the cost of the previous contract with the Sheriff's office.

I haven't been following the Weekender, and I think few members do, but I acknowledge that I should have and will read it weekly, if this is likely to be a true source of information beyond recipes and local trivia.

But I haven't seen any indication on the main website that info relating to this contract is in the Weekender. There always seems to be a bit of reticence to willingly inform the community, even when there is some effort made. I'm hoping I will be pleasantly surprised by candid and current info on the Weekender when I go there at Clancy's prompting. It would surprise me, but I would be very pleased.

He acted as if I was such a foolish person to not consult the Weekender, or to think that a deal would be struck without the member's being consulted in some fashion. I wrote my letter because the BOT Meeting was closed to the members, and think it's likely this will be consistent for some period of time to come.

I pointed out the importance of procuring some means of "opening" meetings as George has suggested on the Blog, and that publishing the meeting agendas a few days prior to the meetings is necessary, and that there really is no rational reason not to publish the minutes a few days after the meeting, as has been done on at least a couple of occasions.

But personally, I DO support the previous contract conditions, even though it is a large amount of money. We are fortunate enough to have a solid financial base, and the investment is in the long run beneficial to the entire peninsula. It is a benefit to Surfside for adjacent neighborhoods to have the awareness of an officer's presence in the area, and that he would be on-call for assistance elsewhere on the peninsula as needed.

I don't think we really need a fulltime officer in Surfside, but the area is obviously understaffed, as the Sheriff insisted that the contract would have to be fulltime, and have the "on-call" if needed element. The proposal by Souvenir is ridiculous, and begs the question, "why hasn't he been pressing the State for additional funds ?", and does he take his position seriously ?

Reality Check said...

I do not agree and find it interesting yet not surprising that Patrick is sticking his nose in business that no longer concerns him.

The "Faction' is a term coined by him. Basically he is describing a group of members who have different opinions about how Surfside should operate as oppose to how he and some others feel that it should, nothing more. Unfortunately for him and his group it has been shown time and time again that they are in a minority.

What should be noted is this, Patrick himself tried to get his own "Faction" elected by going around door to door with sample ballots on who to elect, and tried strong arming people to give him their proxies in a further effort to elect who he wanted. Further more he even left flyers on peoples doors which ended up being blown away to become litter and also painted a target on homes of part timers to potential criminals that they were vacant. Ironically he was reprimanded for doing this by Deputy Travis. That election once again proved that his "Faction" was a minority since only one of his chosen was elected and if a sitting Trustee hadn't resigned she wouldn't have been.

I do want to be clear though, while I agree with having the deputy as we have had I don't agree with the current proposal from the Sheriff.     

JoAnne said...

Someone needs to seriously pursue how to have the board meetings online for all members to view and participate! It can’t be too difficult as churches and others are doing it. You could even have a restricted wall on Facebook for only members and just FaceTime the meetings! I agree unapproved minutes need to be published in a timely manner.

Steve Cox said...

Mr. Reality Check....You have the same view as I do, so what is it you don't agree with ? Patrick has never represented a "group" as you refer to, but has had members support his position in the ridiculous 3 year vendetta that the BOT waged against him over a porch on a shed, out of sight of most who drive through Surfside.

In this ugly landscape of chopped topped dead and halfdead trees, not a one left unharmed, this shed was of no significance. All of this HOA inspection before title exchange b.s. is a continuation of the BOT's irritation that they failed to garner Court support of the HOA's viewpoint. The HOA became obsessed with this nonsense, as are you.

That Patrick has weighed-in on the deputy thing is his choice, and nothing more. He isn't a part of a rebel group or "faction", so f*ng give it up. He has nothing to do with this subject, an issue for Surfside members to decide, and not the Board alone. You obviously didn't read my comment closely enough to recognize that I said exactly the same thing as you did about the contract.

Ronda F said...

Paying more than the previous 72,000 contract is asking us HOA members to dig deeper. When will it stop? If we cannot agree to equal or less money, I say NO. We are no different than any other part of Pacific County.

Dan Crooks said...

Originally I was all for continuing the contract with PCSO, I felt having a dedicated patrol officer in SHOA was deterring crime. But after reading the new proposal from PCSO, that is totally one-sided, I think we should hire our own security patrol and leave the Sheriff out of the equation.

Reality Check said...

To Mr. Cox.

First off, look at the time stamp of your comment and mine after it. I was typing mine as you were either finishing yours of it was in the Q waiting to be posted. So your comment wasn't even up yet for me to read and respond to. What I didn't agree with, and the reason I said so, was with a comment that agreed with Patrick that was at the top which then had been deleted after I made mine.

So in short, you jumped to the wrong f*ng conclusion. Since in this case it was a misunderstanding on your part I'm willing to excuse it. 

Now to the "faction" term, which as you read Patrick chose to use once again. It is a fact that he started this term which I disagree with then as I still do so I  stated why. He has also use that term before with other officials in the past, that is a fact. It is also a fact that he was going around the community with sample ballots with who he wanted to be elected. Since, once again, he felt the need to talk about this so called faction  I made the comment that he and those that support HIM could be called the same. So, if he would have not used it I wouldn't have either. 

What I find interesting is this. You disagree with Patrick but you didn't say so in either of your comments. Instead you excuse it by saying that it is his choice to say what he said but for some reason you felt the need to come after me and not give me that same courtesy.   

Most would agree that is pretty F'd up thing to do.

Steve Cox said...

Yeah, we get that you have an eternal grudge with Patrick. Who cares ? I have differed with Patrick on a number of issues, and am not concerned if I don't meet your approval. You've got to get everyone straightened out don't ya ?

Meanwhile, hospitals across the country are going without proper protective clothing as the Feds can't get off the dime. The administration knew as early as last December that the pandemic was coming. It has been documented. The previous admin. had put an elaborate system in place to deal with pandemics, as a reaction to the Ebola Crisis, which the U.S. managed to avoid in large part. But they had the vision to see these viral epidemics were a pattern that would be repeating.

My wife and I went shopping at our local Fred Meyer Grocery yesterday. Many shelves were entirely bare. All kinds of dry beans, quick noodles, and the huge pasta section - only a few packages at 10:30 A.M.. Not one package of toilet paper was on the shelves. The clerk said they hadn't received ANY the night before. So the mad rush to pack pantries has drained supply warehouses. We aren't far into this sequester period, and we are already in crisis.

It is now predicted that the plateau for infections in N.Y. State will be about 21 days from now. States are not all on the same page as to efforts of containment. Florida has remained business as usual, and their numbers are going ballistic, as has New Orleans.

Patrick doesn't own property in Surfside, so what he did a year or two ago, or what he thinks about Surfside policy, isn't a big deal.

It's great that Pac. County has remained free of documented cases of the virus. We have to hope the rest of the country will make every effort (which they currently are not) to prevent the spread. Thurston County has also been slow to log numbers, and spread of the illness. We have been very isolated, except for grocery store visits. I was in Surfside for 2 weeks when this started in Seattle area, so we are able to come to our place at the beach, should we choose, with a clear conscience, avoiding essentially everyone, away from the urban disasters. That's nice to know.

George Miller said...

Fact Check...
For Mr. Reality Check..
Rather than hide behind your fake name, why don't you provide the reality that you are a part of the "Faction" or as I call you J Placers, "J Place Coalition". Mr. Cox has the integrity to use his real name, while you hide behind your wife's skirts on the Tree Committee. The reality is that you are nothing but a fake who lacks real honesty. Stay in Seattle where you belong and don't infect the rest of us with your virus mouth. You fool no one.

Reality Check said...

Well isn't this interesting. Apparently I made the sin of questioning a statement made by the former savior of Surfside and incurred the wrath of his acolytes.
 
Hiding behind my wife's skirt? Interesting comment coming from someone who hides behind the delete key and feels comfortable insulting people because he can hide behind his age. Then of course instead of addressing the facts stated you have to go to the good old "not using the name" response. Classic misdirect. You use to call me Kirby. Didn't realize I made the move from ocean front to the ridge. I must admit though, the view is much better.

You want to talk about integrity, let's do so if you are serious.

This whole silly thing started because Cox made a wrong assumption that I made a comment against him (how dare I !). I was gracious enough to not take it personally as he did because it was a misunderstanding and said so. Now did he come on here to admit that fact and, God forbid, apologize? No, that would take integrity. Instead he decided to launch into one of his well known rants, including for some odd reason the pandemic.

Speaking of which Cox, while you are safely sitting behind your keyboard rambling on about not finding T.P. (oh the horror!) I suit up and work the front lines of this virus. Can you comprehend what it is like to leave you shift talking to one of your patients then returning to find them on a ventilator? Then to watch them deteriorate to the point of death within a few days? Or to come from a couple days off to find out that one of your coworkers, a young women in her 30"s who had no health issues, is now laying in an ICU bed on a ventilator? Spare me your lecture. I'm living it, not sitting back reading or watching TV about it.

Given my age and seeing how this virus has affected that coworker and other patients younger than me I have accepted the fact that if I do contract this there's a good possibility that I will succumb to it. If that should happen, so be it. At least I will go knowing that I started my adult life by having the integrity to step up to serve and fight for my country and ended it as a Veteran who stepped up and served my PNW neighbors during a health crisis. That's far better than dying as a bitter lonely old man or a sanctimonious, narcissistic blowhard who's only claim to fame is being a message board personality.

Last but not least, I don't need you George to tell me to stay in Seattle. I'm doing so because it is the right thing to do. Meanwhile you call your buddy Cox responsible even though he is ignoring advice and travelling to the coast while criticizing Williams for doing the same. Not surprising Cox would have the arrogance to think he is above the recommendations set forth for everyone else. If you truly feel that is being responsible why don't you invite him over to the East side for a visit and share some drinks?   

So, George now it's your turn to show some of that integrity you speak of and post this comment. If you do I promise to be gone from here forever and leave this blog to you and your minions to wallow in negativity.

To Cox. If George does do the honorable thing and posts this try to fight that urge to come back on to get the last word as you always do and attack me further. As I said before, I didn't start this B.S, you did. You are straddling the line with me at this moment but if you do choose to attack me further you will cross it. Being a man of my word I will do as I said and will not respond to it on here. But rest assured if you do we WILL end up returning to this subject someday, somewhere.

Steve Cox said...

You are a very angry little man. My comments were intended to suggest that there is a very real issue of concern going on while you are bitching about Patrick, and what he did two years ago, blah, blah, blah. I now get that you are in the thick of it, but I don't know you, and your obsession with Patrick is ridiculous.

The fact that I have made observations about the progression of illness in our state, shouldn't be interpreted beyond an intention to be informative in general. It's not ALL about you. sorry.

If you had not been so eager to find someone to chew on, you would have read my comments carefully enough to understand that we have been isolating for weeks now. Until this week there had been NO cases of Corona virus recorded in Thurston County where we live in Lacey. We have been avoiding contact with everyone, except my son, his wife, and my grand-daughter, and we have all been avoiding going out except occasional trips for groceries.

If you keep distances and avoid direct contact, and wash hands when you come home, that is what is recommended, and should suffice, in a community that has NOT shown significant activity.

I wasn't whining about toilet paper wise guy. I was making the observation that on a Thursday morning in a large market, this early in the pandemic, there are already problems with the supply chain. Get it ? The warehouses for Fred Meyer Corp. do not have significant amounts of basic needs such as dry beans and pasta, and something everyone needs, toilet paper.

I presume that you are wiping your ass with your hand just to be a real trooper. We still have T.P.. We do tend to have supplies to last a while. But it didn't occur to me that within 3 weeks of the first cases of the virus, there would be a problem getting T.P. Someone was joking on T.V. about needing to use a coffee filter to wipe their butt with, which IS pretty funny, but it IS the reality of this odd situation we have failed to prepare for as a nation.

My wife has been a nurse all of her employed years, but never had to be in the middle of such a mess. So I don't envy you your situation, but have no praise for such a knucklehead, who insists on threatening me as well. I know who you are now, so you are not like ninja. You know nothing about me.