Port Angeles St. Vincent de Paul Closing

After twenty-one years in business, St. Vincent de Paul thrift store will be closing on December 31st. They've been at 112 East 8th St.

That location will be taken over by Peninsula Mental Health. They might turn the location into a crisis center or health clinic.

Store manager Barb Townsend said sales have been in decline for the past six years.

Tim Eyman: “Do As I Say, Not As I Do”

It’s a moot point now, since I-1033 has been defeated. But in last Sunday’s Seattle paper, Danny Westneat points out something interesting about Tim Eyman. (Item #13 in his column.)

Tim Eyman borrowed $250,000 when he was pushing for I-1033. That’s how much it cost him to hire all those paid signature-gatherers to get his “grass roots revolt” onto the ballot. And Eyman still hasn’t paid back that money.

I guess it’s more fun to preach about thrift and personal responsibility than to actually practice it.

About some of the local races: I had always thought local issues cut across party lines; that they couldn’t be defined in terms of liberal vs. conservative or Republican vs. Democrat. And until Larry Williams’ letter in the PDN last week, I didn’t know there were two distinct groups vying for “control” of Port Angeles.

Thankfully, he warned us about the four city council candidates who were just outside agitators who hate Port Angeles; and he steered us toward the four Good Candidates.

Similarly, the government affairs committee chairman of the Port Angeles Association of Realtors (who’s also the chairman of the Clallam County Republican Party) has been openly pushing for two of the city council candidates.

We probably won’t know the final election results until Friday; maybe later than that. But today's partial/ “probable” results indicate that two of Larry Williams’ candidates will be heading to the city council, and two won’t. One of the P.A. Association of Realtors’ candidates is likely to go to City Hall, and the other one isn’t.

If there really are two opposite camps fighting over Port Angeles, it looks like neither side won.

EdenScapes Now Supporting Local Non-Profit Groups

When you make a purchase from EdenScapes — in person or online — five percent of your sale can be donated to the local non-profit organization of your choice.

So far, the local groups participating are: Olympic Theater Arts, Port Angeles Food Bank, Peninsula Dream Machines (they donate to Food Bank, Olycap, and P.A. High. School Autoshop) and Sequim Senior Services (Sequim Senior Activity Center).

Click here for more information.

EdenScapes is located at 404 Shore Road, Port Angeles (almost to Sequim).

Expensive City Council Races

The eight City Council candidates have raised more than $22,000 for their campaigns. That isn’t a lot if you’re used to following state and national politics, but it seems like a lot for a small town.

Judging by the contributors listed in this article, realtors seem to be playing a huge role in backing certain candidates. It’s always seemed like local government “players” have to be former (or still practicing) real estate agents. But I hadn’t realized what a huge role they also play in financing local races.

Don’t forget to vote, if you haven’t already. Ballots have to be postmarked Tuesday November 3rd at the latest.

Inside Truth Revealed by Larry Williams

Outgoing City Councilman Larry Williams had a letter in today’s PDN.

After serving three terms in the city council, his detached objective opinion is that there’s absolutely no truth to the “conjecture and accusations” about “closed-door decisions and illegal executive sessions.” These accusations are nothing more than vicious rumors, based on “the ulterior motives of outside activists who’ve been strategically manipulating city hall.”

All righty then.

Coffee and a Movie at Renaissance

Every Saturday at 3 p.m., starting today, the Renaissance — 401 East Front Street in Port Angeles — will be serving free organic fair-trade coffee while showing the documentary “Strong Coffee.”

The coffee is grown at Café Femenino, a coffee-growing co-op in the Peruvian Andes that’s wholly owned by women. “Strong Coffee” is the story of how these women got out from under the dominant business practices of that region, and built a prosperous business selling their coffee beans throughout the U.S., Canada and Australia.

Renaissance owner Lynn Keenan discovered Café Femenino at Seattle’s annual Coffee Fest, where coffee growers, roasters and café owners all get together.

Here is the Renaissance website.

Library — Using Furloughs to Avoid Some Layoffs

The North Olympic Library System might use two 1-week furloughs for library employees in 2010, in order to reduce the number of layoffs. The union which represents library employees has agreed to this, but it hasn’t yet been voted on by the Library Board.

If the Board approves this, all four library branches — Sequim, Port Angeles, Clallam Bay and Forks — will be closed twice during 2010 for one week at a time. Even with these unpaid furloughs, layoffs will still be necessary; but not as many.

In 1999 the North Olympic Library System had 38 employees. This year they have 21.