Tourism Up in Clallam County
Based on 2009 lodging tax receipts, tourism was up slightly in Clallam County. Forks was mostly responsible for bringing up Clallam County’s total. Sequim and Port Angeles both had declining receipts, but their decline was less than the state average.
Jefferson County remained roughly the same, with Port Townsend declining.
Let’s hope we’ll have some momentum now. PenPly is about to fire up again (if they haven’t already). Census jobs will be available starting in March or April, with wages starting at $13.25 an hour. Hopefully this will be a light at the end of the tunnel.
Jefferson County remained roughly the same, with Port Townsend declining.
Let’s hope we’ll have some momentum now. PenPly is about to fire up again (if they haven’t already). Census jobs will be available starting in March or April, with wages starting at $13.25 an hour. Hopefully this will be a light at the end of the tunnel.
posted by Tom Harper at 7:00 PM
44 Comments:
No, it's not the light at the end of the tunnel, unless it's a train coming at us.
PenPly, depends on the market, I hope they know where to sell the product after making it, I was in Home Depot today and it was like a deserted town in there.
Interesting that PA is cleaning up on Forks popularity, but it won't last. When the next movie that fruitcakes like shows up all the fans will flock to that location.
I worked on the 2000 Census, interesting work.
PT is declining because the city leftist Democtrat powers that be have turned it into a hippie utopia, while bisinesses are shutting down due to high taxes to pay for the welfare for said hippies and leftist losers.
bull*hit! Tourism up? Where and how? Lodging tax is down, foot traffic is down (in PORT ANGELES) and the ferry traffic has been way down.
I say, someone is fooling with the numbers.
Meanwhile, Rex, get off it. I'm so sick of your parrotting Rush, and going on-and-on like a broken record (and I'm sure you remember what a record is). You as such an old woman.
yeah, I get it. You think you are somehow superior because you aren't a pinko, commie lefty...... You're a cartoon character.
Port Townsend was hit hard by the ferry problems... not because it's a bunch of rich retirees and arts people.
"Rex, get off it. I'm so sick of your parrotting Rush, and going on-and-on like a broken record (and I'm sure you remember what a record is). You as such an old woman.
yeah, I get it. You think you are somehow superior.."
Maybe he'll learn how to spell from Rush, one of these days. "Superior"? To what? A clam?
"I can tell you that the initial analysis is not positive," Lincoln said.
"So the question is, how do we not use taxpayer dollars -- particularly local taxpayer dollars -- to get any value out of this redeveloped site."
Problems unforeseen
Lincoln said the hurdles in redeveloping the property have not even been established.
"I don't want to spend a dime of public money, which is why the intent here is to make this a profitable venture by having some developable land to return our investment," he said.
"But the market conditions here are not good."
Surprise, surprise.
"Rex" is a genuine genius !
That's good news, although I don't share your optimism. Sounds like a Twilight-related blip. When that fad starts to fade there's not going to be much drawing people to Port Angeles.
I hope PenPly works, really do. That would give a much-needed boost to the locals, give us a chance to start pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps instead of relying on the minimum wage tourism and service jobs.
If this site is going to continue to be relevent, in any way, we have to stop the cynical, hateful comments in response to posts that we don't agree with. Respectful dissent is useful, hate-mongering is not.
Give credit where credit is due. Rex is correct. Those liberal rich retirees offer nothing to PT in the way of creating jobs or sales taxes. They shop online, I have a friend who is a Fedex driver there. He says they all receive gobs of stuff through the mail that coulda been bought locally. The city is also really hurting because the young are leaving to make money elsewhere because the leftists have chased away industrial wages in order to protect the "environment." Better hope that mill stays open, or PT will become a ghost town.
Sally,
You could say the exact same thing about Port Angeles. People shop online or at Walmart, young people are leaving in droves. Different reasons, perhaps, same results.
Sally, isn't there some tea bagging you and Rex could be doing?
Sally says:
" The city is also really hurting because the young are leaving to make money elsewhere because the leftists have chased away industrial wages in order to protect the "environment."
I seem to remember the posts recently about Christmas shopping in PT vs PA. The writer said PT was packed, with no vacancies.. whereas it was a ghost town here in PA.
You figure Larry Williams, Karen Rogers, Don Perry and Gary Braun are "leftists"? Look at the condition of Port Angeles after years of their "wise guidance". Do I need to start listing the huge waste, vacant commercial buildings, declining everything, and questionable dealings? How about not even planning for ongoing road repair and maintenance?
Yeah, those conservative business types REALLY know how to run a town right.. into the ground.
Those liberal rich retirees
Liberal and conservative are two words that bother me and I believe they are always being misused, as here.
Just because a lot of rich folks have found the area doesn't mean they are liberal. As defined in a dictionary, get right down too it, they are both pretty much the same anyway, and always switching sides.
The most positive thing a new census could tell me is that the areas population has gone down, but I suppose I'll be disappointed in the new numbers.
If a lot of folks left the area, so would the money and power chasing money muckers you complain about, think about it.
Those crazy commie hippies in Port Townsend! They wouldn't let All-American-made-in-China Wal-Mart in their town! Whatta those crazy commie hippies know about anything!
Explain the difference to me.
Crazy commie
Crazy liberal
Crazy conservative
Crazy democrat
Crazy republician
Crazy christian
Crazy muslim
Crazy jew
I don't give a damn what label you use, crazy is still just crazy.
But our local leaders are not crazy, no sir, just idiots, he he he
Too bad the Census jobs are not permanent jobs. Too bad they do not real jobs that produce something or attract folks out here. But, beggars cannot be choosers.
On the Forks front - I wish they would funnel some of that tourist money back into town so that when the Twilighters stop coming Forks town folks will have a better town for it. Right now it is a dump. As an aside, the very odd man working in the tourist center needs to stop being a Twilight spoiler. He told my mom the ending to the new film after she said she was going to see it that evening and she was very upset. What is wrong with him?
"Interesting that PA is cleaning up on Forks popularity.."
Cleaning up? Really?
Wow! I'm glad to see our economic worries are over, and that Port Angeles isn't the ghost town it appears to be every time I drive or walk through it. Must be those invisible vampires..
Maybe all those vacant storefronts really are not vacant. It is just the rantings of the doom-and-gloom folks here. Actually, they're full of consumers spending gobs of money.
I just need to change my view of things.
Yes. The Emporers' new clothes are indeed magnificent!
so, we had a city worker swipe a reported $500,000. Who did the audit? The city did. The local sheriff's did. And, we're to believe that ONE PERSON took all that money over a several-year period?
What kind of messed up accounting does the city have? They couldn't catch it for years!!!
I think it's more than one, and there is a scapegoat..and the last 6 months of internal audit was to clean up traces of other people's involvement.
Why can't we have a REAL NEWSPAPER in this town. Meanwhile, they're writing stupid stories that have no point (about relationships, and about interviews for jobs in Sequim) and stories that are just flat out, nonsensical bull, such as the "tourism up in Clallam County".
Meanwhile, we have Rex and Sally (same person, I think) blaming lefties for everything, when the problem is lack of any fiscal conservatives on either side, and both of our political parties taken over by the eccentric bozos. Rex and Sally are the result of many years of acquired ignorance.
I stand by my comment. Port Angeles still has family-wage industrial jobs at the waterfront and mill(s). Our population is more diverse than PT. Most of our population still works for a living.
And we're not afraid to kick up the dirt a little to feed our families, where PT is afraid that ANY industrial development will...OMG..."destroy the earth." lol.
We need MORE industry here. What about a refinery at the Rayonier site? A small navy base? That waterfront needs to be DEVELOPED!
Anonymous at 4:24: The money was stolen was from the COUNTY not the CITY. Accountability, of course, is still the question. Who else do you think is involved if she didn't act alone?
"Interesting that PA is cleaning up on Forks popularity.."
Maybe I should have said, "Taking advantage of it?"
Who did the audit? The city did.
Actually, I think that it was the state that did, correct me if you think I'm wrong though.
The sheriff is involved because some law enforcement arm has to be. Outside of city law enforcement I suppose.
As I understand it, it's now in the hands of the state to press any alleged charges.
I hate that word, "alleged". It will now cost the taxpayers a lot of money to go through the process of prosecuting her.
What a stupid justice system we have in this country.
If I got pissed off and shot a few of you in front of 10 witnesses it would only be alleged that I did it, never mind that ten other monkeys saw me do it.
I'm innocent until some attorneys justify their sorry ass lives and system so they can make a few bucks for their fancy lifestyles.
Sick planet, sick, sick sick.
If it were up to "Rex and Sally" we'd still be using whale oil. In another era of American history they'd be screaming about Irish and Italian immigrants taking away their jobs and fulminating in their morning Cream of Wheat about the evils of the eight hour work day.
They're the lumpen proles who slept through school and got out with a GED, did a hitch in the military to acquire some basic work skills and birthed a squall of kiddies who will follow the same path.
They don't know and they want to know and what's more, they're proud of not knowing.
Like the once-thriving whale oil industry, resource extraction and exploitation is over. Mills? Refineries? Phone books are going to become collectors items. Automobiles are going to be run on alternate fuel sources and they'll be coming from Europe, Japan and China.
These people are being left behind by a future they can't comprehend.
Automobiles are going to be run on alternate fuel sources and they'll be coming from Europe, Japan and China.
I sure hope they will be able to pull my 5th wheel into the woods for camping to get away from humanity and Monkeyville.
Oh hell, never mind, my little truck is going to last me for the rest of my driving days.
6:16 annon,
I knew county, wrote city....duh. I need an editor.
Well, how can you act alone and take THAT MUCH money over a long period of time without someone noticing? I've heard rumour that the woman only has under 100k that ran through her accounts. So, what? Someone working in this berg that had the where-with-all to stash money in a Swiss account? Buy gold? Keep it in a mattress?
It just seems fishy.
First...isn't there better accounting and yearly audits?
Second...where was her supervisor for all of this?
Third...why has it been investigated by locals? I thought all cases such as this would ask an outside law enforcement agency to do the investigation, or someone within the state.
Which leads me to wonder: Why was this handled in such secrecy and by locals? (Who are still unnamed...what is the deal about not naming the people investigating? Since when are the police agency employees a big secret? Why?)
Fourth...why is it such a nice, neat round number? Is this an estimate? (If so, back to the FIRST question!)
Fifth, just wondering,...how is she NOT a 'flight risk'?
I wouldn't be surprised if she suddenly has a bad accident, and is unable to be tried (if ya get my drift) I'm just saying, the whole thing is really fishy.
Almost as fishy as the new "valuations" on the property that was sent out LATE (I received mine AFTER the deadline to dispute it!). Have they no idea property values have gone DOWN? (I know, different subject, but just as vexing.)
I guess this is how the Cro-Magnon dudes felt about the poor, dense Neanderthals.
Rex, Sally, we love you.....but feel your pain at being left in the dark, and so alone and behind. Be safe.
You tree-huggin lefties have been sayin for years that fuel cells and cars that run on water are "just a few years away." Fact is, there is lots of oil still out there.
And not everyone wants to carry a friggin blackberry or i-phone everywhere stuck to their ear...they still wanna have a phone book handy.
Resource extraction is alive & well. We have a HUGE abundance of coal in this country. And oil right off our coasts...if we can just get the sky-is-falling liberals out of the way...and we're starting to, as "global warming" is being looked now as a friggin JOKE...kinda like algore.
But hey, I wish all you huggies would go buy an ugly-ass, uncomfortable, death-trap Priuth, cause that would leave more gas - and cheaper gas - for my big, comfortable, gorgeous SUV!
Sally,
It doesn't really matter if you'd rather have a phone book than an iphone or the internet. If it's not cost effective for phone books to be printed -- that is, at the point where the number of people who use them drop below the point where advertisers feel like paying for the increasing cost of printing the things -- then they'll go away. There's a threshold there that will be reached sooner or later.
Same with gas. Sure, hybrid and electric owners, wind, solar, geothermal, tidal and whatever else farms will drive down gas use in this country, but there's still the emerging class in China and India that could put more demand on oil refineries and drive up the cost of gas. In the meanwhile, the U.S. and China are making strides in alternative energy. Oil won't go away, but it will have to start competing with other energy sources, just like phone books have to.
Personally, I believe a little competition is good. It keeps prices steady (mostly) and helps drive innovation. But... maybe conservatives don't believe in market competition anymore?
Sally said...
"I stand by my comment. Port Angeles still has family-wage industrial jobs at the waterfront and mill(s). Our population is more diverse than PT. Most of our population still works for a living."
Sally, you know that most, and the biggest employers in the area are government. City, County, State and Feds. The majority of people employeed in the area are paid by taxpayers. If this isn't "Socialism", I don't know what fits the definition better.
Do your reseach. I can see you're frustrated with your lashing out with attempted insults. But you're nonsensical rhetoric just shows you have nothing to say, and don't understand the topics you try to talk about. So embarrassing. So sorry for you.
"Resource extraction is alive & well."
HA HA HA HA HA! That's hilarious! Did you get this gem from Rush? Oil resources are on the decline and what's now left takes twice as long to refine to produce twice as little and at the rate we use petroleum products what's left will gone in no time.
"We have a HUGE abundance of coal in this country."
ROFLMAO! Oh sure. Did Anne Coulter tell you this or Sarah Palin? Another non-renewable resource and one which causes vast amounts of pollution.
You and Rex are good for a few cheap yuks, but don't quit your day job.
BTW, the stuff you're spouting about the Prius is the same thing your type said about the Volvo. Get a new routine kid, that schtick won't play any more.
As to the theft from the County, locals have NOT done any of the investigating, since State Law requires the State Auditor to handle the investigation of any suspected employee theft, and also to determine what information is passed out to the media.
so why did the Pen-daily rag get it wrong?
"so why did the Pen-daily rag get it wrong?"
You really have to ask??
"so why did the Pen-daily rag get it wrong?"
That's a rhetorical question, right?
evidently the Pen-rag is sensitive...since these comments, it's printed TWO articles, trying to clarify. Wow...maybe we should put more pressure on them to stop printing the ramblings of their Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter. I've seen better articles in a grammar school newspaper.
The Peninsula Daily Rag is a sorry excuse for a newspaper.
It's 75% feeder articles from the Associated Press line, 15% happy-happy nonsense with a "local" slant ("Woman Has Horse" "Teens Go To School") and 5% utter gibberish in their "Letters" section. The "newspaper" is a sorry, sorry spectacle.
"The Peninsula Daily Rag is a sorry excuse for a newspaper. "
No kidding! I subscribed for a couple months on a promotion, and as soon as that ran out, I discontinued it. A depressing representation of the community.
The PT Leader is a vastly better paper. Better writing, better and more in-depth coverage of local events and a letters section that is reasoned, well-thought out and logical. Even the conservative writers bother to check their facts and produce a level-headed argument.
The Sequim Gazette is pathetic happy nonsense coupled with whackjob ravings for letters.
The PDN is just junk. Their advertising rates are ridiculous. They entice you in with low rates and then steadily raise the rate until you can't afford it and drop out. After a month or two, when they've lost a bulk of their advertisers, they start all over again from the bottom and proceed to steadily increase the rates and the pattern repeats.
As for the letters ... Oh, Lordy! I don't know whether to laugh or be utterly appalled at the garbage they print as "letters." The lunatic featured in this Friday's letters sections needs to up his meds or cut back on them. He clearly had no idea what he was talking about. No responsible "editor" would print such obvious garbage.
I know people at the PDN read this blog ... hello out there!
Another thing about the pdn is that they run press releases word for word as news stories and just add a by-line for the "reporter". I assume they are too tied up with their advertisers to do any digging. Who knows what they might dig up if they asked a single f-ing question themselves? We only know some of the answers of how crooked the money in this town actually is, and if they wrote about it, they would surely go out of business. They report the "news", but I certainly wouldn't call any of it journalism.
"I assume they are too tied up with their advertisers to do any digging."
How much advertising would they get, if they DID any serious digging?
You know, though, there are a number of other media venues that DO investigative reporting. I think some notes need to be sent to outside Port Angeles media about the string of "interesting co-incidences" involving the Incubator, Madsens' sudden and hasty departure, Harbor-Works, Capacity Provisioning, etc, and all the related players.
I can understand the local paper being too close to the individuals involved to be able to do any investigative reporting, but these outside media folks are not!
Lots of such media in the Olympia/Seattle area.
why does the PDN have a comments section if all they do is delete the comments?
What a bunch of limp wristed, spineless, whining babies over there.
Raise the rates? They outright LIED TO ME about the rates. I was told one rate, an "introductory" one, but when the bill came, it was 10x as high! Same with want ads...if you post in the help wanted, they charge you some obscene rate. Way to go PDN ..you'll never see another dime of MY BUSINESS.
Is it true that the PDN deletes comments?
I dunno. I've seen comments on a story, only to late come back, and have NO COMMENTS on the same story.
Maybe they aren't "deleting them" willingly, but the system they have is just horridly f-ed up. Who knows?
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