Cherie Kidd Writes Thank You Note to Nippon
Port Angeles Mayor Cherie Kidd wrote to the president of Nippon Paper Industries USA to thank the company for its $71 million biomass project and for its "many contributions to our community."
Her letter also said:
"We look forward to this opportunity to see first-hand your investment in plant upgrades that will help you compete in the pulp and paper business. I hope you can arrange to be part of this tour so we can get to know each other better. Our friendship and partnership is very valuable to us and we look forward to a positive future and close working relationship.”
Her letter also said:
"We look forward to this opportunity to see first-hand your investment in plant upgrades that will help you compete in the pulp and paper business. I hope you can arrange to be part of this tour so we can get to know each other better. Our friendship and partnership is very valuable to us and we look forward to a positive future and close working relationship.”
posted by Tom Harper at 1:03 AM
53 Comments:
FINALLY, some national coverage for our little town!
http://tinyurl.com/7f9w8mt
"extensive search" - ROTFL....
Cherie Kidd should write Mark Zuckerburg and thank him. And Duncan Donuts. Oh, wait, we don't have one of those. Hostess. She should thank the Hostess Corp.
OMG, read the funny comments on HP!!!
http://tinyurl.com/8xrcgvs
Stolen gun, beats up GF, five felonies, drugs, theft, runs from cops, tear drop tattoo (murder??) - A GOOD PORT ANGELES BOY!!!!
Cherie Kidd is so profoundly stupid or naive that she refers to Nippon as a "hometown business." I used to support her, but after this, I can no longer do so. I used to defend her against those who said she was an airhead, unfit to be Mayor. Now I fear those people were right all along. As a voter, as a citizen, and as someone who is NOT employed by Nippon, I am deeply dismayed and disappointed by her Nippon ass-kissing.
Dark days for Port Angeles...
Let's compare and contrast two of the stories from the front page of today's Peninsula Daily Snooze, shall we?
On one hand, Clallam Transit is investing in newer, more ecologically friendly technology for their buses, with an eye on the FUTURE. Ask someone a hundred years ago about "hybrid vehicles" and thay would have had no idea what you're talking about.
On the other hand, Nippon is proposing to use diesel trucks to haul wood in to burn as fuel to make energy, which sounds a lot like something from the PAST. Ask someone a hundred years ago about this, and they'd know exactly what you were talking about.
Cherie Kidd and the city of Port Angeles continue to be stuck in the PAST; Terry Weed and the people at Clallam Transit are at least trying to move into the FUTURE.
Thank you Clallam Transit - and no thanks to Cherie Kidd and the city of Port Angeles. Hey mayor! Some of us actually want to live in this century, so please stop standing in our way! Enough with the bad decisions already!
Kidd isn't flogging a dead horse - she's trying to shove food in its mouth while shouting, "Get up! Get up!"
The mill is on its way out. Nippon is on their way out. Ask the workers there and they'll tell you about the recent layoffs. Yeah, management puts a happy face on, or won't comment to the paper, but the workers know the truth.
Too bad our so-called mayor doesn't.
She doesn't speak for me and she definitely lost my vote with this stunt. This kind of thing should be done by the council as a whole. Going rogue like this just further escalates the division in the community.
Regarding a letter to the editor today that advocated biomass over oil. How many solar panels would $71 millon buy? Based on the figures that Power Trip Energy of Port Townsend has on their website, about 10 MW with zero emissions during operation. And that's a very conservative estimate not accounting for discounts on such a large number of panels. It could easily approach the same 22 MW they claim the biomass plant will generate. You could easily fit all the panels on the land by the mill and it would have unobstructed sky for maximum efficiency. Wind power down there is something to consider too.
Cherie Kidd's theme music: Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb.
Just wondering. Did the city council authorize the mayor to write and send this letter?
If the mill is paying a million dollars a year for electricity, this investment would pay it’s utility bills for 71 years, or about twice the expected lifespan of the installation. Without building a damn thing. This isn’t about paper production. It’s about a foreign owned electric plant using our resources, and damaging our air quality for their benefit.
Rest assured, that mill is toast, with or without Biomass. The decline in pulp/paper production in the US has continued, unabated, for 30 years. I don’t expect that trend to change....
But we Will have a nice, long future of unneeded electricity production, poisoning us a little each day, wasting millions of gallons of clean fresh, Elwah Aquifer, and aside from a few jobs, providing no local benefit, to look forward to.
This article isn’t really “News"... I expect local officials to praise this development with their last coughing, gagging breath.... It’s what they do in lieu of leadership.
Mayor Kidd also writes:
"Please do not hesitate to contact me if there is anything the City can do to help support your efforts."
She forgot to insert "further" between "anything" and "the city can do". The City's sweetheart deals with Nippon are longstanding, and the mayor evidently wants to reassure the corporate powers in Japan that they will continue to get special treatment and the inside track toward anything they want from city government.
Being beholden to Nippon corporate HQ is so entrenched in the culture at city hall that the mayor cannot recognize how unhealthy it is for the community at large --- both literally and figuratively.
Is Nippon in trouble? Here is the statement from the President of Nippon:
"Despite signs of finally bottoming out in 2010, the business environment for the domestic paper business remains very severe due to the impact of the subsequent disaster. Although we have implemented large-scale measures to reduce capacity in response to the decline in demand since the financial crisis in 2008, profitability remains sluggish in the paper business due to a deteriorating business environment, including further erosion of demand, a steep rise in the cost of raw materials and fuels, and intensifying competition from imported paper."
Yeah, sounds like another Pen-Ply deal. The City, Port and local business groups trying to prop up a dying industry, again.
RECALL.
Message to Nippon from Cherie Kidd: 私はあなたのろばに接吻することを愛する-とてもおいしく味がする
Message to Cherie Kidd to all other employers in Port Angeles: Oh, by the way - 非常に性交しなさい for all you do for our community.
It sounds like Port Angeles could be a sister city to Richland, WA. Folks there are so proud of having the Hanford nuclear reservation in their midst that they are completely out of touch with how the rest of the world thinks about nuclear weapons and proliferation.
Producing atom bombs during WWII put Richland and the Tri-Cities on the map. Nuclear bombs created economic wealth, and cleaning up the superfund site the war machine left behind continues to fuel the local economy. Richland High School calls its athletic teams "The Bombers" and the High School logo includes a mushroom cloud.
Anybody care to eat a radioactive Columbia River salmon as opposed to one poisoned by dioxins and PCB's from mill emissions?
Funny pic:
http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/crime-law/run-fugitive-finds-time-update-facebook/nMTqp/
(we will never find him if he flees to Sequim sporting that haircut)
Most "lame stream-linked" blog post about Travis:
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/10/man-updates-facebook-status-while-on-the-run-from-cops/
(for a nice treatise on life in PA do a myspace search for a name on this page)
Funniest reader comment: (Olympicdude at the Kitsap Sun)
"The Deputy Police Chief should have commented on the fugitive's status on Facebook: "OMG!!! We r gonna arrest u soon lol!!!!"
Go to some of the newspaper websites in West Virginia. Some of the comments on small town websites about our small town are too funny. Or not.
They said the same thing about my grandma with glaucoma when they arrested her. That she was nice....BUT...but but but that was then. And she couldn't drive, and they KNEW she wasn't going anywhere yet they bankrupted her adn ruined what was left of her pitiful life. Five years ago they didn't have such the casual approach towards my grandma. Now, they look at this guy, they don't see the enemy, they see their brother, cousin, neighbor, and realize there is an AP for that now, to catch them, or to hide them, whatever. At least he's not dangerous or a muslim or worse a muslim lover like my grandma.
NICE close up of the mayor! The PDN is using the wanted/tax fund embezzeler article template for all local officials now. Or maybe just some.
Cherie Kidd is CLEARLY in over her head as Mayor. To send a letter like this, on her own, without the direction of the entire Council, and immediately after a MAJORITY (even KONP had to admit those opposed to biomass were a MAJORITY of those who spoke at the last meeting) of her own citizens voiced opposition to this project...The mind reels.
Well, all except Cherie's, because apparently hers was already reeling. I don't want to sound mean, but...This is so awful and hamhanded. Apparently Cherie, a Port Angeles "girl" born and bred, has never been out in the rest of the world where corporations rape and ruin little towns like ours nearly every day. Use 'em up and leave 'em dead or dying when you're done.
Take a trip to Michigan, Cherie. Ask the people there about the "good nature" and "support" of giant corporations. And the people there got fucked over by AMERICAN corporations - just imagine how little the Japanese will care about devastating Port Angeles.
They are going to bankrupt every local govt. and state anyway. 80% chance there won't be a city of PA in two years. They know this is their chance too. Except for Seattle proper, our state has yet to recover and the republicans will take over in November. Michigan and Wisconson were training excercises for the big targets this go round - CA, WA, and Texas. Peace will come eventually, and the NOP will be ruled by an interesting coalition of the Nat. Park, Forest Srv., various other land interests, Border Partol, Coast Guard, and Nash's. Think about it. It will be really safe, virtually no non-sporting guns will be in civilian hands, property taxes will be non existant, no rent houses except nightly rentals, horses and log cabins will be the rule not the exception, and "company" granola will be available for free at all trail heads.
How many examples do people need, to see Port Angeles is a waste of time? Move on. Move your family to as place that has a future. Move to a community that is a good example for your family.
Follow the lead of the City Manager, who started looking for a place to move away to shortly after arriving in Port Angeles. He was willing to take a $30,000 a year pay cut in order to get away from Port Angeles.
Anywhere but Port Angeles.
Cherie, think about it...Sending this letter, on top of your behavior at the council meeting at which you heard comments on the biomass project, where you read what was obviously a statement written by Nippon...This is the type of behavior and activity that Karen Rogers would have embraced. Glenn Cutler loves Nippon, too, and I'm sure he's glad for your support.
Ignoring your own citizens? Claiming to "listen to" those same citizens while actively undercutting both them and your own claims? Taking a hard "pro-business" position at the expense of science and public health? Being a mouthpiece for one non-local employer who employs locals? ALL THINGS FROM THE KAREN ROGERS PLAYBOOK.
Shame on you, Cherie. You ought to know better. Somewhere, Karen Rogers is smiling - both because you're doing her business, and because, in the long run, you're undermining your own standing in the community by doing so.
RECALL, RECALL, RECALL, Cherrie Kidd for her letter to NIPPON. This is bad for the economy, health and environmnet, all around. As others have said and those that work at NIPPON Know....the plant is dying and they should all be seeking out their next career steps and getting educated NOW.
Mayor Kidd...I fear that you're letting yourself be manipulated by forces (Nippon, Harold Norlund) that are beyond your control, and that do NOT have the best interests of you or Port Angeles in mind.
As another post says, take a look at Michigan, and see how many communities, how many families, were absolutely shattered by corporate greed and indifference. Once a town is no longer "productive" for a corporation, it will pull out. And make no mistake about it, Mayor, Port Angeles WILL become non-productive for Nippon very soon, if it hasn't already.
Think about it: If Nippon shuts the mill down now, they will have to start addressing their pollution in our harbor. They would also be giving up the $11.3 million dollars they're getting from the park service. So they'll stall, and try for the money, and try to find a way to dodge their responsibility to clean up their mess. But the mill as a viable, sustainable business? Not a reality, no matter what Harold Norlund tells you.
Think of it this way. You seem to be courting them as though they're really vested in actually investing in the town. But they aren't residents. They aren't property owners. They're essentially renters, and at the end of any given month, just like renters, they can pull out at a moments notice.
So spending time and energy and money trying to convince them to "stay," when they aren't really here in the first place, is counterproductive. It puts you and the city in a position of weakness, and distracts you from both the harm they are doing, and from other issues (or employers) that it would be wiser to support.
Again, here is a whole slurry of made up,derogatory,false alligatoins and smears by nameless cowards.But here is an entire group of people who love the sight of their own words with no personal moral code of cival ethics. So please respond with some spineless dribble about me now or how you can not put your names on lies or distortions because you could be held accountable. Your turn anonymous trolls
The Andrew May I know would not waste everyone's time with the stupidly obvious baiting this troll is engaging in. As always, don't feed the troll.
Sidebar conversation: Who cares if this really is or isn't Andrew May, because, really, who cares what Andrew May (the real one) has to say? Stick to your corncobs, Andrew. In fact...
Here's what I'm planning to do to help Nippon.
First, I'm ditching my cellphones, and I'm having three landlines put in. That way I can have multiple listings in the ever-shrinking phonebook, and help turn around that declining market.
Then, I'm gonna get a subscription to the PDN for myself, and all my friends and family who live locally, to help turn around that declining market. (Then maybe I'll give PDN subscriptions to friends and family who live in other states, just to do my part.)
Sure, yeah, the naysayers and "fearmongers" can talk all they want about Nippon's mill being tied to shrinking businesses in a bleak spiral down to ultimate oblivion. But I figure, if we all do our part, just like I'm gonna do, then we can save the phonebooks, save the newspapers, and help save that "local business" Nippon!
Come on, gang! Who's with me?
The following comment got caught in my spam folder for some reason. The comment was made at 2:18 p.m. today:
"You may be interested in Nippon's "Code of Conduct", from their company website, which says in part:
" The internal and external circumstances that impact business are changing dramatically and the public now pays even closer attention to corporate activities. In other words, companies must not merely seek economic profits but should proactively fulfill their general social responsibilities in terms of ethics, fairness and transparency."
So, we would like to think the company would exercise it's sense of "social responsibilities", exercise a degree of "ethics" and "transparency", and tell Mayor Kidd the true status of the company's troubles. The company can post it's "Message from the President", citing its' troubles, but here in Port Angeles, we get the "Good News Channel".
How much diesel smoke are we supposed to suck up, Mr. President? How many more tons of CO2 are going to be created? How many in our community are to get sick, so that you can "seek economic profits" all the while touting your commitment to being "socially responsible"?"
ALL PUBLICITY GOOD.
MUST STEP ON BUGS.
ALL BUGS BAD.
BAD BUG! BAD BUG!
lol ... how's that "moritorium" going?
Haters gonna hate!
Nippon's corporate "ethics" are about as strong as Cherie Kidd's governing "brainwaves."
Recall Kidd. She has failed our town - spectacularly.
Wow, the pinhead punditry is out in full force on this issue.
I look forward to y'alls 'recall' efforts. I'll bet it will very similar to that call for a moritorium that, um, wasn't a call for a moritorium after all.
Pinhead Pundit sez: "Just wondering. Did the city council authorize the mayor to write and send this letter?" -- Did the City Council authorize Max's letter to Ecology over the Rayonier issue? I didn't see any of you getting your knickers in a twist over that episode.
What's with all the Andrew May hate lately? What's he done to get a bee in your collective bonnets? Or perhaps it's the bonnet of a certain alliteratively named drone? Why the hate?
Hey, write a letter to the editor why doncha?
"Did the City Council authorize Max's letter to Ecology over the Rayonier issue?"
Ummm, Max isn't the Mayor.
Yet.
Pinhead Pundit sez: "Yet."
Um, better make that "Never."
Good luck on the re-election, "Moritorium" Mania!
Yes, one council member (on his own) emailing someone at the Dept.of Ecology to ask some questions is EXACTLY the same as the mayor (on her own) sending a letter kissing Nippon's ass and promising to do whatever she can to help them. You are correct, there is NO difference between these two events. NONE.
And isn't it amazing how everything always comes back to Max Mania? I'm glad I don't live a life so filled with such obsessive jealousy. Sheesh!
I'd like to point out one thing related to this topic. When the Nippon mill closes, as it surely will, as did Rayonier, KPly and PenPly before it, among many others,it will be due to global market forces and decisions made by the Nippon board in Japan. It will not be due to anything Max Mania has said or done. He is just speaking out from the right side of history, and such speech makes those on the wrong side of history very upset.
Also, if you're going to try to pin a nickname on someone, make sure you know how to spell. It's morAtorium, not morItorium.
"He is just speaking out from the right side of history ..."
ROFLMAO!
Please state some examples, 'k?
I think I already did - see previous comments about Rayonier, KPly, PenPly, etc. The Age of the Port Angeles Mills is drawing to a close. Anyone with half a brain can see that.
Half a brain, anyone?
Paul just has a hard on for Max, and is upset because Max isn't interested in him. So, we all have to endure his rejection and personal identity conflicts.
I know, really boring, but what are ya gonna do? Write a letter to the editor?
Paul is also a good friend of Andrew May, so this time it's personal.
Oh, and Paul also looks up to Glenn Cutler as a father figure, so this time it's personal.
Oh, and Paul ALSO is tied in with Karen Rogers, so, needless to say, this time it's personal.
?????
Cherie is ass kissing, and it is an embarrassment to everyone in this town. Cutler loves Rodgers and it's apparent from the projects selected and the companies chosen. The so-called mayor SHOULD be looking at the money spent and the choices made by the city employees (which are the ones deciding on a new city manager, the person who actually RUNS the city) because every stupid move made is driving another nail in the coffin of this town. The biohazard incinerator is a bad idea. The waterfront promenade is a dumb idea. Routing trucks up Race and over the "new" bridge is a horrible idea. All these things will make this dumpy little town more undesirable. And, yes, Nippon will leave once they can sell this nightmare of an idea to some other sucker. Please. Lets get real. This town is on the decline, partially because of the moves of past mayors, city managers, and other city leaders who have sucked it dry, refused to let new ideas and new money come in, and killed whatever vision the town could have had.
So - if Race Street to Lauridsen will be the new truck route, does it mean that all those chip trucks and biomass-filled garbage trucks heading for the Nippon incinerator won't be able to take the direct route from the east and through downtown? Will all big ugly diesel-fume spewing trucks be banned totally from the downtown streets?
Has the idea of the new truck route past the library and the Jefferson School playground and residential housing been subject to public comment and environmental review?
"Has the idea of the new truck route past the library and the Jefferson School playground and residential housing been subject to public comment and environmental review?"
LOL! Oh, you are just SO quaint and cute! You think the REAL city government, run by Cutler, REALLY cares about what any citizens think? Are you new to this town?
You might look into the fluoridation issue, where citizens walked the streets, and gathered over a thousand signatures of concerned citizens. The most of any such effort in recent memory. Was the City Council impressed?
Yeah, the City sued the people who took the time out of their lives to walk the streets of their neighborhoods to gather those signatures.
Used citizens' tax monies to pay for lawyer time to take those same tax payers to court.
Democracy in Port Angeles.
So, you want to put some time into gathering resident comments on that truck route?
Evidently the "new" truck route will be past the residential neighborhoods, schools, past Civic Field, past the Dream Playground, and past the Library, to spare downtown from all the congestion, and still, the city can't follow the two-way streets on 1st and Front as that one study suggested (making Front the truck route). It's all about what Cutler wants, not about what is best for the people. He doesn't live along Race or Lauridsen, now does he?
So - does Cutler even live in Port Angeles? From what I'm reading here, it makes me think he must not - otherwise he might be a little more considerate of what he is inflicting on city residents.
He lives in town, but doesn't seem to give a damn.
Did anyone know that Nippon has been giving a pro-biomass presentation in our local schools? And that parents were not informed about it until after the fact? Not that they're trying to control the spin on this...They just want to give the kids who'll be harmed by their pollution their version of the facts first, so that when they develop asthma or some other respiratory problem in a few years, they won't immediately blame Nippon.
But it WILL be Nippon's fault. Hopefully those kids will sue the hell out of them - and the city.
Isn't Cutler retiring this year? He's old enough. He can go live in NY state, or Florida, with his double pensions (Navy and City of PA). Yeah, he don't care, why should he? We are his fat retirement meal ticket.
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