"What's the Number One thing that should be done to improve the North Olympic Peninsula?"
This was today's Speaking Out question in the PDN. Answers included:
"Diversity of employment. I have a master's degree but not a lot of openings around here for professionals. Just McDonald's type jobs..."
"We need more things to draw tourists into town. The national park is OK but a distance away. Being in Victoria recently and seeing what's all there, it's a letdown to come home."
"We need more stores in Clallam Bay. For us to get groceries, we need to go to Forks or Port Angeles. Also, more things for kids and young adults to do. We're a very seasonal area."
"Eliminate the random passage of pleasure boats with tall masts through the Hood Canal Bridge. They hold up people and hundreds of cars and trucks in both directions."
"Jobs. We have to have more jobs that come with new businesses. Young people are leaving and the schools are shrinking. Good paying jobs have left. We need modern industry."
"A better selection of stores like a Lowe's or more family restaurants. You're forced into what is here. I'd like more variety in stores. Besides, it would help competition."
"A high speed foot passenger ferry to Seattle. I'd like to go to the big city, and visitors coming this way will help the economy."
"We need more ways out of town to the east than Highway 101 over Morse Creek. What if we had some catastrophe and the road was blocked? What then? We need more alternatives."
"Diversity of employment. I have a master's degree but not a lot of openings around here for professionals. Just McDonald's type jobs..."
"We need more things to draw tourists into town. The national park is OK but a distance away. Being in Victoria recently and seeing what's all there, it's a letdown to come home."
"We need more stores in Clallam Bay. For us to get groceries, we need to go to Forks or Port Angeles. Also, more things for kids and young adults to do. We're a very seasonal area."
"Eliminate the random passage of pleasure boats with tall masts through the Hood Canal Bridge. They hold up people and hundreds of cars and trucks in both directions."
"Jobs. We have to have more jobs that come with new businesses. Young people are leaving and the schools are shrinking. Good paying jobs have left. We need modern industry."
"A better selection of stores like a Lowe's or more family restaurants. You're forced into what is here. I'd like more variety in stores. Besides, it would help competition."
"A high speed foot passenger ferry to Seattle. I'd like to go to the big city, and visitors coming this way will help the economy."
"We need more ways out of town to the east than Highway 101 over Morse Creek. What if we had some catastrophe and the road was blocked? What then? We need more alternatives."
posted by Tom Harper at 5:51 PM
28 Comments:
Yeah. More jobs would be nice. More ways out of town would be nice. More things to do in town would be nice.
Problem is, there's no money for this stuff, and our government shouldn't be creating the jobs anyways.
Wait, did I say no money? Ha ha, silly me. Looking at the projects on tap, this city is overflowing with money!
How about having County Commissioner and Port meetings, and other committees meeting at times that average working-class people can attend and participate? Scheduling them during the weekday means that only retirees and self-employed business owners are running the show, just the way they like it.
Provide health insurance coverage for every resident through a national single-payer system. Just think how that would change the social structure on the Olympic Peninsula for the better!
Get rid of the embarrassing slogan "The Authentic Northwest". I saw one of those posters on the Kingston-Edmonds ferry last week, and people who stopped to look at it were either snickering or incredulous.
The people on the ferry were snickering at the "hall monitor" standing by the poster. Ferry riders coming from Seattle (people on Facebook) are far more savvy about that character disorder than we authentic ones are. So don't get too excited.
4 lane highway all the way from Seattle, jobs
Get over this "mill town" mentality. Rayonier DIED. K-Ply DIED. Pen Ply DIED. All died leaving debt and/or huge environmental messes that it will take decades to clean up.
And Nippon is close to doing the same thing.
Like it or not, tourism and retirees moving into our area are THE big economic drivers. And both those economic drivers rely a great deal on quality of life and aesthetic appeal, and both of those will be severely harmed by more smokestacks and more pollution from Nippon. We need to get ahead of the curve, and stop catering to dying industries that could take us out with them when they go.
I also very much support the idea of having ALL government meetings at a time when it's more convenient for people to attend.
And I would do more than get rid of the insulting "Authentic Northwest" slogan. I would also get rid of Russ Venom-duh and his neice. The head of the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce should actually live in Port Angeles. And the head of the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce should NOT be allowed to hire unqualified relatives for Chamber jobs. The Chamber Board has been asleep at the switch for years though, allowing things like this to happen.
Which MIGHT be acceptable if Russ and Family produced results. But, of course, Russ does NOT produce results. He merely keeps himself employed.
Personally, I would prefer we go back to the previous slogan:
"1,500 sf View Homes $299,000-$399,000. Pick your HardiPlank (tm) Color now!"
I agree "authentic northwest" is just as bad as the stupid "where the mountains meet the sea" as it's not the sea, it's a strait. A thin band of water, long way to the "sea". We sound dumb with these things.
We NEED a commuter ferry to Seattle. We NEED some family oriented attractions. We NEED to attract some industry. We NEED to fix that excuse for a "college".
Oh, so glad that someone mentioned our stupid Chamber, and all the other nonsensical associations (i.e. Downtown, for instance). Bunch of hand wringers, happy talkers, and do-nothing but inflate their own egos.
I'm wondering how those with masters degrees think more tourism here will help them? Tourism mostly just feeds low income jobs.
As the worthy president of the local chapter #69 of Masturbators Anonymous I think we should petition for a whorehouse.
Even those with masters degrees would use it.
BBC, we already have a whore house, it's called Necessities & Temptations
@ 7:58 PM..... The worthy madam president of the local chapter of Masturbators Anonymous doesn't like Necessities and Temptations, thinks the place is a rip off.
After reading the article this morning about the county budget, I'd say fire every fucking person that works for Clallam County!
Except for law enforcement, first responders, and health care. And environmental workers. And those working with fish and wildlife. And fire control. And roads. And the tsunami debris people. And garbage, forgot that.
Other than that, fire them all!!!
Oh, forgot the people making sure bigfoot doens't come into the city. Need those people.
LOL - Just vote Republican in November, state wide, and let the big companies take over like they are in Michigan! Will be fun!
Maybe Aramark will run PA! Maybe then the government will let Aramark show off several of the bigfoots they have found. Or is it bigfeet? That would REALLY help tourism. Or not!
The worthy madam president of the local chapter of Masturbators Anonymous prefers to shop at Ambrosia. :-)
I don't know whats been going on but there's sure been a lot of sirens the past few days. I guess the monkeys are running amok.
Yeah, I vote for an 8 lane freeway to the I-5 so we can become a commuter bedroom town for all the real towns that have actual industry.
Who cares that gasoline is nearing $5 a gallon?! Who cares that these suggestions for Port Angeles future all depend on the increased use of fossil fuels, causing increasing carbon dioxide emissions. Who cares that burning up more fossil fuels is already causing the local shellfish (oysters)not to be able to reproduce?!
Hunh? What "future" are we actually proposing?
anon 7:10
You've been reading to many Al Gore books.
You should stick to the scientific facts or better yet, maybe you should move to Africa and live with no economy.
"You should stick to the scientific facts..."
Which you, conveniently, fail to include in your statement. The FACT is, we're at or past Peak Oil, and as the supply shrinks, while demand continues to rise, what do you think is gonna happen? Oil prices WILL rise - sharply. This will cause the price of lots of other things to rise as well.
So, to those who are tracking what's going on, yes, it makes sense to start planning for a future that relies less on burning fossil fuels. It just isn't going to be so affordable to rely on that in the future.
As for the economy...It is not entirely dependent on oil. Their are fortunes to be made and products to be sold to move us into a new energy economy. So your choice - live here steeped in oil or move to Africa - is a false one. Not to mention a foolish one.
Get into the 21st century. Really. Trust me. It's where you actually live.
As usual, insults instead of recognizing what is really going on. No wonder Port Angeles is so backwards.
" Increased levels of carbon dioxide, or CO2, in the atmosphere are changing the chemistry of the oceans, making it more acidic. The CO2 surge stems mostly from coal and, to a lesser degree, oil-fired power plants. The resulting off kilter acidity reduces carbonate, the mineral building block of shells, skeletons and corals.
In 2005, oystermen first noticed failures in natural sets in Willipa Bay in southern Puget Sound, followed by failures at two of four of the region’s major shellfish hatcheries.
“In 2008 our oyster larvae production was off 60 percent, and 80 percent in 2009,” said Bill Dewey, director of public policy and communications for Taylor Shellfish Farms in Shelton, Wash., the nation’s largest producer of farmed oysters, clams, mussels and geoducks.
At first, the growers believed the killer was a lethal, naturally occurring bacterium, but expensive filtration did nothing to stop the larval die offs. Then ocean acidification blipped onto the radar screen, Dewey said, and new testing equipment proved it was the culprit.
“It became very telling very quickly that when the oyster larvae were dying en masse, it was because we were bringing in very corrosive water. The oyster is still growing a shell; it’s just that it is dissolving from the outside faster than they can grow it. So eventually they lose that race and they die,” he said.
“I think we will survive and figure out a way through this,” Dewey said. “But I don’t think it bodes well for other species in the ocean and fishing interests that rely totally on natural production.”
And, we are pouring more carbon into the air, than ever before. Future?
I hear Somolia is nice this time of year...
Reducing utility rates for customers of the Port Angeles publicly run city utilities would help to attract new residents and businesses.
But - Did anybody notice that the city council at last night's meeting approved new electric rates that will most certainly result in increased bills for all customers? The new rate structure will not take effect until sometime next year when all of the new so-called "smart meters" are completely installed throughout town. Instead of the flat rate everybody pays now, the new rates will charge people more for electricity used from 6 AM to 2 PM, slightly less for electricity used from 2 PM to 10 PM, and the lowest rates for electricity used between 10 PM and 6 AM - except that on Sundays and holidays the lowest rates will apply.
Two city council members questioned whether these tiered rates would hurt customers, and they voted "No". Thank you to Sissi Bruch and Max Mania for thinking this through and not rubber-stamping staff recommendations. Shame on the rest of the council members.
Amazing. We are out right killing off the ability of creatures to reproduce in the oceans of the world, and people here are concerned about tiered utility rates.
Just amazing.
"Amazing. We are out right killing off the ability of creatures to reproduce in the oceans of the world, and people here are concerned about tiered utility rates."
I believe the two council members named here have also spoken out and voted against the pollution spewing biomass project. Point being they are on board with fighting BOTH pollution and excessive utility rates.
Ocean creatures are dying. Trees are being clear cut. Slash is going to be burned in a giant incinerator to foul the air and rob the forests of nutrients. People keep breeding unfettered (right to life?).
Why?
Because we are a plague on the earth. The more stupidity rules the faster we slide into overwhelming poverty, lack of resources, and eventual starvation and the end of OUR species.
go team!
But, it is all about "jobs, jobs, jobs", dontcha know.
Why face the effects of what we are doing, when we can spout stupid political rhetoric instead of "manning up" and being responsible for the problems we've created?
Do we actually care about the future we are creating for our children? Who do we think is going to clean up the mess we are creating? If not us, who?
Tear down the monstrosity on the pier so the waterfront and ships are visible from town. Shops belong in town. Create a tech program at the college so it pumps out graduates that will attract tech companies to settle the area. Add cultural continuing education classes geared toward retirees. PA's new economy could be driven by tourism, retirees and tech companies. We need ideas on how to get through truck traffic out of downtown. Truck ferry maybe?
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