If all my opponents can do is play childish games ...well ... Good Luck With That

One of the things I talked about in my kick off was “Leadership” and “Taking the High Road, not the Easy Road”.  As I promised in an earlier post, I intend to take the high road and not stoop to childish games or dirty campaigns.  Unfortunately, those who oppose me do not believe the same thing.

First, it is not unusual to have opponents showing up at the same public facility you are holding an event.  I have absolutely no problem with that and in fact I am sure the owners appreciate the additional revenues.  I actually have no problem with my opponent (who by the way will only fund my opposition, he will not run himself) passing out free t-shirts with my picture and www.anybodybutrich.com offering anyone who wore one free beer for the evening.  Again, I am sure the owners of the Brewery thank you for the business.  But I wonder if he realizes how childish it made him look.  Here I have 50 people stopping in to wish me well, purchasing their own beer, and having a good time, and he had to bribe people (most of whom have no idea who I am or why he opposes me) to wear these shirts.  Oh well, good luck with that.

As for the website he is promoting.  It is a single page with only a link to a KOMO news report made even prior to the last election.  In August of 2007, I agreed to meet with members and supporters of the Latino community who felt they were being targeted by Pacific Police.  At this meeting they expressed there was fear in the Latino Community and for the fact that they had fear, I apologized.  I stand behind that statement today as I stood behind it then.  That does not however mean that I agreed with everything that this group wanted or that I was apologizing for the actions of our Police Officers.  I believe that when any group feels that they cannot meet with their elected officials out of fear, that is wrong and we need to do what we can to open those lines of communication and dispel that fear.  To date, I believe that the City of Pacific is one of the few cities that has actually dealt with this issue rather than sweeping it under the rug or move to either political extreme.

I am proud of the City of Pacific and what we have accomplished.  I am proud of my part in building community and empowering citizens and business to take an active role in their own destiny.  I am proud of the support I have to run for another term as Mayor.  Our citizens want a Mayor who is more interested in making our city a better place to live than one who was put there by those who do not want to follow the rules.  But if my opposition can only play childish games instead of dealing with the issues that matter in our community well all I can say is “Good Luck With That”

I guess some people have nothing better to do than complain

While doing my typical tour of the city, erasing graffiti and emptying bus stop garbage cans, I had something happen that totally caught me off guard.  I had someone complain to me for having my flashers on.

Since 2005, Through Pacific Partnerships, I have emptied the garbage cans at 8 of the bus stops in Pacific.  This is for the “Adopt a Stop” program that METRO has.  In exchange for this service, the City of Pacific gets about 600 one day Bus Passes each year that we distribute through the Senior and Youth programs, the Court and occasionally through police and fire.  It is a nice win/win partnership.  When I am parked on the shoulder of the road I turn my flashers on for safety.

When I do my weekly drives through town looking for graffiti, I will also turn my flashers on both when I stop, but also to signal to other drivers that I may be driving slower than normal, looking for graffiti.  Again this is for safety.

Today, believe it or not, a former City Council member actually stopped me and complained about me having my flashers on.  I guess that some people have nothing better to do than complain.

So if you happen to drive by and see me on the side of the road emptying trash or scrubbing graffiti, understand that my flashers are on for safety.

We have accomplished alot, but still have much to do

Since taking office as the Mayor of Pacific, we have accomplished many things and scored many victories however there is unfinished business I still wish to accomplish. It is because of this unfinished business that I have decided to run for another term.  It is my hope that over this next four years you will see the ground work that we have already made come to fruition.

When I first took office in January of 2004 the City of Pacific was a much different place. Our City had Millions of dollars of debt, one park and a growing crime problem that was chiefly caused by drug and gang activity.  We worked together, the city, our business community and our citizens to find a new way of getting things done.  I am proud of that accomplishment.  Now seven years later and in spite of the greatest recession in decades, our community is much stronger.  We have paid off most of that debt and adopted new policies that require the city to be fiscally responsible.  We now have dozens of smaller parks scattered throughout the community and adding to our overall quality of life.  We have taken that crime problem head on and now made the City of Pacific one of the safer communities in our nation.  We aggressively combat graffiti and gang activity.  We have a zero tolerance for drugs and aggressively pursue those who wish to manufacture or distribute in or near our city limits.  Because of actions we took in 2004 to correct the direction of this city we now have a better place to live today.  I want those corrections to continue.

I am proud of what we have accomplished in making our community better prepared for disasters. In 2004 we had a ¼ page, boilerplate emergency plan that had as much relevance to Pacific as protecting Walruses did in the BP Gulf Oil Spill program.  We now have a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan that is realistic, proactive and cutting edge.  Our new volunteer management plan that we will be adopting this spring will be state of the art in our nation and continues our philosophy of finding better ways of accomplishing the essential roles government needs to fill.  I am proud of the training that I myself have taken and the fact that this training and our actions have received national attention including a “Risk Innovator Award” from Risk and Insurance Magazine.  We are a small city, with limited resources but that does not mean we need to limit ourselves to hand me down plans and hand outs from other governments.  We can help set our own destiny.

I am proud of what we have created with Pacific Partnerships and the White River Valley Lions Club.  I have long believed that government typically looks at a community backwards.  They look at a community as a glass half empty and then try to create programs to fill that glass.  This is the philosophy that has hampered government now that costs are rising far faster than revenues.  Instead, I believe it is important to look at a community as a glass half full and if we work as Facilitators, developing and bringing together the resources and power already present in our community that glass fills itself.  This is exactly what has happened with Pacific Partnerships and the WRV Lions.  One of the best things I have ever accomplished as Mayor was to help with the birth of these great organizations and then get out of the way to let them do their jobs.  To be honest, if I had not gotten out of the way, I would most likely have foot prints running up and down my back as they have far surpassed anything I would have imagined at the beginning.  I believe you empower citizens and business to make positive change in your community and you do not interfere with their ability to do so.

We still have unfinished business though.  Over this next year we will be looking at including the option of building Mixed Use in some of our current Highway Commercial zoned areas.  In these tough economic times it is critical that we develop every tool we can to help attract good businesses and good jobs to our area.  With Mixed Use we not only will address the need of safe and affordable housing but we will attract new retail and keep some of the sales tax we are currently spending in our own city.  This goes back to my goal of 70% of our revenues should be provided by attracting more business. This takes the pressure off of local property taxes.  It also makes our city more self sufficient and secure.

We have unfinished business in finding long term solutions to flooding in and around the White River.  Although we will never return to the days of wholesale dredging and mining of the gravel, we can create maintenance programs that at least help keep the problems from getting worse.  Over this past year, recommendations coming from the Executive Task Force working in Pierce County include realistic maintenance and removal of excessive gravel bars and debris.  We can work with nature, improve salmon habitat and make our rivers safer for our valley communities.

I talked about the cutting edge volunteer plan that we are proposing this year.  Included in this plan will be creating training and exercise programs for not just city staff and responders, but also volunteers including our businesses.  We are creating a tiered system of volunteers that will create documented training programs for citizens to take leadership in their community during times of disaster.  In keeping with our philosophy of empowerment of citizens and business this too will be largely managed by partnering between all sectors of our community.

I am excited about our future.  Just as I am proud of how far we have come over these past few years, we are just getting started.  In terms of population the City of Pacific is the 99^th largest city in the State of Washington.  In terms of what our

New Years .... Time to reflect and resolve

As we get ready for the start of the New Year it is important to look back on the past year and reflect.  To look at the accomplishments you have made and to look at those issues you have regrets about. The New Year’s is a time to set aside old wounds, make amends and start fresh with new challenges and goals.  2010 was a year of both growth and of failure.  For 2011, I make it one of my resolutions to continue the growth and to work to change the failures into accomplishments.

I am proud of what I have accomplished in both emergency management and in teaching.  Continuing the Master Trainer Program at EMI, I have made a lot of progress on a class that I am writing. FEMA has paid for me to fly to EMI in Maryland to learn how to write training programs for Emergency Management.  I am using this training to write a class to teach other small town elected officials how to develop EM programs for their jurisdictions.  I see this as one of the big gaps we have in our nation’s overall preparedness and who better to write the program than someone who has been there.  In addition what I have brought back to our city has been invaluable.  First it has moved us forward in our own Emergency Operations planning and second it has qualified us for Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) funds.  We are currently contracting with a consultant, using EMPG funds, to write our “Volunteer / Emergency Worker Plan” to be adopted with our next round of updates to our CEMP (Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan).  Although this has cost me over $35,000 to date in lost wages, as I plan on continuing in Emergency Management after I retire as an Electrician and Elected Official I look at this as an investment in my future. Over this past year, DHS also flew me to Alabama to attend school in Weapons of Mass Destruction awareness and to earn my Instructor Training Certificate.  FEMA and DHS fund various training programs around the country known as the training consortium.  (http://training.dps.mo.gov/trainingwebsite.nsf/LinksView/A87440DDFF5D4CB9862574F900080E11?Opendocument )

I have taken advantage of these programs to improve our city’s capabilities in planning for, responding to, recovering from and mitigating against disasters. Since taking office as Mayor in 2004, I have completed 10 weeklong programs at EMI and 4 at the CDP.  I have classes already scheduled for next year at EMI and TEEX.  I have also submitted bids to teach 3 classes at EMI.  In addition I have taken multiple online programs including AWR 160 (WMD Standard Awareness) from CTOS, WMD AWR 201 (Introduction to SNS and Mass Prophylaxis) and WMD PER303 (Emergency Management) from TEEX; four courses from Louisiana State University’s National Center for Biomedical Research and Training – Academy of Counter-Terrorist Education, 276 - Prevention and Deterrence of Terrorist Acts: An Overview for All Disciplines, 615 - Disaster Mental Health Considerations During a Weapons of Mass Destruction/Terrorist Incident, 275 - Law Enforcement Prevention and Deterrence of Terrorist Acts, 610 - Foundational Awareness of WMD/Terrorism.  In 2011 I will also be taking classes from American Military University to complete my Bachelor of Science in Emergency Management.  I enrolled in 2010 but was unable to attend classes due to finances.

So what are the issues I wish to make amends for? As Mayor, one thing I have discovered there will always be someone who gets upset, feels slighted by or otherwise dislikes your actions.  This year there are three that I want to clear up and see resolved in 2011.

First is the ongoing tension between a local business owner and myself. Although this person has made claims that the city is picking on him and/or that I am out to get him for supporting my opponent in 2008, I want to state here and now “I have nothing against this person or his businesses”.  If he was to walk in my office today, he will be given the same consideration as any other person.  Although we may have differences on permitted land use issues (As Mayor, I have to support the law), I would love to settle our differences in 2011 and move on.

Second, is the ongoing feud between the City and the former 501 C 3 that worked with our Community Service programs.  I do not wish anyone involved ill will nor do I wish to see anyone feel they are not welcome to come to our centers.  I would like to see this issue settled and put behind us and will always be open to sitting down and talking.

Finally is the tension between the city and its bargaining unit members (Unionized Employees).  I know we will not always see eye to eye on issues.  I know that some of you feel the city has been less than truthful with you. But I would like for you to look at this from a different perspective for a minute.

As Mayor, I must protect the interest of the city at all times.  This means being fiscally responsible, making sacrifices and sometimes making tough choices.  Our City, like the rest of the nation has just gone through one of the toughest economic times in history.  Many jurisdictions, similar in size and revenues as Pacific saw drastic cuts, some as much as 60%.  We cut 20%, partially because you were willing to work with us.  When I took office in 2004 we had little carry over in revenues, a lot of debt and some of the lowest paid Police Officers in the State of Washington.  I asked you to work with me and together we turned this city around.  By 2006 we had built the general fund reserves back to what is considered sound (2-3 months); both bargaining units received new contracts with competitive wages, and we were looking forward to a bright future and a strong economy.  This past few years has been anything but a strong economy or a bright future.  Those reserves are all but gone now as we juggled the budget around to keep from having to lay off any of our employees.  As those reserves dwindled, so did some of the trust we had between us.

This is what my plan is over this next year both fiscally and to rebuild that trust.  We will hold quarterly Labor / Management meetings where we will include discussions over where the city is financially.  Things are getting better, but our first priority is to rebuild that reserve that cushioned us from this past recession.  This is not just something we want but is required as sound fiscal management and by law.  I will also make myself available to meet as a group at your meetings to answer questions and to start building that trust back.  And as always my door is open at any time if you wish to talk.

How to live Christmas All Year Long

I had a great time on Black Friday spending some quality time with good friends doing something that really put me in the holiday spirit, waving a sign, holding a fire boot and collecting money for Jerry’s Kids.  I spent a few hours out with members of the Valley Professional Fire Fighters, IAFF Local 1352 on a “Fill the Boot for MDA” drive.  This is the second I have participated in this year. It never ceases to amaze me the spirit of our citizens in giving to a worthy cause. 

While standing out there I came to a realization of why I was having so much fun.  It was because I was doing something, not for my benefit, but to help others who need it.  Now I do a lot of volunteer work.  I also do a lot of other work behind the scenes, but I never really thought about why it is so important to me.  Because doing this type of volunteer work allows me to enjoy the Christmas Spirit all year long.

I have always lived by the biblical adage “As you do to the least of my children, you do to me also”.  I have always accepted that as a personal responsibility for me to keep.  Over the years I have supported many groups with my labor and donated thousands of hours. But the joy I get from knowing I helped make someone’s life better has made it more than worthwhile.  It allows me to celebrate Christmas All Year Long.

I believe this is what also drives me as Mayor.  I know our government can do better in meeting the needs of our community.  Not that government needs to provide those services, but they do need to help facilitate and develop the resources and then get out of the way.  I love working with Pacific Partnerships, and the Lions, or Veterans Groups or any other group whose goal is to make the lives of those they serve better.  And together it is amazing what we get done.

Politics and a Revised Pledge to te Voters

At every level of government, citizens have shown they are tired of the “Politics as Usual”, yet more of the same seems to be all we get.  At the Federal level one party claims to have a mandate by the election two weeks ago as the other party looks stunned and confused as to why they lost control of the House.  Neither party understands what the voters of this nation really said.  They are tired of the shouting and discord that has dominated political and governmental commentary.  They are fed up with both sides saying they are going to turn this nation around and wisely spend our tax dollars.  They fact is it is not this Nation that needs to turn around, it is the attitude of our elected leaders.  And that is at all levels.

When I first ran for Mayor, I promised the citizens of this city that I would put an end to the small town politics that has haunted this city in the past.  As hard as I may have tried this latest blow up between the City of Pacific’s Community Services Program and the 501 c 3 non profit board that used to be a part of it got me caught up in those old politics.  For this I apologize to our voters.  Although I was acting in what I saw was the best interest of the city, I did not do a good job of managing the situation without it slipping into a battle of egos.  As we move on from this issue, I will attempt to always do better.

After the election in 2007, I was convinced that I would not be seeking a third term as Mayor.  Although I love the governance and providing service to our citizens, I was worn out from the politics of it.  Since that time the politics of it only has appeared to get worse.  A month ago I was informed that the same person who had financed my opponent’s campaign in 2007 had recruited a Council member to run against me in 2011.  I was also informed that this person was willing to invest whatever it took to get me out of office.  I know that he had invested tens of thousands into the last race.  From all appearances, the Mayor’s race for 2011 may end up dirtier and more costly than ever before in history.  All because a certain business owner is not getting his way in the city ignoring his violations of zoning and the law.  As much as I hate the “Politics of it all” I am not willing to let this person buy the Mayor’s office.

I have gone back and forth over the last few years as to if I would run again or not.  Originally my plan was to hold office for a few years as Mayor and move on to higher office.  But with a growing disenchantment in partisan politics and my growing interest in emergency preparedness I changed my mind.  I now see my future in helping prepare this city, this state and this nation to face disaster, respond and recover quickly and be stronger because of it.  I believe that this is my ultimate calling.  But I have work to do here in Pacific still.

If I was to leave office at the end of this term, I would most likely split my time between teaching emergency management and my regular job as an electrician.  In a few years I plan on retiring after 25 years in the trade and most likely move on to teaching full time.  I could do this while staying in office or not.  But we would lose some ground in the meantime.

Because of the training I have received from FEMA, the courses I am still taking and my position on the Washington State Emergency Management Council our City has remained in the focus of King County, the State and the Army Corps of Engineers for providing both short term and long term mitigation for the flooding of 2009.  We are actively working regionally in both King and Pierce County on long term mitigation for flooding of the White River. If I were to not run for reelection we would lose some of that clout and the position on the EMC.   Although I would get many of my evenings back, our city would lose some of our momentum in preparedness.

I believe we could also go backwards in Economic Development.  As we emerge from this recession, we have many new businesses now moving into Pacific. We are seen as a progressive city that is willing to find solutions rather than obstacles.  That is with the exception of turning a blind eye to businesses breaking the law.  When I first took office we were near collapse economically.  We had massive debt and no reserves to cover our day to day cost.  Under my watch we paid off debt, built a reserve fund of almost $800,000 and were moving forward when the downturn in our economy hit.  Although we have used most of our reserves, we kept the city going without mortgaging our future with new debt.  Keeping with sound fiscal policy, we should recover over this next year stronger than ever.

After looking at the prospect of a harsh campaign in 2011, what our city might lose and what I hope our city can achieve I have decided that I will run for reelection in November 2011.  I will make a more formal announcment in December. I know this may mean a nasty campaign will be waged against me but I feel the voters deserve someone who will stand above that.  As I promised the voters before, I will stand above the small town pettiness that has plagued this city in the past.  I wish my opponent and his financer well, but I will not stoop to dirty campaigning, no matter how much they throw at me.  I promise instead to talk about solutions, to talk about our future and what we can accomplish and most of all I will talk about Pacific being a government that actually does listen to and understand what the voters are saying.

"We want a government that is lean, effective and accountable to the people".

All I will say as to how we have been treated by politicians at other levels is

“ We deserve better!”

Hope for our Nation

For the first time in 25 years I was out of town on Election Day.  And being out of town I had the opportunity to see a completely different side of what is important for our nation and what is not.

First, I should say that I was not at all surprised by election night.  I expected the GOP to make gains in both the House and the Senate and about the only think that I did not see was the GOP taking 64 seats.  I expected them to gain about 40.  As many people I talked to in San Antonio agreed, the Democrats over this past few years had not tried to govern, but to push an agenda regardless of what the public wanted or what the consequence might be.  But a word of warning to those on the Right, I do not see anything different from the GOP.  Anouther item that was agreed upon, this was not a mandate against the Democrats or for the GOP.  It was a Mandate that the public is tired of politics and wants you to just do your jobs.

But to get back to what I see as Hope for our Nation.  I was out of town attending the International Association of Emergency Managers. I had the opportunity to meet with and talk to some of the brightest minds in America concerning Emergency Management and see some of the great new applications of technology to improve overall public safety in our nation.  When you put politics aside, America still has some of the most dedicated and talented professionals in the world.  Not one person attending was in it for themselves.  Everyone there was talking about how they could contribute to making our country stronger.  Maybe Congress should learn a bit from emergency managers.  Do more with what we have, provide better service to our customers and get the job done.  America deserves that.