Tired of coworkers who lack integrity

I am proud to be a union member and proud to be an electrician by trade.  But when I am hired by an employer to do a job, I believe it is my duty to perform that job to the best of my ability.  It makes me sick to see anyone milking the system or doing “just enough to get by”.  That puts more pressure on the rest of us.

I am currently working on a very high pressure / many hours of overtime project at Seatac Airport.  We are working 7 days a week and each week I have worked over 60 hours.  The crew I am on has some very good wiremen and a few that well let me say are in it only for the money.  In fact, when one of them made a statement that he was there on overtime and that no one was there to direct him what to do.  I told him that he should just go home, but he would rather just sit around and collect the money.  The day prior, three of my coworkers were caught sitting around (on Double Time) for over 3 hours.  The one fact that they did not count on is that at the airport it is almost certain that someone will have it on video camera.  Sure enough TSA did.

I am all for making money and this is a job to make lots of money on.  Because of the time crunch they manned this job up (27 workers) and we have been working 7 days a week.  But if an employer cannot count on you having the integrity to at least give them an honest day’s work then I have little use for you.  There are plenty of good wiremen still in the hall that would jump at the opportunity to work the job that some people just want to milk.

My message for those workers who I am talking about is this.  I have no use for you or for your lack of integrity.  You give our union a bad name by your actions and you increase the workload on your brothers and sisters.  If that is the best you can do it is time you quit and found another line of work.  I do not want you on my job site, I do not want you in my union.

Putting public interest and trust first.

Over this past month, to examples that stress the importance of doing things right have come up.  Unfortunately in both examples, controversy has erupted because of the city’s insistence on others following the law and in one case their own procedures.

The first issue involves the Pacific Algona Community Services Non Profit Board.  This board was created in 2006 to work with both cities to improve services provide to both our seniors and our youth.  They formed under the laws of the State of Washington and the IRS as a 501 C3 nonprofit and created bylaws to govern their actions.  Over this past year certain issues have been brought to the attention of the city that created concern.  Among these issues were gifting $500 to a City of Pacific Employee (This gift was reported to have been returned after this was brought up), use of funds raised for programs to pay for the education of a board member’s family to write grants (at a cost above what it would cost otherwise) , not  conducting annual audits, not keeping records up to date (both issues required by their own bylaws) and then the two most recent issues, the President of the Board submitting a Change of Address to the Post Office (in violation of the bylaws) and moving the location of a meeting to prevent certain members of the community from attending (a violation of the Open Public Meetings Act).

The City of Pacific has no interest in micromanaging this organization nor interfering with its operations.  We do have the need however that it follow the laws and procedures it is legally required to follow.  When it is out of compliance with those laws we must take appropriate action.  Personally It is my hope that the board sees the issues that have caused concern and make the appropriate corrections.  If it does not then as Mayor it is my duty to protect the interest of the City and the integrity of the community services programs and sever our ties.

The second issue involves a local business, enforcement action by the city and actions of a few council members.  The City of Pacific has current enforcement action against a local business that is conducting certain activities that are outside of its current permitted use. (The reason I say current permitted use is because a conditional use permit is currently being processed by the City).  This business was warned a number of times against this activity, was cited by the city and found guilty of violations in a court of law.  This business still conducts some of this activity on a regular basis in continued violation.  The City has documented many of these instances and will forward them to the Court for determination. But this is not where my concerns were really raised.

Last weekend, the owner of this business met with or attempted to contact individual members of the City Council.  Some of those members of the City Council then attempted to make changes to an ordinance concerning land use that would benefit this owner. These changes would have changed allowed use in zoning and constitute a land use action.  Although these attempts failed, they may be a violation of the “Appearance of Fairness Doctrine” and constitute Ex Parte Communications, both violations of the law.

The city has no wish to harass any business or group.  We wish all of our businesses well and desire to see them be successful.  However, we must follow the laws and guidelines that govern our society.  To not follow that spirit is a violation of the trust to our citizens.  People can complain all they want, I will always put the public trust first.

neighborhood BBQ's

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending an impromptu neighborhood barbeque at Beaver Meadows.  One of the residents went door to door yesterday, invited the neighbors for a get to know each other event and then invited me to attend as well. Beaver Meadows is a sub division that is still under construction and contains Pacific’s newest residents.  I appreciated the invite (and the Brats) and enjoyed meeting these new citizens to our city.

One thing on the invite though that I need to comment on.  Mike, the resident who invited me included the following in his e-mail, “This was planned just as an opportunity for all of us to meet each other. No agenda, no ambush for you, but thought you might like the chance to press the flesh a little.”  I appreciated his candor, but I believe that any elected official who is afraid of meeting with his (or her) citizens probably should not be in office.  Although I will admit things do not always go the way I would like them to be, I have no problem standing behind decisions I have made or actions I have taken.

I would love to see more citizens have these little informal gatherings.  It is a great way to meet your neighbors and find issues that you might all have in common.  Inviting elected officials to them is also a great idea as it provides a bit more of a one on one opportunity for neighbors to voice concerns and for electeds to see firsthand the issues that citizens need addressed.

Why Adam Smith has earned my support

It is easy to sit in an office or sit back in Washington DC and tell people what they want to hear. But it is another thing to look a person in the eye, tell them that you understand their issue and that you will do everything you can to meet there concerns.  Adam Smith did that following the flood of 1001 homes and 15 businesses in the City of Pacific in January 2009.

Adam came to Pacific in person and walked the flooded area talking to its victims.  He dedicated staff members to work with the city and these victims to help them through the FEMA process and other needs.  But it did not stop there. 

Understanding that it will take years for mitigation projects to be finished he worked with the Corps of Engineers and others to secure temporary flood protection by means of a HESCO wall from our City Park to the County Line. He heard the fears of families and children that this flooding might happen again before more permanent fixes could be made.

So why do I support Adam Smith for reelection to Congress, because when it mattered most, Adam came to my city, listened to our citizens fears and needs and then found a way to get the job done.

A very tough budget year.

This is by far the most difficult budget I have had to produce yet.  Even with expenses cut down to bare bones, we still have additional cuts to make for the 2011 budget. This year’s revenue forecast is almost $400,000 less than 2010.  To balance the budget it will take a combination of reductions in hours for some staff members, furlough days and still a strong possibility of layoffs.  The problem is that these cuts will also impact efficiency.

Since taking office I have stressed conservative spending and sound financial practices in our city.  I understand in times like these, no one has the ability to absorb more taxation.  I have long believed the best way to increase revenues generated in our city is to attract new businesses and to help our existing businesses do better. These principles helped us pay of millions of dollars in debt and to build a reserve fund that has sustained us these past two years.  But those reserves are now to low to be of help.

I see positive signs our economy is turning around.  New businesses are looking to locate here; other businesses are tooling up preparing for new opportunities. Being in construction myself, I have seen many of these changes occurring over this past month as construction companies are again hiring and new permits are being issued.  I have little doubt that if we make it through this budget cycle we will see improvement over this next year.

Last July, many of Pacific’s residents participated in an online survey that helped the City insure our priorities were consistent with yours.  As much as possible we will use those priorities, while keeping an eye on what our city will need as we recover from this recession.  If we make a cut today that saves us a dollar, yet cost us $5 next year then we continue to slide backwards instead of progressing. 

I will be submitting my recommendations and my proposed budget on Monday October 18^th at the Pacific City Council meeting. It will not be pretty.  It will be painful. But it will represent what I see as the best options for the city to emerge stronger as our economy recovers.

COBRA Training Facility

Some people may wonder why a person would voluntarily dress out in a Type C Chemical Suit and go into a room filled with Gx (aka Sarin Nerve Gas). For me, it was to better understand what our responders might face in having to deal with a CBRNE attack.

I recently traveled to the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston Alabama for what is known as TERT or Technical Emergency Response Training for CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive) events.  This was my third trip to the CDP and my second to include time in the COBRAtf (Chemical Ordinance, Biological, and Radiological training facility) Although this is something I will never need to suit up and respond for, it has given me a better understanding of what our responders face.

We may never again see a Terrorist attack such as we saw on September 11^th 2001.  I believe we will always be in danger of attack, but there are many other weaknesses our Nation has that terrorist can exploit.  To prepare our Nation, we must prepare our cities to respond to, recover from and mitgate against all types of disaster.  That includes CBRNE attacks from Domestic or International Terrorist.  Even the small City of Pacific has many vulnerabilities that could impact our City and citizens.  We must take appropriate steps to prepare for and defend against these types of attacks.

As I previously stated, I have some background in CBRNE events from other classes I have taken.  However day one consisted of 10 hours of lecture aka “Death by PowerPoint.” All aspects of the threat were discussed as well as the impacts each type of weapon could have on a community.  Also discussed was the impact on the responder including stress management and the impact on the family.  Some of this information was review from other classes, but it never hurts to go back over so you don’t forget important points.  Day two and three were more hands on although they still made for long days. But Day two starts with a blood test.

Days two and three were what the CDP calls Lanes training.  There are four areas or lanes that responders must train in; operations and decon in a contaminated environment, survey and monitoring of contaminants, triage of victims and recognition of devices.  My first morning was spent suiting up in a Tyvec suit, using SCBA (self contained air) and performing cut out and gross decon of victims.  Although this was a simulation, the stress and the heat build up inside the suit is real.  We then downgraded to what is known as Type C protection in which we replace the Air tank with an air purifying respirator.  We then went through what is known as Technical Decon that is to remove any contamination the responder may have received treating victims inside the hot or warm zones.  As the temperature that day was a record 98 degrees, spending an hour and ½ in these suits was torture. But at least we were the first group to go through it; later groups got most of the heat.  That afternoon we again dressed out in type C to practice survey and monitoring of both victims and the incident scene.  We practiced on utilizing many different electronic monitors as well as M256A1 kits and M8 paper.  By this time though I was getting use to the heat of the protective suits.   

The third day we did not have to dress out.  The first part was on the rapid assessment of an incident site and triage of victims.  As operation inside of a contaminated area is time limited, responders must be able to quickly and accurately sort and remove viable victims from the scene and get them into the hands of medical personnel. That afternoon was what many of the students call Mad Bomber 101.  We got the opportunity to learn about IEDs, how they are used and how difficult they can be to spot.  We then went into two different mock scenarios with fake bombs and booby traps.  Each device used was a non functioning copy of real explosives used in terrorist and criminal cases in the US.  I left both impressed and concerned at how creative someone can be in creating an IED.

The last day was putting it all together for real.  The COBRAtf, left over from the Fort McClellan Chemical Depot days, is the only toxic agent facility in the US that is available for Civilian use.  As this is where all of our old Chemical Munitions have been sent for incineration as well as holding the live agent facility you can imagine this place has very tight security.  Leaving our dorm area at 5:45 am we made it to the training facility. 3 ID checks later, along with 2 locked gates a host of armed guards and a metal detector we made it into the COBRA classroom for orientation and a safety briefing. Following the first of our medical checks we started assembling our gear.  As everything that enters the Toxic area stays in the toxic area they issue a complete change of clothing along with all of the gear for both the outdoor and indoor exercises.

We start out dressing in Type B gear (Tyvec Suit and SCBA) and participating in what is called the Northville Exercise.  The Scenario is that Terrorist have attacked and derailed a train carrying multiple cars containing chemicals. An large area is contaminated and multiple victims with direct injuries from the derailment to those only effected by Cx (Phosgene Gas).  My job was to transport those victims from the edge of the hot zone, cut off all clothing and run them through Gross Decon.  A second crew then took those victims, ran them through a decontamination line and transported them to medical help in the cold zone.  As this is a terrorist event, we also need to deal with evidence preservation and maintain chain of custody for all evidence including the clothing we cut off. 

After taking a short break, we downgraded to Type C PPE’s and continued our day doing survey and monitoring.  After going through Decon we left Northville hot and tired and made it back into the dressing room.  Next we changed into a Charcoal lined Chemical suit (often called a marshmallow suit) and prepared to go into the toxic agent facility.  Now the first rule of the facility is that nothing is left to chance.  Everything is checked, double checked and then tested again just to be sure.  Where OSHA requires a fit test of 50 on a mask/respirator,  COBRAtf requires a fit test of over 3000.  My particular mask finished with a fit of over 25,000. Every piece of clothing is designed for a tight fit so once inside the toxic facility; participants can feel secure that they will be insulated from any toxic agent.  For one final check we step into a room where we are check one last time using Banana Oil.  This vary fragrant substance will find any gap in our mask and let us know if we have any leaks. Finally we are ready to go inside.

The COBRAtf is broken into 7 smaller rooms, all coming off a common area.  Before moving into any portion of the facility, Operations is called and permission is granted to enter into one of the rooms.  In the first room we enter what looks to be a loading dock or industrial facility.  Under the close watch of instructors, a small amount of a substance is placed onto chilled plates and our adventure begins.  First using M-8 paper and our M256 kits we perform initial test to determine the substance. Initial reports test positive for a G type Nerve Gas and it is noted that Gb is present not only in liquid form on the dish, but also in gas form in the air.  The M256 kits are placed on the outside walls of the room and left to work through the process.  Other testing equipment is then used to test the samples and it is proven that Sarin Gas (Gb) is present.  The M256 kits also confirm the results.  Each dish is then neutralized using bleach.  Prior to leaving this room each person decontaminates their gloves and is given a quick eye test to check for possible exposure. (One of the initial symptoms of exposure is pin pointing of the pupils).

After receiving permission to travel into the second room we enter a much different type layout. This room is a simulation of a homemade lab for the manufacture of chemical weapons.  As the agent is applied we discover with our testing that the toxic agent is Vx, , however this substance is more persistent and does not off gas so the only positive sampling we received is from close contact of monitoring and the M8 paper.  Between the two rooms, it was shown why multiple forms of testing are required to accurately determine what you are dealing with.

The final room we entered inside the toxic facility is a simulation of an incident on main street USA.  In this simulation multiple victims are down, a responder vehicle is included and to top it all off multiple Pipe bombs or IEDs were dispersed to get additional victims.  We had to quickly size up the scene, evacuate victims and plan our initial response.  Sirens, shouts and other noise added to the reality of the situation.

One part of this whole experience that I was impressed with was the procedures that were maintained to ensure our safety.  Going through Decontamination from exposure to live agent is no different.  Being careful to not transfer any contamination we work in teams to unhook and remove our gear.  First to unhook, unzip and untie our coats which are passed on to a safety team.  Then unhook our heavy bunker gear type pants and prepare to remove our pants and boots at the same time.  As we remove these items we carefully turn our body so that no part of our body touches anything or anyone that is in the contamination area.  We then remove our gloves with the help of our safety team and separate into male and female decon areas. (In my group there were 6 men and 4 ladies plus a male and female instructor).  Hear we removed our shorts and socks leaving our t-shirts and mask as the only things we still have on.  Pulling our arms out of the sleeves and then removing the mask using our t-shirts we exit to what is erroneously called the Hot Shower.  This shower contains the coldest water they could get directly off a Siberian glacier.  This cold water is to quickly close all of your pores to prevent any residual contamination from being able to soak into your skin.  Luckily the next stop is a traditional warm shower where you can warm back up.

After dressing back into our street clothes we gather back together for a debrief and to receive our COBRA pins.  As this is my second time through this facility this year (I attended an Incident Command Course that included a trip through COBRA) I received a special Cobra pin signifying I have been in more than once.  Following the final medical exam we prepared to come back home.  Our final step was a 5 am blood test to verify we did not get exposed and off to the airport.

Since Fort McClellan was closed and the facility transferred to DHS, more than 70,000 people have entered the Toxic facility.  Out of those 70,000 trips not one accident has occurred.  I am just glad that my group did not break that record.  I know I will attend more classes at the CDP as they are 100% funded by DHS.  I most likely will enter the COBRA facility again as well. As long as I continue to learn things that I can bring back to our area to improve our planning and preparedness I have no problem with the training.  And I have gained a lot of experience to better protect my city and our citizens.

Budget Cuts

How do you make large cuts in an already tight budget?  You do it by taking little steps, by doing the little things that individually might not seem like a lot of money, by transferring some of the load off of the general fund and by making strategic investments.  Although we are seeing many positive signs that our economy is turning around, at least in our city, we are not there yet. We need to maintain fiscal responsibility and be 100 percent accountable to how we spend your tax dollars. I believe that at least from my position, the City of Pacific is attempting to do that.

I have stated before that I look at this recession as more than a time of cutting back and tight budgets.  I look at this as an opportunity for our city to position itself to take advantage of our recovery.  We need to be creative in keeping our city moving forward in a positive direction, but do so without large tax increases. We need to not only keep our infrastructure from falling apart, but make strategic investments that provide additional benefits for our future.  The investment we made last year of extending lines down West Valley Highway is now starting to pay dividends as we are seeing new businesses start the process of locating there.  The investment we made then, on something that needed to be done anyway will now generate new revenues that will quickly exceed what we spent.

We also have issues where we need to make investment to keep infrastructure from falling apart.  A road project recently rejected by your City Council is an example of that.  This proposal included the shifting some of the burden for road repairs over to utility accounts that have had impact on the road condition (IE: A water or sewer line break has caused partial failure of a road or repairs have resulted in only a patch repair.) It also included an investment of approximately $100.000 that would be in the form of an Interfund loan from utilities to pay for the balance of some critical repairs.  This Interfund loan would be made in place of borrowing the money from the revolving trust account that would otherwise fund these types of repairs.  It was decided in 2005 that it made more sense to loan ourselves the money instead of paying the interest back to other interest outside our city.  It should also be clear that this is not an Interfund loan used to just balance the budget, a practice I fought hard to stop when I first took office.

Council voted this down at an extended meeting on September 20^th.  I expect this measure to be brought back at tomorrow night’s meeting and I want any Council member who votes against this tell our citizens how it can be done better.  To not make these repairs is not an option.  One of the areas that would be included is the road directly in front of our Fire Station. If the road fails here does it only affect those who use 3^rd ave or does it impact our entire city?  Tune in tomorrow night to find out what your council decides to do.

This next month I will be presenting my proposed budget for 2011.  This budget will be built on current revenue forecast, a slight increase in taxes (1% increase in total property tax value is allowed under State Law) and will be the tightest budget I have had to produce.  Its balance will reflect the priorities that citizens developed with the survey in July and will include creative ways of keeping important programs from collapsing.  It will also, as all of my previous budget proposals have been, be 100% accountable to the citizens of this city.  We will have to see how the political dynamics on our council comes up with as alternatives.