To put it mildly, structure committee co-chair Al Pettit, (who was missing his sidekick Jon Barton today) began his presentation before the BOC today roaring like a lion and snarling at Bob Main before he even began his slide show. Pettit pushed for hiring a central administrator or manager saying it would give the employees continuity within an ever changing board and Main counter punched with a statistic that most paid administrators last only three years.
Pettit left like lamb when a citizen took issue with Pettit’s characterization of IT staff as “two and a half girls”. Several in the room cheered to see him leave but he missed some more pointed commentary so Messerle had to take the blows for him.
The conduct of the structure advisory committee throughout the process has served to alienate and divide the commission and the community and Pettit has an uncanny gift to insult staff even when trying to praise them. To paraphrase Pettit effectively said, “No offense to union employees but management have more to offer for good ideas to fix the county.”
At the last BOC meeting Sheriff Zanni indicated that two employees felt they had been coerced into changing their answers on a questionnaire from the structure advisory committee and board chairman, Fred Messerle asked HR Director Mike Lehman to address these serious allegations. Lehman told the board that unless these individuals came forward and filed a complaint there was nothing to do (and presumably nothing to investigate).
The video will be one of the more entertaining meetings in a long time but one thing is still unresolved. The findings and conclusions posted to the structure committee website have never been voted on in public. The public has only conjecture as to who voted in favor of the committee findings. Oregon statutes require decisions of a committee of more than three members be reached by consensus, which according to Webster’s is “first, general agreement, and second, group solidarity of belief or sentiment.”
This report should not have been accepted by the board absent a public vote and consensus from the members.
UPDATE: Pettit maintained during his presentation that there is no job description for the job of commissioner. Without speaking to the accuracy of the document, Pettit is wrong, there is a job description and I originally found it last summer from a link provided on the structure committee website and posted the link last October here. The link is still active but can no longer be accessed from the structure committee’s main page.
Opinion is not contributing much but vulgar insults and snarky put downs. Is this the best that he/she can offer? Politics ain’t playing bean bag as they say in Chicago but in a place as small and hurting as Coos County with a news paper committed to representing the status quo power structure the insight that Mary Geddrey brings to the community is of profound value. If opinion thinks she is wrong, give us the facts, provide the numbers but keep the insults to yourself and opinion you do NOT speak for the community either. What pomposity!!
Remember as well that investors and agencies are reading this blog. Officials at the State have told me so. Why would any legitimate investor risk their capital in these tough times in a place run by such nasty narrow minded fools in such obvious thrall to inside dealers? Please keep up the good work, the hard work and the meaningful work, Ms. Geddry. You are one of my heros.
May I dare to say Al is just like a cockaroach who slinks back to it’s dark dank corner when the light of day shines on his BS. These SCDC, Chamber of Consorts have NEVER been seriously questioned so the public can see why this county does not move forward. Out with the entire lot. And I for one am going to request the C of C be cut off from county funds. They have no right to tax dollars, let them pay their own way as well, they’ve morphed into just another tax-dodging, public funded piglet. Enough of them. Going to the public workers with their silly-assed “project” which is nothing but an attempt to rid themselves of these very public employees they interviewed. They don’t want a government, that’s why they try so damn hard to kill it.
Hey Al Pettit, why don’t you come back and tell us how your new facade and windows that we paid for is coming along? All the while telling us “we” are going broke? At the very, very least a magnificent hypocrit, how do these people sleep at night sucking off the working poor tax payers of this county, then coming to a public meeting and have any indignation at all?
Cockaroches.
Without Mary and the brave public officials speaking out, this nest of roaches would have merrily marched along and killed this local gov., all the while blambing the obstructionists.
Um, Magix didn’t you mean to say “100 year old girls”. ?
Wearing a Harley jacket obviously does not make a man.
See how it is Al? Your Wednesday business circle jerk ain’t the only one in town
What a joke and embarrasment you are.
Al’s mother should take him to the woodshed, spank him and then wash his mouth out with soap
I’ve been following many issues since I recently moved here, not very long ago, if any of you recall from the first time I jumped in on this ‘stimulating’ blog/website. Obviously I am not a supporter of this group and do not buy into much of your propaganda. None the less, I have also seen Pettits postings using his real name. The guy is obviously quite vocal, in the public eye, typically puts his name on his comments. I have my own opinion, and will continue to express it like the rest of you.
I’m sorry OpinionAl. You are such a sensitive fellow. Please convince us that the county is going to hell in a hand basket. Convinvce us that the county IT department needs a do over – probably by Citrix. Convince us that the county should spend $200,000 annually for a county manager and secretary (plus recruiting, plus parachute when the manager quits or is fired and sues the county). Convince us that the county employees would be better off with three layers of management, not two. Convince us that Al’s credentials from his days between Sand Hill and Bascom abd 101 to 17, before and after he saved Apple, are solid and his assertions are to be believed and his recommendations have merit. That should take two sentences. Then please tell us why your friend Jon Barton did the wise thing and hid from the people. Your guy Messerle has shown clearly that he is neither leader nor follower and he is a person who should get out of the way of progress.
I will personally vouch for Mary’s honesty, integrity and honor. Anytime. Three characteristics that are sorely lacking in today’s world.
Be mindful, I suspect Al has anger management issues
Nope, Al is no Stufflebean and neither is opinion and since everyone has outed opinion as Al I wonder why he doesn’t just ‘fess up. Oh, I know, that would take character.
I would recommend that Al simply stop reading this blog but he is so entertaining I would hate to see him leave
I suspect “Opinion” is Stufflebean or a former supporter of him. He uses the same logic and acusations as he did during his campaign aginst Jackson, flat out lies! It’s too bad “Opinion” doesn’t believe in free speach and the people’s right to question issues that affect them. Maybe Mary should have posted a picture of a sheep, because that’s what “Opinion” and his group would like us to be. Keep up the discussion group! History shows that it’s the peoples voice that makes changes.
Mary oh you speak for the populous huh? Took a survey did ya? Yes, you, your little group of followers and Mains behavior was quite immature and just did so much to discredit you & Main. Main can’t even be professional enough to contain his comments until someone is done speaking. And as far as the rest of you, most of what you/your group said was pulled out of your ass. And thats exactly what you will look like when this airs. Keep up that ‘tireless’ wok of yours.
The same Al who said “perception is the reality” has no clue how he is perceived by the populous.
There is enough material in today’s video to keep The Daily Show and Colbert Report going for a week. Al provided us with the mother lode of campaign fodder.
Opinion must be Pettit’s dumber twin
Ima Curious.. Why are you calling me Pettit? So quick to come to a conclusion as typical. This isn’t Al.. never has been. By the way how are you contributing?
Dear Mr. Charlie Pettit or nom de guerre Mr. Opinion: Wrong! Again! It’s Robert Bob Main, It’s Mary Geddry and her blog. It’s Jim Bice and his KWRO radio show. It’s two concerned ladies in Fairview. It’s thousands of educated Coos County citizens, who have had their fill of your wasting peoples time and money with your unsubstantiated county problems and your proposed soluitions that lead to nowhere. It’s you, not Ms. Geddry, who are ignorant, assuming that we believe the savior of Apple Computer crap. You did not save Apple. You did get a pink slip. You can not and will not save the county. You, like your pal Barton should have hid from the people today. There may be people in places such as Ewa Beach, Foster City, Idaho Falls, Incline Village, Newark, San Carlos, San Mateo, or Simi Valley that would welcome your saving them. I vote NO – don’t call us; we’ll call you.
Mary, dishonest, insecure and an idiot..that.. you are. You sit in your chair at your desk and throw slanders through this blog. You have not brought one positive idea with an actual plan of action to the table at a meeting. Instead you condemn, criticize just about everything and everyone. It doesn’t really matter what you think of Al, Fred or Cam for that matter does it? Because guess what. They are where they are and here you hide behind this blog Any of them can run circles around you. Do you really think for a minute you could be sitting in a commissioners seat? I seriously doubt it because hardly anyone in this community takes you seriously. Mary, how absurd it is that you are so determined to try and undermine Al because he has been the ‘voice’, of this committee, but you have just so conveniently overlooked most everyone else on the committee. To the Rusty Pirate.. are you kidding me? What you are suggesting is that the Board would just automatically implement suggestions without digging deeper into the issues at hand? Oh yes, no wonder why you would think that, because that is exactly how Main has operated over the last four years.. either flat out ignoring issues, and not doing the job he was voted in to do. Rusty you say, ‘Mary’s tireless work’ .. I think you meant ‘tiresome’
Opinion, you say Mary is wasting everyone’s time, but you read it, probably several times, and then you took the time to responded to it. You called Mary a dog, and then called everyone unbelievably ignorant and a bunch of fools, and said “you and your group better stop wasting everyones time” — which sounds like a threat. But, you didn’t accomplish anything. All you did was waste your time. That’s foolish.
This is hilarious! Al, you just can’t help yourself, can you? I’m amazed you can dress yourself in the morning…(then again, maybe you don’t….)
Uh-oh, did Jon make you fly solo, letting you crash and burn, and then get tossed under the bus?
Thank you for your opinion “Opinion”.
If it were not for this blog and Mary’s tireless work this structure commitee’s presented plans would have no public input.
The local paper has only printed one side of the project and still has not even acknowledged that a minority opinion exists. A minority opinion does not constitute a waste of time.
The local paper fails to inform or educate fully on the issue.
If you find that an open discussion of the committee’s proposal, including opinions that may differ from yours, a “waste of time”, I think you have missed the idea of democracy.
I can assure you that no one writing for this blog thinks of Al, or Fred or Cam for that matter, as a commissioner. Rather we consider Al to be nothing more than a promoter, a salesman, a charlatan and a shill who would think nothing of selling long term care insurance to 100 year old ladies. In short, speaking only for myself, I consider Al to be dishonest, insecure and an idiot.
Nice photo you posted of yourself Mary, you dog you. You all should be completely ashamed of yourselves. Once again wasting everyones time. You really don’t get it do you? How unbelievably ignorant you all are. You all carry on as if any of the suggestions were already put into motion. Its the Boards call. This Board or who ever may end up being on it after the election better start digging in and getting some of these county problems fixed and you and your group better stop wasting everyones time. The good in all this is that the rest of the county residents continue to see on television what a bunch of fools you look like. Main didn’t do his campaign any favors today and thats all for the good. You act and carry on like Pettit was some commissioner. He’s just another citizen. Fact is the Board is free to look into what they want and all the bitching in the world can’t stop that. Move on.