There is some good-natured debate around the subject of whether the current or the prior county commission is the worst commission ever. Personally, I have been on the fence, going back and forth between the chaos wrought at the courthouse by the Fred and Cam dark comedy show or the present state of inertia cunningly disguised as “reorganizing” and “strategizing” convened by Sweet and Sour(puss).
Certainly, the prior commission with the voting duo of Fred Messerle and Cam Parry did its fair share of damage even succeeding in privatizing solid waste and demolishing a multimillion dollar incinerator paid for by a pubic bond. Already our garbage collection rates have gone up and the evidence from other regions that succumbed to pressure from companies like Waste Management and Waste Connections is that rates will continue to climb steadily. It also blew up the self funding planning department, restricting its fees and forcing it to take revenue from the general fund to make ends meet. Don’t forget, the director finally through up her hands in frustration and abruptly retired.
John Sweet and Melissa Cribbins did usher in a different and perhaps calmer tone which probably made life more bearable, at least in the beginning, for county staff. After the voters rejected hiring a county administrator, the pair tried to smuggle an administrator into the county by changing the name to “finance director” and creating a position that coincidentally had the same duties and authority as an administrator. The public saw through the ruse and nothing has been heard about this “urgent” position in almost two years. Sweet claims the various departments are more efficient now, but so far these gains are unquantifiable. While this board hasn’t yet achieved the sort of damage created by its predecessors it is poised to lock the county into a catastrophic privatization scheme, the CEP (Community Enhancement Plan) further limiting its access to desperately needed funding. Neither commission has succeeded in bringing in more revenue to the county.
Initially, I was leaning toward putting my vote for worst commission on the predecessor but now I am leaning toward our current board. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
I vote to fire our employees Sweet and Sour and start over. They can change their name as Kevin Kakauwila has done. If his Facebook page is indicative, county commissioner was not the highlight of his life. He’s partying every day and finally enjoying life. Electing Gurney will have the same effect of firing Sweet and Sour. Sour can be a lame duck for two years until she runs for the position held by Caddy McKeown. The worst kept secret in the county. Hopefully within two years we the people can identify a qualified individual to follow Ms. McKeown. If Sweet and Sour have done nothing else, they have caused many to vote for a new charter.
The same characters that gave us the Cam and Fred show are producing this version of owning the county. I guess we’ll know on Wednesday how this county rolls. This is the LNG vote that Griffith,Whitty and Stufflebean wouldn’t allow. We either go whole hog with the boys from the chamber ruining the area or we start taking our county back. The check’s in the mail.
It is the equivalent of comparing the plague to Ebola. The ending results are about the same.
Yeah. Do you you want dog poop or cat poop with that sandwich?