Wednesday, January 3, 2007

Ollie'll Fix It







In the movie 'Intolerable Cruelty' you see how "spinning the truth" can get to the point where the last person standing is spun (and maybe even perceived by many) as the one who is telling the truth. Now, it seems, that is where it appears the port is headed.



What we find most interesting, however, is that over three years ago (maybe even longer) on at least two of the local forums people were calling for an investigation of the port and its books. However, the people's complaints, concerns, frustrations and fears were pooh-poohed and ho-hummed while people with [supposed] "wiser" outlooks and more [imagined] "credible" names were given preferential treatment, their veiws and guidance given [undeserved] credence. What is the price tag of this folly? HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of the taxpayer's dollars in fines alone, not to even go into what it will cost if lng companies are not blocked.

The college bond was voted down and the college board wants to know why. They hired a consulting firm to do surveys of the people in the county to figure this out and quess what they discovered? Will, let's look at Astoria Rust, NorthCoastOregon.com, KAST's open forum, Astoria Citizen Forum, and our own forum. OH! For free we see that those voting against it are doing so because they don't like the locations and think the plains or airport hill would be a better location and one they could support or vote for, however, a donation from Nygaard makes them leery. Now, wonder what the ten of thousands of dollar survey says? Oh! It says the bond failed because of the site the board was pushing ... So, where's our cut of the money?

People write in to the forums. Especially now that we have such a nice cross section of them. There's not just one catering to a specific group but four diferent open forums plus NorthCoastOregon's wonderful version of news with commentary. Any person who really wants to take a pulse of our dried salmon community can begin by doing it for free, online, any night of the week. Clatsop County has come a long way from the times when the one forum was limited to the Daily Astorian's limited and short lived version.

The local forums are Astoria Rust, KAST CoastWatch, Astoria Citizen's, Dried Salmon (connected to this blog), and the online news source and commentary NorthCoastOregon.com We must say that these have the best and worst of the local people and that is really wonderful! While our local flavors range from the expected lutefisk to lefsa, smoked salmon to clovered honey, soon the conversations throw out a roasted asparagus or coffee and the savory aromas permeate the keyboard, making it easy to add in the spice of a Hispanic salsa peppered remark and flaming a Pad Thai comment aimed at a commisioner or a district attorney. A good civil servant sits at the table until the Baklava is served and splits the bill, having enjoyed a good conversation with new friends. A few flounce from the table early, not even bothering to leave a tip for the hard working wait staff.

Come visit and contribute, your voice is waiting to be heard!

2 comments:

The Guy Who Writes This said...

Well said Syd/Sid. A point I'd like to add is that everyone has an opinion, though most people keep it to themselves. Some are bold enough to send a letter to the editor.

However, just as each vote is important, each opinion is important as well. Many of the forums mentioned in this article accept and even encourage anonymoys posting. It is the ideas that are important, not who is writing them.
The only thing we ask is that if you do use a name when you post, make sure it is your name. Don't pose as someone else. If you prefer not to use your name, just log in as "guest" and your opinion will be there for all to read.

I know that over a hundred people a day visit the Astoria Rust forum, and I'd suspect that Dried Salmon has hundreds of visitors daily. I learn something interesting every time I read the posts there.

Please share your ideas with us. It is one way to make things happen in this wonderful and beautiful place we call home.

Anonymous said...

Thanks S(i)(y)d for the plug.

I stopped by the site this morning and saw the date on the article as Jan 3rd and headed out without reading it.

I remember back when pretty much everyone hung out at Patrick's site then a few issues happened and everyone became kind of pissed off and went their own way. I had my doubts that the local bloggers would still have the same impact when they went out on their own, but I think it has turned out rather nicely.

There is something for everyone around these parts, everyone found their own little niche.