Carolyn Yaschur I Kitsap Sun

Comes now, this story, about a dumpy, county-owned park in Navy Yard City, a low-income unincorporated archipelago inside Bremerton’s city limits. The county’s Web site said the park is closed, but it was open the two days I stopped by. Wide open.

(The Web site has since been updated.)

Although the view is pretty, some self-centered jerks were trying to turn it into a landfill.

So I started calling parks officials. I left messages. I waited a day to give them a chance to respond.

No calls back.

So I called back the next day. Left messages. I even reached Dori Leckner, senior parks maintenance supervisor, on her cell phone.

As a matter of courtesy, I often ask sources if I’m calling at a good time. Some might say anytime a reporter calls is not a good time. I do this so the source can hang up, gather their thoughts, and start fresh on the phone. I extend this courtesy to people I think will deal honestly with me. I am not required to do this, and I don’t always do it, but sometimes I think it’s only fair.

Leckner said it was not a good time and she would call me back shortly.

She did not.

I called once again that evening, no answer.

The story ran the next day, Thursday, without comment from the department. I did not mention the employee’s name, thinking maybe Leckner just forgot. Fair enough.

But still, no call back. Not a word.

In defense of Leckner, I also left messages with at least one other parks official who neglected to return the call.

We did hear from a deputy, however, in the story’s comment section, about his efforts to patrol the park.

The paper’s opinion editor decided to write an editorial admonishing the county for its inaction.

It ran Friday.

Still, no call back.

On Friday afternoon, I called County Commissioner Jan Angel, R-South Kitsap, whose district includes Navy Yard City.

Shortly later I received a call from Leckner. The conversation took, at the most, five minutes.

Leckner said the park was cleaned up Thursday. What could be recycled was recycled. What couldn’t was thrown away.

She said the gate was open because people keep cutting the lock and the chain.

She said the park was closed June 1 because the county doesn’t have the money to keep it up.

She also said a sign would be posted explaining the park is closed.

So there it is.

It took more work than it should have, but that’s the story.

Photo Credit

Whether a tempest in a keg cup, or a sign of the apocalypse, I don’t know.

I don’t have a position on whether the Olympic Soccer and Sports Center should serve beer and wine (read story here) , but I will say that if there are ever European scale soccer riots in Bremerton, it would be like Christmas morning for the Bremerton Beat.

I do have an opinion on a comment from Councilwoman Carol Arends about the out-of-control, family unfriendly bacchanalia at Seahawks games.

She’s right, and I believe the high price of beer is partly responsible.

You can quote me on that.*

The ostensible reason the stadium charges so much for such lousy beer (Red Dog, is it?) – beyond what could be considered a fair mark up for a captive audience - is an effort to coax fans into drinking less and therefore getting less drunk and less stupid.

Some might say that’s just a ruse to coax more dollars from people’s wallets.

Any time I go to a game and fork over the cash for a cup of beer compared often to bodily waste, I adopt this belief.

The fans may be drunk and stupid, but they know a plastic cup of keg beer isn’t worth the price of a half rack.

As an economist would say,** when prices go up, people look for alternatives.

The smartest alternative is to limit oneself to drinking one or two beers. This works for people who aren’t a risk of causing problems anyway, smart people.

Another alternative is to sneak booze in – beer is often too cumbersome. This is something of a tradition, with even 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney writing about his flask of brandy for cold Sundays in the Meadowlands. But it’s also against the rules, and can result in at least being thrown out of the stadium.

The other alternative, also a tradition for America’s soccer hooligan equivalent, is to tie one on in the parking lot or the Pioneer Square bar, over drink so that the buzz will last through the game, partly supplemented with the hair of one, or maybe two, Red Dogs.

The people who choose the last two alternatives, I would bet, are the problem. And there are thousands of them.

If someone were to fall face down on the concourse and vomit, or pry off their arm rest and beat another fan with it, you know where my money would be. ***

I’ve been to a few games at the arena I will call Seahawks Stadium – including the glorious victory over the Giants of New York in 2005 when we drunken idiot fans made the Giants offensive line flinch – and I just can’t believe the multitude of lunatics were all besotted on thin, yellow beer that costs as much as a glass of fine wine.

I certainly wasn’t.

Perhaps if beer were not so expensive some potential superidiots wouldn’t feel compelled to drink beforehand and instead fill up on low-grade lager while splitting their time watching the game and visiting the lavatory.

Of course, lowering the price of beer could result in more people drinking more, which could spill out onto the roads and sidewalks. Making cheap beer cheaper might prove why it should have been more expensive in the first place.

Just the thought of a sporting event with a 50 Cent Beer Night should fill any conscientious citizen with terror.

*I hate it when people say that.
**People who want to sound smart say things like “As an economist would say …”
***True dat.

Bremerton residents will hear from their council representatives on the city’s budget wrangling next Tuesday.

Residents of council districts 4, 5 and 6, are invited to the neighborhood meetings Oct. 14.

The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. and runs to 7 p.m. (Thanks, Colleen)

Other Bremerton residents can also go if they wish.

Mayor Cary Bozeman has painted a dismal year for the city’s general fund revenues. Budget writers are now closing a $4.4 million projected deficit ($34.6 million expected coming in, $39.1 million expected going out) so that a balanced budget will be presented to the council Oct. 22

Click here to read a story about the budget landscape.

The discussion will be moderated by councilmembers Roy Runyon, Mike Shepherd and Dianne Robinson.

“Please bring your comments, concerns and ideas …” reads the announcement.

The meeting will be held at the Norm Dicks Government Center at 345 Sixth Street in the first floor meeting chambers.

For more information, call the council office at 473-5280.

Don’t judge me

Comes now, a Kitsap rock and roll drummer in the indie rock band Alligators

And he has a blog!

Let’s see what he has to say about his new rehearsal space, located near a popular Bremerton bar.

its right across the street from the manette, which is bittersweet, because while it will be great to take a break from practice to grab a brew, i’m not looking forward to becoming a regular at a bremerton bar. again. the bremerton bar crowd is full of faces i don’t like to see.

Yes, bittersweet. There is also several items of moving commentary about arrest warrants. That’s the life of an outlaw, always skirting the edge.

(The blogger is a blood relative of Sun sportswriter Nathan “Nasty Nate” Joyce, who vouched for his character and complimented his taste in belts. This has made me tone down my player hating.)

I’ve heard the band is very particular about not being called “The Alligators,” because that totally denigrates what they, like, stand for.

Here is their myspace.com page, with info and samples of their upcoming album.

Here is the blog.

Here is the Sun’s slide show page. Scroll down to Dec. ‘06 for a series of photos and a music clip from the band.

Here is an item from the KNG media empire’s entertainment writer on Alligators.

PS - The Bingo game above cuts right to the bone. I qualify for many of those, but the over 30/grandpa item really hurts.

Your mother would cry if she saw what you’ve become.

The Seattle Times published a story Thursday about the sight-seeing potential of downtown Bremerton, which includes an action-packed itinerary for day-trippers.

Bremerton has much to offer the casual tourist, unlike like other Times day travel stories, “Take A Chill At The Strip Malls of the Kent East Hill” and “Getaway To The Underpasses of Spanaway.”

If you’re a well-adjusted sight-seer from Seattle, the Bremerton Beat recommends following the Times’ minute-by-minute itinerary for catching this city-on-the-move, all tore up and verging on nine months of rainy gloom.

But if you are a maladjusted jerk from Seattle, we here at the Bremerton Beat have crafted an itinerary to make your Kitsap experience complete.

8:45 a.m. - Curious, yet not curious enough to ask yourself, “Isn’t there anything better I could do with my day?” you decide to ride the ferry to God’s county on the other side of the Puget Sound. The longest ferry ride is to Bremerton, which sparkles like a concrete jewel in the forest. “Why not?” You ask yourself, in a rare moment of self-reflection. However, you fail to answer your own question and disembark for foreign sands.

10:30 a.m. - Arrive in Bremerton late after the aging ferry springs a leak when scraping against an underwater mountain range of old television sets. They were dumped there when Bainbridge Island bought flat screens en masse. Be put at ease by the disembodied voice booming over the ferry PA system, “There is no need for concern.”

10:35 a.m. – “Exit the ferry terminal and walk straight ahead to Washington Avenue” and buy a 99-cent tall boy of cheap, powerful beer at the convenience store between two bars. You can’t miss it, those two bars and that seedy convenience store are the first two things you’ll see.*

10:37 a.m. - Buy another. It’s going to be a long day.

10:40 a.m. - Now you’ve done it. Your day is ruined. You’re drunk in public and it’s not even noon. You should be ashamed of yourself.

10:42 a.m. - If the weather is nice, go to the Harborside Fountain Park. Ignore the fences and no trespassing signs around you. Watch the fountain, take in your surroundings and get in touch with your inner bully. Find a child, or an adult smaller than you, and shove them into the water.

11:10 a.m. – Leave quickly, you fool! The police have probably been called, you just assaulted a child! But as you flee, observe how the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard “dominates the skyline.” Lay low in one of Bremerton’s many historic parking lots. Hiding in some bushes is encouraged.

12:09 p.m. – You’ve sobered up, but not so much that you can think clearly. Hang around the Bremerton Harborside and encourage the people you meet to complain. They can complain about the fact that downtown is tore up with construction projects, or that more of downtown isn’t being torn up, or they could take a different angle and complain that Port Orchard is getting ripped off for being forced to support the tearing up of things. If you can’t find anyone with something to complain about, do some complaining yourself. Here’s a good one: complain that the Kitsap Sun’s Bremerton reporter is lame and more interested in writing low-rent blog items than responsible journalism.

1:00 p.m. – Dodge the swift current of cars racing off the ferry. Then dodge cars leaving the shipyard at shift change. Trespass into construction sites and dodge heavy machinery. Dodge the overly-cautious construction workers trying to ruin your fun. Make a game out of it. For every car you dodge, you get 10 points. For every car that hits you, subtract two points. If you are run over by a bulldozer, subtract five points.

2:06 p.m. – Get a hot dog at one of the stands near the ferry terminal, drink a coffee at Calvary Chapel’s espresso bar and also at Fraiche Cup Espresso and Gallery. Hit the Puget Sound Navy Museum, the Downtown Arts District, the Aurora Valentinetti Puppet Museum, the Kitsap County Historical Society Museum, climb aboard the USS Turner Joy and take a shot of Jagermeister at the Boat Shed in Manette. Do everything the squares would do, only make off-color remarks to the employees while doing it. Remember, you are from Seattle and Wherever-This-Is could benefit from hearing about how things get done back home.

2:17 p.m. – Skip the foot ferry to Port Orchard and instead get arrested by a Bremerton police officer. Take a scenic, and free, drive around Sinclair Inlet through cheerful Gorst to the county jail in Port Orchard. Don’t worry about staying silent with your new Bremerton friend. Chat them up. Here’s a conversation starter: they might not know about each and every illegal thing you’ve done during your visit, so tell them. And don’t forget to remind the officer that YOU have rights and pay THEIR salary. They love that.

An Undetermined Time Later - Bail out of jail after making several new friends. It’s just $500,000, pocket change for you, a 45-year-old Microsoft retiree. Walk down to Bay Street, “where there’s an assortment of bail-bond businesses, bars, (and) antique shops,” and other places where you might find a child begging, or something. But make sure you are out of Port Orchard by sundown. That’s when the Others emerge from the shadows to prey on the infirm.

What’s the time? - Ride the foot ferry back to Bremerton. Contemplate the view while informing fellow passengers that you just bailed out of jail. Make it painfully clear.

Shortly after that - Arrive in Bremerton and head for the 7-Eleven at Park Avenue and Sixth Street. This is a Bremerton after-hours favorite, a great place to meet new and interesting people and then fistfight them. Select from the store’s virtually complete selection of inexpensive wines. They have it all, from the MD 20/20 of your youth, to the more sophisticated and bountiful Night Train, to the Dom Perignon of fortified wines, Boone’s Farm.

Within 20 minutes - Pass out in one of the many vacant lots behind the “Sev,” as it is known.

??? - Wake up. Your wallet is gone and your freezing cold, but you’re alive. Luckily, the trip back to Seattle is free. Unluckily, it’s the last ferry for the day, so you better get going.

Late - Safely aboard the ferry, recall your day’s adventures fondly. Wave goodbye to Bremerton. “I’ll be back,” you think to yourself, wanting nothing more than the hot tub in your Belltown condo. “Once I get a summons to appear in court, I’ll be back.”

*I spoke too soon. That convenience store is gone. The one with the 99-cent beers. Now there are only two bars.

Sweatpants: A soft, coffee-stained white flag of surrender

It was cute when they named a couch after Bremerton.

But now they have sweatpants named after the city.

How do you like me now, Port Orchard?

Not just any kind of sweatpants. That’s not how we roll. No, these are “slimming” sweatpants. They are intended for women, but I’m sure a confident fellow with a gut to hide might be able to style the “light slate” color without reprimand from the boss or awkward conversations with the wife.

There is already a testimonial posted on the illusive powers of these pants to make a person look less overweight than they really are.

“These pants are the best I have ever worn,” wrote an enthusiastic Bremerton sweatpants wearer from Egg Harbor Township, N.J. “In fact, I bought the black pair and lighter color. They hide any bumps and bulges and make you look 15 lbs lighter.”

And, not to mention, now the Bremerton fit slimming sweatpant is being peddled at a discounted rate. Perfect for the person who has been downsized in the economic troubles of our time, yet wants to upsize their waistband while watching Maury “You Are The Father” Povich and eating dollar menu items from Wendy’s.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Maury, eaten my share of double-stacks and I also own a pair of sweatpants. Mom gave them to me. But I try to show some respect for myself, and others, by not wearing them in public.

Nothing screams “I surrender!” like a pair of sweatpants. In the fight that is life, sweatpants are a soft, coffee-stained white flag.

Now that the good name of Bremerton is associated with, of all things, a sweatpant, I don’t know what to think. I guess I’ll have to take a long look at myself, and reevaluate what might be a shallow prejudice against this pant alternative.

More Onion editorial cartoons

Here is a story on a poll that found Kitsap residents want access to higher ed classes, but aren’t interested in a traditional college experience here.

This brings up a few questions I have about alternative educational facilities, “university centers” or branch campuses, which are gaining in popularity and enrollment.

But beware, what you are about to read has earned me accusations of elitism. So, get your tomatoes ready.

To me, it seems like it’s lowering the bar. It sounds condescending, like a second tier system, and I would point the same accusations of elitism right back at my accusers.

I went to Seattle Central Community College. At Central, as we called it, I had many classmates from Bremerton, Bainbridge and North Kitsap. One, a friend of mine, a Running Start student, would hitchhike everyday from Suquamish to the Bainbridge ferry terminal to ride to Seattle.

So, why would so many students double or triple their commute time to attend what ostensibly are the same classes?

Could it possibly have to do with the diversity of the student body at an urban campus?

Could that mean there is more to an education than a building, a teacher and a book?

At the time, I assumed there wasn’t a community college in that green land that appears on the other side of the Puget Sound.

There is, of course, Olympic College.

When I started at UW under the direct transfer agreement, I had a lot of catching up to do. The papers that earned A’s at Seattle Central barely registered C’s in 200 level literature classes. It had a tinge of embarrassment to it, considering all the people in my classes were younger, smarter, prettier and richer than me.

And that leads to my second question.

I had quite a few outstanding teachers. But the occasions that I had my mind blown, the times where the sky opened up and suddenly the dense text made sense, was not from something I read in a book or something a teacher said during a lecture, but what another student said during a class discussion.

This seems counterintuitive, I know. We’re led to think that it is the quality of the teacher or the curriculum that determines our success in the classroom. What about the quality of our fellow students?

Third, isn’t a university education supposed to be horribly difficult and monstrously inconvenient? Isn’t that the point, that it isn’t easy? Isn’t that what gives even the lowliest bachelor’s degree in underwater basket weaving some prestige, because going through the ringer sucks so consistently?

I won’t regale you with the hardships of my educational experience, but they weren’t unique. I had classmates who endured more. Some were single parents, military vets, disabled people, older people, younger people, people from different ethnicities, from households that didn’t speak English and some people who were wrestling with horrible addictions and mental health issues.

At UW and the real universities we got ourselves admitted to, many of us stuck out like sore thumbs. We were older, fatter and harrier than the spry kids.

It was hard, very hard, and I had many occasions for exasperation and despair.

Some of my classmates didn’t make it. Most went on and did amazing things, and when I think about them, and what they’ve achieved, I get a little misty eyed.

And my final question, do our leaders think those of us without a silver spoon in our mouths aren’t capable of competing with their sons and daughters? Are we so sorry and in need of pity that instead of (1) reforming public schools so that high school graduates are prepared for jobs, (2) funding higher education at the level it was subsidized when our leaders went to college so that taking out a college loan isn’t tantamount to indentured servitude and (3) allowing financially independent young people to be evaluated on their own incomes, it is preferable for Olympia to just lower the bar, keep jacking up tuitions and continue to say it believes in higher education?

I’d also like to know how many of our leaders who support these feel good education alternatives would support their children going to a community college for four years.

If it’s just as good, then Harvard and MIT, watch out.

Moving Forward

There is an argument that carries some water, I believe, that Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, is the most powerful man in Washington state.

As speaker of the state House of Representatives and representing a district that includes the formerly cool neighborhood of Fremont, he commands one half of the Legislature and has a fondness for saying, “Moving forward.”

In other words, he’s safe, whereas the Senate has shown more partisan volatility, and the governor’s office is up for a statewide vote every four years.

He’s also a Bremerton lad.

One issue facing the state, and has been facing the state for years, is what to do with the crumbling Alaska Way Viaduct that wraps around the Seattle waterfront like a wool scarf inherited from grandma.

As a state highway, Chopp has a say in the future of the project.

One argument for replacing the viaduct are the spectacular views that every person can see, as long as they can catch a ride.

Some discount this point of view. For one thing, it doesn’t make any money for condo developers. On the other hand, condos would be placed on the tax rolls, which is good considering the city of Seattle wants to move business out of the city and create a bedroom community for Microsoft retirees. That is, businesses that don’t serve rich retirees.

However, not Chopp. He likes the view, and he has his own idea for the viaduct.

And that is the subject of this post, which includes Chopp’s strange vision.

Here is the quote from the post.

“I’ve had a couple long sessions with Chopp, hearing his passionate
commitment to his idea. He recalls growing up in Bremerton, looking out his
bedroom window at the Olympics, and wanting all citizens to have that
inspiring view.”

Comes now, a cartoon from the Sept. 20 Port Orchard Independent, er, I mean, the Bremerton Patriot, criticizing a decision by the Bremerton City Council to allow the police department to start the process of buying a license plate recognition system with $30,000 from the state.

The vote on the first step of authorizing the system’s use in Bremerton – the council will have to take another vote to finalize the deal – was 7-1, with other council members beside the dissenting vote voicing concerns about privacy, i.e., storing the data that accumulates from a digital camera system that can automatically run thousands of license plates a day.

Read the story here.

The cartoon, of course, doesn’t say “Bremerton City Council” or “Bremerton Police Department.” It just says “Bremerton.”

It also doesn’t take into account the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office received the same grant, said spokesman Deputy Scott Wilson.

Wilson also said the sheriff’s office is working with BPD to share storage for the data, for however long they will keep it (TBD) and if the Bremerton council ultimately approves the system.

It also doesn’t take into account Port Orchard applied for the same grant, but was turned down, said Port Orchard Police Chief Al Townsend. Townsend said the system would help recover stolen cars. He also said the city would likely apply again if given the chance.

I know it would alter the symmetry of this cartoon, but I think the next cartoon about this issue should include Abraham Lincoln riding a goat labeled “The Panama Canal” along side a greedy pig, “Bremerton,” wearing a first-place sash that reads “Mid-West Agribusiness,” eating a golden halo called “Port Orchard.”

Here is Mayor Cary Bozeman’s letter to city employees. I received it Thursday.

Message to Employees Regarding 2009 Budget Challenges

Bremerton is facing a series of financial challenges in 2008 and these challenges are projected to continue and worsen in 2009 – and likely some period thereafter.

The City is not alone in this situation. The National League of Cities recently released its annual report on city fiscal conditions and found that this most recent economic downturn is having a much greater negative impact on local governments than the last significant economic downturn in 2001.   The primary difference is that in 2001 property tax revenue and real estate related revenues were able to help buffer the effects of declining sales tax receipts.   Obviously revenue downturns poses a budgetary problem -  but worsening the situation is the substantial inflationary pressure on key expenses  – energy and fuel, paving and building materials, public safety/justice requirements, and employee-related costs for wages, healthcare, and pensions.   It was noted in the National League of Cities report that “Even if economic conditions improved immediately, the nation’s cities are likely to be realizing the effects of this current downturn through 2010”.

Bremerton has worked hard to live within our financial “means” as provided by commerce related taxes, property tax revenues (subject to 1% increase limit) and various permits, service fees and charges.   Our track record of seeking and obtaining grant funding to pay for redevelopment efforts, parks renovation, and needed equipment for law enforcement and fire fighting/EMS has been exceptional.   Our efforts to grow our economy through our revitalization program has been combined with several years of  limiting supplies and services expense in the General Fund budget - holding to the prior year amounts as far as possible unless new revenues were specifically provided to cover the new cost.   The cumulative impact of going many years in this manner - means that the inflationary impacts have been building and our budget dollars are already stretched extremely thin.  There are always efficiencies to be gained and we should challenge ourselves to keep seeking them – but it is unlikely that reductions in supplies and services expenditures will yield “the answer” to our current budgetary challenges.

Our City has been enjoying good economic growth over the last several years due in part to our revitalization efforts and due in part to the economy (up until recently) growing at a steady pace.  Care has been taken to keep ongoing expenditures matched to anticipated ongoing revenues.  However, the recently adopted mid-year budget adjustment reflected changing conditions in both revenues and expenditures resulting in a net reduction now expected in the General Funds operating cash reserves – down below our target level by approximately $400,000.   And… unfortunately, the picture shaping up for 2009 continues to reflect this divergence and in fact shows it worsening.  Anticipated revenue growth is considerably less than anticipated expenditure growth due mostly to a serious downtown in the national and regional economy and an almost complete shutdown of the real estate market.  Almost half of our budget comes from sales tax and we don’t believe in this financial market people will be spending as much as they have in the past. We anticipate commerce and retail sales will drop off in the next 24 months.  Without preemptive corrective action – the trend would be for the City to rapidly exhaust its General Fund operating reserves in 2009.   In addition, the Street Fund is also on a track to be in a deficit cash position in 2009 - absent corrective actions being taken.

In order to balance the 2009 budget so that the operating capital is not further deteriorated – either revenues must be increased, expenditures decreased, or a combination thereof – to produce a positive impact of $4.443 million over the preliminary 2009 budget as submitted by staff.   This is the adjustment required in order to keep the cash reserves from further deteriorating and realign ongoing expenditures with ongoing revenues.

I am working with my Department Heads to review all aspects of the budget. Together we will be making recommended changes on both revenues and expenditures in order to adjust course as required by these changing conditions.    Given the significance of the amount of adjustment needed - and the expectation that this downturn will be with us for a while – it will not be possible to achieve that result without impacts on staffing and service levels provided.   There are tough choices to be made and I know this impacts all of us and is cause for concern.   I will keep you updated as the budget process continues and in the meantime, I encourage you to discuss questions and concerns you may have with your Department Head directly.

Mayor Cary Bozeman