Port of South Whidbey, Commissioner, position 3
Upfront, my apologies for the exceedingly long response from one of the two candidates. I made the mistake of setting no limit on length. I have not read the entire statement. Your choice if you do.
1. Why are you running for this particular position?
I'm an incumbent with unfinished business for the Port.
2. What do you hope to accomplish in this position? If an incumbent, what have you accomplished?
Try to retain a socio/economic balance for the benefit of the citizens of our district.
Since I was elected we've expanded the marina in Langley, saved and acquired the Fairgrounds, rebuilt the Possession boat launch, helped with ADA access at Clinton Beach and lured the Clipper to Langley, among other things.
3. What problems do you see that you expect to correct or alleviate?
It's hard to find grant funding for projects and renovations.
4. What relevant experience do you have?
Small business owner and affordable housing landlord.
20 years as a local park commissioner.
Finishing 10th year as Port commissioner.
5. What will be your operating philosophy in office?
Run a tight ship.
6. What message would you like to convey to voters?
The Port of South Whidbey will strive to promote economic development in a way that meets the ideals of our constituents. An example is our collaboration with the Tulalip Tribes to create overnight parking in Mukilteo so visitors can come to Whidbey and not clog the highways and ferry.
Ed Jenkins edjenkins@msn.com
- 1. Why are you running for this particular position?
Few people realize that the Port in many ways has more power than any other elected office. It has the unique ability to levy against your property taxes up to a statutory amount of $.45 per thousand with NO vote or oversight! The Port can also in certain circumstances create new levies beyond the $.45 limit, with no vote from the public. The Port can continue to borrow money for any project no matter how harebrained or ill thought out. Why? Because it is backed by taxing power and the full faith and credit of your pocket book! Bond holders do not have to worry about repayment. The Port just raises taxes to cover its poor choices. As it stands now it is a stacked deck ruled by Curt Gordon and two unelected appointees that follow his lead. Since Whidbey does not have an actual cargo port it’s only real purpose is fostering economic growth and offering recreational facilities tied to fishing or water sports. Now this is both good news but often times bad news.
Since I moved to Whidbey 15 years ago I quickly realized that island culture often times was clashing with solid business practices. I also found that many businesses were created by people hoping to earn enough to afford to live here. In and of itself a great dream but I also saw a huge rate of business failures. Most of these closures were due to lack of sound business knowledge. Many times over the years I tried to work with forward thinking business people to give hands on advice. Sadly I usually ran into the old boys and girls that sat in power and did everything they could to discredit me. It seems they were only interested in deciding who was bringing refreshments for the next meeting.
As I looked into what a Port Commissioner does and the power to get things done I realized that much could be done economically for Whidbey. To no surprise my continuing opponent was Curt Gordon. Now Curt is a very nice guy and fun to talk to but he has shown he either does not have a basic understanding of sound business practices or worse yet just does not follow them. The fact is that Curt has lived here most of his life and is a deeply entrenched good old boy. I expected more from Curt and the Port but year after year it was more of the same old poorly thought out expenditures. I hope to be given the opportunity to bring my almost thirty years of starting and running my businesses and promotional abilities to create some meaningful economic opportunities. That means good jobs for Whidbey.
- 2. What do you hope to accomplish in this position?
The first word that hits my mind is accountability. The second word is honesty and financial transparency and the last word is expertise. Those three things seem like a stinging accusation as to how the Port is being run and it is. Let me take each one and explain.
Accountability is a big one and let me give a few examples. For years the Port has been giving grants to just about anyone who asked. Now according to Washington law these grants are supposed to be to further economic growth, great goal. Sadly as I watched this process over the years the groups asking gave no outline as to how the money was to be used and absolutely no way to know if it would bring new jobs or bring tourists to Whidbey. I started objecting to this system that seemed simply a means to benefit the good old establishments here on Whidbey. At a lunch with Curt some years back he stated that my ideas that an application must contain precise information as to how that grant would bring jobs and tourists to our island. Sounded great I thought. Well come the next grant time and only one group had actually followed the criteria? The rest simply had no idea how to target advertise and gather statistical data on attendees. Well why let a little thing as not following the grant guidelines stand in the way of handing out our tax dollars. This went on year after year and I believe it does to today. Another boondoggle of wasting tax dollars is the Langley sign near Kens Corner. In 2009 I had a much larger sign that could actually be read at speed by passing cars. There were directions to Langley in letters big enough to read at speed and a place to advertise Langley events. I had approval from wsdot, Senator Haugen and Price Johnson. I had it all paid for by donations of materials and labor. As usual the Langley cabal were furious that I got it done in three weeks and they had been “discussing it” for nine years so it got shut down. Many years later they got the Port to pay for what you see now. A sign that is too small to read at speed, the directions to Langley are way too small to read standing still but the best part is that the metal mess at the top in sun shine (when visitors drive by) cast shadows so that the sign can not be seen? The Port paid every cent as there were NO donations of time or materials from Langley? When I talked to Curt about it he agreed with me but he never tried to get any Port funds back. Also there has not been any maintenance and the paint is dirty and pealing? Doesn’t Langley take any pride about the town? Is a dirty sign how Langley wants visitors to perceive the town? Again where was any Port oversight as to how tax money would be spent and how effective it would be let alone how it has deteriorated. Surely Curt or any of the Port commissioners must drive by the poor old sign several times a week? If this is How Curt looks after your tax dollars how could anyone want him back for another term?
This years round of grants only listed who was getting funds. Strangely there is no place on the Port web site to view the grant applications and what they hope to accomplish? I would think that the Port would have a page to share how their grants have benefited Whidbey. Oh wait, how could they when there is no data to analyze? Someone should not have to dig and ask for copies of the applications. They should be open to everyone to see how our money is being spent and how effective it was. That is transparency and accountability.
Another part of accountability is writing good contracts for the most bang for our tax buck. After all it is our tax dollars the Port is spending. This history of poorly thought out project contracts goes way, way back but lets start with the Langley Marina expansion. There were numerous cost overruns, all predictable. Being charitable lets just say this is due to inexperience with contracts of this size. But is still our tax dollars that pay for this lack of knowledge. In all my years in business I can honestly say that I never had a cost overrun I had to pay.
There are so many accountability issues it is hard to pick out only a few. Curt is only too eager to spend your tax dollars to curry favor. This one really jumped out at me. Years back the Clinton chamber was hell bent on making Clinton a tourist stop? In order to placate them he spent I believe $30,000 for a “possible Clinton village vitalization concept”. Now I am trying not to laugh as I write this but I attended a meeting with island county road people, a guy from Washington DOT and several other Clinton people. Oh yes someone with Beckwith who created the study. I wish I could show you the map with their concept here. You would laugh as hard as I did – until I realized they were seriours. I can guarantee you that someone with Beckwith never actually came her to draw this $30,000 boondoggle. Ok, try to follow this. They drew a traffic circle at 525 and Humphrey Rd. Then they were trying to get traffic flow by drawing a road from Wilson Place to Frost to connect to Bob Galbreath, oh wait. Frost dead ends at a cliff? Then they have another traffic circle at Bob Galbreath and across the circle is a new road that cuts through private property, a county facility and through Dan Porter Park? And on it goes and as Letterman said, you can’t make this up folks. Now I think Curt was getting a little embarrassed at this point, the people from island roads were trying not to laugh, the person from Beckwith was sliding under the table and the guy from wsdot said it would cost over ten million but it would never get done or funded. The Clinton people were trying to figure out how this might slow people down to shop in Clinton and I had the nerve to ask where they would do the tourist thing? Clinton is a simple little community with a few essentials that struggle. I live here and no one can tell me what tourists would stop for other than gas and fast food? And the boondoggles keep coming. If you email me I will send you a copy of this equivalent of the $50,000 air force toilet seat. It is good for a great laugh which is better than crying over our wasted tax dollars. Over the years I seem to keep reading about these financial fiascoes. Sadly I keep seeing Curts name attached to them. Easy for the Port to shrug it off as it is not their tax dollars.
The second word is honesty and financial transparency. To sum it up lets look at the Langley Marina. Let me say up front I am not opposed to the marina. I just believe that 12,000 tax payers should not pay to benefit a few in Langley. I have been shouting for the Port to show how the Marina will ever break even, let alone bring new jobs. Curt will say look at the budget the Marina breaks even. I will stop short of saying that is an outright lie and settle for misleading, cooking the books or misinformation in the grandest federal budget way. The Port puts the harbor income as one heading and the income from slips etc as another heading and guess what they are about the same, the marina seems to break even. HERE IS THE DECEIT. THERE IS ANOTHER HEADING WHERE THE $50,000 BOND PAYMENT IS LISTED! YOU WOULD HAVE TO KNOW WHERE TO LOOK TO MAKE THE CONNECTION! So the bottom line is the marina looses at least $50,000 each year! Curt will jump up and shout that the marina brings business to Langley and creates jobs. Ok Curt show me the data? Well there is no data and yes a few places to eat might get some extra business but show me how many new jobs it brings. Lets get real here how many businesses are there in Langley that are not art related? How many boaters do you see carting a table, a rug or a painting to their boat? I like the marina but if there is any benefit it is strictly to Langley! So why are 12,000 South Whidbey tax payers paying to benefit less than a hundred Langley business owners? Now this week it is reported that the Port is looking at another marina expansion? There is no indication that the expansion will be anything other than a huge hand in your wallet. If Langley wants to expand the marina let them foot the majority of the huge bill with the Port only playing a minor roll.
Now the fairgrounds. My fears are that the fairgrounds will be much the same as the marina except for a quantum leap of taxpayers dollars consumed. Sadly those fears are becoming a reality. There was a pretty good study done about the options to expand the fairgrounds into a multi use facility and it seemed like a good project. There were three options offered. The third option got everything done quickly which gave the quickest break-even point and hopefully profits. Yes it was more expensive but the return to taxpayers would come quicker and it actually had the ability to benefit South Whidbey in terms of jobs and income. Of course the Port only put the cheapest option out to the voters and the project is now suffering. Here is what I can not understand and can get no answers from Curt. In order to make the fairgrounds into a desirable event center THERE MUST BE PARKING! Does anyone in their right mind think people dressed nicely for say a wedding will park on the street and slog through rain and mud to get to the event? The third option not offered included buying land for parking. It was just reported this week that some of the improvements being done to the fairground do not follow code? Would you not think that before moving forward with any projects one would not coordinate with city entities? Not this Port and certainly not under the leadership of Curt Gordon. All the Port has done is pass the financial responsibility from the County to US! Makes you wonder what the quid pro quo is from Price Johnson? Oh yes, the study also stressed that a comprehensive business plan be drawn up. By now I think you know the answer. No business plan, no plans for a business plan but plenty of poorly thought out tax dollars waving good by to you.
The last word is expertise. All the crazy, dumfounding and outright misrepresentation I have shown above and trust me this is just the tip of the iceberg is essentially about expertise and oversight or lack there of. I bring plenty of experience, am happily not part of the good old boy network. I promise you that I would allow none of these silly, stupid and outrageous situations that are obligating you for many years to come.
I would bring an approach to the Port that gets it running like a business, which it is but is not run like one. The Port has a legal mandate and I will follow that mandate carefully. I would never sit around and see so much tax payer money go down the drain. I know how and will get you good value for your taxpayer dollars. I will clean out the dead wood. Either Curt ignores his staff advice or he is getting bad advice from staff. I will not put up with either. Two of the Port positions were appointed, not elected, appointed, not elected! The last one was a shocker. Why was Jack Ng appointed when there were several other people very familiar with the port businesses and much better qualified. Here is a man who has a successful restaurant business but stated that he had no port experience. Here is a quote from the Record Friday, February 13, 2015, He noted ( Ng )that he is “still learning what the port actually does”. What the heck is going on? Still learning what the Port actually does? I hate to believe the worst that Curt thought he would be a puppet vote and at best there is a huge conflict of interest. The Port rents his offices and Ng supplies the food most every meeting. Something is rotten here. Curt Gordon is the only elected commissioner. Curt has stacked the deck it appears to make sure his agenda is not challenged. If either of the two much better qualified applicants were chosen there would have been internal oversight. Now there is none and someone with no track record of making good decisions rules the roost.
- 3. What problems do you see that you expect to correct or alleviate?
Just read the above issues as there are plenty of problems. I will have my work cut out for me as the good old boy way of doing business is rampant here. There are so many things that the Port does that to me do not pass the smell test. Here is a quote from the Record about Jack Ng being elected. “Although the commissioners then voted on the appointment, their comments strongly indicated they’d already reached a consensus behind closed doors, which is a violation of the Open Public Meetings Act”. I will follow the law and will never appropriate any taxpayer dollars without a thorough vetting. Part of a thorough vetting of any expenditures of taxpayers money is to see if it is financially feasible to be financially neutral. I am not sure if Curt understands or has ever used a business plan. No bank would ever lend money to a business without one. Certainly the Port under Curt has NEVER had a business plan for any enterprise the Port spends your money on. Now this is not to say that there are some projects that will never be moneymakers. Items like boat ramps and fishing are part of the Ports legal mandate to operate. Items like the marina that only benefits a very privileged few in my book should be shouldered by Langley with the Port only providing support.
- 4. What relevant experience do you have?
I have had a wealth of experience covering all sizes and types. Starting with a clothing store chain, converting mini trucks into 4 wheel drive, designing race car parts, retro fit turbo systems, electronic digital instrumentation, import and export, BMW/Mercedes shops and many more smaller businesses in between larger operations. I did all my advertising and was nominated for a Clio advertising Award (did not win but nice to be considered). I learned how to get trade magazines to give free publicity. When I had the BMW/Mercedes shops I was among the first to gather information from customers and target advertise specifically to that customer. I was always very organized and each first shop of a new business I quantified every aspect and position to a manual. This allowed me to expand quickly. As I alluded to above I was responsible for many contracts big and small. I know how to keep my exposure to a minimum. I have written many business plans and Performa financial projections. I know how to protect my money and I will do the same for your tax dollars.
- 5. What will be your operating philosophy in office?
I understand I am an acquired taste. I am often direct and to the point. I know this is often off putting. Understand you are not electing a best friend or someone to go fish with or I hope you are not. I would think that you would elect someone who will run things efficiently and like a business. I will work hard to see your money gets the best bang for each tax dollar. I will make sure there are no surprises with any project down the line. I will be open to any taxpayers who have questions and if I can not give you the reason I am doing something then perhaps I should revisit it. You will get honesty and transparency. You will get to see a complete examination of Port personnel. If it was an employees fault for some of the boondoggles they will be replaced. If it was Curt then I hope you will give him his walking papers. One thing I would press for would be a small ad in the Record monthly where what went right and what went wrong is spelled out in simple language. It should be easy for you to know where things stand.
- 6. What message would you like to convey to voters?
I hope I have covered any questions on how I would operate if elected. Unfortunately in small communities people are elected based on like ability, connections, and friends. I have often wondered how people like Curt can get so much campaign support for an unpaid position. I am looking forward to see who Curt’s donors are in his PDC fillings. I will not raise a dime and will not be obligated to anyone. Deny all you want but money precedes favors. Will that work in your best interest? My spiel is very simple. I am 75 years old and have been through a lot of ups and downs. Most good but some hard times. All this gives me the ability to know what it takes to do a good job is and what stinks like high heaven. If elected you will have no issues standing down wind of me. Thanks for reading this.
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Ok, you can blame me on this one. I told candidates that they could take as much or as little room as they liked. Curt obviously took the short and sweet approach. Ed, on the other hand, has given us an entire diatribe to digest. Imagine sitting in a meeting with this kind of non-stop verbiage.
I have had personal experience with both these men, and while Curt is by no means my all time favorite elected official, Ed carries some baggage I do not ever want to engage again. At the candidates’ night in Langley (again, thank you League of Women Voters) Curt was his usual composed self while Ed was all but boiling over, about to erupt. It was so bad that the headline in the record read “Port candidate lambastes incumbent at forum.” The story reports that all other candidates were ‘agreeable.’ Not Ed. As he points out in his overly long statement (see #5 above) he is “an acquired taste.” Indeed. Having been at the sharp end of his tongue and watched what I considered unethical behavior in the past, he is a taste I have not acquired.
I’ll be voting for Curt Gordon for Port of South Whidbey commissioner.
South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District, commissioner, position #4
Langley realtor
Simply Nails and Spa
Interviewed with SWPR board 7-17-19, as a candidate for appointment to elective office.
Talk about shooting blind. Neither candidate responded. I have been able to find nothing concerning their candidacies, either on line or in the press. I did learn that Jennifer Cox is the incumbent. I also found an agenda for a July SWP&R board meeting at which they interviewed Dawn Tarantino for possible appointment to the board – presumably to fill out a position which became empty. I could not find any history, but come to the conclusion that Ms Cox was appointed and is now running for election to that position.
I am becoming rather unhappy with the South Whidbey Parks & Recreation board for a serious lack of transparency concerning their governance. Their board minutes are so brief they convey no serious information. This will become an issue with the next item – namely, SWP&R asking us for money.
Based on this serious lack of information, and because I will actually have to vote on this position, I am inclined to retain the incumbent, so will be voting for Jennifer Cox.
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