gdp's Comments

Hood River News : Former fire chief Pritcher plans to sue Cascade Locks

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:59:46 +0000

Mr. Carson, You have already shown by your own actions and words to be unreliable, unprofessional and a quitter. Your feeble attempt at blackmailing our Council into giving you your undeserved unemployment was obvious and posted on our blog at http://whoscityourcity.blogspot.com/2011/09/now-l... Even this comment shows that while you accuse others of vindictiveness, it is in the mirror you should look. I suggest you stop threatening your past employers and find some other way besides unemployment to pay your way through school. Might I suggest next time, take the Ethics course first.

Hood River News : Letters to the Editor for Sept. 7, 2011

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 21:47:10 +0000

“The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday – but never jam today.” -The White Queen

Hood River News : Letters to the Editor for Sept. 7, 2011

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:41:03 +0000

I see, you published the 7th for the 3rd, not the 3rd for the 3rd. I had thought it was vice versa. My apologies, I was checking the 7th for the correction. Still do not like your assumption that I was accusing you of a conspiracy, there was no need to place the definition in your reply, I already was quite aware of the meaning of the word, thus my protest of the term.

Hood River News : Letters to the Editor for Sept. 7, 2011

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:08:52 +0000

Dear Mr. McCarty, I resent YOUR use of the word conspiracy. You should look up the unpleasant connotations that the use of it implies before you utilize it in order to denigrate my posting. It is now 11:00 Thursday morning, your reply to me indicates it has been 16 hours since you noticed your error. What, precisely, does the word shortly mean to you?

Hood River News : Letters to the Editor for Sept. 7, 2011

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 01:46:13 +0000

Is there some reason the exact same, word-for-word letter from Rob Brostoff is printed in both the September 3rd and 7th edition of your paper? This impolite, unfair and obvious favoritism has got to stop. Your editor has received letters from other residents of Cascade Locks, I being one of them, he requested changes in the wordage and will not print them if he does not approve yet does not notice the duplication?

Hood River News : Letters to the editor for September 3, 2011

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 01:07:15 +0000

Dear Mr. Brostoff, Before you go off just one more time at our elected officials, or waste anymore of town's time in a grave situation that needs it's duly elected officials to make hard decisions and who have already given you and your friends on the recall committee too much time and attention better spent elsewhere. I would like to make just three points about your letter 1)"There were secret meetings held which didn't include some members of the council; where's the rebuttal?" What's the problem? There was never a quorum. A couple of Council members assisted the Mayor in the offices when we had no administrator. 2) The rebuttals were due into the Elections Office before the Town Hall meeting, hard to answer ahead of time, isn't it? and in only 200 characters. 3) Most of what the recall committee and friends, as you are, find awful and offensive are merely a difference of opinion. Most of what you have brought up is just a tempest in YOUR teapot. Created only to allow the previous administration who caused these problems and financial issues back into control.

KVAL - Eugene, OR : Amid political mess, chief, firefighters in Cascade Locks quit | Local & Regional News | KVAL CBS 13

Sun, 4 Sep 2011 16:11:41 +0000

You need to understand that the Fire Dept. gets over 40% of our property tax revenues already. The 'big picture' includes dropping property values and two loans for half a million dollars that were used to buy a new fire engine and build the fire station. We cannot afford to have a Fire Chief who gets paid $140,000 (includes comp time) like he was.

KVAL - Eugene, OR : Amid political mess, chief, firefighters in Cascade Locks quit | Local & Regional News | KVAL CBS 13

Sun, 4 Sep 2011 16:05:03 +0000

Neither our Mayor or City Councillors are paid. They are volunteers.

Hood River News : Cascade Locks officials submit rebuttals to recall petitions

Sat, 3 Sep 2011 03:15:41 +0000

Hey, Jack...off. Once again you are picking certain things out to mention and not others. The reason we don't know what the final costs are is because we have still not settled who is responsible for problems or maintenance on the systems. Ex-Chief Pricher left our town, Cascade Locks, responsible for any issues, did not put into writing which, if any other agencies, other than Cascade Locks were going to be responsible for those. There was no reduction in funding. There were 'magic' not-yet-billed or not-yet-received funds that were predicated within the budget that just don't exist, just like the Chief's salary which was neither magic or planned for. The Budget Committee was hit with major amounts of comp time outta nowhere to them and attempted to deal with them. Chief's salary was safe for 9 months. He cut and ran.

Hood River News : Cascade Locks officials submit rebuttals to recall petitions

Fri, 2 Sep 2011 16:55:47 +0000

HRNews: "Blakley also accused Masters of "manipulative and obstructive behavior" and an "increasingly hostile and arrogantly argumentative attitude." I feel it necessary to point out that every sentence of Mr. Masters rebuttal contains I or me. Every other Council member addresses the issue that most concerns me, the budget.

KATU - Portland, OR : Amid political mess, chief, firefighters in Cascade Locks quit | Local & Regional | KATU.com - Portl

Thu, 1 Sep 2011 04:35:09 +0000

You don't know, Jack

KATU - Portland, OR : Amid political mess, chief, firefighters in Cascade Locks quit | Local & Regional | KATU.com - Portl

Thu, 1 Sep 2011 02:44:22 +0000

This in an ongoing collusion of several people, including past council members, past mayors, past city administrators. Your best bet on getting all sides to this story is to go to our local blog, http://whoscityourcity.blogspot.com/ and watch the videos and read the commentary. The ones who screwed up are the ones running the current recall in an attempt to put themselves back into power. And I believe you meant to use the clique, and you would be correct in that assumption.

KATU - Portland, OR : Amid political mess, chief, firefighters in Cascade Locks quit | Local & Regional | KATU.com - Portl

Thu, 1 Sep 2011 02:40:29 +0000

i am sorry that you have the impression that he was the only one. I was just answering the immediate issue. Of course there are more people responsible. This in an ongoing collusion of several people, including past council members, past mayors, past city administrators. Your best bet on getting all sides to this story is to go to our local blog, http://whoscityourcity.blogspot.com/ and watch the videos and read the commentary. The ones who screwed up are the ones running the current recall in an attempt to put themselves back into power.

Hood River News : Cascade Locks Fire conundrum continues as volunteers call for chief\'s removal

Thu, 1 Sep 2011 01:56:50 +0000

Also please see the new current edition for yet a third story regarding the correction to this issue. THANK YOU TO KIRBY FOR PRINTING THAT.

KATU - Portland, OR : Amid political mess, chief, firefighters in Cascade Locks quit | Local & Regional | KATU.com - Portl

Thu, 1 Sep 2011 01:50:29 +0000

You're assuming that I never have. You would be wrong. I have already made two emergency trips to Hood River in the past 5 years. You know, some of us actually grew up in areas where help didn't come when you picked up your cell phone. Some of us have learned first aid and used it in situations where there was no one else to respond, or when we were cut off from help. Some people actually are able to take responsibility for their well-being. You've never been told by a smug volunteer that if you don't vote for the fire district, help could be deliberately slow to your residence as has happened here.

KATU - Portland, OR : Amid political mess, chief, firefighters in Cascade Locks quit | Local & Regional | KATU.com - Portl

Thu, 1 Sep 2011 01:07:16 +0000

I am sorry to once again contradict you, but if you do your research you will find a great many of us will, in an emergency, choose to do without the assistance of those very volunteers precisely because of past childish even threatening behavior by too many of them. I am pleased you think that fixing the books are overstated, but other people - who LIVE here - do not. I would also ask you why you think the City Council has not acted on this. The budget Committee did act on this issue. Many, honestly most of us would welcome as audit of the fire/EMS services account. You also need to realize that everyone in this town who is on the Council or a Committee is a volunteer - that includes the Mayor and Councillors, the Planning Commission and the Budget, Tourism and Park and Rec Committees.

KATU - Portland, OR : Amid political mess, chief, firefighters in Cascade Locks quit | Local & Regional | KATU.com - Portl

Thu, 1 Sep 2011 00:53:04 +0000

Yep, it figures, personal stake in this, no reliable source of all information. Go to the threats next, you sound just like half the town right now. No, your legal action will eventually end up going to the State Fire Defense Board Chiefs, not to Cascade Locks. We are not responsible for volunteers who are on strike as we have not changed the structure of the Department. You can blame the past Fire Chief for making a the volunteer force a cult of personality not one of service and duty.

KATU - Portland, OR : Amid political mess, chief, firefighters in Cascade Locks quit | Local & Regional | KATU.com - Portl

Thu, 1 Sep 2011 00:48:12 +0000

With an name like that, you must live here. If you think recalling the Council is going to magically produce more money, I would like to hear where is is coming from...

KATU - Portland, OR : Amid political mess, chief, firefighters in Cascade Locks quit | Local & Regional | KATU.com - Portl

Thu, 1 Sep 2011 00:46:57 +0000

I live here and I would blame all of them. The chief built a department based on personal loyalty not one based on service and duty. The new Chief offered to step into the breach when Hood River County represented by Jim Trammel were ready to withdraw any mutual aid. Bless the Washington side of the Gorge, they are still coming here if we call after we were kicked to the curb by the Oregon organization.

KATU - Portland, OR : Amid political mess, chief, firefighters in Cascade Locks quit | Local & Regional | KATU.com - Portl

Thu, 1 Sep 2011 00:43:44 +0000

The Fire Chief himself. He started 4 years ago as Chief, prior to that he was a paramedic. He applied for grants and indebted the town without permission for our ruling body. He mismanaged a FEMA grant and built a fire station with an unnecessary fire tower, an unneeded second story and room to park twice as many vehicles as we own. All this for a town of about 1100 people.