this one, falls under the tarp the load agreement.

Dear Broke Again,
You may want to acquire a copy of the agreement that you are referencing. Then take a picture or two of the untarped trucks going past a recognizable county landmark. (Try for the best downward angle possible). Then submit a copy to your insurer, the county's insurer along with a copy to the Oregon State Insurance Commissioner. See if that approach works. If not you would need to file suit on the county which is a real and expensive hassle and is probably why they are ignoring you and others. Where there are no penalties. There is no real enforcement...The Shoeshine Boy


From Listener  4/2/07
Dear Shoeshine,
A friend of mine who is an employee of the city told me that Brian the City guy who is retiring is a real micromanager and that the only people who survive in the city office are the ones who never question him. He said they (the outside employees) will all be very happy when he retires but that the buddies he has surrounded himself with in the office should go with him or they will sink the city just to help Brian get revenge. What do you know or can you find out more.

Dear Listener,
I think your friend hit it pretty close for what I have heard all these years. Since mayor Kalberg decided to turn it over to Mayor Randy. Brian quickly grabbed all the power because Randy is a known slacker and thinks the Staff should run things for him. I suspect some of the office folks will be sad to see Brian go because he is the devil they know but there will be some very large bar tabs that Friday night from the ones who celebrate being free at last. The real beneficiary will be the regular citizen who may finally get a strait shooter helping to run the city some day. Lets all hope the council doesn't botch it and hire another weatherman...The Shoeshine Boy

From Port Storm 3/31/07
Dear Shoeshine,
Do you know if the Port of St Helens ever released the information that the local newspapers were requesting.? What do you think they are hiding.

Dear Storm,
If you analyze what took place. The Port members put the two top employees out to pasture and started all kinds of rumors about Kiddie Porn on the computers and other things that made it look like there was alot of bad things being done by the two guys. Then after an investigation one was paid in full on administrative leave until he found another job and the other they are still paying to do virtually nothing and it looks like they have to go through his attorney just to talk to him. If the outcome of the investigation was released to the newspapers it would have made the Port members look pretty silly and the public may have recalled them. But by being sneaky and refusing to release the documents the ones who are running for office are protected until they are re-elected.
It appears one chose not to run he is so worried and the others should be recalled not re-elected for damaging the lives of the two employees and all the unnecessary expense to the taxpayers as it was not cheap to hire all those high priced attorney firms to come in and resolve the problems the Board started and in one case have never solved...But the information you are talking about could only be suppressed if three of the five agree to supress it. Thus at least two more are guilty of hiding the truth from the public....I would think the voters will flush two more out of office very soon......The Shoeshine Boy

From Good Sense 3/25/07
With the impending threat of county employees losing their jobs, because of the shortfall in the budget, why don't the county stop giving the fair money, and redirect those funds to keep someone's job?

Dear Good Sense,
First, the County Fair is a celebration steeped in tradition. A good number of people throughout the County have either grown up attending or participating at the Fair or are now parents or grandparents doing the same. It crosses a broad spectrum of personality types and skill sets. From photography to Pig raising. From cooking the fundamentals to eating the downright greasy and sugar laden. So that by itself gives the Fair a regular level of support and political clout. Beyond that locally the Fair supporters, Fair Board and Employees have played year around favoritism to those who support them. The Commissioners, current and Past have been either benefited from this or been plagued by the same. You can usually see and hear local political figures given distinct advantage in their placement and introduction at the Fair. This ranges from State Officials to local business leaders. No doubt the Fair is not about Fair play. So come budget time there are always those in office who must take care of the fair despite the falling interest by the public itself. I would suspect that 50% of the gate for the fair and income from it's existence are paid by the participants and relatives. It makes less sense each year but getting in the way will assure you a political headache at least for the foreseeable future,,,,,,,,The Shoeshine Boy

From Davis Bacon 3/20/07
Dear Shoeshine Boy;
I have heard that our illustrious city planner and Tony" NO DAVIS
BACON" Hyde are in cahoots with a new industry coming to the old
hazardous waste site "Bergsoe" to locate another low paying family