Time Out

It has become obvious that many members of our community failed community relations 101. At this time, even though these messages needed to be aired, it is time to quit. Both, if in fact there are just two sides, have had adequate opportunities to state their positions. Unfortunately, some, smug in the knowledge that their position is the only one that counts, have gone beyond polite debate to throwing rocks at each other. The sad part is that when adults become children, nothing good can come of that kind of behavior. That we have extremists in our community is obvious. The correct way to remedy that though, is to replace them with thoughtful people that are not ego oriented.

Let's head into Bayview Daze with a little positive attitude. If further debate is necessary, we need to put it aside while our community celebrates not only yet another year's Independence Day, but also our very own centennial.

There will be no more comments accepted on the editorial by ski. It has gone far enough, in fact too far. If anything positive has come out of this debate, it is that many feel the DAC has gone too far and has to be reined in. Either that, or as it started out, become a free standing organization without dragging the Chamber down with it.

Guest Editorial By Ski

Regarding Herb's blog post of June 8, I feel some comments are in order. The "Chamber" by the admission of previous officers and in fact found in their by-laws, is a community activities group, not a business oriented group. To that end they have done a marvelous job with Bayview Daze and the fireworks. I might point out the "Chamber of commerce' name was chosen with the blessing of the national organization- So there would be "prestige" behind the name in dealing with whomever needed dealing with, not that it was business oriented.

I find it ironic and hypocritical that Chan is continually kicked in the teeth by the chamber, through it's agent, the DAC. The chamber for years has used Chan's property and road between JD's and the Bay Cafe with nary an offer of recompense for the use. The chamber then sells space to out of towners for $40, this being a big fund raiser for them. The chamber then uses some of that revenue to finance the DAC activities, some of which is used for kicking Chan in the teeth. Therefor the irony. The last DAC harassment was when Chan was cleaning up around the Bay Cafe and sculpting the terrain. Lo and behold the Lakes Highway District was called by the DAC because of some supposed infraction, and the chamber wonders why they might not be able to use Chan's property for Bayview Daze!

An additional irony is that the businesses are assessed $40 for membership-The citizens only $10- and have no representation by the chamber. This leads me to Kathi's comment regards to businesses not supporting the chamber. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that considering the aforementioned position of the chamber, paying $40 for membership is a bad business decision. Lastly, I agree with Herb that businesses should form their own group, perhaps called the BBA; Bayview Business Alliance. Key word "Alliance."

Bayview History

The third part of a four part history of Bayview, published by the Spokesman-Review will appear June 27, Sunday. This segment will cover the war years, 1941-1945. The establishment of Farragut Training Base, the interaction between the base and the cutting in half of the town as eminent domain was applied. The other side of the coin, is that Bayview residents of the time were deeply mired in the Great Depression until jobs came along with the construction of the Base. Check it out next Sunday.

Don't forget Bayview Daze is just around the corner, as is Summer. ... At least that is what the weather guessers promise. July 3-4-5 will be the event with Saturday, July 3 with the most activities. The parade, show & shine, street fair and fireworks will all be Saturday.

Breaking News RE: The Captain's Wheel

Everyone in Bayview wonders what is happening with the lawsuit between Carletta Berry and Michael McFarland et al. That there are rumours, mostly false that have floated about the area, mostly started by advocates of one or the other camps, a final judgement has been rendered by Judge Hosack. The restaurant, closed down since January of this year, was slammed by a what some called a biased verdict. Apparently the judge felt the same.

The original judgement by the jury has been set aside. Essentially we are back to square one meaning whether the two majority owners can get real and agree on a sale price, since neither has the ability to financially start the restaurant back up. The alternative is that while stuck in limbo, the bank forecloses and nobody wins. Also a new trial could be ordered, a solution that wouldn't benefit either party.

As a former mortgage professional, and one that actually did a loan on the wheel back in 1996, I can without reservation state that the reputed value of this facility is no more than $700,000 and possibly less in this economy. Any rumoured commercial appraisal to the contrary, no MAI appraisal has been done on this restaurant since I did the original SBA loan.

Another option is for one of the principle stockholders to buy out the other. Unfortunately neither has that financial ability. Neither, in my opinion has either the business acumen and/or restaurant management ability to run the place, ergo, a sale.

For those that think the whole building is under a red tag cloud, there are only two such red tags. One over the dance floor not being raised 18 inches above the current level so as to protect the dance floor against a flood that would have already obliterated the kitchen, bar and all of the other high value portions of the business, which while a bureaucratic logic might prevail, when I asked the enforcement arm of Kootenai County what it would take to cure these ills, He replied, "we could probably work out these issues." The other is the large tall sign in front of which a permit was never asked for nor issued. There again, an after the fact permit could and probably would be issued.

Wing-Nuts

There are two issues in regards to Phil Hart. One is political philosophy, the other integrity. I have been a conservative, that has moved toward the middle in the last few years. (The mellowing with age thing) I remember my time working with Ronald Reagan and his family back in the mid-sixties. He was never about turning hard right forsaking those that were somewhere between Dems and republicans. Some even crossed the line (if there is one) each direction. In Ronnie's case, no way would he have respected a scofflaw on the basis of philosophy. He was an Honorable man and expected his people to be, likewise. He established the 11Th commandment for a reason. Up until his time the Republican party self destructed every election year due to shooting themselves in the foot. We are back to that in both parties.

In the last 30 years, I have seen the left move further to the left and the right likewise. Our political parties are ignoring the center like they don't matter. In my opinion that is why so many people have dropped out and don't vote. They know that the extremists control their parties in the primaries, giving no where to go for thoughtful people that don't do knee-jerk.

I charge the Democrats with the same sins as the Republicans. Philosophical purity will win primaries, but not general elections. Patting yourself on the back because you stayed true to your personal convictions is all fine and good, but at the end of the day the incumbent Republican is still in office.

I truly believe a Democrat could win in Kootenai county. One he or she would have to be widely respected as a person. Two following Minnick's example of hewing to conservative principles helps. The reward at the end of the rainbow is getting rid of “wing-nuts” of both persuasions.

My Purpose In Blogging

I think that I need to point out some things that actually should be obvious. One, the purpose of this blog is primarily to impart neighborhood news and also editorializing. This is where some get stuck, thinking that I use poor journalistic standards. When and if you desire to read my blog, and I point out that it is optional, you need to know first, that it is called Bayviews, not Athols or any other surrounding community's.

That doesn't mean that I don't write about those areas, it just isn't my main focus. As far as grandstanding, that is a pretty subjective term and can mean many different things to many different people. I posted the previous anonymous from an Athol resident just to show you some of what I put up with. Folks you can disagree with me all you want as long as you don't make it a personal attack. In other words, don't attack the messenger, but opine about the content of the message. For some reason some of those that are on the other side of an issue from me seem to first want to throw in a snide remark or a put down. (Note: None of those people seem to want me to know who they are.)

From this point onward, no snarky retorts will be published. Debate is fine but I want to know who you are and so do many other readers. It is quite easy to disagree without being disagreeable. Try it sometime. Please remember that anyone can start a blog it isn't hard at all. Start your own if you want to be a flamethrower. Your thoughts aren't welcome here. Those of you that just can't stand me or my thoughts can just stay away.

Timberlake Fire Public Meeting

Tuesday @ 6:00 pm at the Athol community Center will mark perhaps the last opportunity for local citizens to make an input to the radical changes proposed by the fire commissioners. Everyone that can attend to ask questions or make statements should make this a must meeting. A ground swell of concern over the precipitous termination of the chief and the proposed merger of management with Northern Lakes Fire District.

This is not a good time to stick one's head into the sand, as there will be far reaching effects of these moves. With Commissioner Weise's resignation and the pending resignation of Kirk Quillin, Little Blacktail holding around 30 or so citizens may end up with representation and leaving Bayview without it's own commissioner.

This would probably result in a total breakup of the Timberlake experiment, bringing Bayview back to a local all volunteer department, which we had up until about eight years ago. These issues are way too important to stay quiet about regardless of which side you take.

I will be in Spokane and can't get back until aroiund 8:30. I would appreciate some feedback from those who attend.

Fire Protection

Sometimes one feels like the community is jumping from the proverbial frying pan into the fire. This may in fact be one of those times. That controversy abounds in the Timberlake Fire District what with one commissioner resigning and another scheduled to depart prior to his term expiring.

On the one hand we have some commissioners that tend toward the libertarian no taxes mantra, and others that can't see a two thirds majority voting for what would according to some studies, mean a doubling of taxation for the present level of fire protection.

Since it's inception. the department has been riddled with dissention. Several years ago, Chief Graber rented himself out to the forest service, since he was a qualified fire boss. That created a gap in supervision during summer months when fire danger is at it's worst. Then a scandal erupted claiming some firefighters used department computers to access porn. Then a volunteer, hearing the call after having a few drinks,jumped into an EMT unit and raced to the scene of an accident. Unfortunately, he was more of the problem than the solution.

It may well be that we have outgrown the local fire district issue and will gravitate toward a county wide fire district. This will play out as our area grows and experiences growing pains.

*New information reveals that a fire commissioner, Weise, has resigned and a part time consultant also is gone.

Timberlake fire District-More Info

I met this morning for a lengthy session with Kirk Quillin, Fire commissioner from Bayview. He brought with him a copy of the comprehensive budget with a five year spread. Quillin said,"This was not a firing in the sense of a prejudicial termination. It was strictly a money issue. We could either afford to pay the chief or keep up maintenance on our equipment but not both."

He went on to say,"Seven years ago we had a chief and two paid full time firefighters/EMTs. We currently have a chief and six full time firefighters. We tried to become something we just haven't the capability to do financially. Essentially, we're broke. Contrary to the many rumors floating around, we did not fire the chief for cause."
"We would cheerfully recommend him to perhaps a larger fire district with a better financial situation."

Currently, the district is in negotiations with Northern Lakes Fire District for the purpose of providing training and day-to-day administration. Stay tuned.

We have not been able to contact Chief Krill. We do know that he is by far the majority of the district, respected for his knowledge and diligence. He was burning out working in excess of 70 hours per week. The district was faced with hiring a deputy chief,for which their was no money available. I want to wish Jack Krill every sucess in his future endeavors.

Timberlake Terminates Fire Chief

Citing budget woes, the commissioners for the district voted to negotiate a management contract with Northern Lakes Fire District. Kirk Quillan, the commissioner representing Bayview explained that the move is strictly budget driven and not about performance.

With the polarization of the last year, this is going to be difficult for many to swallow. With management shifting to Hayden, local supervision will not be quite the same. The alternative was to go for a permanent levy that the community can't afford. Quillan further said that,"we went from a chief on salary and two firefighters to a personnel cost that the community can't afford."

I'll be meeting with Commissioner Quillan tomorrow and will have more on this subject. I will also attempt to get fired chief Krill's side of the story.

"Chamber members voted tonight to allow the sausage guy to sell at this
year's Bayview Daze.
The vote was for this year only. Next year will go to a vote again.
The vote was very close, 13 to 12." e-mail from Cheryl Puckett:

This, the final bullet in the heart of the Chamber of commerce mission, will come back to haunt many in our divisive little enclave. We have degenerated into a place where the cliques and "I love me" groups are just barely outnumbered by the 25 chamber members of which only one or two actually own businesses. The rest couldn't give a rat's ass about local cafes and restaurants. We have a number of people that apparently boycott businesses whereby the buildings or the business themselves represent an apparent racial prejudice against Chan Karupiah. These people have to come to the conclusion that old Bayview is no longer the reality.

None of us know where this will end or how, but at the very least, we ought to protect our own businesses which are struggling to survive in this terrible recession. To Oppose the very heart of Bayview, with businesses closing and/or suffering is at the very least stupid. For me, I cancel my membership in this dysfunctional group.

Currently, the Buttonhook is operating at a loss, hoping that the summer people will turn this around. Bayview Daze is one of those ways they can.I suspect that the other small businesses are facing the same dilemma. When you look for a place to eat out, remember this attitude and stuff it. Am I pissed? You betcha. Several of my friends have money invested in food service. Your organization which purports to support local business is a damn lie.

What I suggest, since this group has proven it's incapability is that the businesses in Bayview form their own association, perhaps calling it the Bayview Business association. It is crystal clear that the Bayview Chamber of commerce hasn't supported business for a very long time, that we stop giving lip service to an organization that is more anti-development than pro business. If you have figured out that this s a divorce, you are very sharp.

I will continue to publicize all community events that come to my attention, as long as someone e-mails the details to me.

Almost 30 years ago, Liz Justus and then Lorraine Landwehr started Bayview Daze. Along with Jim Campbell and a few others they created what we have now and what is being destroyed by people that have an interesting if mysterious agenda.

June Bayview Events

Several events of interest will be available this month starting with Friday June 18 Farragut State Park is holding open house at the Brig Museum. Parking will be free. Hours are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Bayview's Navy Acoustic Research Detachment will also hold an open house on this date. The Navy will be open from 1:00 pm to 4:pm. Here is the Navy's press release:

BAYVIEW, ID – In celebration of the Bayview Community’s Centennial, the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division’s Acoustic Research Detachment is hosting an Open House June 18 from 1 to 4 p.m.

The NSWCCD Acoustic Research Detachment will be opening its gates to the public. During this event, several of the ARD’s test facilities and models will be on display. The public will be given the opportunity to see many of the unique submarine and surface ship models used in conducting critical acoustic research for the Navy. There will also be an opportunity to interact with the engineers and scientists who conduct this research.

Parking on the base will be limited to handicapped and parking by invitation only. All public visitors will be required to enter through the front gate. The following items are prohibited on base:

· Cameras (to include cell phones with photo capabilities)

· Audio-visual equipment (video cameras, tape recorders, laptops, etc.)

· Weapons (firearms, knives, etc.)

· Alcoholic beverages

Saturday, June 19 will feature an Ice cream Social with music hosted by Dave & Patty Bennett and Kathy Clark from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the Bayview Community Center.

Lest you forget, Bayview Daze is coming up on the 4th of July weekend with fireworks Saturday July 3 after dark.