Sherwood Fish Wrapper

Happy Tuesday all,

Summer is finally here (Thank god), and so is the July issue of the Sherwood gazette. Click Here

After reading through 24 pages of fluff and propaganda, I read the crown jewell on the front page concerning the City Council approving the 11.4 million dollar budget. WOW!! If you read further through the article, The Sheriff of Nottingham states "City Manager Jim Patterson said the new budget includes no reductions in staff or city services.

However, Patterson has said a staff reduction could be possible if the city’s revenue and expense projections prove inadequate six months from now". Now I am sure that will not include him giving back the 17k in raise he got this year!

Next paragraph you get this: "Still, the approved budget does allow some leeway for hiring if the proposed red light cameras planned for Highway 99W prove to generate an increased workload for city staff. Patterson said if the statistical data provided by RedFlex Traffic Systems, the company expected to provide the cameras, is correct, additional staff could be hired". SO this reads if we generate enough from someone barely making it through a red light we can hire 2 more folks and pay our judge more for the added tickets! Maybe it would be better to have our Police sit by one of those magical stop signs they used to show in the movies.

the last paragraph breaks down the money we give away, "Meanwhile, groups that will receive grant funding and their respective amounts include: Robin Hood Festival, $16,000 (along with $7,500 in in-kind contributions); Sherwood Senior Citizens Inc., $8,000; Raindrops to Refuge, $7,000; Sherwood Cultural Arts Committee, $5,000; Sherwood Foundation for the Arts, $2,500 (with $5,000 in in-kind contributions); Sherwood Historical Society, $4,500 (which goes to the public works facilities budget for repairing the porch of the Morback house, home of the Sherwood Historical Society; Community Action, $2,000; and Faith in Action, $1,000". There are only 2 that I agree with, 1. Sherwood Senior Citizens Inc., $8,000; and 2. Sherwood Historical Society, $4,500 (which goes to the public works facilities budget for repairing the porch of the Morback house. No Clyde not because of you. Just kidding!

The raindrops for refuge is a PAC, Sherwood Cultural arts is nice but not needed right now, Community Action PAC, and Faith in Action religious group. Sorry that whole church and state thing. pesky little part of the constitution.

Now maybe these aren't big in their own right, but when we need to replace Police cars and hire more teachers we should be more fiscally conscience of what we spend our money on.

more to come Ta Ta

Robin

open letter to the City Council

The following was sent by the writer of the letter. it was sent June 16th and yet no answer from the city. Big surprise there!! Their policy is to ignore any question that does not coincide with their agenda. And they have an agenda. But we will see if this generates any citizens concern. Hmmm Ta Ta

Robin

6/16/2010



Good Morning Council,





I was shocked to hear that there was close to
$40k of staff time to supervise the Senior Center Parking Lot project and
$18k for architectural design from out side consultants.



It was a real EYE opener when Bob Galati
said it was normal for the Staff to add up 40% of the cost of the projects for there time. This certainly is not common in the private sector for
sure!

That is wrong in so many ways. What am I missing? That project is not complex and should not
require so much overhead cost.

Bob said that all projects were charged by the city the same
way. What a complete waste of tax dollars.

It was interesting that Bob could not provide a clear explanation
to Robin Folsom's question as to what exactly those additional Administrative
cost were. Oh do a little side step!!!! .

This is definitely something that the public should
be made aware of since it IS our tax dollars being spent!



You are in charge off this process!

You have the power to change it!

Now the ball is in your court!

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT!



Truly unbelievable.

Monday

So I have now been writing about the inadequacies of our town employees and Mayor for almost a month and I would say most of the response has been good. There have been a few negative e-mails sent to me. Today I will address them, Q. Why am I slamming the city and if I don't like like it I should move. A. I like Sherwood and it could be a much better place to live if our trusted servants would actually serve a purpose other than their own. Q. Why do you hide behind a fictitious name? A. It was spelled out once before but I guess you missed that, I use Robin Hood because he was a champion of the people. I am not afraid to use my real name but I would rather not confuse the issues. I want change not a public office or any other political gain. Q. You can't change anything, this has been going on since the beginning and will be going on long after you leave. A. Status Quo is not and excuse for poor management, strong arm tactics, or just plain illegal behavior. I would like to remind you that in 1776 a few folks started a revolution because they were tired of being cheated, lied to, and bullied. now we know how that worked out! Q. When are you going to stop this? A. NEVER!!! As long as the Sheriff of Nottingham and his cronies are still here I will not stop. Get over it! Change is coming like it or not. If you enjoy giving your money away there are several charities that can always use donations. Why are you so set on lining someone else's pockets? Are you that naive or just plain oblivious to reality in your drug soaked mind? A real question for you to ponder as you get another bong hit.

There have been a few really nasty ones laced with profanity and conjecture. I just delete them and chalk it up to the juvenile uneducated part of our town. That means they probably came form some low level employee of the city that is afraid they are going to lose their PERS. Enough said for today.

To the members of the council and the employees of our city, We Are Watching and you cannot escape. There's change you can count on! Ta Ta

Robin

Sherwood Broadband Part 2

Here is a list of questions and answers provided to me by one of our concerned citizens. My Commentary will be after each question with my name in front of it.

Questions (bold):
Quotes (Italic):

What companies? Demonstrate that this has "attracted businesses to Sherwood"
"50 public and private businesses"


ROBIN: The only companies Sherwood Broadband would help is the coffee shops and maybe the little restaurant that has changed owners a million times.

What is the math on this? 20Mb Comcast Business line is $200 per month 6 city facilities plus 6 School District (12x200x12=28,200).. also, as part of the Comcast franchise agreement Comcast is obligated to provide certain services as negotiated.
"SBB has saved the City of Sherwood’s general fund over $200k and provides $100k annually in combined savings to both the city and school district"

ROBIN: ROFL, You have got to be kidding me, This is the bill of goods shoved down our throats. The city Generates about 300k of the 1,500,000.00 it costs us annually. This must be magic math, you know the same kind as our Board of Education uses for graduation rates.

What is the benefit? How many Sherwood residents use this system on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. What is the utilization (bandwidth use) of the system? I have never used it.
"While Sherwood Broadband has contributed many benefits to the community it has come at a financial cost."

ROBIN: ie I get rich off this garbage deal and you get the shaft. OMG I cannot believe this.

Why? We have two alternate service providers who market these services actively (how many FIOS flyers do you get in one week).
"Promote broadband utilization within Sherwood, and stimulate Economic Development
through the use of broadband services."


ROBIN: How stupid are we to allow these morons to run our city?

The following is a brief from another concerned citizen and their questions they want answered. BTW these and many other questions have been asked by many folks and never answered. I guess we are not adult enough to handle the truth or they just plain don't know...

I cannot find anywhere (in any document), where the estimate was 10M, $200-300K is all. This is public record, they should provide proof. Besides, this is 10Years later.. fiber is now more ubiquitous.

"In early 2001 staff proposed a project called the Sherwood Community Access Network
System (SCANS). The scope of this project was to build a community network and deliver it to every home in Sherwood via fiber optic communications. The price of this project was estimated at the time at about $10 million."

Total revenue is 325k in "past performance for 2009-10" then drops to 203,500 in "projected performance for 2009-10"?? What does this mean? The numbers don't make any sense

What does this mean? Who are the partners? Are other entities making money on the infrastructure that was installed and paid for by Sherwood residents?
"Partnerships" “ Partnering with other Internet Service Providers has the greatest
opportunity for Sherwood Broadband to both increase utilization of the network as well as revenue. With the sales force these ISPs offer they have a much greater opportunity to sell service in Sherwood than what SBB could do on its own."

What is the benefit to Sherwood residents (tax payers)? How does this make Sherwood more livable? Prove it! What research? Again, there are already two service providers in Sherwood offering services.
"Sherwood Broadband, as with most utilities, provides community services beyond its pro forma and break even analysis that can be measured better in terms of "livability".
Considerable research has concluded that the presence of broadband services assists a community in attracting businesses, as well as making a community more attractive for its residents."

OK Folks it is time to rise up and push these idiots out. City of Sherwood you are warned!!! RESIGN RESIGN RESIGN, or you will be forced out in disgrace. Ta Ta

Robin

PS: WE ARE WATCHING AND YOUR TIME IS ALMOST UP!!!!!

Sherwood Broadband

OK I am finally done reading over this mess called Sherwood Broadband, wow the inconsistencies, and double speak astounds even me. I am still missing a few things but once I get them I will give a much more informative report. The simple solution is to shut it down, get our money back from the thieves who took it, and terminate any City Employee for Conflict of interest, and open an investigation for Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. Now that I got that off my chest, I want to thank the Cruisin Sherwood gang for a job well done and creating something positive here in our fair city. It was a gorgeous day and a great time for all who attended. I really have a lot to rant about today but I think I will wait another day as I enjoy the great weekend event. Till tomorrow, Remember City of Sherwood... WE ARE WATCHING!!!!!!! Ta Ta

Robin

UPDATE #2 !!!!

Hi fellow inhabitants of the forest, I promised you the full scoop on the Broadband Issue and how it came to be, well I now have all the documents, meeting notes, and proposals and am going through it with a fine tooth comb. OMG after just reading through a small portion of it I am aghast at how this was done. The former Sheriff of Nottingham should probably retain a lawyer as I think he will need it. Well back to my reading and I promise this will be all clear to you in a few days... Ta Ta.

Robin

New Resident Info carefully edited for the truth!!

New Resident Information
Dear New Resident:
On behalf of your neighbors, elected and appointed officials, welcome to the City of Sherwood.We recognize that moving to a new community often causes a sense of upheaval, but let us assure you that you will soon grow to enjoy Sherwood for its unique blend of small-town hospitality and big-city amenities.

"(And lets not forget needless fees and fines so that we can spend millions on things you don't want or need but thank you anyway!!!)"


One of the great strengths of Sherwood is its tradition of citizen participation. (NOT) We hope that you will continue this tradition by becoming involved with one of the City's many boards, commissions or other volunteer activities. (ONLY IF YOU AGREE THAT i RUN THE SHOW AND YOU DON'T) Please feel free to contact our Volunteer Coordinator at 503-625-4251 if you wish to volunteer for City endorsed activities within the community. (YOU WILL BE PROMPTLY IGNORED UNLESS YOUR A RELATIVE AND BE INVESTIGATED FOR CRIMINAL BACKGROUND) If your interest does not lie with local government, we encourage you to get involved with one or more of the many school, civic or church organizations that are active in the community.
Finally, as a new resident of Sherwood, you become a shareholder in the City. (WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT) We welcome your ideas (AND ALL YOUR MONEY) on how we can make the community a better place for our families, and hope that you will call us with your suggestions and comments. (AGAIN PROMPTLY IGNORED UNLESS YOU AGREE WITH ME)
We hope you come to enjoy the community as much as we do. If there is anything that we can do to facilitate the transition to your new home, or make your living in Sherwood more pleasant, please let us know.

Jim Patterson, City Manager

If you wish to read this with out my commentary CLICK HERE

Street Lights and Monoliths in Old Town

Wow so yesterday I was crossing the street by the WW2 memorial and and almost got plowed into by an unsuspecting driver. Now that driver was probably going a little faster than they intended but that happens. The scary part is that they didn't see me because of those hideous monoliths that have been erected on every corner in Old Town. Now I know the story on this as it was hush hush shoved down everyone's throat as an improvement that had great potential. But I will warn the city now, If I or any other citizen of this great city get hit we will sue you for visual impedance at a street corner, directly causing and accident. Run that by your lawyer!! In order to cross the street safely you have to actually go into traffic to make sure your seen. The no curb and parking space lines are a novel idea but not practical in a wet weather climate such as Oregon. When the streets flood so do the sidewalks as there is no channeling of the water to the sewer system that we pay so much for in our water bills. On another subject, while listening to the portion of the May 18th council meeting that didn't get fudged up, they were discussing a street light fee on our water bill. They are saying that the lights are costing more than they are getting in fees and want an increase! Wow every time the power goes out the timers get screwy on all the lights in old town and then they are on all day and off at night. Way to go!!! It was recently reported to me that a citizen called the main number at the brick palace to tell them about the error on the timers and was immediately brushed off by the woman who answered, as if she didn't care why should you! Of course this could be the same woman whose husband owns the Sherwood broadband so I am sure she doesn't care as they are stealing enough money out of our pockets. Wow I think I need a nap now. Remember Sherwood, We are watching and we are no longer going to let you steal from us, Fee us to death!!! Now that's change you can count on. Ta Ta

Robin

City Council Video Part 1

OMG that is 4 hours of my life that can never be gotten back!! May 18th video gets really interesting during public testimony on fees by Tim Voorhees and then when he is getting to the really good stuff POOF it shuts down and resets. I guess the city doesn't want the public to know and would rather make it harder for you to find out the truth. the video states 188 mins but at about 45 it goes poof. Now this being the only time would be no big deal, but I found after going through the last 5 video's it seems that 4 out of 5 are subject to some kind of glitch. This can only be on purpose and for the sole reason of censorship. I am sick o f the shenanigans going on and it is time for you to be held accountable. I have decided to have a friend who is a computer forensic investigator for a Federal Agency look into this. I think Mr Sheriff of Nottingham and you cronies, you may want to get worried. If it is found out that your sabotaging your own public record bad things can happen. You may want to consult you attorney as your records both public and private are going to be subject of the largest FOIA request since the Kennedy assassination. BEWARE I am watching you!!!!! TA TA

Robin

Update

SO I have been sifting through all of the em-mails and info I have been getting from other concerned citizens and I will post some tomorrow. It seems that we are really taking it to them over at the brick palace as they are really trying to find me. Keep the emails flowing in and I will post what we can. Ta Ta

Robin

Guest Post

Folks I turn this over to another concerned citizen. this was received in my e-mail and is being reprinted here at their request.... Robin

WHY I OPPOSE THE CANNERY PUD PROJECT AS PASSED BY CITY COUNCIL

I have been asked why I joined Jim and Susan Claus to try to stop the proposed cannery development at LUBA. Initially my position was simple. Something was wrong with the project, it just didn't smell right. I am a basic Sherwoodite of 37+ years. I like the town and my neighborhood. I believe I am an independent who can be reasoned with but I can't be bullied. On first investigation on the Capstone/City “Cannery Project” 6.5 acres as proposed made no sense. You cannot put in 101 apartment units with 2/3 of a parking space per unit and not overburden the surrounding neighborhood areas. OVER PARKING is a recipe for lowering land values for the apartment house and the adjacent homes. This lack of parking was the tip of the iceberg so to speak. The citizens knew that and so did the Planning Commission as the hearings progressed. They agreed to change the design from initial the City/Capstone layout, asked for more traffic studies and some other items and sent their recommendations to City Council.



Less than three days before the city council meeting, the city recorder, Sylvia Murphy, released the 2008 city contracts -- never shown to the Planning Commission-- that granted all the land use zoning exceptions on an option to purchase to Capstone. City Manager Jim Patterson had signed that contract with Capstone on September 3, 2008. Even though a public hearing was required on that zoning, Jim Patterson and the Council had signed the contract selling the zoning at an extremely low price-- about 25% or less, than what apartment zoning was selling for at the time! The City, (the citizens!) was responsible for the infrastructure also. Wowzer…. And Capstone did not have to pay any payments or interest on the property for five years after the completion of the apartments, if the units were not 95% occupied. Not only was the city selling land at a ridiculous low price, we were coming up with a project that could and would harm the neighborhood.



Another problem I have with the project is that the City will spend close to $15,000,000 to buy the land and build the infrastructure. This part of the project is non-taxable and will never return a dime. Capstone will build at most $15 M of assessed value of property. The city will pay 4% interest for the money and must pay the loan back in 20 years. Capstone will only pay back 1.5% in the form of annual taxes. The difference of the interest alone each year is about $500,000 annually. You could do a more sophisticated analysis on the lost revenues and it is actually worse than $500,000 annually. However, there is no point going there.



Let me summarize my objections to the Cannery project. The City was committed to this zoning by contract without a legally required public hearing in 2008. As Lori Randel called it, all the public hearings were a sham. The contract price on the land is a significantly less than the value that should have been placed on it. Capstone and the city's development WILL negatively impact the neighborhood and the old Town district. In addition to the $15M we will spend in infrastructure costs up front, we will spend another $500,000 annually more than comes back in taxes every year while Capstone enjoys no liability, and a BIG consulting fee from the city coffers and most all of the upside in the project. In my opinion, it is bad politics, bad economic development, and most of all bad public policy. It's not too late to just say "No" to a plan that will haunt our downtown for generations.



Sanford Rome,

Sherwood

City Coucil Meeting

I did not attend the exercise in futility AKA the City Council Meeting last evening, but am very curious if they were able to pass a No Bid clause for the Cannery Project? I know that the Sheriff of Nottingham would like nothing better than to get that in place so that the former Sheriff and his Cronies can bilk more money out of this great city. Another thought is will they carefully edit the video on the web to ensure that the public has the wool pulled over their eyes? It has been reported to me that someone in the city has been editing the video and transcription for some purpose. I did hear that someone in the meeting had a recording device and will be providing me with that media so that I can compare it to the video. Hope it matches folks for your sake.. Another brief thing I would like to discuss is the new proposed Skate Park for our youth, good lord folks this is a no-brainer. We should be doing something for our kids instead of building adult play areas. Nothing better than having nothing for the kids to do Idle hands and all. It seems that the Sheriff has figured out every conceivable way to stifle this project. He has even instructed to local PD to start ticketing the kids for riding their boards on school property after hours. Wow now that will cause our kids to respect the police. Nice move dummy, who do you think you are? I am sure our Police Chief has spoken up about this to him and recommended they DO NOT do this. So back to the Skate Park, In the Archer you ask for pledges, I will not donate a dime to this project until I am sure that it will go for what it is intended, and no one else should either. This city has not shown to be good stewards of our tax dollars. This skate park should be built before the Cannery project. One last item to discuss, Mr City Manager, you stated yesterday in the Sherwood Archer that you wanted to thank Mr Jamison for a job well done, are you blind, our Middle and High School are both on the Fed no-no list and have been for a few years. Good Job? I think not!!!!! As far as I am concerned that man stole his pay from us for 5 years and good riddance. lets hope your choice does better. I doubt it as your track record is not so good. Folks I have been contacted by the Oregonian for a story, so now I put it to you, What is the most important thing you want the public to hear about. Let me know, get me the facts and I will present it. Uh oh City not only am I watching but so are more people. Ta Ta

Robin

Who Am I?

This is a question I am sure the folks over at the Brick palace are pondering right now. Why do I use a fictitious name? Well that simple I don't want anyone to confuse what I am doing is for any gain. No political or popularity. I do thins because every other way has failed to get the City to own up and get it right. For instance, why did the Sheriff of Nottingham take a $17,000 pay raise when he is asking the city to trim the fat? Does this not put him around $150,000 per year plus benefits? Did you know that a US Senator first term makes $170,000? and he/she is in charge of the voices of millions of people. Wow to put it in perspective for you, the Sheriff of Nottingham is paid approx $9.06 per person in Sherwood. That includes every man, woman and child. Wow!!!!! Now it seems that I have drawn the attention of some of the players at the Brick palace, This is called freedom of speech, you forced this! Let me also talk about 2 other things 1. City Council Meetings. You have a right under the charter to speak if there is time, however they don;t have to respond or answer. So that's a waste of time. They tel you they don't have to show you anything? WRONG Again, there is a little bugger called the Freedom of Information Act, guaranteed by our Constitution. Make a FOIA Request and they must provide the documents requested or they are in violation of FEDERAL Law. The only thing that cannot be accessed is documents pertaining to national security, so that won;t apply. The second thing i wanted to mention today is the laughable way this city enforces rules. It is selective so if you don't want the city on your tail you better so as your told. That works fine of your a medical marijuana Kool Aid drinker, if you actually care about this town as I do then ask them a simple request... RESIGN, RESIGN, RESIGN!!! Ta Ta,

Robin