OMG Water rates to increase!!!

First off I am returning for at least a little while. I stopped blogging because no one really cared about what was happening so what was the point. I had turned into a very angry self absorbed person and needed a change for a while.

Today's rant comes directly from the city of Sherwood. In your mailbox is the newest Sherwood Archer. Buried in the fold for those who scan the front and back and then pitch it where it belongs should take a look. Located right in the middle of the fold is none other than.... Council approves to raise water fees!!!! Holy waste batman!! Now you need to read it carefully, "water use increases will roll out in 2 small steps, starting July 1st monthly water rates will increase 7.5%". Jan 2012 will be the second step of 4%. That is a total of 11.5%. Now we already have the most expensive water int he state and now the city wants more!!! They later go on to say that you can control part of your bill through conservation. Most home here in Sherwood are already using the bare minimum of water. We already pay more in fees than we use water. I will be checking the City Council site to see who voted yay for this increase and make it my personal mission to get them out of there. The people cannot take much more of this. Jim Patterson you need to go, Keith Mays you need to go. Personally I would dump all of you on the City Council except our newest elected Mrs Clark. you folks slapped her in the face when you put your secretaries husband, Mr. Luman in instead of Del Clark's widow. Shame on you all. I watched the video and 2 nays from Ms Folsum and Ms Henderson, but no rebuttal from either. No discussion you just let the Mayor and the puppet master have their way with you. Folks it is time for the people to say they have had enough. make these so called servants of the public accountable. You sent one message when Krisanna Clark won her election, now lets take out the trash. In your service....


Robin

I got published on the Sherwood Gazette website

http://www.sherwoodgazette.com/news/story_2nd.php?story_id=129426548573578600#comment_section_container

Criminal Behavior in Sherwood

Where is the outrage!!!!!!!! Dave Luman is appointed to Del's vacant seat over Krisanna Clark? Does anyone else see that this is pure favoritism at it's best? It is bad enough that Dave Luman sold Sherwood out with Sherwood Broadband, oh yeah he recused himself from the vote. Or maybe that his wife, also a city employee, has any influence as she works directly for the mayor and city manager? If you are not angry at this then you must be an absolute idiot. Robyn Folsum and Linda Henderson both voted nay to this appointment of the crook who steals from us. no we have a full house of crooks, Mr Luman must have spent all his money and wants another dip into our tax money. Shame on you mayor, but it is not all your fault. You were elected and therefore shame on everyone who voted for you. Nepotism is a wonderful thing. Too bad it will kill this beautiful city. Ms Folsum, Ms Henderson, although you voted against this appointment where is your outrage? How come your not talking to the press about this? Shame on you too!!

We are watching

Robin

Dale Smith vs State Of Oregon

Folks I have been gone for a while but I just could not let this go. It seems the State is so desperate for money that they have closed down a fixture in our fair city because he hasn't paid his barbers license since 2004. This is a pure travesty of justice. Dale has been a barber in this town for more than 50 years, Hell he has cut the hair of every Police Chief, City Manager and god knows how many of our young lads got their first cut from him. He has more history on the wall of his shop than the field house. Now get this Dale is 80 yrs young, the state says he can go back to school and then re certify as a barber. This could take 18 months to do. Wow I am willing to bet that he has been a barber since before the state even had licenses. Now you all know my opinion of our City Government, I wonder if they can even speak out about this? Doubtful. Lastly I want to ask everyone to call the state and tell them your not happy. Call the city and tell them too. SHAME ON YOU OREGON!!!! This man is a veteran and a friend. We are watching!!!!!!

Robin

Election Rant

Wow it has been far too long since I visited you all. Lets catch up on a few things; 1. I will truly miss Mr Clark and his infectious personality. The City has lost a true Councilor and steward. Folks I will not tell you how to vote nor will I tell you how I voted. I just remind you that our water bills are higher than our electric bills, we have now been FORCED to swallow this cannery project, which BTW will probably be the undoing of the 17th greatest place to live. We have seen red light cameras that our police chief had to state on the ARCHER that it is for safety and not revenue generation. All I can say is PANTS ON FIRE!!!!! If the city wanted to keep anyone safe they would never have built those horrible eyesores on the corners of old town. Besides being horribly ugly they also block drivers views and are darn unsafe. Instead of red light camera's, maybe Van Cameras in our school zones. now that would be good for the safety of our children. Lastly we have Sherwood Broadband and the City Manager, both need to go. Both cost us too much money and only serve a small portion of our fair city. Remember this when casting your vote for the folks who have brought all this misuse of our hard earned dollars, and back office deals that only benefit themselves. The same folks who promised the kids a skate park and then set it up for failure so it could not happen. Shame on you all. Remember City of Sherwood, we are watching and voting. Mr manager resign resign resign, before you end up in jail or disgraced. Ta Ta

Robin

Folow up and something new

Hello fellow citizens of the forest, SO now it seems that not only has he lied but you can't even find his article on the Sherwood Gazette's web page. I guess even they don't want to print it anymore. One other thing of note, I am now going through the new Dog rules and fee schedule. Can anyone say income generation and selective enforcement? They claim it is a complaint driven fine. Wow that is their version of if we don't like you, we will claim there was a complaint and fine you. I have a friend who was hammered by the Police in Old Town for parking more than 2 hours and he was the only one to get a ticket. Even though a City Councilor was parked even longer. The City Manager and the Chief claimed it was complaint driven. I say it was illegal, unfair, and downright dirty. This is also being brought to you by the same folks that have stated in the press that the red light camera's are for income generation and then traffic safety. How much longer are we going to put up with the shifty back office business deals and lies coming out of the City Hall? Remember November is on the horizon and time for some real change. Remember Sherwood City Hall, we are watching!!!! Ta Ta

Robin

WOW Transparency from City Manager

HI fellow residents of Sherwood. By now everyone has gotten a copy of the Gazette or the Archer and saw the wonderful article written by our City Manager talking about his pay and transparency in the city, oh yeah and earning our trust ROFLMAO. I figured what the heck I will follow his link to the budget and salaries. Now if you go to page 105 of the 2010-2011 budget and scroll to the bottom of the page you will see City Manager/ City Recorder/Municipal Judge and if you look closely it says contract employees and no salary!!! Big surprise there!! so much for transparency. Sir your a liar and not even a very good one. But we will get to that in a moment. Scroll back up the page to the first entry Admin Asst III - Confidential, now who the heck is that I ask? How is anything in this city confidential? Are they hiding something? Probably, You ask us in your article to trust you, and your cronies. Not going to happen sir, in fact I and a few others are going to be on you like the sticky side of tape. you have stolen from us, cheated us, fee'd us to death. your only recourse at this point is to resign immediately and pray you can get a way clean. your mis-management of this city is borderline criminal. Your a liar and a thief. Shame on you!!! WE ARE WATCHING!!! TA TA

ROBIN

Coucil Seats and Mayor

Good Saturday Morning all, So it seems that now is time to make changes, The Mayor and a few council seat are up for grabs. Time for change means voting out the folks who have constantly allowed our money to be wasted and bring fresh faces in. If we can make a small change in the thought process of our council then maybe our fair city stands a chance. Stop the bleeding of our hard earned tax dollars. One has already dropped out of the race, makes you wonder why? Lets talk Sherwood Broadband for a moment as it is one of the biggest waste of time a resources. First i did a little searching at the Corporation division, interesting enough Jim Patterson is the Authorized representative for Sherwood Broadband. Now that is not a bad thing as he is the City Manager. But it does make him responsible for the actions of the "company". So in digging a little deeper we find that PROSTRUCTURE CONSULTING maintains the network and there is only the top official listed. Now think for a moment when you visit the Sherwood Broadband website and click on the Coverage button you get a neat little map that shows the area of coverage. I had to find out the total number of households covered so I again went to the trusty internet and to a site called portlandmaps.com. I carefully counted the total number of houses for our "FREE" service and lo and behold it came to a whopping 250 homes!!!!! At 1 million a year that is a cost to the city of $4,000 per year!!!! think about this little folly when you vote in November!!! Ta Ta

Robin

City Streets

So today I was walking in old town and lo and behold they are tearing up the street. Now that is a good thing and a bad thing. The good part is that they are fixing the sewers on Washington St. At least when I look at my water bill I can be happy that those fees went to something constructive. I also noted that they are tearing up our million dollar granite blocks that were breaking apart from the first 30 days they were installed. They look nice but the design was flawed from the beginning. Just ask em and they will tell you. So ok we are working to make our city look better, I can agree with that. Then the guy who was doing the replacement tells another guy that it really doesn't make any difference as the city plans to tear them up next year!!! Holy Cow!!! So we the tax payers are paying for these repairs again on a design that was flawed from the beginning only to have it torn up next year and replaced by the right kind of materials? Can anyone explain the logic on this adventure in wasteful spending? Oh yeah and one more thing, hold on your gonna love this.... better sit down though... it was OUR city architect who designed this flawed project and held the contractor to the inferior materials used...... Even though the contractor told the city that is was the wrong materials. This fiasco was brought to you by the same people that are still running our city and want to tell the contractor how to build the cannery project. Enough is enough! go to the city council meetings and tell them you have had enough!!! One more thing Mr Patterson (yes i am using your name) your time is limited here, we are watching and waiting for you to make a big mistake and then you are gonna be gone. Your and all your cohorts need to go. I am sure when you read this you will laugh but I remind you of one thing, If you or anyone of your employees mis-appropriated 1 dollar of federal money you are going to jail. I heard a vicious rumor that the federal government is very interested in your dealings with their money. If I were you I would resign now and run like your predecessor did. Ta Ta.... We are watching

Robin

Robin Hood

Robin has been taking some much needed time off. He will be back shortly sticking it to our elected and paid officials here in Sherwood. I know Robin would love nothing better than to write about nothing but good things about our fair city and can't wait till that day comes. Robin just wants the City to come clean and transparent with their handling of our hard earned tax dollars. his disdain starts when there are people in charge of our city that are not qualified for the jobs they hold and then collect a huge salary on top of it. We here in the forest are not angry about spending money to improve our fair city or even new projects, we just want them done without a hidden agenda. We support more money to our schools, POLICE, and services, just don't line your pockets with it. Remember in just a few weeks our children will be returning to another school year, Drive slowly in our school zones and keep our kids safe. If not our friends in blue will be writing you a hefty ticket.

Little John

School Update

Congratulations to the Sherwood teachers for getting our schools off the Troubled List Although the High School is still on the troubled list, it has shown enough improvement to no longer be watched. This is all under the "no child left behind" law. The dropout rate is still Alarming,we can improve upon that with time. Thank you Sherwood teachers!!! You and the kids deserve the Kudos for this accomplishment. Ta Ta

Robin

Skate Park Part 2

This post is from one of our merry band little John.

SO who picked up the Saturday edition of the Oregonian and read the article in the neighborhood section? Well if not CLICK HERE The city sat in several City Council meetings PROMISING these kids they would have a safe place to skate and yet they can't find enough money to build this park now that they didn't get any funds form the state. well since they were 30 out of 31 and only the top 9 are given grants I am thinking they did a half hearted garbage proposal. OMG, Estacada wrote a better proposal! We can spend millions on an adult playground (Arts Center) coupled with a potentially failed attempt at being a Landlord (apartments and retail/office space), but something for our kids nope not going to happen. I have an idea, Shut down Sherwood broadband and you will not only have enough money but more people will use the skate park than use Sherwood Broadband anyway and have a bunch of money left over. It has been reported to me by more than a few people that our Sheriff of Nottingham (City manager) has asked the Police to start ticketing kids for riding their skateboards on the street, in front of City hall and on school grounds. I bet the Sheriff had kittens when he saw the picture in the paper of the kids skating in front of City Hall. ROFLMAO! I am sure he has instructed the Police to go have a conversation with the parents of those boys. This would fall in line with something else reported a few weeks ago and that I also observed, I saw a policeman in old town lecturing some skaters for a good 20 mins about riding on the sidewalks. These boys were age range of 9-13 and one of the little darlings wasn't wearing a helmet. Not more than 10 mins later a second Police car shows up. 2 Police cars for this horrid gang on misguided youth. Too funny, now the boy not wearing a helmet was in violation of City and ORS rules. But come on 2 Police cars, We want our children to respect the Police not fear them for harassment. I have an Idea for the skate park, have some car washes and solicit private donations and get this built. Make the City keep that 100k for matching funds. For goodness sakes get his done. Lastly I was given some info on some shenanigans the city has done in 2008 that may very well be illegal with this Cannery Project and some land deals dealing with one of our more powerful families in the city. I have also been told by some other folks that the city is charging a HUGE price to provide information under the freedom of information act. Now there is no such thing as private information at the city level, it is all public info, What does the city have to hide? Hmmmm something to ponder. I have a request for the city, in the next Archer please post the annual salaries of the city manager and all the heads of each department. I was looking through the annual budget and could not find a breakdown only a total of salaries for each department. What are we hiding? This has been a very long winded post but I had a lot to say.

Little John

AIRSOFT Guns

Wow, I am again amazed at how our public officials can make a mockery of themselves. Please read the front page of the Sherwood Gazette and the article on AIRsoft guns. Click Here for the Story I really want to comment on this but the story does it better. I just have one question, please tell me the leadership at Sherwood PD is not so inept they called in a helicopter for a plastic gun that the trained eye should be able to tell the difference? This does NOT reflect on the patrolman but of the leaders, Chief that would be you!!! You too SGT's!!! If one of our patrolmen KILL a teen with an airsoft he/she will have to live with that for the rest of their lives and in the end it will fall on the leaders shoulders. Here is a quote from the article: "three Sherwood police officers, a Tualatin officer, two King City officers and a Washington County sheriff’s deputy headed toward the teen, a patrol car leading the way down the street followed by the officers who had shields, hand guns, beanbag weapons and rifles drawn". If this does not frighten you than the next quote should; “The mere fact of owning (an airsoft gun) is not a crime or against our city ordinance,” said Sherwood Police Sgt. Ty Hanlon. He added, however, that it is against the law to fire such a weapon within Sherwood city limits. Although the majority of Nick’s airsoft gun was transparent, police say they can’t take any chances in assuming it’s a toy gun, pointing out that more and more components of handguns are being constructed with clear polymer plastics".

OMG I decided to do some research on clear plastic polymers used in weapons, Doesn't exist although Glock does use black and dark gray they don't ever use clear for this very reason, and the fact that clear would always look dirty and give the weapon an unclean appearance. Later in this same this same SGT talks about the weight being nearly the same with and airsoft and a real MP5. Once again I chose to look this up, Wrong again, 2.5 lbs and H-K MP5 6.8 Nearly 3 times the weight.

This kind of fear and mis-information is going to get a kid killed. Are you all really serious that no less than 7 HEAVILY armed police officers could not even determine that a kid was not holding a real weapon? Was the red tip removed? Could they not see that it was clear? Now if this were an area that was known for gang activity or gun crime I would understand. Poor decision making and lack of proper training are going to create a tragedy that can be avoided. I fear for our officers as one of these days a real tragedy is going to happen. Our Patrol Officers deserve better leaders. Ta Ta

Robin

Handly St.

So it seems that the administrative policy from the leaders of our Police Dept and City.


A friend emailed me a link to your blog about Sherwood, and I thought maybe you would be interested in the letter I sent to the police yesterday (and later forwarded to The Gazette, City council members and the police chief). Fourteen years we have attempted to address this issue with the city and have gotten nowhere. My bet is that I hear back from no one.

Thanks for taking a look.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Deleted@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 5:36 PM
Subject: Handley Street
To: police@ci.sherwood.or.us


This last weekend, I was the witness to a rather severe car accident in front of my home on Handley Street. I was able to assist the three young ladies involved, and thankfully none were seriously injured. A fellow neighbor is an accident investigator and he estimated that the vehicle that 'T-boned' the other was traveling between 40-42 mph. The accident occurred approximately 50 feet from a stop sign. There were no skid marks and the driver did not hit her brakes.

Unfortunately, this is not the first accident on this road. My neighbors' dog was hit last summer, there have been several accidents involving parked cars, and I know of at least one 'hit and run'. I know that traffic surveys have been conducted, complaints have been made (myself included), but in all honesty, I have lived here for almost 14 years and the only 'resolution' provided up to this point is a stop sign near the new school. Every neighbor I have talked to on Handley is deeply concerned over the speeding on this road and the uptick in accidents. I am on the HOA board and there is no issue that 'brings people to the table' than the speeding on this street. Neighbors have taken to putting up their own 'slow down' signs, yelling at passing drivers, all seem to be in vain. I frequent Durham Road in Tigard and can attest that the flashing signage displaying the drivers' speed is very effective at slowing traffic.

As a neighborhood, what do we need to do to get additional stop signs installed, flashing lights, 'your speed is' signage or something to draw attention to this issue? When is enough enough? Does a child need to be injured before the issue is finally addressed? Is this an issue we need to bring to the attention of the City? If the issue is one of finances, how much would I have to pay personally to get additional signage installed?

Any assistance or direction you can provide would be appreciated.

Thank you.

City Of Sherwood Water

So I have received numerous e-mails referencing The City of Sherwood Water billing and their predatory practices. It seems that after a year they have finally got all the bugs worked out of the system, and are now giving you a whole 72 hours to pay your past due or face being shut off. I wonder if this sudden need for money has anything to do with the Water project that is now at least 30 days behind and over budget by 15%? The City is going broke and they need income from you. I was talking to a business owner yesterday the poor guy has a monthly bill of 94.20 and 18.00 is water usage, Wow how can this be the 18th most desirable city to live in? Top it all off with a City Manager who takes a 17k raise in the worst economy in 80 years. This man should be fired immediately before we are so broke we can't put gas in our Police cars. Shame on you City of Sherwood. One last thing, if you have a complaint about the water utility billing, you can call the State of Oregon Public Utility commission and lodge a formal complaint. their number is 1-800-522-2404. Ta Ta

Robin

Robin Hood Festival

So here we are upon another Robin Hood Festival. This is a wonderful thing for our city, but once again has proven to be mis-managed by the city. They have decided to close the roads to parking some as early as Today at 8 AM. Now do not confuse my statements that I am against this festival as that would be completely untrue. What I am saying is that maybe the city would have the forethought to maybe figure a way to do this with little impact on the businesses of Sherwood. IN this economy business owners need as much time to run their business as possible. WHY oh WHY must the streets be closed down so early? The festival does not start until after 6 pm on Friday. What is the point of shutting down half of the meager parking as it is so early? Once again poor planning on the City's part and the heck with the businesses that are stuck. SHAME SHAME SHAME!!! From what I understand the businesses were not even asked, they were told by some gentleman and cute young girl that this is the way it is and sorry for your luck. City Manager you disgust me in your cavalier attitude toward the operation of this fair city. I am hoping that you will cross the line and finally get sued for the HORRIBLE way you mange this city. I wouldn't let you manage a Coffee stand let alone a city. RESIGN RESIGN RESIGN, before we finally catch you and you end up in jail for your actions. Remember we are watching and waiting... TA TA

ROBIN

Conspiracy theory in Sherwood

Happy Wednesday all,

I received and e-mail last week asking some very hard questions about who really runs our city. They made an inquiry that it may be a certain church group. Well here is what I found in my research, The true leaders of our fair city, (not the City Council), are a mixed bunch of several groups. That means that to answer that person question, NO it is not one Church group running the show. It is being mismanaged by the City Manager, City Engineer, City Planner, and City Budget office. And to clarify I am not a member of the church group mentioned so this is a completely unbiased accounting.

There was also another letter about traffic control on Handley Street. It seems that it is a raceway and several accidents have happened. This person who emailed me about this is very concerned about the children or pedestrians getting hit or killed. They have sent letters to the CITY and the Chief of Police and yet no answer. Wow big surprise there. Well Chief and CITY of Sherwood, To knowingly ignore a complaint by a concerned citizen you are in essence stating it is ok, and should be ready to accept responsibility. I know how you feel, if you ignore it long enough it will either go away or fix itself. SHAME ON YOU!!!! If one child gets hurt because of your inaction to serve and protect, you should turn in your badge and hang your head in shame. How dare you City of Sherwood ignore a residents plea for help. Shame on you too!!!! Ta Ta

Robin

PS I will post the letter to the city later this week. You decide Sherwood! You have the power to make change. Time to make it.

A simple message

Wow,

After enjoying a wonderful holiday of friends, family and fun I was reading the post comments on my 4th of July message. I was absolutely appalled by the unintelligent responses. All I was saying was happy birthday America. How can anyone see anything bad in that? Praetorian, I will not even comment on what you were commenting about as I am sure you have no idea what freedom of speech, or better yet the 1st amendment even means. I am fine with opposing opinion but being argumentative is just plain silly. Clyde although I do not agree with you on most issues the name calling from anonymous is not appropriate in this forum. Keep in mind that also applies to you and Sandy. This is not a place for banter and evading what the real issues are and that is improving our City Government. There was one thing brought up that I had not even intended but Praetorian touched upon it without even knowing, Taxation without representation. I think my water bills with all their fees and the fee structure imposed by the brick palace on Pine st. have imposed on the unknowing here in Sherwood. I thank you for bringing that to my attention. I have an e-mail box full of subjects to touch upon, written by several concerned citizens. I will be getting to them all over the next few days. I hope everyone had a safe holiday. Ta Ta

Robin

July 4th 2010

Happy Birthday America!!!

This is the original text written and reproduced exactly as written.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Action of Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America

WHEN in the Course of human Events,
it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.
WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great- Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.
HE has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.
HE has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
HE has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.
HE has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.
HE has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.
HE has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of the Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and the Convulsions within.
HE has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
HE has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
HE has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.
HE has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.
HE has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.
HE has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
HE has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
FOR quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us;
FOR protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
FOR cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:
FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
FOR depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:
FOR transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:
FOR abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rules into these Colonies:
FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.
HE has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
HE has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.
HE is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.
HE has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
HE has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.
IN every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.
NOR have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.
WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATED OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Massachusetts
John Hancock
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry

New Hampshire
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Matthew Thornton

Rhode Island
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery

Georgia
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton

Connecticut
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott

New York
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris

New Jersey
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross

Delaware
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas M' Kean

Maryland
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carrol

Virginia
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

North Carolina
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn

South Carolina
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward
Thomas Lynch
Arthur Middleton

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