Belated Two-Fer Tuesday: "Workin' On A Response", Couny Commishes Say About Dangerous NE 68th Street; Chris Clifford, Don Benton's Aide-de-Camp, and His Gangland Nightclub Operations in Seattle!

First Congregational Church of Vancouver, as seen from NE 68th Street

Intersection of Hwy 99 and NE 68th Street, from the air - note lack of sidewalks on NE 68th 

I'd like to apologize for the slight delay here at O Vancouvria!, I was waiting for Axel Swanson, spokesperson for the Clark County Board of Commissioners, to get back to me with something more than "we're (the County Department of Public Works) workin' on it (a response to why the County messed up on putting sidewalks in on NE 68th Street from Hwy 99 to First Congregational Church)". I had given the gentle, and masculine, sounding Mr Swanson til 5 pm yesterday, but thought to be nice and not go all "eye for an eye" with the Board of Commissioners, and particularly Commissioner David Madore (who has publicly, on his Facebook page, said some rather insulting things about little ol' me that I won't repeat here). 

At any rate, the County is still "workin' on a response" to me as of press time (8:30 AM Wednesday) so here we are. I had emailed them (having not heard from Madore, Mielke, or Barnes (whose district NE 68th Street lies in) by yesterday morning - seems no one at County had bothered to follow up on my email to them last Tuesday with a link to my initial article. 

To wit: there are NO shoulders on NE 68th Street between Hwy 99 and First Congregational Church/Martha's Pantry (SW Wash's only food/clothing bank specific to HIV-positive people like myself). There are no sidewalks nor street lights on this road either. 68th comes down a VERY STEEP hill from the church to Hwy 99, with a speed limit of 35 MPH. Semi-trucks use this road as a shortcut between Hwy 99 and St Johns Rd, while cars fly down it (as one did yesterday, passing me doing 50+ MPH) to the stoplight at Hwy 99. Elderly people attending church, sick people going to the food bank, and families going to church and school (there's a school bus stop at the top of the hill) use this road constantly. 

Madore and Mielke indicated to the members of First Congregational last year (nearly all of whom signed a petition to the Commissioners asking for safety improvements on NE 68th Street) that they would get a sidewalk in, and that there was money to do it. Then, mysteriously (and without public explanation, let alone private explanation to the Church, according to Church members) that money vanished into thin air this year - right around the time Director of Environmental Services/Senator Don Benton got our stormwater drainage lawsuit settled with the State for $4 Million - so when, April or May of 2014? Since then, not a peep out of anyone at the County about when folks using NE 68th Street can expect relief. 

As someone who uses, and volunteers at, Martha's Pantry Food/Clothing Bank, and regularly walks up and down NE 68th Street, I'd like to hear from the Commissioners as to when they plan on addressing the dangers to the public here, and how. I'd like a timetable, and specific funds set aside to at least widen the non-existent shoulders on this road. I'd also like to hear from Commissioner Barnes (whose district this road is in) how he plans on getting a 2nd vote out of either Mielke or Madore to act NOW before anything happens to pedestrians under his watch. 

CHRIS CLIFFORD, AND HIS SHADOWY SEATTLE GANGLAND NIGHTCLUB CONNECTIONS

Chris Clifford, Don Benton's "Program Assistant" at the County Dept of Environmental Services (the man responsible for insertion of the Don Benton-promoting Waste Management flyer that landed, to the cost to taxpayers of $55K, in all our garbage bills earlier this year) owned a gangland nightclub, Jersey's All-American Sports Bar, in Seattle's Pioneer Square, with his brother, as recently as 2008. 

Here's a link to all the articles the Seattle Times has on the subject of said bar, now at 700 Virginia Street, in Seattle. Note the number of nuisance complaints, drug-dealing complaints. Here's a link that talks about murders, and racial bias on the part of Seattle police, against Jersey's. 

Here's something else that's interesting about Chris Clifford's ethics: this Seattle Times article, from Jan 30, 2009, shows that Clifford failed to file public disclosure forms about his campaign financing during a FAILED bid for King County sheriff. Interestingly enough, Clifford came on down to Clark County, and county government employment under Senator/Director Benton, soon after. 

No one here is attacking Mr Clifford in any way shape or form. I am, however, openly attacking County Human Resources, and the Board of Commissioners of Clark County, for failing to look deeply into Mr Clifford's background to see these glaring issues with his record as both a candidate for public office and as a business owner (not to mention his complete lack of educational qualification for being in an Environmental Services position, Mr Clifford's BA is in English). 

I don't see why we, as a County, should have to put up with people like Mr Clifford (who, as the below photo of him at a Board of Commissioners hearing shows, likes to regularly show up and attack any sort of progressive measures on behalf of his boss/es, Senator/Director Don Benton and Commissioner David Madore), who have clearly messed their own beds up north in Seattle. What's NOT good for Seattle is likely NOT at all good for Vancouver either. Its not clear to me why the County allows such people to be in contact with the public, or why I as a taxpayer am giving the County my hard-earned money to have such people doing the peoples' work. 

Clifford, Don Benton's Program Assistant at County Department of Environmental Services; Also Co-Owner of Jersey's All American Sports Bar in Seattle, Site of Several Gangland Shootings and Drug Deals

I call on the County to take a good long look at folks like Mr Clifford in their employ.