Tuesday at O Vancouvria!: Black Mold, Staples, Fleas at Jail; Interesting Insights About County Clerk Scotty Weber; We Sit Down Over Cannoli and Coffee with County Clerk Candidate Deanna Pauli-Hammond

We live in interesting times here in Clark County at the start of the full Fall campaign season for general elections, November 4. To kick off election season here at O Vancouvria!, I'd like to start with a quick statement of my OWN political and philosophical views, as they pertain to which candidates for office I support, and why. 

I am registered as a Libertarian (with a BIG L). However, I come to Libertarianism from being first a registered Green (2000, Nader), and then a registered Democrat - so a little different from "Tea Party" Lib folks in Clark County. I firmly believe in LOVE THROUGH SERVICE (as a proud Unitarian Universalist). I believe candidates for office should do the following: 

-make sure the BUCK stops with them, per Harry Truman
-have nothing to FEAR but FEAR ITSELF, per Franklin Delano Roosevelt
-believe that a HOUSE DIVIDED cannot stand, per Abe Lincoln

Candidates who get my endorsement at O Vancouvria! should be HONEST, OPEN-MINDED, and WILLING TO WORK FOR THE PEOPLE (all of the people) at all times. They should admit when wrong, take honest personal inventories of themselves, and be willing to do better and work for the common good - including human rights and a shared commitment to serve the people through their love of work: not just themselves, but ALL who work under them. I want candidates who are fiscally responsible and who KNOW their offices, and the functions of office and their underlings, inside and out. I want candidates who have fresh ideas to old problems, and are willing to listen to honest and constructive critique. 

Too much for you? Well, keep coming back and listen up. (-: 

Now, on to the MEAT OF TODAY'S POST: 

FLEAS, BLACK MOLD INFEST JAIL; INMATES GIVEN ACCESS TO STAPLES; JAIL STAFF INDICATE SUPPORT FOR SHANE GARDNER FOR SHERIFF

O Vancouvria! has learned firsthand and up close (as in, sleeping on the floor of a couple jail pods Sunday night, Sept 21, after being arrested for a DUI while sipping white wine in my backyard with my roommate and NOT being behind the wheel - stay tuned on that) about the horrid conditions in the Clark County Jail. 

Horrid conditions in this woefully understaffed and overcrowded jail are nothing new, as the ACLU has mentioned in human rights complaints to the State of Washington. Its a shame that the Superior Court judges of Clark County, who own the jail through a consortium that the County contracts with, can't be bothered to fix things up at the Clark County Jail. It's even more unfortunate that the Sheriff's Office has NO COMMENT officially as of press time to the conditions I witnessed firsthand.

To wit: jail cells are infested with black mold along the walls, particularly around toilet areas. Jail toilets, particularly in B and G pods, no longer flush properly, if at all. Jail pods, where twice as many inmates as there are beds are stuffed together like sardines, hold fleas - both in the bedding and on inmates' flesh (I have the bites to prove it). Jail pods are NOT provided with adequate cleaning supplies to mop floors - a mop is brought in once a day, and I did see glass cleaner for the "mirror" provided in the pod. Inmates SHARE an electric shaver and hair goop - up to 25 men using one shaver to spruce themselves up for video court. 

To their credit, jail staff are, in the main, polite and respectful. However, upon advice of my lawyer, I told my intake lady, a large blonde officer, that I had NOTHING TO SAY - whereupon she said I was "being difficult" and threw me into a B Pod cell with NO MATTRESS for 12 hours. Hence, I was very up close and personal with black mold and fleas for quite some time. I'm relieved there was drinking water. 

I asked Shane Gardner, press spokesperson for the Sheriff's office and Clark County Sheriff candidate, what the thoughts of said office and his campaign were. He responded with the following: 

"I am so sorry but I cannot use this email for my campaign and because I am working full time cannot address this until after your deadline when I am off duty.  My campaign email address is: Shane.gardner@me.com"

O Vancouvria! will hear more from Shane about these jail conditions when we sit down and interview him, and hear his thoughts about the new County Charter we're all voting on come November 4, on September 30. Stay tuned. 

Shane also had "no comment" about inmates in the jail having access to staples. Jail staff routinely staple inmate documents together, and then give the document bundle to inmates to hold on to. O Vancouvria! witnessed these staples being used in fresh and inventive ways (weapons) while being held in G Pod. Sheriff's Office and Corrections staff, including Deputy Sheriff Gail Anderson and Corrections Officer Erin Wasch, thought this use of staples appalling and promised to give the problem their full attention. We hope that is indeed the case. 

Finally, it appears that jail staff, in particular the officer that does fingerprinting and mugshots at the jail, are fully behind Shane Gardner for Sheriff - as a head nod and big grin by said officer to me during booking seem to indicate. 

I'm eager to hear from folks at the Sheriff's Office what they think about all of this. Please let me know either on here in the comments section or by email, sheaside@gmail.com. 

SCOTT WEBER INTRIGUES, INCLUDING HIS THOUGHTS AS CLERK ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS' PRIVACY, HIS DESIRE TO ABOLISH COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE, HIS LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF COUNTY CLERK BUDGET AND STAFF NUMBERS, AND HIS DRINKING  

O Vancouvria! has learned, through multiple sources, some very interesting things about County Clerk Scotty Weber. Among said finds: 

-Weber, on Clark-Vancouver TV and in the 2010 Voters' Guide, indicated to voters his desire to "abolish" the office of County Clerk, contracting its vital business (ensuring accurate and truthful records of trials and working to ensure peoples' access to legal redress) to private entities. 

-Weber, during statements made to The Columbian at his endorsement interview, had NO IDEA what the budget of the Clerk's office was (6.5M, give or take) or how many employees he oversees. 

-Weber told CVTV that the reason domestic violence facilitators (who assist victims, both defendants and plaintiffs, in resolving domestic violence issues without judicial intervention) don't "need" private Courthouse meeting areas is because "domestic violence is going to be a matter of public record anyways". 

-Weber, during a May 2014 event held at Main Event West (downtown Vancouver), consumed 5 LONG ISLAND ICED TEAS at Main Event West, then more drinks afterwards, in the company of Washougal City Councilman Brent Boger - who apparently drove Weber home. 

These are all interesting facts about County Clerk Weber - who had NO COMMENT on any of it to O Vancouvria! at press time. Stay tuned. Here's a link to some of those comments from Weber's 2010 campaign, for those interested.

NOW FOR THE POTATOES: COFFEE AND CANNOLI WITH DEANNA PAULI-HAMMOND 

O Vancouvria! sat down with County Clerk Candidate Deanna Pauli-Hammond (Dem) this morning at Luxe, 700 Washington Street, in Vancouver, and talked with her a bit about goings-on with her and her campaign over delicious coffee and cannoli this morning. Luxe is a WONDERFUL Seattle-style lounge that serves a full menu, microbrews, coffee, and delicious pastries. A great place for a quiet chit-chat. 

Deanna expressed worry that she "didn't have a funny story" to tell O Vancouvria! readers - then I asked her about her injured right hand. We hence came up with a "hook" for her (her hand is in a sling). As Deanna tells it, she's "relieved nothing worse happened, and her ego is intact". True dat, Deanna - and we at O Vancouvria! are VERY RELIEVED you are OK. 

Turns out Deanna, who has a zest for campaigning and a desire to DO RIGHT by the people of Clark County by getting the Clerk's office fiscally back on track and responsible directly to the people (all values O Vancouvria! shares), got a little zealous Sunday morning at 5:30 AM, when most folks are still in bed. She decided to put in a large campaign sign at the "Y" Mart (4th Plain Road and Ward Road), and, in pounding the sign stakes with a mallet into the cement-like dry ground, wound up stepping down on the shovel a bit too fast, and fell over backwards onto her left palm - and right wrist. She gets the splint off tomorrow and begged my pardon for her "one-handed" typing. Its all good, Deanna. You get this one, "hook, line, and sinker". 

Deanna's website, including clips of her fresh policies and zest for the Clerk's office and its values, is at www.deanna4countyclerk.com. Deanna also wants folks to know she's got a YouTube channel (I wish I did LOL).  

Finally, Deanna mentioned that Willy, her CUTE AS A BUTTON 17-month old bulldog, will soon have his own BLOG, on Blogger. Stay tuned for that link, folks. Willy is adorable. 

So, here's the potatoes of today's Tuesday O Vancouvria! Enjoy them. We'll talk Thursday, when we (hopefully) sit down with Craig Pridemore, County Council candidate for the 3rd District (Vancouver).

1) What would you like us to know about yourself? 

I am a 26 year Clark County resident who has successfully climbed the corporate ladder and am now committed to serving the people of our community.  I feel our community deserves qualified elected officials that truly care about our community. With 25 years of executive finance, management and leadership experience I am clearly the only qualified candidate in this race for the position.

2) What would you like us to know about your opponent? 

This could be a loaded question but I will stick with a few of the basics.

For starters Mr. Weber ran in his primary election to abolish the office. Stating at a taped interview during the election process, if he could not he would step down and go back into the private sector.  

Recently I had the opportunity to sit down with him at two side-by-side interviews I have been able to learn a few key points that are very concerning to me.  

1. After almost 4 years in office he did not know his departmental budget. Nor does he know what number was “settled” on for the upcoming 15/16 biannual departmental budget.  
2. He blamed the 5.21% budget increase on a few raises, a couple scanners and adding one employee.  (even though there are fewer employees than when he took office – he clearly does not understand budgeting)
3. He still does not know the difference between the term abolishing the office and making it an appointed position, stating they are the same thing.
4. He also stated that he had an employee donate almost 2000 hours of their time for a portion of the e-filing implementation.  Also that the implementation cost little if no money and that it will be an ever changing system, basically until they get it right.  
5. He believes the facilitator’s office is in a private enough area (it is an open office with the waiting area on the main floor of the court house by the café) and that it doesn’t really matter where it is because it will become public record anyway.  (as a general rule the facilitators deal with domestic violence restraining orders and family court issues – his flippant statement leads me to believe he has little to no regard for the physical or mental well being of the people in our community)

3) What experience do you bring to this office? 

I possess more than two decades of executive finance, management, leadership, customer service and organizational experience.  With the Clerk being responsible for over 3 million dollars of Clark County Citizen’s money in trust for a wide range of functions and services. The community needs to know your funds are being managed and accounted for properly.  The office also has a biannual departmental budget of 6.5 million dollars.

   

In the last decade I have successfully implemented several new large corporate
systems. One example: Seamlessly implementing a large all-encompassing proprietary accounting and file tracking system which tied together a small accounting system, proprietary file tracking system, and several other archaic information tracking systems. Bringing together information for thousands of clients, from 17 satellite offices for expedient, accurate financial data reporting and file organization. The system paid for itself in less than 12 months in man hours alone. 

4) What strengths do you have for the position? 

I have successfully, with true integrity and full accountability managed multi-million dollar budgets on a monthly and annual basis, while remaining in compliance with financial institutions and governmental agencies and their reporting requirements.

I am also a working manager who believes in working with my team to provide a positive working environment.

5) What hopes do you have for the County Clerk's office if elected? 

My plan is to immediately focus on reorganizing the e-filing implementation so team members and our attorneys can successfully utilize the system without having to work around the newly rolled out system currently in place. In tandem, I will take a detailed look at the departmental budget to find out exactly why there was a 5.21% increase during the 13/14 budget cycle and focus on ways to get that number back in line.  As the Clerk’s office is not only responsible for maintaining the superior court records and the judicious processing of those documents, it is also the Financial Officer of the Superior Court, which is often forgotten.

I am also a passionate advocate for programs to prevent against domestic violence and elder abuse as well as for lower income families to get the assistance they need in a friendly, compassionate and expedient manner.  I plan to provide sufficient access to the resources needed to fill out and file the correct paperwork, such as in-house Kiosks with step by step instructions in a private secure location. 

6) How will you bring that vision (for the Clerk's office) into action? 

See above. Deanna carries herself WELL.

7) Why are you running for this job? 

The public deserves an elected official in the Clerk’s office that has a full understanding of maintaining departmental budgets, has the proven management, leadership experience and drive to successfully implement and maintain sound processing systems.  My education and executive training by far surpasses my opponents.  In addition to implementing many extensive, forward thinking, overall cost saving, IT projects I possess 25 years of successful top level financial management, leadership and customer service experience. Therefore I am the only qualified candidate for this position and the best person to carry out the Clerk’s role.  

8) Tell us something humorous that's happened on the campaign trail. 

See above - the "hand" story.

9) What's your favorite color/s, and why? 

My favorite color is pink.  Besides the fact that it goes great with my dark hair and olive completion.  It is a color that speaks of my personality.  I am sensitive, loving, kind and have others best interests at heart. I also have a positive outlook on life, am reserved and meticulously organized.