This nose knows what’s wrong here

Northwest Passage, Jim Casey

Sequim City Hall, it’s becoming obvious, doesn’t get enough advice.
Although some city councilors are busily forming one shadow government
(Sequim Speaks) and another is in its nascent stages (Sequim Sense), room still exists for my merry band of kibitzers.
I was thinking of calling it Sequim Squeaks until I realized there’s not enough WD-40 in the whole town to silence its civic screeching.
Instead, I’m forming
Sequim Scents, the group that will sniff out what stinks in local politics.
Brothers and sisters, it sure ain’t lavender.
I’ll address just what smells in a moment.
First, I as Sequim Scents’s top Nose Who Knows will remain anonymous, just like Walt Schubert and friends at Sequim Sense. No one will know that I run the group, although I’ll happily fan any rumors that waft across my path, including that I’m D.B. Cooper.
Second, until enough people join of their own free will, I’ll appoint some charter members who’ll act as an executive board:
■ The two sheet metal bull elk that stand at each approach to town and whose actual names are Charles Mingus (aka “Bull” Fiddle) and Arnold Palmer (Golf “Bull”).
■ A pair of gulls from West Sequim Bay Road and an eagle who hangs out above the Olympic Discovery Trail — the tough-looking one who often is seen flipping a silver dollar in one talon.
■ Bucky Beaver, Freshup Freddy, Chiquita Banana and Johnny the Phillip Morris bellhop, all long unemployed and available immediately.
■ My dog Jasper, who can smell something cheesy 100 yards away with the wind at her back.
Third, we’ll accept anyone, including Aginners, beginners, winners, sinners, pickers and grinners, and Wobblies.
There’ll be plenty to sniff out if we only follow our noses, loath though we may be to do so. And the scent trail leads straight to 190 W. Cedar St., where the aforementioned city councilors do their public business after making up their minds in private.
Here two “parties,” if you will, hold forth:
■ The council’s current majority, derisively called the “Gang of Four” but who as easily could be called The Fource, the Four Horse People of the Apoplexy, the Fab Four or the Four Flushers, depending on your point of view.
■ The Other Three — often the Other Two and Sometimes One Too if Bill Huizinga is absent — whom you could call the Three Wise Men or the Three Stooges according to your personal perspective.
But for all their quibbles, squabbles and spats — Sequim’s leading spectator sport — all seven (no one would call them magnificent) unanimously laid an egg so rotten that it stinks to high heaven:
They voted to reject Linda Herzog’s offer to stay on as interim city manager for an indeterminate term, choosing instead to search for her replacement immediately in the face of what are sure to be contentious bids for re-election by Councilors Huizinga and Schubert.
Herzog has kept a low profile as the city’s chief executive — as she should — but she’s also kept her temper as the councilors disagreed to disagree on almost everything over which they could wrangle.
She even got them to get behind a work plan, as close as they’ve come to playing nicely with one another in more than a year.
Herzog is a pro at finding traction in slippery issues. If Sequim stumbles through the present economic pitching
and rolling, it will be she who lent the city a sense of balance.
Although people inside and outside Sequim roll their eyes at the mention of “city council,” no one laughs at Linda.
Perhaps the councilors to a man and woman have some personality conflict with her. The problem, of course, could be professional.
More likely, though, they’re just ashamed to have her around as a reminder of civic responsibility and how they’ve failed to fulfill it.
Mind you, the last time the councilors interviewed candidates for the job, all three finalists gave the city the backs of their hands — then probably laughed up their sleeves at having received expense-paid trips to Clallam County.
Sequim’s city councilors aren’t earning their salaries — not the few bucks they receive in cash but the ballots that voters paid them when they promised they’d govern the city.
That’s why Sequim Scents won’t have any problem smelling out what stinks hereabouts.
The problem will be finding enough clothes pins to close our noses once we’ve found it.
Jim Casey is the editor of the Sequim Gazette.


Thieves may be eying your ’92 Honda Accord

Washington continues to be a hotbed for auto thieves despite a drastic 25-percent dip in theft rate last year, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau’s annual Hot Spots Report.
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area ranked 26th in auto theft rates for 2008, dropping from 16th in 2007.
Closest to Sequim, the Bremerton-Silverdale area ranked ninth in the state.
Washington’s 10 most stolen vehicles by year, make and model, according to NICB statistics, are:
1992 Honda Accord, 1995 Honda Civic, 1989 Toyota Camry, 1994 Acura Integra, 1993 Saturn SL, 1994 Nissan Sentra, 1995 Toyota Pickup, 1995 Nissan Pathfinder, 1993 Subaru Legacy and Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee.
The Northwest Insurance Council offers these tips to help reduce your risk of having your vehicle stolen:
■ Keep your doors locked and windows completely rolled up.
■ Remove keys from the ignition, even when briefly stepping away from your car.
■ Keep valuable items such as bags, purses, cell phones and briefcases out of sight.
■ Always park your vehicle in well-lit areas.
■ Always activate your vehicle’s security or alarm system when parked.