In August 2022, incendiary events in Port Townsend brought social media posts by then 39-year-old Mayor David Faber to national attention. Internet writers began discussing tweets like this:
And this one, publicizing his ultra-low Rice Purity Test score (17/100) to demonstrate that, as “legally-required,” he is a “pervert and deviant”:
The Rice Purity Test is a 100-question survey that asks about a person’s experiences with potentially “risky” behaviors such as drugs, alcohol, sex, crime, deceit, and other deeds considered immoral or non-virtuous. Scored out of 100 possible points, the lower the score, the less virtuous. The average score is 60-75.
Another, about having sex with dead chickens:
At the October 17, 2022 Port Townsend City Council meeting, Port Townsend Free Press founder and ongoing contributor Jim Scarantino read some of the above tweets into the public record. While those social media posts may be old news to some, the story isn’t over.
Nearly a year later Scarantino was back with an update at the September 11, 2023 city council workshop. There were new tweets to be added to the record.
Following the workshop, Scarantino recounted on the Free Press‘s Facebook page:
“He makes such comments on a Twitter account that right up front identifies him as Mayor of Port Townsend. And he holds himself out as the Mayor while discussing city business on the same account where he also writes about masturbation. Not nice stuff to read, but this is the Mayor’s behavior in a public forum where he is representing the city of Port Townsend.”
Faber’s Twitter/X banner today is pictured below. The “cold feet” handle and licking dog are gone, replaced by a new photo, his political yard sign, and “Mayor of Port Townsend, WA” identifier.
Should we care about the tweets of David J. Faber, Mayor of Port Townsend? Why continue to bring them up? How did we get here?
The Backstory
The dive into Faber’s online persona began after the Free Press broke the story in August 2022 of 80-year-old Julie Jaman’s expulsion by the YMCA from our community swimming pool. That’s old news, too, but revisiting what unfolded provides important context for the mayor’s social media conduct.
Naked in the women’s showers after a swim, Jaman was shocked to hear a male voice. She became more upset when she looked past the flimsy shower curtain and saw a teenage boy in a woman’s bathing suit “helping” little girls with their swimsuits.
She didn’t know that Clementine Adams was a Y employee, a quite-obviously biological male who just months earlier had announced a new identity as a transgender woman. Jaman asked “Do you have a penis?” and demanded that Adams get out of the locker room. When management intervened, rather than de-escalate the situation, naked Jaman, dripping wet, was told that her reaction had been “discriminatory”. On the spot, she was banned for life from the pool she had been swimming in for 35 years.
The story went internationally viral, putting a magnifying glass on our little town. As the saga unfolded, Faber’s response as Port Townsend’s mayor brought him under intense scrutiny.
Less than a week after Jaman’s ouster, dozens of citizens showed up to give public comment at the next city council meeting. Two distinct groups spoke.
Those upset about Jaman’s treatment voiced discomfort over allowing biological men in women’s spaces. They requested that the city honor traditional safeguards for women and girls and work to develop a solution to meet all pool users’ needs. Some asked, why not allow for privacy and designate an all-gender space?
The second group attacked the first. Those asking to be safeguarded, they said, were “transphobes” and “haters”. “Trans women ARE women,” they chanted.
None of the concerns over Jaman’s abrupt lifetime ban or requests for privacy solutions at the city pool were addressed by the council. Instead, at the conclusion of public comments, Mayor Faber lectured that Port Townsend was a welcoming community, sternly rebuking those requesting consideration for private spaces as hateful and discriminatory. (Mayor Deflects Backlash Over Men in Women’s Showers at YMCA, Virtue Signals About Trans Rights Instead)
The only discussion among the council was a proposal to develop a statement “to formally support the Y and its staff.” In the days that followed, that “statement” was elevated to a Transgender Proclamation.
Local women’s rights advocate Amy Sousa tweeted the proposed proclamation out to her national audience and attempted to have an exchange with Mayor Faber. He responded with juvenile taunts and name-calling. Rather than discussing Sousa’s concerns, much like the group chanting at city council, Port Townsend’s mayor called her a transphobe.
“The transphobes have found me,” he tweeted out in response to her post. “Fuuuuuun”.
That wasn’t enough, there was more to say. Five minutes later he re-posted Sousa’s tweet that shared the proclamation, and responded with the nonsensical dismissal “Zoopity boop.”
“The mayor of Port Townsend doesn’t seem to think my concerns deserve respectful consideration,” Sousa wrote. “I think women/girls deserve the sex based provisions that our foremothers battled for centuries to attain, privacy, safety, & dignity for our BODIES.”
She later told media, “This is a little ridiculous to me that this is how the mayor is choosing to respond to women and girls who have legitimate concerns… he’s not taking these concerns with seriousness and the gravity that I think we are due.”
Sousa then organized a press conference to be held prior to the next City Council meeting, when the proclamation would be up for public comment. That event across from City Hall (covered in multiple Free Press articles – 1, 2, 3) brought yet more national attention after trans activists violently attacked the predominantly elderly women speaking, while Port Townsend Police watched passively from across the street. Citizens begging for help were told orders had come “from above” not to intervene.
Those who participated in the event were intimidated and assaulted; some were injured. They were locked out of the council meeting as well, unable to give public comment. Meanwhile inside City Hall, Mayor Faber descended from his dais and took off his mask to ceremoniously read the “welcoming” proclamation to a local trans “leader”.
Following the mob attacks and proclamation reading, a later tweet by Faber further inflamed the situation: “What an incredible night. The Port Townsend community showed up in beautiful fashion,” he wrote. “Tonight reminded me of why Port Townsend is home.”
While the police stood guard outside City Hall under orders “from above” to protect the mayor and council — not the citizens — during their special proclamation, below is what “home” had become for people speaking across the street that evening. “The Port Townsend community that showed up in beautiful fashion” looked like this:
How the Mayor Has His “fuuuuuun” on Social Media
This series of explosive events reverberated far and wide. Writers covering women’s issues took notice. After his puerile responses to Sousa and his “beautiful community” tweet the night of the assaults, they wondered what else Mayor Faber was broadcasting online.
Former New York Magazine and Penthouse contributor Mandy Stadtmiller was among the national writers to bring attention to Faber’s social media posts. The day after the city-permitted women’s rights press conference drew violent assaults from trans activists while police stood watching with detachment under orders not to protect them, she asked:
But first out of the gate was Substack writer Mattie Watkins. “This was supposed to be fun and snarky,” she wrote, “but as I researched David J. Faber things got progressively weirder and more serious.”
Watkins was the first to republish the tweets at the top of this article. Along with his sex with dogs and dead chickens comments, and the post that mayors are required to be filthy and deviant, she discovered Faber defending actor Paul Reuben, aka PeeWee Herman. Reuben had been arrested for masturbating in public and charged with misdemeanor possession of child pornography in 2002.
Faber’s tweet responding to someone claiming that Reuben had been targeted as part of a sting operation was that “PeeWee did nothing wrong.”
Yet in addition to masturbating in public, Reubens had confessed to possessing 170 images of children in sexual acts and positions.
Watkins also tagged this post:
In a follow-up article she asked “What does that mean?”
Social media influencer Vaush describes himself as a “dirtbag leftist” with an online presence geared predominantly to radicalizing young people. Watkins documents his insulting, aggressive and misogynistic attitude toward women.
Typifying that attitude, she says, are statements like, “I wish this dumb bitch wasn’t in high school so I could fully go off on her.”
And demeaning tweets like:
While degrading women is a common theme in “Vaush politics,” he is equally “notorious” for comments advocating pedophilia and lowering the age of consent, Watkins said. He influences his mostly young audience with messages that endorse the legalization of child pornography.
“What does this mean for Mayor David J. Faber?” she asked. “Well, he isn’t a complete idiot and is not on record agreeing with these specific ideas from Vaush. However, he also hasn’t condemned them and continues to align himself with Vaush as a whole.”
Faber Looks Amused
At the October 3, 2022 Port Townsend City Council meeting, Rebel News reporter Katie Daviscourt posed some of these same questions during public comments.
Daviscourt quoted Faber’s tweets about bestiality and asked him if his alignment with Vaush reflected his moral views. She asked if “his history of inappropriate and controversial tweets are a good representation of an elected official.” The mayor did not answer her queries. The video of the meeting reveals only a grainy flash of Faber grinning as she quotes his tweet, “As mayor, I am legally required to be a pervert and deviant.”
She asked, does the City Council stand by his comments or denounce his behavior?
The only councilor to offer a public response to citizens’ call for the city council to censure the mayor — and in some social media discussions, to remove Faber from office — has been Owen Rowe.
“I fully support our Mayor David Faber,” Rowe said. “I am entertained by his Twitter account, and do not understand that as in any way representing the city organization.”
Watkins notes that Vaush and his supporters “love to hide behind the ‘it’s a joke’ excuse.”
The File Grows
More of Faber’s online “humor” soon surfaced.
His post of a selfie wearing eye liner and mugging inside what appears to be a public toilet stall:
Delight over wasting a church’s money on prayer card mailings to his deceased mother:
And new tweets defending PeeWee Herman’s possession of child pornography and public masturbation. “I’ll say it again,” he wrote, “Pee-Wee Herman did nothing wrong.”
“In another tweet,” Scarantino informed council, “he said he adored this pedophile [PeeWee] for never losing his childlike innocence and joy.”
And “earlier in the summer,” Scarantino added, “between discussing housing policy and promoting one of the Financial Sustainability videos done by the city,” Faber was inspired to re-post someone else’s musings about masturbation:
“[I’m] thinking about that guy who died beating off at Pompeii” the post said. To which Faber commented, “Every day. Sometimes twice.”
“I don’t know what it says about the city that for over a year the council has known about this conduct and has not said one word about it,” Scarantino told council. “And as I pointed out over a year ago, were any other city employee to engage in such conduct, you’d have a very hard time disciplining them with your mayor doing things like this.”
“This is the mayor. The mayor,” Scarantino later emphasized. Not only does Faber use his Twitter account to discuss city business, “he even communicated with at least one state legislator.”
“Seriously, imagine if a police officer—make it the police chief—identified himself by his public position, then said that stuff. But apparently they approve of his conduct enough to let it go, even when reminded that he was still at it a year later.”
“What does that say for Port Townsend and the government of this city?” Scarantino asked the council.
Are all of our elected officials who chose to place young Faber in the mayor’s chair entertained by his mix of city business with tweets about bestiality, perversion, deviance, and the joy of masturbation? Do all of them find his public defense of pedophilia funny?
Arriving in Port Townsend in 1975 in Sherpa, her Ford van, Ana Wolpin has watched a sweetly funky, diverse and tolerant community increasingly gentrify, polarize and lose its soul. After almost half a century engaged in local business, city politics, county organizations and community projects, she joined with fellow editors to revive the Free Press and bear witness to extraordinary times. For a short sketch of Ana's history in Jefferson County, see “About the Free Press."
I just now wondered if “yam” was some contemporary slang. I looked it up. OMG. I hope this is not what Faber was referring to when he tweeted “having sex with a dog to make a yam you are happy with.” https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Yam%20Jam
“What does that say for Port Townsend and the government of this city?” from Ana’s article
For the majority of “woke” Port Townsend citizens that support the city council and Mayor Faber, they get the kind of political representation that they deserve. Question is, how many of those that support him would ever have Mr. David J. Faber baby sit their children or grandchildren? If we wouldn’t trust him around our children, dogs or chickens then why give him your support to represent the men, women and children of Port Townsend? All of our political representatives represent a projection of our citizens’ values and morals, so the question might be Ana, what does this mayor say about our city?
I have Posted Lots of Public Records on Twitter, now X, if interested https://twitter.com/DavidFaberPT
I thank God every day that my Mom and I were able to escape Port Townsend after 30 years of ‘living’ there. I THANK GOD EVERY SINGLE DAY.
Harvesting the bounty of Appointed Mayor Faber’s shortcomings and transgressions is not just low hanging fruit easily picked. Faber is a fat juicy watermelon. Lately crowing because he has proved himself not to be seedless.
Faber is only the latest tacky hood ornament sitting on the rusted out and faltering vehicle that is the non-human entity that is the official city of Port Townsend. What steers this vehicle into the ditch time after time with voters seemingly unaware of the impaired drivers? The vehicle has a cheap paint job that fools most onlookers. The Mis Leader is where faulty parts are ignored, and fresh coats of cheap paint are applied. Year after year after year.
Prior to Faber was Sandoval. 20 years of self-serving smarm and charm worked on most voters but not all. I worked to get the hood ornament Stinson replaced. That happened. The vehicle then had one new tire quickly worn to the desired thin tread. With Stinson gone Sandoval was appointed for a third term. Faber became deputy Appointed Mayor. Howard in the wings. Now Rowe and Wennstrom in the queue. New moles lined up to endlessly play whack a mole with.
Look past Appointed Mayor Faber and his actions. Crickets from the 6 council members who appointed him and then support him with their silence exposes deep systemic flaws. In line with Appointed Mayor Faber’s brand the uniform at council meetings should be ball gags and blindfolds.
Even more problematic are Appointed Mayor Faber’s transgressions with public money. The word transgression has nothing to do with the other trans Faber uses to divide.
At this point we should always refer to the entire machine, Faber/Mauro/Council., Faber just a mindless gear. No parking plan or enforcement now 10 years in. The latest plan is a 50-unit hotel in the historic district with 11 parking spaces. Faber’s potty talk should not move the focus from other damage Cherry Street. Also remember that Faber and side kick city manager Mauro failed to notify through the city newsletter, the main instrument to notify, that streateries were going to be permanent through a change in a city ordinance. Look at the 1.2 million dollar no public input visitor center plaza of concrete. Faber voted for it. Howard as well. I could go on but hopefully point made throughout the content of Free Press articles.
Thanks to Jim Scarantino for doing the work council should be doing. Alas they are cut from different cloth, or rewoven. I have to wonder if Faber/Mauro/Council will take any issue and ask for a refund from Ballard*King for the expensive and irrelevant “study” Mauro and therefore council had taxpayers pay for. Ask yourself why Faber/Mauro/Council didn’t catch the glaring irrelevant content, but used the “study” to push the agenda. Then Mauro brings in someone to instruct council not to look at negatives but share stories of individual successes. And they comply.
The obscenity is far deeper than Faber.
Laura Faber is a director at Fire Fly Academy preschool. I wonder if she lets her husband anywhere NEAR that preschool with his stated sexual preferences.
There are those who dislike the tweets DJF makes. Guess if you are David Faber, you can say and do anything you want. This is another reason for Home Rule. The leadership of the Port Townsend voting block is people like David Faber.
I was the first “Appointed” Mayor under the “new” form of government we ushered in after the overthrow of the previous government. The previous government seemed to be violating every good and beneficial interaction and service provision to the citizens of Port Townsend. We defeated them by a 70/30 margin.
That was in 1998. We ran on a “reform” ticket and defeated the previous members of the City Council by a similar margin. We took office in February 1999. We did reduce the city employment ranks (which was perceived at the time as abusing the citizenry through various regulatory and power-expressing means), we did begin to fix the roads. We instituted “public comment” in the meeting processes. We involved a new set of citizens to the various committees and boards and refreshed the Leader with actual things to report on. Yes there was contention, demonstrations and disputes but we kept it out in the open. We televised our meetings and public workshops and allowed full citizen access to the governmental process. We respected the populace. We tried to let the “people” rule the local, self-perceived elites.
Then we lost the majority. That was the birth of the whirlwind of “public activism” craziness we are reaping now.
Someone even founded “The Port Townsend Free Press” to counter the Leader’s (Ben Thomas [yes, that Ben Thomas], and Gigi Glen) coverage. Maybe it’s time to invoke the resurrection of MOCCAA again !
Thanks for the history lesson and connecting some dots Geoff. Most of all thanks for the altruistic effort back when.
This is from the comment guidelines “Diversity of opinion is sorely lacking in Port Townsend, in part because dissenting views are often suppressed, self-censored and made very unwelcome.”
The other past Appointed Mayor Jim speaks of is anonymous. So many that know so much are silent.
To not self censor is an anomaly in this town and so many places these days. So many lack a true strong sense of self. Here is a list of some folks that self censor and keep Faber/Mauro doing what they do best, and betray their constituents. 4 up for re election unchallenged.
Deputy Mayor Amy Howard
Owen Rowe
Libby Urner Wennstrom
Aislinn Palmer
Monica MickHager
Ben Thomas (:)yes that Ben Thomas) (conflicted but supportive)
Advised by City Attorney Heidi Greenwood
The idea of taking over the majority again seems futile. The powers that be seem to have successfully put finances in such a hole that it really may not matter who the captain of the sinking ship is any more. You have probably seen the 10 year financial model. Graph in article below. So much for self proclaimed “elites” in control. Fort Worden in worse shape than the city that spawned the FWPDA. City meaning a small core group.
Scorched earth. Faber/Mauro/council still wanting to do a little more.
https://www.porttownsendfreepress.com/2023/07/10/aquatic-center-beats-out-streets-and-core-services-for-increased-tax-dollars-in-task-force-report/
Thanks again for the history and spine.
“As the mayor, I am legally-required to be a pervert and deviant”
Unlike the majority of Port Townsend residents, Mayor David Faber appears to be intelligent and in contact with reality. He is absolutely correct about the personal traits required to serve the forces of evil that have infiltrated our governments and institutions.
These forces are aligned with the anti-human Great Reset totalitarian ideology. Although most of our local officials and the majority of our neighbors are not evil, they don’t appear capable of identifying hostile forces, which is the first step in defeating them.
The next step is facing the possibility that we don’t have the tools to remove rogue governments which own legislatures, courts, and elections systems. Solutions may require building parallel structures to manage our lives until the current regime fails.
Mr. Mayor and Former City Councilor Ana Wolpin: I am really honored to see your words on this website. The Free Press has come so far since the first days when I was thrilled to get forty reads on an article and there seemed to be a concerted effort to drive me not only off the internet, but out of town. Now I know that the work here is being read widely throughout the community. In addition to Mr. Masci, I have heard from another former mayor about how he is horrified at the behavior of the current holder of that office.
Faber’s twitter is an embarassment to himself and the town, but I doubt it goes much deeper than that. At most it reveals he has NPD and poor taste. It is sad though, he could use that reach to better the town or uplift people in it, but he chooses to go with an insufferable brand of masturbatory virtue-signaling tweets spiced with “jokes” that are as interesting as him. But you’re giving him too much credit if you think there’s more there, there is actually less. He blends in so well with the pompous, ineffective, out of touch, status quo enforcing liberals here that he’s in a way invisible.
Thank you, Ana, for keeping us aware of Faber. And, thank you to Jim for staying on top of so many things. Maybe the council will take a look. I emailed this to Ben at his council address.
The world continues to feel upside down. Scratch our head and wonder how did we get here?
I remember when Ben started the other paper. I cannot recall the name of it. Thanks for history Geoff.
Hoping for sanity.
Beth, our alternative paper was called Vigilance (thanks for the call out, Geoff!). We ran it for 5 years from 2000 to 2005. (It kind of incubated in the shipping department of Coyote Found Candles where you and I worked together a couple years before.) As I’ve mentioned on here before, PTFP co-publisher Annette Huenke was a supporter through advertising, and I likewise support the muckraking spirit of PTFP. A critical-thinking free press with divergent views is one of the keys of a thriving and un-corrupted democracy.
That said I’m not interested in reading scandal in the tea leaves of the Mayor’s posts, posts that seem clearly to me to be in jest. I’ve known David for a long time, and that’s always been his sense of humor. Out of context, I can agree that it’s bad form in the role of Mayor, but it’s no smoking gun that he’s an actual “deviant”. I think it’s obvious that true deviants don’t announce such things publicly.
And to answer the other Ben’s question above, I would let our Mayor babysit my four-year-old. Not because I’m willing to risk my child’s safety, but because I trust my judgement of human character. Plus it’s hard to find childcare around here. I don’t always agree with our Mayor, and we’ve had some very public disagreements lately, but this isn’t an issue with him in my opinion.
I don’t expect for my words here to convince anyone, but I at least want you to know where I’m coming from on this. And in general, I would agree with the broader point that I think a mayor, or anyone in an representative role, should be mindful to represent everyone in their district. And I would say this includes not embarrassing them.
Ben,
This is an excuse wrapped in deflection and dressed up as justification. Lipstick, meet Pig. David Faber has shown that he is unfit for the role of Mayor, much less councilor, not because of his “sense of humor” but because of his poor judgment and his unprofessional conduct evidenced time and time again in person and online while wearing the mantle of mayor. His twitter/x feed bears the title of mayor. He is, therefore, posting not as a private citizen but as mayor. This is context, Ben, and it’s not “out” of his role as mayor. It’s linked directly to it, despite his bullshit claim at a recent city council meeting that he “draws a hard line” between his mayoral conduct and his personal comments.
No reasonable person is asking Faber to be “censored” as you have indicated on Facebook. I couldn’t care less what he does on social media or in person, or what his sense of humor may be, if that behavior does not carry over into his elected, representative role. He has the right to conduct, and humiliate, himself in any way he chooses on his own time, his own dime. But he has crossed that line so many times, as this outlet and others have shown. No one need prove he is a deviant to ask that his behavior be addressed by city council – his actions have degraded the council and this community and are conduct unbecoming his office. Obviously you agree or you wouldn’t continuously qualify your discomfort with excuses.
And “I think it’s obvious that true deviants don’t announce such things publicly.” You can’t really mean this. But then again, the standards we hold elected officials to have dropped so low, what should be or once was considered deviant is now considered a sense of humor, or worse, accepted policy.
AJ, I didn’t say “censored” on Facebook, I said “cancelled”. Of course people have different definitions for that word, but I’m meaning it as using someone’s sense of humor (whether anyone thinks it’s funny or not) as a reason to censure a person in their professional or political role. We spent four long years of people asking for the president’s head in part for how he tweeted. That was a waste of calories, and this is a waste of calories (insisting that he be “fired”). All of it is relevant when it comes to election, though, and I believe that’s where this problem should be solved.
I would feel the same way if his politics were different or if I’d never met him before. And if it sounds like deflection because I’m focusing just on the attempts of online humor, that’s because those are the parts that most people are calling out. Perhaps that’s not your focus. If so, good for you for making it about job performance and divisiveness, which I personally believe is more to the point. But that’s not what most of the dialogue is about that I’m addressing. As for those points, that’s what I would be considering when voting for future mayors.
Point is Ben, Faber/Mauro/Council are creating the world your 4 year old will live in. Others in larger tide pools and petri dishes doing the same. Details have been covered in the FP, like the public funds wasting “team building” exercise Mauro had you and council participate in. Problem is Mauro is your employee. You are not part of his and Faber’s team. Groupthink lessons are now part of the budget. Role reversal alert.
Faber’s potty talk should not distract from:
No real notice by Faber/Mauro on council vote to make streateries permanent. Ben voted to extend through end of year 2022. We got the tattered man moldy mess tent in front of Alchemy. Middle finger to whole community.
Women’s rights being labeled as transphobic and free speech shut down. Mis Leader mis labels and fuels fire.
A new proposed 50 unit hotel with 11 parking spaces. No parking plan as promised in 2022. Where is the council planning committee and transportation committee study as Maruo took over? Helter Skelter.
One million dollar buy out turned down for Cherry Street. Faber’s legacy is no housing for many folks and families there and beyond with nearly 2 million dollars in losses. Faber saying, he would do it all over again. Proud arrogant fool.
In Japanese culture losing face is to be avoided. Those that cost others traditionally resign in disgrace.
There is so much more Ben. FP a great treasure trove of specifics.
Paul Simon-
And I know a father who had a son
He longed to tell him all the reasons for the things he’d done
He came a long way
Just to explain
He kissed his boy as he lay sleeping then he turned around and headed home again
He’s slip slidin’
Slip slidin’ away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you’re slip slidin’ away
In this case Mauro/Faber’s “team” slip slides, but also in other tide pools and petri dishes large and small. In the big picture what actions are “deviant” and most damaging? Explain to your 4 year old his future on the track Faber/Mauro and others take us down.
Bevis and Butt-Head do Port Townsend. Heh. Heh. Heh.
Harvey, well, I get it from both sides pretty much daily. One might ask, fairly, “Why not come down from the fence?” Because I believe my best role is to steer things toward transparency, rational choices that consider the community’s history and values, efficiency and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Or perhaps more to the point, to move things in the direction of a town that my kid would want to live in once he has a choice. I have determined — and y’all are quite free to disagree, and I know you will — that anything akin to burning it all down is not the best strategy.
I’m very hip to the Groupthink, but I always appreciate your reminders. And for some reason I still enjoy reading your comments, even when you insert my child into them. By the way, I prefer “St. Judy’s Comet” as a lullaby, but I appreciate the poignancy of your Paul Simon selection.
Ben, you “inserted your child.”
“I would let our mayor babysit my four-year-old.”
I just had questions as to your seemingly broader support of Faber and Mauro which impacts your child’s and everyone’s future. No answer here to my specific examples except the indentation on your rear from fence sitting. There is only your voting record and abstentions to go by.
What of the scam pool “study” by Ballard*King not based on or relevant to PT that “nearly perfect” Mauro spent public funds on? With your and council’s apparent approval? Any chance of demanding a refund from atop the fence? Will there be any reprimand for Mauro for wasting money and using irrelevant data to support his agenda? What about him using the Delphi technique to arrive at desired outcomes? Your silence is support.
Please do answer Ben. I anticipate the sound of crickets or deflection from atop the fence.
Slip sliding away. Or not?
.
Ben, again I appreciate your willingness to participate in this discussion. AJ and Harvey have covered much of what I could say in response to your comments, so I will just add some personal reflections.
I have had just one round of exchanges with our mayor. During the streateries debacle, after being called out for making insulting statements about the “loud minority” (actually the majority), Faber surprisingly acknowledged his offensive rhetoric and announced that he’d changed his position.
Having been critical in Free Press articles, I thought it important to express appreciation for positive shifts and not only critique the negative.
I emailed a brief note to Mayor Faber. I sincerely thanked him for his change of position, told him how much I and others appreciated it. Rather than accept my note at face value, he interpreted it as sarcastic. His response to me was antagonistic, complaining about the Free Press (I had written as a private citizen).
I was stunned, really — responded with surprise that he would go on the attack after being sincerely thanked. Again explained that I thought it only fair to give credit where credit was due after being previously critical.
His answer to that straightforward clarification was another head-shaker. Aha, gotcha!, he taunted, as if we were in a contest of one-upmanship. I felt like I was jousting with a boy in junior high school. Certainly not the conduct of a professional mature adult, let alone a mayor. In retrospect, it’s reminiscent of his idea of “fuuuuuun” with Amy Sousa. I sent one final response, expressing disappointment at his continued antagonism and his inability to receive a thank you with grace.
So unbelievable was that exchange, I was tempted to publish it in its entirety in a Free Press article. It seemed relevant as a glimpse into the mentality behind the mayor’s seat. I opted instead to send it to the rest of council, so I know you’ve seen it.
Yes, context is everything. Which is why I rehashed context in this article. You’d think that with all the devastating press the city received nationally over the YMCA/trans/Jaman travesty, a political “leader” would learn from negative feedback and show future discernment. To the contrary, Faber doubled down with tweets like “I’ll say it again: Pee-Wee Herman did nothing wrong.”
Humor, Ben?
You said it all in this sentence:
“I’ve known David for a long time, and that’s always been his sense of humor.”
That’s supposed to excuse it? The juvenile place from which he operated as a troubled adolescent (I am told) appears to be his M.O. as a 40-year old. Whether or not he’s truly a deviant — or simply posts childish selfies in public toilet stalls in jest, publicly admires from afar someone convicted of child pornography, and thinks tweets about masturbation are a hoot on a public page in which he proclaims his status as PT’s mayor — having a man-child stuck in a pubescent mindset at the helm of city government does not bode well for our town.
Given the tacit approval of council — and in the case of Owen Rowe and now you, overt excuses — it is no wonder that Faber has no qualms about displaying his juvenile mentality on a public page proclaiming that he is Port Townsend’s mayor. That you all condone this may be most disturbing of all.
Ana, I was posting my reply to Ben (which somehow ended up outside of this comment thread, far below) as you were posting this reply. I just want to acknowledge and thank you for your powerful reply. I simply cannot wrap my head around how both Faber and Wennstrom have not only gotten away with but been applauded BY CITY COUNCIL for their taunting comments calling for violence against members of their own communities.
Ana, I am not glossing over all of the information, and yes I did read the email exchange you shared, and it did bother me. My excuses (which I’m meaning as explanations, but maybe that’s a fine line) are directed toward the interest of the public in his fellow councilors to censure him based on his online comments. I don’t see that as my role, though I realize everybody here disagrees with me on that.
Dismissive or divisive comments to the public are far more concerning to me. I spoke up about the City’s scolding attitude to its residents after Steven Schumacher got lectured by the mayor after he made a public comment a couple months ago. Staff, councilmembers and some influential community members I had considered friends are still angry at me about that. Some still won’t make eye-contact with me. It’s the divisiveness part of the complaint that is my focus.
But most people are fixating on the salacious “humor” tweets. I’m not telling people not to be upset about those. I’m only explaining (or “excusing”) why I don’t make a big deal out of it. I have a general anti-establishment instinct that the other councilors don’t share, so I’m already beyond the fringe in the room. I want to make a difference on local issues, such as saving the golf course, which the mayor and I found compromise on after being at opposite ends of the issue. I guess that’s politics, which can be gross, but for better or worse, the relationships matter. But even outside of politics, I personally like David and believe he feels he’s doing what he thinks is right for the community. And yes, I would also have the same approach if I didn’t know him before.
Ben, thanks for your continued engagement here. Often the comments under articles bring the conversation to another level, and I think this a good example of that.
The mayor’s position on paper being “mostly a ceremonial, gavel-wielding role” (as you wrote to AJ below) doesn’t play out in actuality. Faber runs the meetings, sets the tone, and has acknowledged being responsible for unilaterally determining the council’s course on issues in the past.
When people asked how the move for permanent streateries was set in motion with zero public process, Faber confessed that was his decision — that Mauro had come to him asking for direction when the temporary permits were about to expire for the second time.
When the police department was directed to throw elderly women to the wolves during the city-permitted women’s rights event and instead protect City Hall (which was clearly never in danger), where did that direction come from? Mauro? Faber? Or both? Faber’s animosity toward Julie Jaman and Amy Sousa was not even thinly veiled, as evidenced by his tweets in this article.
Do they not set your (council’s) agendas together? They appear to be running the city in tandem.
And to hear that he lectured Stephen after a public comment is staggering. I don’t know a more polite, kinder and more thoughtful man than Stephen. Thank you for speaking up about that.
I agree that the divisive bent in Faber’s personality is more damaging to our community than his puerile “humor”. But all of it is of a piece, interrelated — childish emotional outbursts like those Michele has described in her comment below, the divisive rhetoric attacking citizens who challenge his positions, the use of social media under the banner of Mayor of Port Townsend that at best could be said to be in poor taste. There’s an immaturity combined with arrogance — a noxious combination — that is most easily demonstrated by this history of inappropriate tweets which he continued to flaunt even as the city received negative press for them.
These character traits all play off of and feed one another. As alluded to earlier, this conduct might be expected from an immature, insecure, troubled, and defiant adolescent boy, but is inexcusable for a mayor representing our city.
Ana,
[There was no reply button after your most recent comment, so not sure where this one will show up.]
Actually you’re right about it being more than a gavel-wielding role. The real significance is in the ability to help set the agenda. I was thinking of the more overtly technical difference between other councilors and the mayor, but my answer was frankly, a little “disingenuous” (to harken back to a previous conversation we’ve had) when I consider it.
Sorry for misspelling Stephen’s name. I always welcome his thoughtful feedback in our meetings since he almost always brings up something that no one else has considered. We should be thankful for his input.
My emphasis of Stephen’s name wasn’t meant as a correction (truly hadn’t noticed the misspelling) — I was taken aback that of all people Faber would lecture, he’d jump on that good soul!
Just as revealing is that you would receive a form of shunning for daring to suggest that commenters should not be scolded. These are the bludgeons that keep “the team” in line.
Stephen followed up with a note that:
“I wasn’t offended so much as annoyed about having a teapot tempest over a single word detouring attention from the more important points I was trying to make about use of Transportation Benefit District tax funds. That was the same meeting where I got the vibe council recoiled at my word ‘austerity’ (as a vampire would to garlic or holy water)” … [emphasis mine]
As you well know, few have the stomach or perseverance to subject themselves to the toxic environment of city council meetings on an ongoing basis. Wasteful spending, skewed priorities, a government apparatus that is taking the city down the drain with reckless abandon. All wrapped up in thin-skinned responses to public criticism. Heaven forbid that austerity be mentioned.
FORTUNATELY it appears a few more people have been waking up to what’s been going on. The millions squandered on the Cherry Street debacle, hundreds of thousands wasted on bogus consultant reports and Delphi technique manipulation at public “meetings” to justify this pipe dream aquatic center, along with the golf course “process” attempting to narrow choices to an agenda determined at the outset — all of it, as our roads crumble, has finally gotten people’s attention.
And the Leader seems to now be allowing some of those voices ink, without the 300 word limit. Laurie Stewart and Barney Burke for starters yesterday. They should have been given Op-Eds.
UNFORTUNATELY, the dawning didn’t manifest in time for the ridiculously narrow elections filing window (what was that, one week?). The response in Camas discussed below would be nothing short of a miracle here.
There is one reason Port Townsend has the government that it has, and that reason is that the people who live in the town desire such people to govern them. The fact that so many incumbents are running for re-election unopposed confirms this.
Shouldn’t the title instead be: “Mayor David Faber’s Social Media Round-up:
The Joke’s On Whom?”
This is my first time reading an article in PTFREEPRESS. I’m generally against fracturing in the media basically because we have a printed newspaper that is accessible to folks who are not online (yes, there are some out there). For better or worse, it’s called the Leader, and I would happily pay $4 or $5/week if it meant they could have some great reporting done. Anyway, what good does it do to have this private publication? Wouldn’t it reach a wider audience if you published your concerns in the Leader? More importantly, if folks don’t like the leadership as it stands, what can you/ we actually do to change it? Seems to me some kind of mediation between all the fracturing issues would be healthy/healing for the community. And for the record, we need to have some all-gendered changing rooms at the pool. These are the times we are living in.
PTlady,
If you read a few earlier articles — such as
The Leader Promotes Hate Speech,
Censors Thoughtful Community Voices
IN YOUR OWN WORDS: Covid Cancel Culture
Of Covid Testing, “Misinformation” and Censorship
— you will see that the Free Press exists entirely because of the Leader’s censorship. Many of us tried to “[publish our] concerns in the Leader” to “reach a wider audience” and were shut out. As described in the last article in the list above, Stephen Schumacher, after having his polite and factual letters to the editor rejected, spent thousands of his own dollars to run information about Covid (all of which has been proven accurate) as paid ads until the Leader rejected those as well. Restricting information to only the official narrative dictated by local institutions was a “business decision” according to the publisher.
I, too, had civil, factual letters censored (you can read one of those letters in its entirety in Of Covid Testing, “Misinformation” and Censorship), and prior to Covid a meticulously documented paid insert developed by a local group was rejected. They even censored a local doctor and other medical professionals who diverged from the accepted narrative. And as described in the first article listed above, the Leader went even further than censorship — it fomented divisions through hateful content that it published.
Had that newspaper fulfilled its role as the Fourth Estate, allowing all community voices to be represented on its pages, Stephen, Annette and myself would have certainly expressed our opinions and concerns in the local paper that claimed to “welcome letters from readers.” The commitment of managing an alternative publication is formidable.
I couldn’t agree more that “some kind of mediation between all the fracturing issues would be healthy/healing for the community.” Our newspaper of record has functioned as the antithesis of that sentiment. As have our mayor and at least one other council member. See
City Officials Lead Hate Campaign Against Women
PTlady, I know who you are from your (publicly) hidden email address. I know you to be a lovely, kind and caring young woman who has contributed to other forums under your actual name. Why hide your identity here?
PT Lady-
A couple of years ago the Mis Leader ran entertainment writer Bill Mann’s piece called “Thanks Spreadnecks For All Our Covid Miseries”, It was an overt attempt to vilify and divide using baseless “information” he absorbed without an ounce of critical thinking. It was approved by the Mis Leader. Pro mandate and pro “vaccine” Bill has no clue and wanted all his grandkids to get “vaccinated”. So they didn’t kill grandma, as per the CDC narrative. It is experimental mNRA gene therapy, not a vaccine until the definition of vaccine was changed to cover this experiment.
Bill Mann should stick to stories of his glory days. Some seem entertained by that. He is no investigative reporter or critical thinker. Perfect for the Mis Leader. A small version of controlled national media.
I answered Bill Mann and thanked him for being a willing guinea pig then canceled my Mis Leader subscription.
What Bill Mann blindly supported and the spreading he blamed others for has been shown to have no basis in fact. But don’t look for opposing opinions in the Mis Leader. Stephen Schumacher is a true local hero for his efforts to have other information made more public. He has been shown to be right. Dr. Berry Health Official for Jefferson and Clallam counties who parrots what she is told by the CDC showed up at my business maskless at the same time she was warning others to wear masks and get boosted. No front-page news there. Personal proof for me the level of deception and misinformation. The Mis Leader censors any opposing view points.
Speaking of dividing and promoting hate, the women’s rights press conference was called by the Mis Leader an “Anti Trans Rally.” The Mis Leader mis represented what actually was the message and promoted misunderstanding.
There is so much more.
So, the more you know the more you don’t look for much other than arts and entertainment in the Mis Leader — Keeping the lid on for over 100 years. There is a reason for the Free Press. Many more than mentioned here.
PTLady,
Obtaining my library card and subscribing to The Leader were among the first things I did as a new resident to Port Townsend over 10 years ago. I was willing to overlook the uneven quality, the mystifying editorial choices and lamentable copyediting to receive the community’s paper of record, which did its job of keeping me informed of issues of concern and interest to my town and the greater region.
All that changed for this reader in 2020. The triple whammy of the pandemic, the social justice riots and the degradation of the local economy revealed that the Leader was incapable of or unwilling to do the bare minimum of due diligence to print truthful content, if they even managed to cover an important story at all. They censored readers’ letters and editorials. They regurgitated hateful and harmful misinformation.
It was around this time that I “discovered” Port Townsend Free Press. I was and remain enormously grateful for the thoughtful, well-researched and documented articles presented here by writers who are not paid, who come from diverse social and political schools of thought, who risk privacy and safety to present issues that affect my life for no other reason than THEY CARE — about this community, about the truth, about holding elected and appointed officials accountable. The integrity, diligence and intelligence demonstrated here by Jim, Ana, Stephen, Annette and other contributors has helped me keep my sanity as a member of this community these past three years, at a time when I risked losing my job, my home, was ostracized by friends, colleagues, etc for not walking lockstep with a political and social agenda that threatens the most fundamental of our constitutional rights. What good does PTFP do, you ask? They are evidence that a free press and free speech are the only things that keep us from being held captive by an authoritarian state.
My last day as a subscriber of The Leader was the day they printed the editorial by Bill Mann that Harvey called out above. I sent an email to Mann and The Leader’s publisher and editor decrying this abomination of an opinion piece that sought to vilify, shame and ostracize those who would not succumb to lies, fear, and misinformation.
All of my news now comes from non-traditional, independent sources, many of whom once worked for legacy media — from The New York Times to Fox News — and who left because the truth was more important to them than a steady paycheck. We should be grateful for these folks rather than telling them to sit down and shut up. Long may they roar.
The libraries have internet access, so you should be able to read it there, in a pleasant environment.
Thank you for the thoughtful reply, Ben. You’re correct: it was “cancel” and not “censor”- my apologies for misquoting you.
Of course the only way to make a change of councilor is by way of a vote, but the good people of Port Townsend did not appoint Faber as mayor; that decision fell to the council. I think it is absolutely appropriate for that same council to reconsider their decision in light of Faber’s continued disregard for the responsibility and dignity of the office of Mayor, censure him AND rescind the appointment as mayor. Again, not for his “sense of humor.” But for his ill-considered, inappropriate, unprofessional application of that humor AS MAYOR. Not to mention his divisive comments and behavior. I agree that this can seem like Faber Derangement Syndrome, but again, the voters did not appoint Faber as Mayor and it’s not within their power to take that honor back at the ballot box unless he is replaced completely on the city council.
I unfortunately cannot cast my ballot one way or another since I no longer live within the city limits. Can’t afford to, thanks in no small part to the professional pursuits of the previous mayor who has made a small fortune off the jacked-up real estate within PT. But that’s a story of grift for another time. At any rate, I now commute to Port Townsend on the daily for work and live where it’s still relatively affordable.
I appreciate you engaging with the readers here.
AJ,
[I’ve noticed that if it takes too long to write a reply it reverts to the bottom of the thread. I have to write my comment, copy it, then click on “reply” again and paste it and then post it. (Ignore this workaround if this comment winds up at the bottom.)]
I wish the voters played a larger role in selecting a mayor, though with no one interested in running for any of the positions, there’s not even a choice for who to represent the people. We appoint a mayor for a limited 2-year stint. We’ll see who ends up in that role next year. As I believe I said above, it’s mostly a ceremonial, gavel-wielding role, but I recognize that it comes with an implied mantle of leadership for the whole town. Which is why I don’t like to see any divisiveness in that role, especially with how fractured our community, and the society at large, has become.
Adding that there has been a universal changing room at the Y since late summer 2022 – what you would consider an “all-gendered changing room.” Since there are only female and male humans and there are already changing facilities for women and men at the pool, there is no actual “need” for a changing room for those who claim to be women despite possessing male gonads or vice versa. But you’re right. These are the times we are living in, when we are asked to concede to the whims of those infected by social contagion, the delusions of the mentally ill, and/or the morally bankrupt obfuscation of the gender ideologues who prey upon vulnerable kids and damaged adults to bankroll their pharmaceutical/medical/marketing/DEI consulting endeavors. The times, indeed.
This comment ^^^^ was meant in reply to PT Lady above – her statement that we need all-gendered changing rooms at the Pool. I seem to have trouble replying so that it aligns with the correct thread. Sorry for the seeming non-sequitur!
WordPress is glitchy, beyond our ability to affect, and we editors often have the same problem — a Reply we make to someone gets posted as a discrete comment. Often the second attempt will align properly. If that happens to you (or any other commenters) in the future, do try again and we can delete the one in the wrong place.
I wouldn’t let David J. Faber near my pet rock let alone a child! Not just because of his vulgarity, lack of dignity, and assault on the democratic process, but also because of his whining and temper tantrums. I don’t need to see that behavior from a three year old let alone an “adult”!
If he can’t control his emotional immaturity during a public comment period which results in his banging so hard on his dais that his name plate falls to the floor, then it’s time he rethinks what he’s doing in politics. He had no problem letting Michelle Sandoval go past her 3-minute public comment (especially after having to listen to her for waaaay too many years), yet he had a conniption fit when Musa was making an excellent point that ran over just a little bit.
He’s had numerous outbursts when things aren’t going his way and I’m sick of it.
Maybe he wasn’t hugged enough as a child? Who knows, at any rate though, he might want to set aside the law books and politics, and pick up a copy of the DSM-5-TR.
The side bar has a mention of an eerily similar City Gov insider group in Camas trying to get taxpayers to fund a major ego driven pool project using every dirty trick in the playbook. Here is a link to the story..
https://www.wethegoverned.com/voters-crush-city-of-camas-78-million-tax-plan-by-9-1-vote-mayor-buried-by-write-in-ballots/
Relevant to our Mr. Faber and perhaps other council members who are ultimately responsible for City Manager Mauro, who spent our very limited public money on dishonest consultants and Delphi technique meetings. It seems a casualty was the mayor. Running unopposed she was hammered by write in votes and got only 40-% of the vote.
Are the people of Camas that much smarter than the folks here? Perhaps a lesson from Camas.
By the way Ana, Ben and Owen are not the only council members to overtly support Faber. Somewhere I saw Libby Wennstrom (known to be truth impaired and fact deficient) claiming Faber had a post on Facebook or similar showing him playing with his dog’s tail which was blown up without reason. Nothing to see here folks. So, I believe we have 3 overt supporters, 4 if we include Faber, and 3 supporting with silence.
4 lock step council running unopposed. Look at this similar tide pool or petri dish in Camas.
You see, PT Lady, none of this info is in any danger of appearing in the Leader.
Harvey, thanks for the link to the Camas story. That’s a good lesson for our little town.
Hey Ben-
I only re posted what someone put up on the side bar. Tossed scrap refused by dog with eye on steak.
Camas should be as much a game plan for residents as a lesson for those locked into negative mind sets in the power core. The question is how do you get information out to residents? I speak with many old and new local potential voters. Probably more than most anyone. Most are limited to loving the food co op and similar icons and are in the dark regarding the power structure and negative results here.
If only we had a local paper and editor like short lived Dean Miller who waded in and was quickly gone.
The Steak 🙂 You didn’t replay to this direct question that is more difficult than some you have responded to. Sorry I can’t let you off so easy. “What of the scam pool “study” by Ballard*King not based on or relevant to PT that “nearly perfect” Mauro spent public funds on? With your and council’s apparent approval? Any chance of demanding a refund from atop the fence? Will there be any reprimand for Mauro for wasting money and using irrelevant data to support his agenda? What about him using the Delphi technique to arrive at desired outcomes? Your silence is support.”
What possibly could be the mechanism to deal with this? Seems from here Mauro thinks of Council as part of his “team”. Faber seems to be team captain. The definition of “mayor” seems to vary when actual responsibility rears its inconvenient head.
You also said in another reply “Dismissive or divisive comments to the public are far more concerning to me.”
What about dismissive actions? I know full well this is old and re hashed stuff, but problems grow rather than being mitigated. I deal in the real world with related problems weekly and yearly. I have been dismissed regarding the manufactured parking issue for 10 years as the Marine Science Center moved into the historic district. Last I heard the Maritime Center through the Port wanted to remove parking lot not used because of free illegal parking and build a building drawing more visitors. Now the proposed hotel with 50 units and 11 proposed parking spaces. That would barely cover staff. Manufactured stresses. To what end?
Dismissive inaction from many years of varied council, Appointed Mayors, and compromised city manager Timmons then Mauro. To what possible positive end?
Forget that, Ben. Council/Mauro has. I withdraw the question not one council member or Mauro could answer if singled out and not hiding behind the thin veil of “the city”. Which is just our neighbors old and new not rocking the leaky and sinking boat.
Let’s try this again. What about answering regarding the scam study Mauro had done and council approved? Please don’t be dismissive. I know you say you don’t like that. No slip sliding away. I will follow up on your answer. Or lack of one.
Harvey, there’s no need to be demeaning in your comments. A question buried in a comment thread is not a “direct question”. I’m also in the middle of harvest (no days off for 6 to 8 weeks), so I will probably miss more questions mortared in your walls of text. I have always tried to answer all your questions in good faith, and will continue to do so.
As to the question, I think you’re asking if my acquiescence of yet another expensive out-of-town consultant giving us The Music Man treatment on a shiny new pool denotes actual support. I don’t personally like these moonshot proposals. The cultural influx into positions of influence in this town have tended toward city folks looking for a small pond to be big in and forgetting how small our pond really is. They bring big dreams and often a history of working around well-funded non-profits or large corporations, both of which I think are poor analogs for how to operate in a funky little town like ours. But these folks — almost always well-intentioned — curry a lot more favor with the local establishment and tend to snowblind staff and electeds at all local agencies to the more pedestrian input of the hoi polloi. So the framing of the response to a failing existing pool tends to be gilded and out of scale to the crayon drawing we can actually afford to mount.
I’m over a year and a half into this new trick and still learning the game and how to make an actual, non-rhetorical difference. My instinct is to get the most value out of the skillset our city manager brings and to work as well as I can with my fellow councilors, who in my opinion each bring their own useful perspective. As a result, I’ve erred toward wanting to see how things will play out. I think I’m getting a better intuition in chicken sexing (NOT related to the article we’re commenting on!) the proposals and issues earlier in the process to determine what’s actually going to bear eggs. I do have a built-in curiosity that wants to at least hear about the ideas, but I am more cognizant about how it affects the budget. And I am generally unhappy with the amount of budget that goes to consultants and how much that leads to getting out of scale of what the public would like to see us doing.
Councilman Ben Thomas,
For the foreseeable future, you are in a near full-proof position of ever being ousted via the election process, which places you in a prime position of taking the helm, and steering the city in the appropriate direction, and out of financial bankruptcy! Show your fellow city dwellers your courage! You have near zero to lose, and much to gain!
Excellent summary of the mental process required to try to understand how “government” works in our neck of the woods. Thank you for digging deep and sharing what you have learned on these pages. I always find your posts insightful and kind. A rare combination.
Sorry Ben, the amount of disrespect from Council to myself, all business, residents and all visitors for years on end keeps me from being polite to any aspect of the city not truly stepping up. If one values what a city should be, an entity which laws and codes keep less ethical folk from distorting for personal gain, then one cannot “respect” players who support other players in a broken system and seem duplicitous. Making excuses for Faber defines you..
Welcome to the buffet that is Port Townsend. Sorry, someone else ate all the prawns and prime rib. Be Kind.
You refer generally to those coming here to be big fish in small pool. Of course, no specific names. Currently it seems one fish who swam in the shallows of a larger pool wants to have others pay for a big pool and other things he really really wants. The tactics exposed should be repulsive, especially when delivered with a smarmy smiley face. 🙂 Mauro is council’s employee. Or is it the other way around? Seems so. Cart and horse reversal once again.
The specific consultant Ballard King, that Mauro chose to hire seems to have pulled a fast one on Mauro, and you and council and all constituents.
Mauro seems not to have noticed. Or did he and used faulty stats anyway? Faulty products were purchased that many feel were not a priority. Quick math says the amount spent on consultants would have covered most of current needed existing pool maintenance.
All gone. Did the Appointed Mayor Faber notice or take any action? Laughable.
Fraud might be an appropriate word for what was delivered by Ballard King,. Mauro did use the irrelevant “study” did he not? Was that also fraud? Thanks to Jim Scarantino for finding the irrelevant information Ballard King sold to Mauro and Mauro sold to council and public.
Correction. Tried to sell.
If you sell vinegar as fine wine shouldn’t your customers demand a refund? If Mauro won’t draw attention to being duped, will council direct him to deal with his very costly mistake? Do not all council member’s constituents deserve better? They paid for it.
With power comes responsibility. Ok, not in PT.
There are always bigger fish waiting to take advantage of smaller fish in tiny pools who want to play big fish at other’s expense. You alone should not answer these concerns. Full council approved what Mauro did.
You continually make what seems to be a judgment error and go on the public record here. When follow up questions or answers to your position are put forth, they show you seem to have little effect on the rest of the corrupted council.
You do seem to be getting the word salad thing down.
What should be done regarding Ballard King and Mauro and the Delphi process? In my corporate board room council heads would roll for lots of reasons.
What is the process Ben to have Mauro explain what he did that cost so much public money? There won’t be one. Business as usual with no repercussions for staff. Faber is silent on what matters.
I do not expect any sort of answer that is a pathway to curtail staff and remind council of the responsibility their power should require. You won’t rock that boat, Ben. You will stand with a thimble and offer to bail.
The tone contained herein is dedicated to Faber, Owen Rowe and the rest of the self-assessing club.
Wow! I used to live on the other side of the canal and considered PT to be a ‘fun place’ to visit with its varied establishments and impressive architectural treasures. But all is not as it seems, obviously. Sounds like Faber needs a good ‘spanking’ as he acts like a 3-year-old who won’t stop talking nor will listen or reply except through (at best) ‘potty mouth’ language. Can’t believe the voting citizens don’t ‘recall’ him or do whatever needs to be done to banish him from the mayoral position (he IS, after all, only ‘appointed’ rather than elected). Why let an infantile mindset be the ‘absolute’ method to run PT (into the ground)/ “Woke” attitudes never accomplish anything.
What other “yam” could it be? Who talks like this. Beyond disgusting, and this is coming from the mayor of Port Townsend. How do we get him out?