Real facts about Skykomish. They’re 100% backed up by incontrovertible evidence. Downhill is great on the ski slopes, but it’s not so good for Sky.
Hi, I’m Megan Baker.
Let’s review some Skykomish facts.
Number One. Skykomish begins a long decline as WWII comes to an end.
Number two. King County promises to return Sky’s economy to Prosperity if the Town will sign the county’s Interlocal Agreement.
Sky signs up, but nothing much ever comes of it except that the Town is now burdened with a huge, inefficient and unmanageable bureaucracy.
Number three. Sky’s largest, most prominent historic structure, the Skykomish Hotel, is purchased by its present owner.
The Hotel is in bad shape and the new owner wants to perform a complete renovation.
Sky, under Mayor Ted Cleveland, along with King County bureaucrats, prevents the renovation from occurring.
Number four. The Hotel later offers to perform a smaller but still significant renovation under Mayor Charlotte Mackner.
Mayor Mackner refuses.
The Hotel sends a written request to Town council, specifically asking for a dialogue with the Town, in an effort to resolve this unfortunate situation.
The Town never responds.
Number five. The Town is afforded a once in a lifetime opportunity to have Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway’s environmental pollution of the Town’s soil and water cleaned up.
The Town chooses, instead, to allow the Railway to merely pave over the diesel and bunker oil pollution.
Number six. The Railway’s cleanup scheme saddles the community with an expensive wastewater treatment facility that it cannot afford, adding burdensome costs to home owners and businesses alike.
This further discourages community investment.
Number seven. The Sky River Inn, a significant contributor to our Town’s economy and tax base, is destroyed during the Railway’s cleanup scam.
The Sky River Inn is never rebuilt.
Number eight. The fully leased Skykomish Hotel again offers to perform a renovation under the Town’s new mayor, Fred Black.
Mayor Black responds by partnering with the Railway to see to it that the Hotel is returned without operational utilities.
Once again, the Hotel sends a written request to Town council, specifically asking for a dialogue with the Town in an effort to resolve this unfortunate situation.
The Town never responds.
Renovation cannot go forward without operational utilities.
Tenants and owner are prevented from even re-occupying the structure.
Number nine. The hotel’s Managing Agent identifies that 2.3 million dollars is missing from the Town’s treasury.
Mayor Fred Black assures citizens that everything is okay, but then suddenly resigns and departs for Kansas.
The missing 2.3 million dollars is never accounted for.
Number ten. The Town holds an illegal building department hearing in order to fabricate a case that allows it to take control of the Hotel.
The usual suspects from the Town and King County are present.
Town attorney, David Carson, acknowledges but then refuses to read the Hotel’s written response into the record.
Carson then listens as Mayor Black makes statements that Carson knew, or should have known, to be false.
Carson says nothing.
Number eleven. The Town files suit against the Hotel and threatens to demolish it.
Number twelve. The hotel counter sues the Town for damages amounting to almost four million dollars.
Number thirteen. The Hotel even contacted current Mayor Alan A. (Tony) Grider in writing, inviting a dialogue to resolve issues.
Like his predecessors, Mayor Grider never responded.
Money that could have gone toward renovating the Hotel is consumed, enriching attorneys like David Carson.
Number fourteen. An old steam locomotive from Seattle and a historic wooden passenger car from the Town of Carnation that the Railway was going to deliver still have not arrived.
Number fifteen. Town council member, railroad enthusiast, and Foamer, Kevin Weiderstrom, Hoodwinks Town residents into spending precious money to construct a Kiddie choo-choo train ride (Great Northern & Cascade Railway) in hopes that it will somehow attract Tourists to Sky.
Weiderstrom moves about town in his old time railway engineer’s coveralls and cap.
Call us crazy, but do these seem like wise decisions on Sky’s part?
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