MILLION DOLLAR SIGN

Oh my melancholy town, on the eve of the TRIAL OF THE CENTURY in Ruston, WA. Trial date now confirmed August 13, 2009 9am Pierce County courthouse room 2C. Let's get it on!

STEVE FABRE VS. TOWN OF RUSTON
Case Type: Injunction
Access: Public
Track Assignment: Non PCLR
Jury Size: 12
Estimated Trial Length:
Dept Judge: 05 VICKI L. HOGAN

Plaintiff Steve Fabre is asking for damages of $950 thousand dollars and there is a strong chance defendant Town of Ruston will have to pay attorney fees for both sides which could be substantial.

This all started when two private citizens of Ruston, WA walked into the POINT DEFIANCE CAFE AND CASINO (PDC&C)and demanded that owner Steve Fabre remove his sign that the cabal running the town considered demeaning to the Town's image. This and their campaign promise to eliminate all businesses played a large part plus a private lawsuit filed against several members of the Town establishment which included the wife of a sitting councilman, soon to become mayor, was settled out of court. Strike two if I may use a baseball metaphor, against them. The Town of Ruston turned down an very fair option to settle this case earlier!

Later both private citizens were elected/appointed to the Ruston Town Council. A third council person proposed a tax rate of 16 percent to be imposed on gambling revenues. The rate at that time was three to four percent floating bringing in tax revenues of $30 thousand dollars per year. The sixteen percent was reduced at the council session to 12 percent, a meaningless gesture, by a fourth council person still an out of business tax increase passed on an EMERGENCY basis 4-1. The tax was whittled down so as to apply to only one business in the Town of Ruston but still accomplished its aim to close the gambling portion of the POINT DEFIANCE CAFE AND CASINO. Strike three and you're out of here.

Thirty employees were put out of work and inexplicably the Town lost the $30 thousand dollars the gambling tax brought in annually. All this was accomplished as an EMERGENCY measure bypassing the second reading which would have been the next scheduled council meeting. No public comments were allowed at the first reading and the EMERGENCY followed a rumor that the owners and employees of the PDC&C would show up at the second reading to voice their misgivings.

This is GRANT town USA. You hear it at every meeting: grants, grants, grants. Having voted away $30 thousand dollars per year they still have enough gall to ask for grants to make up for their deliberate action. Case in point the need $100 thousand dollars plus to install new street lights and constantly talk of green energy lighting in order to qualify for a GRANT and saving 40 percent. Five years of Casino gambling operation would have brought in $150 thousand dollars which was diverted to other municipalities.

PDC&C became a target after losing battles to stop, delay several other projects which complied with the GROWTH MANAGEMENT ACT namely, STACK HILL and THE COMMENCEMENT. In another irony stopping THE COMMENCEMENT, which was their rallying cry, got them elected to power, was THE SAVIOUR OF THE TOWN OF RUSTON.

The COMMENCEMENT paid the town $4.2 million dollars for 1/3 of the school property, the lower parking lot. The only other bid was for $1.5 million dollars for the school and the acre of land it sits on. This got them no favors with the cabal running the Town and still an occupancy permit has not been issued for the project and its 62 condominiums. This put the Town of Ruston in a very favorable position to weather the current recession but it is being squandered. Why?

The $4.2 million dollars is deposited in an interest bearing SURPLUS PROPERTY FUND without which the Town of Ruston would not exist to this day. Without it they, the cabal, might have achieved another goal of ANNEXATION TO TACOMA. So far it has been their piggy bank to pay for their ill advised lawsuits which appears to be of NO BENEFIT to the Town of Ruston but more to fulfill whims of the cabal. Case in point the so called "BALLET CLASS" lawsuit vs. the COMMENCEMENT which cost the town over $100 thousand dollars the judge upholding the COMMENCEMENT lease and ordering Ruston to pay legal costs for both sides. And now the MILLION DOLLAR SIGN.

It appears $950 thousand dollars is an insignificant amount when it is not your money. Falls in the same category as the 500 year lease on part of the school (now closed) building they gave the COMMENCEMENT and are now trying to buy back. The AWC, Association of Washington cities, has paid all or part of the Town's losing/settled lawsuits but they may not be on board for this one.

Fortunately for the Town, stability will finally return to the Town of Ruston, WA in January 2009. Hope and wait and pray we can survive five more months.

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