There were some interesting lessons learned today but first, it will come as no surprise that I think the appointment of Fred Messerle to the Coos County commission is a disappointing and mediocre choice. Hopefully, mediocre is as bad as it will get and not a total undoing of the small gains, if in fact there have really been any, that may have been made with the ouster of Kevin Stufflebean.
During the last appointment I was openly critical of the process of selecting a new commissioner and while the committee appeared to be more diverse this time, we still witnessed the same schizoid and name recognition type selections as before. Additionally, despite the vital importance of selecting an effective commissioner, Main and Parry gave up their right and responsibility to be the final arbiter in the selection process, ceding it instead to the selection committee. If, as I suspect, Messerle had been the preferred choice of both commissioners all along, this may have been a way of getting the man they wanted without taking the heat for the decision. After all, eight of nine picked Messerle in the first round.
Further, while this is a non partisan position we now have three Republicans sitting as commissioners in a county with a Democrat majority. (Nikki was a democrat in name only, in my opinion, so there really isn’t any change in that regard). So we now have two Republicans who never or almost never took the time to attend commission meetings previously sitting on an all male Coos County commission. Now we have three Messerles on the public dole, Fred, Ken who receives thousands of dollars every month in consulting fees from the Port and other public entities and Fred’s wife, Sandy working for SCDC.
Of course, I would have preferred to see Jody McCaffree on the board because she would drive the renewable energy projects that Nikki and she were working on and I don’t see Messerle doing that. On the bright side, Jody will be able to keep her full attention on the Port and the Jordan Cove issue and she and I and a few others will continue to work on bringing renewable energy jobs to the region independent of the county. (February 2012 look for some ducted fan wind turbines in Coos County for a start).
Regarding lessons learned. A lot can be learned about a person based upon the company they keep and/or the people they select for committees. A couple of the selection committee members were overheard outside during a break in the proceedings today making what can only be described as ignorant, small minded, deeply misinformed and cruel comments about a candidate. Maybe it isn’t fair to judge the commissioners based upon the bad taste of these two individuals but it does call their judgment and their associations into question.
Parry, for instance, listed Mike Cook and Wayne Krieger amongst his references and referred to the late Richard DeChambeau as his “dear friend” and while Parry is artfully excellent at disguising his feelings and opinions and careful not to criticize anyone, his friends have all publicly, in print, on the air and at public forums resorted to very hostile ad hominem attacks much like was overheard today.
While Parry and Main may be able to see past some negative characteristics, considering we all have them, many of the people chosen, from the two selection committees to the industrial acquisition team have clear, hard right political perspectives. This should cause those of us with differing ideological views to question just how sincere the commissioners are about working with disparate groups.
Anyway, what I have come to realize and what was confirmed for me today is that I am unable to trust Main or Parry to make impartial decisions or genuinely include those of us who disagree from time to time in anything more than token roles.
I love that! Excellent
Why not just give the pyromaniac the zippo?
The public was played alright but we also participated in our own exploitation. That is the part that makes me the angriest. Even after witnessing the same manipulations in all the other appointments of late we still played the game, submitted applications, went for and observed interviews in an elaborate dog and pony show all designed to protect the manipulators, Main and Parry, from being blamed with the choice.
Shame on us for participating
Main and Parry wasted everyone’s time. From the selection committee to the applicants to the audience. They knew who they wanted, manipulated the process to pretend it wasn’t their choice. I am not sure what makes me angrier the manipulation or having my time wasted.
Re let down of Main, a search of the state elections web site will show that I was the most generous person to him outside of himself during his campaign. He had me fooled. An equal amount, maybe more, will be supporting a candidate opposing him. Do excpect at least 20 candidates to file for county commissioners positions in May of next year. Do expect the return of Griffith, Stuffy, or both, as candidates. Do ex[pect different folks winning in May and an accomplish nothing lame duck board for six month next year.
The people who elected Bob are not people who would vote for Messerle. Bob has let down the people who have worked for and supported him.
On the bright side, we now know who Cam Parry and Bob really are.
comments at The World are pretty brutal, Fred Messerle is not a popular guy
Here! Here! Off With Their Heads!
Coulter??? Gasp! Must be these damn context sensitive ads – I used the term ‘hard right’ conservatives above… oops, now I have used it twice
Why is Ann Coulter on your website staring at me as I read your column?
Unfortunately, I missed the first half of Cribbins interview, however, the part I did hear led me to believe she would be someone I could comfortably work with and the feedback I got from others who heard the entire interview was favorable.
She struck me as someone open to dialog and to receiving and evaluating information to help with decision making. Hard to say with only fifteen minutes but maybe she will run in 2012 and we will get to know her better
I heard Cribbins did pretty well. What did you think?
Based upon the feedback I received both before the interviews and since Messerle was picked he is not well liked by the average voter. If what I’m told is true and his conduct on the pipeline bears some of this out, he will not do well in an election.
Speaking of derailments I wonder how the emergency repairs are going on the railroad
This is disappointing. The old guard is holding on for dear life. Here in Douglas County it is the same thing. NO THINKING out side of the box is permitted!! The great power of democracy is that it is dynamic and adjusts to changeing needs. The old guard is scared to death of any possible adjustments. They can not imagine any change they do not control but that is no change at all. We need real elections to remove commissioners in both these counties and legislators as well. Meanwhile lets hang the Port of Coos Bay as an example of the work they have been doing. Let the derailments begin!
Most of the people on that committee are conservative, card carrying Jim Bice listeners
We could get lucky and Messerle fail the background check
This life long fiscal conservative Republican – recently turned Independent because I believe that neither major party represents the people – agrees that it’s not too early to start efforts to replace Main and others with choices of the people. half the county residents may be Democrats – more than half are female. Was there no qualified female among the candidates? Following his ill informed and controversial June 29, 2010 letter re Colby, Main has certainly shown the local people at every opportunity why this county needs a change to a county manager reporting to an elected volunteer board of commissioners.