It is unfortunate that more people are not aware of the continued efforts of concerned citizens to keep the public informed in Coos County. The local public access station, PEG Central uses dedicated community volunteers to film local city council meetings, port commission meetings and county commission meetings and many other public events as well.
For a healthy and functioning democracy and in order for us to actively participate in our own governance we must be fully informed and many dedicated and unpaid volunteers make this possible by standing behind a camera and filming these meetings. These volunteers deserve a hearty shout out and cheer for devoting their time to keeping Coos County informed.
These volunteers, because they attend so many public meetings, are some of the most knowledgeable people around when it comes to what is going on in Coos County and, as volunteers, have not given up their civil right to speak at these meetings. People like Jon Barton of SCDC trying to stifle comments from these people, like he did recently at a structure advisory committee meeting, simply because they are manning a public access camera are behaving in an undemocratic fashion and should be ejected from any advisory position related to public policy. Shame on Commissioner Fred Messerle for allowing such behavior at a public meeting.
Two of these volunteers, Phil Thompson and Bob Arnold spoke out at Tuesday’s commission meeting along with several other public citizens who are responsibly engaging in the democratic process.
To steal a Fred Allen quote from a comment here on MGx, “A committee is a group of the unprepared, appointed by the unwilling to do the unnecessary.” Ethel Petrie’s unanswered questions to the commission beautifully illustrate the irony of having an unwieldy, bloated, blundering and unprepared collection of ‘bureaucrats’ trying to make a government more efficient.
Wonderful writing Gene. Regarding the Super Congress? Not to fear Gene, good old Max Baucus is there to throw the vote. Watch and see. All the “Dems” from the Senate are NOT up for re election, they’ll do what they’re paid to do. Besides, Obama already on Friday ordered I think 10% cuts to all agencies? That is BEFORE the Super Congress even acts. I think I got that right. So I’m not waiting with baited breath. I pretty much know what’s going down with the staunch “Dems” on the panel. My Gawd, will it ever end?
Thank you all who film and watch. We can see factually the present and the past by looking at some film and photographs and not question the reality of that moment in time.
Picture forming the future can be done with words and graphs and photos as tools to project an image of a potential future.
The leaders of the Port of Coos Bay and the managers of SCDC, and unfortunately the BOC, have been drawing their picture of what this area should look like since the public announcement of the effort to site LNG on the North Spit directly across from the North Bend Airport. Big Tanks, Big Ships, Bigger Risk for residents than anything ever seen in Oregon. OK I can see that image in my mind. Now they want me to see a slow train bringing coal to a long conveyor belt loading more big ships to send on their way overseas. I can now see these two industrial sites side by side in my mind. I can see whole logs loaded on ships for export. I can see ships of ore and minerals hauled away as well. My minds eye can add these images together, as can yours. There are apparently many people here that actually love this image for the future. I’ve seen aggressive and rude behavior by the same anonymous individuals over and over in the local online press by proponents of these images, They have resorted to demeaning insulting tactics as a defensive strategy to any and everyone that questions that future for this community, in the online version of the local paper. Its stupefying to see them promote this while saying how crappy this area is, and cant be useful for anything else. Every politician that represents us from county level to State and Federal levels are onboard with this future. Yes all the way to the white house, this is the plan.
Obama’s own words: yesterday:
My Administration is working to expand responsible oil and gas development in the United States, ensuring this is done safely and responsibly. This includes a focus on natural gas.To secure our Nation’s energy future, we also need to increase production of clean energy. I have set a goal that by 2035, 80 percent of our electricity will come from clean energy, including renewable sources like wind and solar power, nuclear energy, efficient natural gas, and clean coal.
So my conclusion is, this is the future of Coos Bay, as long as we’re represented by the two party joined at the hip system. They both will continue to represent the Oil and Gas industries as long as we keep electing them. 2035 is a long time to put up with an industry that’s crippleling our economy. And don’t forget his committees to study the problems six months at a time, with six reps from each side, how convenient, a tie. Do you see the same patterns in our local system, (committees, studies and evaluations).
No-one appears to be steering the ship, because they’re all in committee. This time is not being wasted by the Oil/Gas industry, they’re inundating you with commercials about how great this future will be with fracked gas. It doesn’t matter which side you look to for vision, you’re going to get the same info. Don’t you know renewables aren’t ready for prime time yet, and they wont be until we run out of gas.
Wars over seas, yep oil/gas interests right at the heart of it. Our country is stagnant because we cannot disconnect their influence on our government.
There are much better pictures of our future that could materialize, but not until the majority of us are sickened by their future.
tee hee hee hee hee, wheeze, gasp, chortle
Yeah, even Kevin was capable of messing things without requiring a committee to help him
Things aren’t getting much better. That Old saying. Smile things could be worse. So I smiled and sure enough, things got worse.