By Bob Arnold
Ref. Mr. Parry goes to Washington. Sept. 21, page A3.
Author unknown.
Commissioner Parry does not speak for Coos County in Washington. The county is Not “pushing for the tribe to control the land,” as the article says. An official vote or poll of the people of Coos County has not been made on this subject. There has been no vote on the subject by the current county Board of Commissioners.
Commissioner Mr. Parry, the Bay Chamber of Commerce, and/or The World Newspaper, may be “pushing for the tribe to control the land,” but not “The county.” Who wrote this Local Digest article for The World?
You’re absolutely correct Bob, Mr. Parry doesn’t speak for Coos County, and no official vote or pole of the people has been made on the subject recently, however, as these commissioners have been reminded several times recently, there was a vote taken in the mid 1990’s that resulted in an overwhelming (85%) lack of support for a similar proposal.
And while it is true that the commissioners have not officially voted on the subject they have all had numerous opportunities to express their individual opinion of the tribes proposal. They have been asked multiple times over the last few months whether or not they support a transfer and the closest we could get to a direct answer was from commissioner Main who stated that we could have 50% of something or 50% of nothing yet he continually dismissed a different proposal from an individual that he described as a local expert on this land.
When questioned at the commissioners meeting on 9/6 about when the board authorized Mr. Parry to travel to D.C. Mr. Main said that Mr. Parry made the decision on his own and it would be paid out of his portion of the commissioner’s expense account. Either Mr. Main or Mr. Messerle could have voiced disapproval at this time however this was one of the times Mr. Main made his 50% comment and Mr. Messerle stayed silent. Then again at the commissioner’s meeting on 9/20 after stating that they knew he was returning to D.C. this week they again refused to voice any dissent for the proposal or the trip. However Oubonh White stated that they were just trying to find the most expeditious path to effect the transfer.
I believe that the comments made by Mr. Main and County Counsel Oubonh White, the silence of Mr. Messerle, and the overt actions of Mr. Parry can only be seen as support by all three commissioners for the tribes proposal, and against the likely majority of the citizens of Coos County.