Interim commissioner, Fred Messerle, may have confirmed fears that he is improperly influenced by his corporate and CCAP donors when he told the audience at a chamber forum “we have an obligation to the mining company”. Coos County and other cooperating taxing districts gave the Australian owned chromite strip mining firm, ORC (Oregon Resources), millions in enterprise zone property tax exemptions. On the other hand, ORC donated $5,000 to the Coos County Alliance for Progress, a political action committee which in turn has contributed $7,500 to Messerle’s campaign so when Messerle says “we” he must really mean he has an obligation to the company.
As reported here before, ORC has not invested $50 million in Coos County, the company has invested solely in itself and simply parked that investment in Coos County, much like parking a Mercedes Benz in the driveway. As soon as ORC puts some gas in the tank it will drive off with its centrifuge in tow. The company took a gamble and misread global demand for its product and is now in dire straights. ORC even had to suspend trading in spite of, or perhaps because of, a well compensated management team but the citizens of Coos County are neither in a position nor in anyway obligated to bail out the firm.
Call it a Freudian slip but Messerle acknowledged that he feels obligated to the company even though it has made its own mistakes despite public aid in the form of tax exemptions. Messerle should not be voting on any potential mineral leases with this company or tying up public resources on an investment that commercial lenders and institutional investors are trying to unload.
There is nothing Messerle can do that is going to stop ORC from going under. They’ve borrowed $5 million as working capital in the past year, have cut back operations and have $13.169 million due by 31 December 2012 on the loan to construct one of two facilities. ORC has several pending penalties and more than twice the national average for the type of mine they are with MSHA. The parent company, IDM incurred an ‘impairment write down’ of $83.617 million related to the Oregon operation. You’re right, Coos County doesn’t have that kind of money and never will.
Excellent assessment, Amanda, nothing will bail them out short of a bought and paid for commissioner allowing them to use public assets to secure foreign debt… and even then it will not be enough.
By the way, rumor has it that ORC is a late agenda item this coming Tuesday regarding a lease where the county holds the surface rights but Kimberly Clark controls the mineral rights
Now Cribbins slipped and signed the petition for the Charter. Did she not know those are public records? It was nice to see Clarkie and other amateur editors at the daily bird cage liner go bonkers because of her act.
I watched all hour and a half to get Messy’s message. Try 1:16. He can’t be serious. Or he can’t understand business. Or he has been told by his benafactors to openly support an ORC bailout. Or he has total disregard for his employers, you and me. Or he believes that we are stupid. Or maybe he was sampling too much of Cribbins organic potato vodka before he spoke. This guy can’t be gone soon enough.
I’ll add this to the list of relevant news articles that you will never see published in the Coos Bay daily bird cage liner.
I don’t think it was a slip at all. SCDC has made a lot of promises to ORC for coming here, and Fred and wife are all about SCDC and are immersed in it (the promises)as any in this county including Jon boy could be,up to their necks and beyond. SCDC and ALL its members are a blight on Coos County’s chances for any real prosperity, just look at their record and then add up the tax funds they’ve gotten their hands on. Has the county resumed paying their dues to this corrupt crew yet?
Welfare at the top has to stop. When will its members wake up and quit supporting this rotten entity. Thanks Bob Main for giving them the keys to the county’s vault.It looks like that move is going to bite you in the ass, you deserve it.
We will just have to wait another two years for another chance to send them packing, by then their stinky mess should be even more apparent to the rest of the voters. the regulars here knew the deck was going to be stacked with their candidates when Bob helped them complete their coup after Andy’s death. I don’t think we’ve seen the bottom of this barrel yet. Just wait till they get their Admin and we get to watch a port style county government at work. The lobbyists that have been supporting this crew must be elated, just waiting for all the no-bid contracts and non-disclosure agreements to be written.
I must have misunderstood.
Is he saying the government of Coos County, Oregon somehow has an obligation to a private Australian business that is facing bankruptcy in spite of all the tax breaks?
How can government have an obligation to a private business?
If we do indeed have an obligation to a failing Australian firm doesn’t that mean we also have an obligation to every other failed business in Coos County?
Unless government treats all business equally, we have to wonder what is so special about a foreign business that one Commissioner feels that the entire “County” owes them an obligation.
You are asking the right questions. Let Australia bail them out, that is where the profits will go. We have done more than enough and given they have laid off thirty one employees… do they even qualify for the tax exemptions they have received?