The publicity arm of the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce dutifully printed vehement denials by executive director Timm Slater, relating to allegations that chamber volunteers at the Coos Bay Visitor Center are telling people not to eat at the Blue Heron Bistro. Last week, Wim de Vriend, owner of the Blue Heron and vocal critic of failed economic development schemes promoted by the chamber, sent a letter to the chamber board and other members with details of two instances wherein visitors were warned away from the restaurant.

Today, The World published a lengthy piece reprinting snippets from de Vriend’s letter and along with Slater’s denials. Slater claims to have contacted all “eighteen” volunteers less to investigate the allegations and more to “advised them that since it’s been printed publicly”, they may be “baited”. In itself this is curious because if there is no basis to the allegations and the volunteers promote all chamber businesses, why warn them at all? Slater’s account of the first incident, that it was ‘investigated thoroughly”, does not jive with de Vriend’s recollections that Slater claimed he could not “find the perpetrator”.

The reporter, Gail Elber did not attempt to interview de Vriend, author of The JOB Messiahs and whom she has previously characterized as a “gadfly”, for this story. If she had, she would have learned that without any prompting from de Vriend a patron, acting independently, detailed a third documented occurrence of the volunteer staff denigrating his establishment shortly after the letter was distributed. Slater’s warning is too little too late.