We all know their names, if not their faces and they pop up everywhere in the media shilling for industry from LNG to strip mining to coal exports to golf resorts advocating for everything from tax breaks, to subsidies to public land swaps. They are the Jon Bartons, Joe Benettis and Timm Slaters, amongst others who, because they have been elected or appointed to positions of authority or leadership, are the go-to people when the local paper needs a quote to finish off their formulaic style articles. Media can and frequently do choose to report statements made by such sources as if they are factually accurate, because hey, they must know what they are talking about.
These individuals hold both paid and volunteer positions as port or airport commissioners, or chamber of commerce directors and some have been entrusted to make decisions that directly affect the quality of our lives, our safety and our livelihood but is that trust misplaced? All too often skewed data points and selective omissions of fact form the basis of many misleading sales pitches delivered by some of these “leaders” which call into question their competence as well as their honesty.
Sandy Messerle, who was appointed as the executive director of SCDC (South Coast Development Council) when she married into the Messerle family recently gave testimony that was rife with half truths and omissions. Speaking at a hearing held by the Oregon Parks & Recreation Commission last week in support of a land swap between the state and an enterprise controlled by the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. Her testimony was had nothing to do with the merits of the property exchange for the general public but was all about what a great company Bandon Dunes is as Coos County’s second largest employer with a payroll topping $10 million. Fair enough but here is where it gets fuzzy. According to Messerle, in 2009 the “average annual salary was $54,000” and “they additionally offer excellent medical and dental coverage, retirement and profit sharing benefits.”
Technically, Messerle may have used real figures, at least as she understands them, but without supporting data averages mean nothing. Five people could each be earning a $1 million a year and with enough other staff paid at minimum wage and still easily average out to $54,000. Messerle has not responded to an email asking for clarification. Some Dunes employees report a wage of a few pennies above the state minimum and are limited to 38 hours per week specifically to excluded them from qualifying for the “excellent medical and dental coverage.” Because the commission is evaluating this swap from a different perspective it is unlikely her comments will bear much weight but they are nonetheless deliberately misleading.
There were too many similar examples in her testimony to discuss them all here but considering all the brouhaha over fire department contract negotiations the real gem occurred at the end when she praised Bandon Dunes for the airport.
I would be remiss if I also didn’t mention their impact on one of our major transportation assets in the area… the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport. Without Bandon Dunes we would not have the enhanced air service we have now, nor the improvements that have been made.
The old airport terminal before more than $30 million (click to enlarge)
As wonderful as Bandon Dunes may be, it hasn’t been able to help the commissioners generate enough revenue from its common carriers or fees from private jets carrying golfers to the resort to bridge a $20,000 gap between the airport and the City of North Bend for fire department services.
New terminal after $30 million (click to enlarge)
At the last airport district commission meeting a member of the public prefaced a request to the commissioners to reenter negotiations with the city by stating they must be very intelligent or they wouldn’t be in these positions. Like so many of us, she has placed her faith in her elected officials but statements made by some of the board members, however, do not support her assumption.
Once blue tiles now rusting through (click to enlarge)
What is really scary about this statement, however, is because I have been researching unresolved budget difficulties at ORCCA, I believe I know how he arrived at the $6,000 figure and it has nothing whatsoever to do with amortization. The new campus was built on property owned by a family trust and is valued at $980,000 due and payable ten years after the death of the original owner, who died recently. The agency pays rent to the trust in the amount of $6,000 per month. This is a rental payment and none of the rent applies toward principle. Obviously, the sooner the agency pays it off the better and if Lehman’s take away is that $1 million amortizes out to $6,000 because of rental payment, this may explain why the airport is having difficulty. (Not to mention, ORCCA is probably doomed).
None of the board offered any correction and Jon Barton even offered up a “yep” and an “uh huh” between belches because as a business consultant he already knows these things. Barton is practically a professional board member and in addition to his stint as an airport commissioner he sits on the board of SCDC which makes him Mrs Messerle’s boss and a fellow spinmeister. This brings us to Barton’s latest letter to the editor published in Saturday’s The World.
After ignoring public comment about fire safety at the airport Barton, who lives outside the hazard zone in Hauser, proceeds to tell the public that the risk of an LNG explosion is minimal and far worth the riches and rewards. He tells the reader to beware of fear mongers whom he accuses of “trying to make a name for themselves.” He encourages readers to do their own homework, although it is clear he derives all his information from the industry handouts because he conflates risk with hazard. Just because the risk of an event is small doesn’t translate into also meaning that the hazards aren’t enormous, something to consider with a plane crash at the airport.
Barton soothingly states that an LNG explosion is next to impossible which is true and but according to a report prepared by the Boston Fire Department also irrelevant. The hazard of an LNG related incident is not an explosion, it is a pool or vapor fire but Barton omits the hazards from his sales pitch.
Stating that LNG will not explode gives the impression that it is not hazardous. The hazard of an LNG vessel incident would derive, not from an explosion, but from a pool fire or a vapor cloud ignition. The original EIS for the Everett Facility, estimated the potential fatalities from these two incidents at 3,000 and 2,500 respectively.
It is ironic really, that Barton should take such a cavalier attitude with people’s lives given the airport IS in the hazard zone and refuse to support the North Bend Fire Department but then we have demonstrated before that he either has problems with basic math or that he deliberately skews numbers to serve his personal agenda.
Ultimately we have no one to blame but ourselves as long as we keep electing and reelecting mediocre people to our boards and councils. Literally, our lives may be in their hands.
Watch the airport district meeting here http://coosmediacenter.pegcentral.com/player.php?video=7d2998f4b4478a27d854b826a484154c
Hi Al!
And how much are you personally sucking off the taxpayer “justhappytobehere”? Defend these people sucking the life from Coos County at your own peril, the folks here are able to think on their own. You might try it sometime Al.
I want to know how many of Bartons’ $30,000 sattalite trackers the Airport Board bought? And how many times have they used it, in fact, where is it stored? How bout speaking up here and informing your public Barton? How many of those worthless things have you sold to Coos County? You foisted one on the Waterfall Clinic,you know, those folks that try to care for the least among us? Jon Barton sold one to them, they don’t even store it on their property. So do tell us where those thirty thousand dollars came from and went to Jon Barton? Walrus indeed.
To clarify what is small, other than Barton’s Willy, which he probably hasn’t seen in years because it is an inney & not an outey, small is the perceived value in the lost lives if the event where to occur. For these people who are in harms way are parasitic leaches utilizing government services. Just the impression I get from Barton, Messerle, etc… And for Sandy? That dumb Biotch is clueless. THE MAJORITY OF THE EMPLOYEES AT THE BANDON DUNES ARE WORKING FOR WETBACK WAGES.
I find your piece by the Boston Fire Department above most interesting. Chief Fleming states, “Initially there will probably only be enough resources to evacuate selective populations. Area must be “triaged”.”
I wonder if people living along the lower Coos Bay water front realize this hazard? And why have the local fire departments been so quiet about all this? Is it because they don’t realize the danger either or because they don’t want people to understand and know what the LNG danger and hazards are?
Barton all but admitted in the paper the other day that he does not read or understand even basic science. People should be very concerned since he is making decisions on behalf of the airport that could seriously endanger and impact not only the airport but thousands of people living in the area.
There is not a independent hazard expert out there that recommends putting one of these LNG liquefaction facilities at the end of an active airport runway.
That is just plain crazy!
And then to get rid of firefighters too….?
If you really parse Barton’s letter he is essentially saying that a few deaths are a price worth paying for paving our streets with LNG gold!
The risk a train would derail in Lac-Mégantic was minimal and yet the hazard was lethal and horrendous.
“•Whenever someone says the risk is small, ask the following:
1.Do they mean that the probability of an event is small and the hazardous consequences are small?
2.Do they mean that the probability of an event is small but the hazardous consequences are big?
3.Do they mean that the probability of an event is high but the hazardous consequences are small?”
The risk of an explosion at the West, Texas fertilizer plant was supposed to be minimal but when it blew it destroyed most of the town. By Barton’s reasoning the lives lost were a price worth paying
Barton confusing risk with hazard supports the entire article
Yes, I’m sure the Harley owner will greatly appreciate any free publicity you have to offer – once you build an audience.
At first glance I thought this editorial was a biography. But…wow! You managed to criticize and insult no less than seven (7) people and five (5) businesses in a single article! Is that a record? All things considered it’s pretty clear to the masses that the folks you’re criticizing are successful business people in their own right and are willing to give their time and energy to serving out cities and county.
Sitting on one’s backside simply criticizing is one of the easiest jobs in the world, which explains plenty.
Yeah, I left out the owner of the Harley Davidson shop. He probably could have used the publicity.
People who take time from their busy schedules to attend public meetings resent being lied to, even by volunteers. It is a waste of everyone’s time.
‘All things considered it’s pretty clear to the masses that the folks you’re criticizing are successful business people in their own right…’
I’m curious who the masses are that you refer to. Is it the working mass that made these business successful or the masses that support their successful business. In either case, success is not a singular concept – they owe their success to the backs of their workers. And those workers or customers, or whoever you think the masses are have a right to their opinions. Because in your mind someone is successful that means the masses must follow blindly?
And just for your information, some of us masses try to avoid the businesses of these particular “successful people”; their success does not justify running over the masses and pushing reckless propositions on us for no better reason than their profit.
No one will deny the Dunes is very successful, although I encourage everyone to read Free Lunch, to find out how much the US taxpayer has assisted with this success.
As for Barton, he isn’t even a very good spinmeister although he deserves an A for effort.