As surmised from the last BOC meeting, SCDC will be vying for a big share of the $40K of economic development money provided by lottery funds and distributed by the county. 
Unfortunately, I was only able to stay for a very few minutes this morning but I noticed that the port CEO David Koch and the current chairman of SCDC in the audience and according to witnesses, John Knutson was formalizing a pitch for SCDC funds initiated by Koch at the last meeting. SCDC, says Knutson, is a vital tool for bringing new jobs and industry to the area….
This is in your face Coos County. Here’s a group of private citizens organized together under the label SCDC. These people want you to provide public resources to their cause. Their cause is single minded. They have had only one goal since they were organized and formed by a handful of local businessmen, who will see their pockets fill with gold if Jordan Cove rises from the ground.
Jon Barton may not be directing this,this time, but he showed them how to get it done. Watch this group find and beg funding from every public tax wielding source they can find. Now these same people have organized a second sub-group(BSoregon), to help play the local public with dis-information, another tool in their bag of tricks, the first still being the ink from the worldlink paper.
The real benefits of this scam on the public are going to go to the puppet masters.Its the same people behind the curtain, helping this local effort to sway public opinion towards building Jordan Cove, and its not locals. Its the same people who helped the Governor pick the Port of Coos Bay Commissioners. Its the same people who pay to tell you who to vote for.
Don’t be surprised when they get the money. SCDC has been running this BOC, past and present, for the last two election cycles. SCDC owns these new commissioners. Now comes the payback for getting their support.
Some may believe that Knutson is a jerk with his competitors. He may be a qualified tow boat captain. But he has never created an industry. How often has he visited heads of industry and state to bring business into his community? Never? He isn’t “vital” to anything. Nor am I. Nor is Koch. Nor is SCDC. The county should save the taxpayers money from SCDC and others. They should employ an experienced in jobs creation person from the community – a retired and bored person who may work for free – and there are a couple candidates formerly involved in “Industrial Offset” living in Bandon. The county should create a single point of contact for industry recruiting. And, they wont get a resume from me. Regarding SCDC, after spending more than $2 million, they can claim credit for creating two jobs – the SCDC director (last employed last July) and the helper.