It has been awhile since I have attended a port commission meeting but despite four new commissioners, nothing has changed. The commissioners never provide the public with any explanation of how they arrive at their decisions, severally or individually. There is no discussion, debate, deliberation… nothing. Public comments are allowed and then 
ignored. The commission never answers a question and sure has hell never explains itself and to add insult to injury, we can’t even vote them out of office.
Unsurprisingly, the commission voted to join the South Coast Community Foundation and to ratify managing board members John Whitty, Joanne Verger Bill Lansing and to select a citizen-at-large to join the board. CEO David Koch prepared a power point presentation which states “We have been asked to…” but it doesn’t explain who did the asking. Whomever it is asking also wants the port staff to publish a foundation board application with a list of qualifications but does not explain who determines the qualifying criteria.
Koch also belies the claims that Jordan Cove doesn’t want to take advantage of the standard five year enterprise zone exemptions saying The World reporting on this matter was incorrect. He claims that Veresen has applied for the standard EZ exemption and renewed its application as needed. All this flies in the face of all the resolutions passed around the county attesting to JC paying $32 million a year as payments-in-lieu-of-taxes. During the brief opportunity afforded to the public to get something into the public record I inquired as to why the big rush and gave an example of what might go wrong if the property tax revenue is reapportioned from the county to Coos Bay and North Bend and received only silence. They don’t answer questions.
I’ve never asked any person to sign a ballot petition. I’m ready to start. Like Rodney King, why can’t people like Wim, Lehman, Mary G., Jim Bice, the World paper editor, all who have alerted the citizens that we are about to get hosed by Jordan Cove Energy, gather to lead an effort to circulate a petition and stop the insanity? Sadly, we will never collectively elect a courageous politician here.
I am with you! The people have to do something because the local power brokers are running amuck. Check out my posts on rights based organizing
Our problem is one of political will and skill. Back in 1989/90 the people of the port district defeated the port’s scheme to build a great big pulp mill on the North Spit (Remember, in those days pulp mills were nauseating institutions, guaranteed to make neighboring towns unlivable). We were fortunate to have people with political experience here then, and by means of two referenda they soundly beat the Port.
That in hindsight, the pulp mill scheme turned out not to have been serious but a vapid corporate intrigue does not invalidate that achievement.
Today, it’s dawning even on the people who have sacrificed untold hours and money and efforts to influence the “regulatory” process for Jordan Cove that as long as the company crosses all the t’s and dots all the i’s on its multiple permit applications, it’s likely to be approved. That’s because the regulatory process is not really designed to address the real problems with that incendiary time bomb.
I hate politics, yet I have to say it: what’s needed is political action, not paperwork.
Why can’t we commence a ballot measure to stop this insanity? The governor who appointed these clowns who are paid at the public trough but don’t report to the citizens paying them is vulnerable.
At least the world reported on this and the article shows the arrogance and disregard this port is allowed to have against the bay area. They are allowed to disregard the community because they only have to answer to Kitzhaber. They only allow questions (to disregard), to satisfy the law. Kitzhaber is the one that we have to hold responsible for the county’s problems.
The “advocate” still gets delivered to my address and It was encouraging to see Mr. Jennings two articles about this tax/theft scheme. It showed that not all the local democrats are behind the ones running this scam.