By Richard Knablin

Much has been written about the CAVE people by a certain claque in Coos county, but I would like to examine another local faction that has been lurking around the county as long as I have lived here: the Promoters of Inequitable and Morally questionable Projects. These P.I.M.P.s are those who have no faith in the ability of local people to find answers to local problems. P.I.M.P.s are always looking for an outside savior to take over their problems. They like the plantation model of industry where a large employer will satisfy all our basic needs, preferably without a union to interfere with their beneficence. They want us to return to that bucolic memory of a simpler time, when education didn’t matter because a young man could support a family without finishing high school. They support tax breaks for large industry based on ephemeral promises of a few jobs, and are willing to sell our children’s heritage and the public commons in the process.

Many of these P.I.M.P.s themselves are supported by tax dollars; paid to look elsewhere for corporate employers and favoring the promises and perks from slick talking P.I.M.P.s from other parts of the country.

Hopefully, the time of the P.I.M.P. is fading as people become aware of what has been going on while their attention was elsewhere. P.I.M.P.s, much like vampires, cannot survive in the glare of sunlight. Exposure shortens their life span and usefulness. P.I.M.P.s operate better in the dark (or executive sessions), where the cave people can get rid of them by shining bright light on their flitting about.

Coos County will thrive when citizens realize we can control our area by ourselves, spending our tax money to support local entrepreneurs, and to make this area more livable for those who are here now. When a town is a good place to live, people and jobs are drawn to it. No recruiting by P.I.M.P.s is necessary.

The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinions of MGx.