by Mary Geddry

We’ve had a long and pleasant reprieve but it appears, unfortunately, that the mathematically challenged Jon Barton has regained his mojo. The Walrus is once again weighing in and sharing his regressive views in the local paper regurgitating industry talking points on fossil-fuel development and now blathering on about county governance.

Barton has offered us his “learned” critique of the proposed home rule charter based upon his brief tenure as a member of the structure advisory committee . He was only appointed to the committee by the county commission because he shared the board’s majority view of converting county governance over to a hired administrator. It’s ironic that Barton’s criticisms of the charter, if one were just to substitute the titles, are almost identical to public criticism of his recommendation at the time. Namely:

BARTON – “It is idealistically crafted with little regard to the practicalities of managing an organization of the size and complexity as Coos County.”

The public rightly recognized that the structure advisory committee was formed with one predetermined yet undisclosed goal of hiring a county administrator without any regard to practicalities and complexities. Barton, like the other appointed members rarely attended a board meeting prior to the formation of the committee, except to ask for money for SCDC and has rarely attended since.

BARTON – “Proponents say the Charter would reduce costs but other than offering up eliminating commissioner credit cards and requiring public bidding for goods and services (already practiced and required by state law) they offer little to substantiate their claim.”

Once again the public, or “noisemakers” as Barton calls them, demanded evidence that hiring an administrator “would save the county millions.” Sigh, despite enthusiastic attestations from proponents of the “administrator model” none were able to actually provide substantive evidence of why they themselves were so convinced hiring an administrator would magically improve the county.

In another bit of irony, the paper reports that Melissa Cribbins supports the possibility of a home rule charter but has reservations about the one on this November’s ballot.
CRIBBINS – “I think home rule is a good thing. It reflects the individual characteristics of a county. But I am concerned in this case that it’s small groups of people with individual interests.”

Wow! Just swap “home rule” with the words “community enhancement plan” and Cribbins could actually be a member of the public voicing concern about the CEP.

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes–and ships–and sealing-wax–
Of cabbages–and kings–
And why the sea is boiling hot–
And whether pigs have wings.”
The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll
(just before eating the poor, duped Oysters)

August 28, 2014 by magix

The Oregonian has published another in its series about the Jordan Cove LNG project. The article focuses upon the controversial use of eminent domain to acquire rights to private property presumably for the “public good.” What qualifies as a public benefit is a matter of contention with the federal regulators viewing the high costs to small rural communities being outweighed by the modest benefits to the country as a whole.

Gas exports will provide a small “net benefit” over time, some studies conclude. Those benefits are concentrated in gas producing states and other locales along the supply chain, including Coos Bay. So the U.S. Department of Energy has determined that Jordan Cove is “not inconsistent with the public interest.”

But the local toll may be a heavy price to pay for a ‘small “net benefit”‘.

Along its 230-mile path, contractors would clear-cut public and private forests, tunnel under hundreds of rivers and streams and plow across more than 400 parcels of privately owned land.

The projects backers say they can accomplish all this in a fair and equitable manner, while minimizing environmental and property damages. They say eminent domain is a last resort, used only if it’s impossible to reach a mutually agreeable deal with a landowner, and only after an impartial arbitrator determines a fair price for easements and damage.

Yet the threat of condemnation is the company’s silent partner in any negotiation. And many landowners want nothing to do with the project.

Read it here

Good morning,

This is to notify everyone that Commissioner John Sweet and challenger Don Gurney will square off at a candidate forum on October 8,
beginning at 7PM in the Coquille Community Center - Small conference room. The candidates will be answering questions from the audience and one of the top issues will be the privatization of public funds aka the Community Enhancement Plan.

--
Mary Geddry
MGx.com
Twitter: @magixarc

Stop by the Coos County Fair and you will have a chance to chat with commissioner candidates Don Gurney and incumbent John Sweet working their respective campaign booths. More likely than not you will see them standing together, talking about the county or ribbing each other about politics but feel free to insert yourself into the conversation and ask questions and offer opinions.

As important as it is that we elect good people to office, more and more citizens across the country are taking matters into their own hands and using the initiative process to correct flaws in existing laws and even to repair decisions made by our elected officials. The Oregon Right to Know GMO Labeling initiative is one example of the people taking matters into their own hands when the legislature kowtowed to the food manufacturing industry. Communities have similarly banned fracking and initiatives are underway to halt the use of aerial pesticide spraying right here in Oregon.

Citizen initiatives and referendums are powerful tools and in light of the recent revelation that Governor Kitzhaber will not intervene in the plan to abuse the enterprise zone statutes and privatize millions of dollars in property taxes via the CEP (Community Enhancement Plan) the public may need to intercede where our elected officials will not. Kitzhaber took a laissez-faire approach to the CEP which will deprive the state school fund of tens of millions despite his school equalization assertions telling The World editor, “I’d say let’s watch it closely and see how it works.” One can only hope the governor watches more closely than he did with Cover Oregon or than he and his predecessors have watched over the Port of Coos Bay. Gasp!

The time has come for Coos County citizens to take matters into their own hands and file some initiatives asserting their rights to fair and equitable taxation and a sustainable economy. More details will follow in the next couple of weeks but perhaps it is high time to do away with local enterprise zones and other ineffective but costly constructs that favor the few over the many.

Hey Folks,

Below are links to some of Mary Geddry's articles....Rob T.

MGx server attacks coming from Coos County‏
https://mgx.com/2014/06/19/server-management-troubled-times/

SCCF vote still open for discussion‏
https://mgx.com/2014/06/17/countys-sccf-vote-still-discussion/

More from the Oregonian
http://mgx.com/2014/05/25/oregonian-jordan-cove-lng-creates-big-divisions-coos-bay/

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2014/05/jordan_cove_lng_terminal_in_co.html#incart_m-rpt-1


SCCF directors call it quits‏
http://mgx.com/2014/05/24/sccf-directors-git-gittin-good/

Hey Folks,

The endearing term "Yahoos" comes from a comment made by John Whitty in an article on the LNG in The Oregonian. 

Many in the community see the Community Enhancement Plan as one attributing factor to low turnout and even lower support for Commissioner Sweet.  It is hard to get the peoples vote while circumventing their representation in government.  Sweet would get more support for his campaign and his ideas, if he would trust the voter and PUT IT ON THE BALLOT....Rob T. 

All indications are that the Yahoos in the south county and rural Coos Bay and North Bend could put a new commissioner into office next January.

The county clerk’s office has released the vote tally for the eighteen precincts and John Sweet may have won the hearts and minds of midtown Coos Bay but he is vulnerable everywhere else. Sweet, the incumbent, lost the popular vote during the primary to challenger Don Gurney forcing a November runoff between the two. Because the voter turnout was so low last May these results may not be the most accurate barometer of how the county will vote this fall but all indications are that the Yahoos in the south county and rural Coos Bay and North Bend could put a new commissioner into office next January.

Thanks to The Oregonian coverage, Coos County now knows what MGx readers have known all along, that Jordan Cove made promises it never intended to keep, namely that it would pay taxes despite an available enterprise zone exemption.


Although, in truth, this is hardly a revelation because the prevailing understanding in the area has always been the company would pay the freight during construction as evidenced by all the resolutions supporting the project stating just that. What is strange is that none of the officials who signed those resolutions uttered a peep when David Koch presented the CEP as a solution to the five year exemption period. Curiously, Koch denied any knowledge of these resolutions even though the one of the entities to pass one was his employer, the Port of Coos Bay.

We also learned, or rather received further affirmation, that the individuals behind this scheme and appointed to administer it do not much care for the public, or at least the public process. Even The World newspaper had to rein in its enthusiasm for the South Coast Community Foundation when it became clear that the directors are not interested in involving the public or the paper, for that matter. One of the SCCF directors referred to the public as “yahoos”. ya·hoo noun \ˈyā-(ˌ)hü, ˈyä-\ a boorish, crass, or stupid person

Again, this is hardly a revelation to the public because if the architects and planners of this plan felt any other way the public would have been invited from the very beginning. Or, the plan would be setup as a public trust rather than a private, insular nonprofit that even after all the bylaw revisions, need not meet any public records law standards. Still, while not a revelation, seeing the directors’ blatant disdain and contempt for the average citizen in print in the largest publication in Oregon confirms the worst fears of the plans opponents. The CEP, and its component parts, the SCCF and the Bayfront Investment Corp, will follow historical precedent and benefit a very few at the expense of everyone else.

The SCCF bylaws describe the qualifications for a seat on the board. [emphasis added]

Each director shall possess the qualities of integrity, capability and knowledge of the community which the Foundation serves, and community standing that will help the board carry out its functions

“Community standing” meant here to assure that “yahoos” need not apply. Or it means cronyism. cro·ny·ism – the appointment of friends and associates to positions of authority, without proper regard to their qualifications.

Two of the three appointed founding SCCF directors, Bill Lansing and John Whitty’s social skills have been sorely tested with each being caught with the proverbial foot in the mouth.

Having their true character displayed for all to see, is a probably a good thing for the public. For the foundation, however, and its ability to function in the community, their impolitic candor may be more of a hindrance.

Speaking of cronyism, it should be noted that the same people who want to shut out the public are also supporting the reelection of Melissa Cribbins for commissioner and very likely John Sweet as well.
With a less than 22% voter turnout now is the time to prove that the yahoos outnumber the cronies in Coos County. Get your ballot in by Tuesday! Hopefully, we can hold Cribbins and Sweet to just two years on the commission.

 http://mgx.com/blogs/2014/05/02/cribbins-sweet-approve-sccf/

There is a regular board of commission meeting next Tuesday but that didn't stop Commissioner Melissa Cribbins on Wednesday from scheduling a special  work session for this morning to discuss the South Coast Community Foundation while Commissioner Bob Main was out of town. The revised schedule was sent out Wednesday adding the work session to discuss the foundation. Today, the Cribbins and Commissioner John Sweet approved joining the SCCF, ratifying is founding members John Whitty, Joanne Verger and Bill Lansing and approving the bylaws.

Yes, they really want the public to be able to participate in this process.

Meanwhile, the committee of four elected officials representing the enterprise zone sponsors have scheduled two of three Bayfront Investment Corp* meetings while Main is out of town. Last night at 4:56 PM Main received an email informing him the committee could not accommodate his request for a telephonic conference. Cribbins is filling in for Main instead.

*Bayfront Investment Corp is another component of the CEP (community enhancement plan)

-- Mary Geddry MGx.com Twitter: @magixarc Skype: mary.geddry

CEP will impact all of Oregon
http://mgx.com/blogs/2014/04/28/cep-will-impact-oregon/

One of the reasons given for the proposed sale and privatization of an invaluable public treasure like the Elliott State Rainforest is to raise funds to educate Oregon’s schoolchildren. Therefore, it may be of interest to all of Oregon that four rural taxing districts are on the brink of making a decision that will cost the State School Fund upwards of half a billion dollars over the next 20 years.

Estimated at $7.5 billion the proposed Jordan Cove LNG export terminal is touted to be the largest single development project in Oregon history. Sited on the North Spit of Coos Bay, supporters trumpet that the terminal will more than double the tax base of disadvantaged Coos County. From its inception in 2004, Jordan Cove LNG has been marketed by local proponents as a savior that will provide as much as $52 million in annual tax revenue, funding schools, adding more deputies and paving our roads. These claims are made despite the project’s location within both an urban renewal district as well as an enterprise zone. The latter will provide Jordan Cove Energy Partners, wholly owned by Canadian company, Veresen, Inc., with an automatic five-year property tax exemption.

In January, however, Coos County citizens learned that many of these same proponents have decided the Jordan Cove spoils simply cannot be left to the vagaries of established property tax revenue distribution and management and have devised a scheme they call the Community Enhancement Plan (CEP). The CEP will divert the revenue into two private nonprofit organizations one ostensibly to provide extra funds to local schools and the other for economic development and waterfront revitalization.

Veresen has long maintained that it does not want nor need the enterprise zone abatement and company spokesman Bob Braddock told an audience in July 2012 that it had “made a commitment” to make an estimated $30 million annual payment in lieu of taxes to the county tax collector. In order for the CEP to work, however, the plan architects asked the company to apply for not only the standard exemption but also for the fifteen year Long Term Rural Enterprise Zone Exemption. All four enterprise zone sponsors, the Port of Coos Bay, the cities of North Bend and Coos Bay and the county, must unanimously approve the extended abatement period.

According to the CEP architects, the application will only be approved on the condition Veresen agrees to pay “service fees” equal to the taxes into the two nonprofits. The conditions of approval coupled with the fact the company was asked to apply for the extension has led to a countywide debate as to whether these are private funds or if they should be treated as public funds subject to Oregon’s open meetings and public records law.
Like the sale of the Elliott Forest, one of the main reasons given for using private nonprofits rather than a public trust is to help educate our children. Thanks in no small part to legislative actions in Salem that provide special assessments to large timber owners and incentive programs like enterprise zones, Coos County realizes only 30% of its tax potential. Consequently, the State of Oregon must backfill 74% or $57 million annually to educate the county’s 9,400 students, thereby limiting resources available to each of Oregon’s 561,000+ students by $102 per year.

The Jordan Cove terminal would bring nearly $20 million annually to the Coos Bay School District, reducing the backfill provided to the district while at the same time raising the resources available to students everywhere. CEP promoters refer to this method of equalization as “claw back” and consider it “Draconian” so with a $15,000 contribution from Veresen, they formed the South Coast Community Foundation (SCCF) last summer. The CEP directs 50% of Jordan Cove’s service fees to SCCF.

The founding board members, Senator Joanne Verger, John Whitty and Bill Lansing, freely admit SCCF was formed specifically to circumvent claw back in order to retain the money wholly for local schools while continuing to rely on the State School Fund for three quarters of the county’s education costs. SCCF is so intent upon thwarting equalization it has inserted a “poison pill” into its bylaws where if the State dares to equalize funds distributed by the foundation, the board will simply not spend the money on education at all.
There are several other components to this potentially billion-dollar privatization scheme and it has divided the county. State Senator Arnie Roblan, a retired educator and Representative Caddy McKeown a former school board member have urged local officials to approve this plan. Opponents have labeled it money laundering and consider it a scam to put self-appointed power brokers in control of public money without any accountability. Regardless of which side you are on, the CEP, if enacted, will impact all of Oregon.

Koch: “Found money… forces cooperation”
http://mgx.com/blogs/2014/03/08/koch-found-money-forces-cooperation/

If you can stomach watching your civic leaders salivate over other people’s money, watch the Coos Bay City Council work session regarding the community enhancement plan. It is has been clear from the very first mention of the community enhancement scheme that Coos Bay and North Bend want access to tax dollars outside of their district and are willing to use their role as enterprise zone sponsors to usurp the rights of other taxing districts in order to get at it. But hey, according to Coos County Commissioner John Sweet, “the North Bay Rural Fire District doesn’t need $16 million…” Apparently, Sweet doesn’t think the county needs much money either because he is in full support of a plan to reallocate county revenue to the betterment of the waterfronts of Coos Bay and North Bend by “redirecting” taxes into the Bay Front Investment Corp.

While it should be noted that Sweet received the majority of his campaign contributions from the Coos Bay/North Bend area all of this comes at extraordinarily little inconvenience to either city. “This is all found money,” says Port CEO David Koch talking about the influx of cash within the city boundaries. “Found money.” What a descriptive phrase for this situation, as in unearned, or undeserved.

“What I like about this is it forces a partnership,” continues Koch. “We are forcing a partnership and seeding it with money that forces a closer cooperation between all four agencies in accomplishing the goals of this community. Frankly, I think the Bay Front Investment is the most exciting part…”

On a side note, one of the councilors bragged about downtown Coos Bay’s industrial waterfront. “We are very proud of it,” said Mike Vaughn. “It has always been a draw for us.”

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Hey Folks,

Mary Geddry has written another article targeting the Jordon Cove Plan.  The Port of Coos Bay is going to create a hyper-urban renewal district.  The money will be used like a petty cash drawer for the local politicians, so the voters had better wake-up and smell what the bureaucrats are cooking up now.  Below the link to Mary's article are two other articles to show the pattern of Oregon ports and back-up the claims of their detractors....Rob T. 

Tioga gun club not priority say commissioners
The Tioga Sports Park Association has been working for several years to build a gun range somewhere in Coos County. During the reign of Nikki Whitty, John Griffith and Kevin Stufflebean the commission gave the organization a small section of county forest in the vicinity of the Beaver Hill Disposal Site. According to testimony at a recent public hearing TSPA has spent more than $300,000 on engineering and design to provide gun enthusiasts and law enforcement personnel with a safe place to “get familiar with their weapons”. TSPA has hopes of providing 100, 300, 500 and 1000 yard ranges and has asked the BOC to provide them with $170,000 in economic development funds. Of all the grant applications submitted to the county, including the SCDC request, the TSPA had by far the best business plan and stands to be self supporting once it is operating.

Now, I grew up with guns, my step dad was a gunsmith by avocation when he wasn’t working as a fireman. Instead of doing dishes every night I had to do reloads. The linen closet was filled with gunpowder, shot, wad, spent casings and bullets and I had to walk past thirty three rifles and shotguns lined up against the wall to get to my bedroom. It’s been years since I have gone shooting but I used to be deadly at 500 yards with a long rifle. Having said all that, I don’t much care one way or the other if this range comes to pass or if someone has a convenient place to train as a sniper, (really, 1000 yards?).

The large conference room at the Owen Bldg was packed with gun proponents, many of whom long eschewed shaving in favor of very long and very bushy beards. There was quite of bit of testimony ranging from the “explosive growth” in gun sales and the 26,000 jobs created by gun manufacturing and the draw such a park would have on local tourism. One bearded young man proudly announced he was going to be a new father and he wanted to have a safe place where he could “pack up his daughter and go shooting.” Serial commissioner candidate Dale Pennie veered off into the 2nd Amendment refusing to give up his guns unless the “government gives up theirs.” Pennie has long been a person of interest in the mysterious disappearance and suspected murder of his brother Glenn Pennie. (Listening to him speak I couldn’t help but wonder how guns might have factored into that case.)

Neither John Sweet nor Melissa Cribbins, both of whom have filed their candidacy for reelection, were moved by the testimony to provide financial support at this time. Sweet argued that the county is broke and within the next two years will be more broke and if they support Tioga then somehow there may not be money available down the road for clerks, assessors and deputies. Commissioner Bob Main interjected that the county’s economic development fund receives funding from the Oregon State Lottery and that these funds are not typically used to supplement general fund expenses like clerks and deputies.

What is really interesting about Sweet’s position, which in my opinion is just an arbitrary dislike for the project and or the people pushing it, is that he is using future costs of providing public services as the excuse to dismiss the project. At the same time, Sweet is colluding with a handful of civic leaders to deprive the county of millions of dollars in funding from the Jordan Cove LNG project by pushing a fifteen year tax abatement. It is hard to rationalize the disconnect between providing $170K in lottery money to support a major part of the local culture and scheming to give a Canadian company more than half a billion dollars in tax breaks. There is really something wrong with this logic.

Actually, my area of expertise was archery… maybe we should develop a nice quiet archery range.

Hey Folks,

The following is an excellent article on the Jordon Cove Plan.  If you are not familiar with this plan to use the county's URA to divert funds to a new exclusionary panel.....Rob T. 

  Repost This Article

If you haven’t read it already, The World editorial entitled “Novel plan; fatal flaw – Public revenues are meant to be managed transparently, not by self-appointed groups” does a nice job of exposing the chronic hubris that so afflicts the culture of our local officials as well as appropriately chastening them for scheming to wrest control of public funds from the public. The plan’s architects, which include David Koch, Terence O’Connor, Roger Craddock and John Sweet, seek to place $20 million a year in property taxes from the as yet unapproved Jordan Cove LNG into two private corporations headed by a board of their choosing by essentially renaming the taxes “community service fees.”

As 501(c)(3)s, the nonprofit corporations lie outside the realm of public accountability. They won’t be subject to the state’s open meetings or records laws. They won’t be required to divulge their dealings or otherwise place themselves under public scrutiny of any kind… They aren’t required to take into consideration what the public may want.

Koch also rolled out the plan at a Coos County Urban Renewal Agency meeting wherein at the conclusion of his presentation he was overheard saying something to the effect of, “so unless there is any major opposition, this should work.” To which someone else remarked, “why would anyone object?”
For purposes of discussion we can accept that this small cadre or cabal has Coos County’s best interests at heart but the audacity of this scheme and the expectation that no one could possibly take issue with it demonstrates the downside of groupthink.

Groups affected by groupthink ignore alternatives and tend to take irrational actions that dehumanize other groups. A group is especially vulnerable to groupthink when its members are similar in background, when the group is insulated from outside opinions, and when there are no clear rules for decision making.

Reading the line above reminds of how Bay Area Chamber of Commerce president and BS Oregon* promoter Brooke Walton cutely refers to LNG opponents as “antis” and the very fact the public was excluded from this process demonstrates how little value these individuals place on the views of outliers or anyone who has not assimilated to the narrow dogmatic economic development view of the cabal. (John Sweet should be ashamed of himself). If further illustrates the critical need to begin the public dialog recommended within the SDAT report.

The upside of this presentation is that it brings to the forefront, not for the first time, just how outlandish some ideas can be when generated through groupthink. Remember the county owned pipeline, the T-dock, the Crossline Ferry, etc, etc, etc… Heretofore, the masterminds of these failed schemes have never been held publicly accountable but perhaps this will encourage the public to pay much more attention in the future.


*Boost Southwest Oregon shortens conveniently to BS Oregon which some of us feels more accurate defines its primary goal to pass off industry bull—- is a prime example of how things might go wrong with a marketing department influenced by groupthink. Even better the informal definition of “boost” means to – “steal, esp. by shoplifting or pickpocketing” a term which may be a fair assessment of what the cabal is proposing to do with public money.

Frankentax by David Jennings
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/12/08/coos-county-frankentax/

SCDC wants more money:
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/11/03/scdc-admits-failure-sort-needs-money-order-focus/

Pickpocketing Southwest Oregon
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/10/27/jordan-cove-wouldnt-play-salem/

Citizens may have to solve this problem without elected leaders‏
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/11/08/citizens-fix-local-tax-inequity/

Funding Option Stonewalled
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/09/23/coos-county-funding-option-stonewalled-boc/

 
Corporate Media poo-poo’s on local democracy
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/08/14/corporate-media-discourages-local-democracy/

 
The World does flip flops‏
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/08/10/the-world-channels-its-inner-steve-martin/

 
risk vs hazard, venting about Barton's letter‏
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/07/29/risk-vs-hazard-the-value-of-life/
 
 
Local Shills Say the Darnedest Things 
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/07/28/dumb-or-lying-local-shills-say-the-darnedest-things/

 
Is Mary a Closeted Conservative?
 http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/07/23/adventures-in-blogging-defending-my-liberal-cred/
 
 
The Dysfunctional ORCCA Board
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/07/18/orcca-board-dysfunctional-says-complaint-filed-with-oregon-doj/ 
 


Restore the 4th!
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/07/04/restore-the-4th-turning-point-for-opposing-mass-govt-surveillance/



Tammy Duckworth shreds defense contractor‏---Please watch -
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/06/27/furious-tammy-duckworth-defense-betrayed-veterans-and-the-nation/



What is BS
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/06/23/what-is-bs-oregon/

 
Shake up at The World
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/06/22/clark-walworth-is-gone-the-world-seeks-new-editor/
 

Reverse NIMBY‏ for Former Commissioner 
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/06/21/jordan-cove-lng-supporter-doesnt-want-pipeline-in-his-backyard/



FCC puts FM radio frequencies up for grabs
 http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/06/20/in-historic-victory-for-community-radio-fcc-puts-1000-low-power-fm-frequencies-up-for-grabs/
 
 
The Port of Coos Bay raises moorage fees & release budget
http://mgx.com/blogs/2013/06/16/as-the-port-prepares-to-raise-moorage-fees-here-is-a-look-at-this-years-budget/

During this same 3.5 year period, unemployment has risen more than 3 points from 7.9 to 11%, poverty is at 16% and unlike its neighboring counties, Coos County has seen a decline in population. Empirical evidence indicates that government backed economic development does not benefit the working class. Distributing the $78 million in stimulus between each household like an earned income credit would have done more to stimulate the local economy. This is true across the nation, throughout Oregon and nowhere is this more true than in Coos
County. 

Economic development agencies are not evaluated and funded based upon performance or results but more out of the “glass slipper” syndrome expressed by the local paper. The public is pitched with the promise of jobs and its heartstrings plucked with claims about a broader tax base to fund schools and besieged by information about poverty and homelessness. These techniques are all part of the developer psyche and they sell projects like the $51 million 12″ gas pipeline because it promised jobs, 2,900 jobs in fact… that was more than a decade ago. Spending money in the pursuit of jobs gives us hope, if you ascribe to the editorial opinions of the local paper, and perpetuates a 17th century fairy tale that we too can be lifted out of despair if we are pretty enough or willing to pay enough in tax benefits for the corporate prince to condescend to ask us to dance. Perpetuating the myth also keeps the developer funded and employed. In fact, the state has legislated “wooing” a mandated “high priority” and funds it accordingly. 
 
777.065 Development of port facilities at certain ports as state economic goal; state agencies to assist ports. The Legislative Assembly recognizes that assistance and encouragement of enhanced world trade opportunities are an important function of the state, and that development of new and expanded overseas markets for commodities exported from the ports of this state has great potential for diversifying and improving the economic base of the state. Therefore, development and improvement of port facilities suitable for use in world maritime trade at the Ports of Umatilla, Morrow, Arlington, The Dalles, Hood River and Cascade Locks and the development of deepwater port facilities at Astoria, Coos Bay, Newport, Portland and St. Helens is declared to
be a state economic goal of high priority. All agencies of the State of Oregon are directed to assist in promptly achieving the creation of such facilities by processing applications for necessary permits in an expeditious manner and by assisting the ports involved with available financial assistance or services when necessary. [1981 c.879 §6; 1993 c.106 §1]

To that end, Ray Bucheger a lobbyist who lists amongst his clients the Port of Coos Bay and representing Boost Southwest Oregon, or B.S. for short, is queuing the dance card now via an email rallying support for the Jordan Cove Energy Project and promising once again to “kick-start the economy”.
 
The Jordan Cove Energy Project is picking up steam, but we need your help! Construction of this $7.5 Billion project is set to begin in 2014, but only if the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) gives Jordan Cove a license to export LNG out of Coos Bay. Whether or not Jordan Cove receives a DOE export license will depend in part on the level of local support for the project. 

Boost Southwest Oregon is a coalition of public officials, business leaders, labor groups and other key stakeholders that was created to rally this support and kick-start the local economy. 

You are invited to join us at 9:00am on Wednesday, April 10th at the Coos Bay Visitor Center to receive an update on the Jordan Cove Energy Project and to learn how you can do your part to Boost Southwest Oregon.  The Coos Bay Visitor Center is located at 50 Central Avenue in Coos Bay.

The power point presentations will be loaded with both dire statistics and positive upbeat predictions about future jobs with above average salaries and stock photos of smiling, handsome contractors wearing pristine hard hats and of happy children studying in state of the art classrooms. We know because this isn’t our first rodeo.

 On a related note, Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Hillsboro, notorious for having introduced the towboat bill that put Captain Yates out of business, has introduced SB 845 which if it passes, would effectively allow the governor to declare a state of emergency in order to exempt large businesses from facing land use appeals.
 
Authorizes Governor and Director of the Department of Land Conservation and Development to exempt certain land use decisions from appeal by contract with member of traded sector industry that agrees to acquire and develop large-site industrial use employing at least 500 full-time employees.

 Apparently, the fairy tale only comes true for big businesses.