The good news is that it's not over yet.
More good news is at the end of this message.
Highlights of today's County Commissioner's meeting:
It was quite a spectacle to see our county commissioners tumbling all over themselves to help NorthernStar's LNG proposal overcome any obstacle that law or common sense presented.
It was acrobatic government at its worst.
It was the un-civics lesson you wouldn't want your kids to see.
It was appalling and disgusting.
Hard to believe we voted these oafs into office....Thanks to the many NO LNGers who filled the Boyington Bldg. meeting room today - it was a high energy, well-informed crowd - who had to restrain themselves from laughing at the absurdities and groaning at the sell-out of our county by the commissioners.
At the meeting Ann Samuelson suggested that our county's fire, safety, and law enforcement districts really don't need the safety and emergency resources and equipment they're asking for to respond to an LNG emergency; she suggested they're are just being greedy.
She said the districts' desire to have NorthernStar pay some of the costs is just taking advantage of the company, like winning the lottery.
Samuelson, Roberts, Hazen, and Lee loved the idea of making our districts negotiate w/ NorthernStar to get more "reasonable" amounts - they certainly did NOT want the county to make any demands on NorthernStar.
So are they worried about our safety or NorthernStar's balance sheet???
At the end of the meeting, Samuelson talked about the need for forgiveness and reconciliation.
That was so absurd coming from her that easily half the people at the meeting left, rather than listen to her babble on.
Samuelson has been such a dedicated advocate for NorthernStar and Bradwood - perhaps she can get them to hire her on....Richard Lee stormed over to the county attorney to demand that the county eject Columbia Riverkeeper attorney Brett VandenHeuvel after he raised a point of order that the chair, Patricia Roberts, refused to recognize.
He also brought up the District Attorney's stipend - perhaps in his mind this is connected to LNG???
And although county road standards require a 500-foot turning radius on curves, the commissioners are on their way to approving much lower standards on Clifton Road for NorthernStar - 275 feet on one curve and 350 feet at another.
Final vote about Clifton Road is April 9. I'm enraged that they are willing to endanger all the residents and others who drive on Clifton Road.
Would any of the commissioners drive on a below-standard Clifton Road at night in a storm with an 18-wheeler coming at them???
More good news: After the meeting, Don West announced that the Columbia River Business Alliance, the Northwest Property Rights Coalition, and Columbia Riverkeeper are initiating a referendum so the public can finally get a say about LNG!
Clatsop County voters will vote on this referendum in September. More information in Friday's Daily Astorian and from me as soon as I have the details/Onward! NO LNG IN OREGON!
10 comments:
They haven't approved anything, they are just following rules you don't agree with. Get a life and start building the Clatsop/Oregon National park fences. What will the toll be for this park??
"Anonymous said...
They haven't approved anything, they are just following rules you don't agree with. Get a life and start building the Clatsop/Oregon National park fences. What will the toll be for this park??"
A unanimous vote of a sitting elected panel of County Commissioners approves something don't you think?
Details on the referendum should be forthcoming next week, as the full extent of what the Commission did Thursday is revealed officially. They went far beyond just approving an LNG terminal & opened parklands as well as private property to eminent domain action - possibly the largest eminent domain action ever seen in Oregon. Fortunately, the Commission also set the stage quite well (of course without that intention) for the citizens of Clatsop County to vote on one of the most outrageous of their decisions - allowing high-risk gas pipelines in County parks and open space recreation areas.
Peter
Isn't the pipeline only in Oregon for a few miles?
Also which County Parks would it go through? I see the Westport Boat Ramp...is that what you are referring to?
TH -
There is an approximately one-half mile stretch of proposed pipeline route near Westport that is zoned Parks, Recreation and Open Space. I'm not sure it is the boat ramp property. Nonetheless, pipelines were not an allowable use in that zone, so the Commission decided to change the Comprehensive Plan to allow major pipelines as a conditional use for all land thusly zoned. That is a legal change subject to citizen referendum. Thursday's decision opened the door for a county-wide vote.
Ok I found it...looks like it's about 3/4 of a mile north of Westport.
Is that the only thing that we will be voting on in Sept. is whether or not to change the Development Plan to allow pipelines in park land?
Thank you for taking the time to look that up. Yes, you got it; that's the plan for the referendum as announced by Columbia River Business Alliance, Columbia Riverkeeper, and NW Property Rights Coalition. In their statement on Thursday they said that they expected this to be on the September 16, 2008, ballot, and "As a result, a final decision on whether NorthernStar will receive even the first of many local, state and federal permits is still months away." We'll need to wait for a week or so for the actual legal filing, which awaits the County's paperwork from Thursday's hearing.
A LUBA appeal is expected as well, but I believe that NorthernStar and the Commission were totally taken by surprise by the referendum announcement. Hmm... is New Northwest Broadcasters or any other local advertising venue publicly traded? There just might be some money to be made if big bucks are pumped into convincing us that parklands are good locations for high-pressure gas pipelines...
sounds like it was quite an interesting meeting. What was the point the lawyer wanted to bring up that made Lee ask to have him ejected?
I am soooo sorry I voted for samuelson...I voted for her because she is female and I went to school with her. I don't recall anything about her in the more than 3 years I went to school with her...
and now...she wants to make amends...well, she should have voted no today.
someone in longviews paper said Lee is good friends with Ken Leahy, who owns the land where Bradwood wants to put the terminal.Is that true? And what was the comment samuelson made about someone accusing her and/or Lee of money laundering? I think it was on the radio.
anyway...I am not a newcomer...my grandfather was born here...and I don't want LNG, and I wish I were still in Lee's district so I could help vote him out...and I wish Roberts, Samuelson, and Hazen would go as well...but one thing at a time
I'm not sure what the lawyer from Columbia Riverkeeper was trying to raise as a point of order the second time, but earlier he had asked that Lee recuse himself from the land use votes. Lee veritably sprinted behind Chair Roberts and Commissioners Samuelson and Patrick to get to the County contract attorney Andy Jordan and County Manager Scott Derickson to demand ejection of the polite objector, who had already sat down at the Chair's request. There's a lot of spunk left in the short-timer.
You probably know that I'm a native here with a local family history of over a century. It's not easy to cry foul at the incompetence and malfeasance of those we've elected. We desperately need strong, ethical, intelligent, and responsive leaders to step forward and take this county back before more harm is done.
I really feel that our future is in balance. Lee will probably be recalled, but either way that it goes, much more citizen engagement is needed.
Like anyone really cares what the so called Riverkeepers or Rivervision has to say about anything. They're just a bunch of poodle puffers.
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