An Open Letter To Clatsop County Commissioner Patricia Roberts

GRP:We would like to extend the same invitation to Commissioner Roberts that we have extended to Commissioners Samuelson and Hazen and that is to use this venue to their best advantage to inform the citizens of this community in their defense against the proposed Recall Petitioning. We would certainly like to see a response from Commissioner Roberts on the Open Letter below.

Commissioner Roberts;

On Friday, August 28th, 2009, outside the Gearhart Post Office between the hours of 10:00 and 1:00, you
made the following public remarks in defending yourself against recall. I hope you will take some time to
clarify what you meant by the following statements:

“I don’t have any control over the size of the project.”
What do you mean? That the Bradwood Landing project, as proposed, was the minimum size it could be?
Your responsibility as a County Commissioner was not to decide if it was as compact as possible, but
rather to decide if the project met the “small to medium scale development activity” test necessary to
build anything on the site at Bradwood. You voted “yes” twice.

“We just voted to give them a chance, and I think they will fail.”
At no time that I‘m aware of, acting in your role as a quasi-judicial body hearing the case, were you asked
to vote on whether the Bradwood Landing proposal deserved a chance or not. Instead, your responsibility
was to rule on whether the proposal fit numerous aspects of county and state law and zoning rules. In
what way, precisely, do you think they will fail?

“We had no choice, this is the process.”
Do you mean that the process predetermined the outcome? You clearly could have chosen to vote no. A
no vote would have been more consistent with testimony and the county consultant’s opinion. Why do
you say you had no choice? Did anyone advise you that you had no choice?

“We would be sued if we had not voted this way.”
How did you come to the conclusion that the county would be sued if you voted no? Did someone tell
you that you would be sued? If so, who and when? Would you have voted differently without the threat
of being sued?
Unsaid
On two points that were brought up however, you were strangely silent. When it was mentioned that the
river closures resulting from the mandatory exclusion zone around the tankers would prohibit cruise ships
from considering Astoria as a port-of-call, you had no response. And more importantly, when the
discussion turned to the fishing industry along the Columbia River, and how it would be severely impacted
by the closures, your only response was, “I hadn’t heard they [the LNG super tankers] would be in port
that long.”

“You just don’t understand.”
You are correct on this one, I truly don‘t understand. But I believe it is your obligation to help me and
the people of Clatsop County understand why you keep voting for LNG and the Bradwood Landing
application. The concerned citizens of Clatsop County would appreciate an explanation of your
comments.

Sincerely.

Deborah McEuen
Lewis and Clark