The End, sort of

Comments to this site have been closed and there won't be any further posts. Head on over to The Daily 750 for new posts. I made a commitment to follow through the budget discussions and a few other items, and I'll be writing about them there.

Thanks again for your support.

37 Votes

For a grass-roots campaign that was actively opposed by every media outlet, we did extremely well to come with 37 votes of making a real change for Clatsop County. Thanks very, VERY much for your support and your votes.

VOTE FOR YOUR LIFE!

The choices you make today will have a large effect on the quality of your life from January 2007 through 2010 and beyond.

Please vote. And vote responsibly.

Electing Autocrats

I was talking with a long-time Revered Community Leader (RCL) last night about the college and about Warrenton's official push to get the college to re-consider putting the college on the Nygaard property there. The RCL said, referring to the college board, "Why do we elect people and then try to tell them what to do?"

Because we don't give up our rights to speak out and to shape our government and our communities when we vote.

What is the point of electing an autocrat?

Courthouse Remodel

At its regular meeting yesterday the Commssion took a crucial step toward remodeling the courthouse when it voted to enter into a four million dollar loan with the Bank of the Pacific. The loan is for 15 years at 4.5%, for an annual repayment amount of $367,200. No loan fee, no prepayment penalty. Additional fees include loan document preparation ($5,000 or less) and Bond Consel fees ($17,500 or less).

Mike Robison presented the financing plan and made quick reference to the fact that the loan is more than was discussed at the Courthouse Planning Work Session because the bids for seismic upgrades to the 800 Exchange Building have since come in 50 percent higher than the $537,000 currently budgeted and may go even higher. About a million dollars of Special Projects funds that would have reduced the loan amount for the Courthouse are now being diverted to the costs of those seismic upgrades.

Total cost of the project is estimated at $4,131,294. It includes a new courtroom and "court set" (offices for the third judge and staff) on the main floor of the courthouse and a temporary holding cell for inmates in trial. Costs are included to move the Juvenile Department to the 800 Exchange building from the Courthouse's third floor, freeing up that space for the hazardously over-crowded DA's office to expand. Child and Victims's Services will be moved from their windowless room on the third floor to a more suitable and workable space in the basement, and there will be expanded room in te basement for the Grand Jury.

A second phase for some financially robust future would provide another four million dollars for a separate, secure elevator to the courtrooms for innmates, move the DA's office to 800 Exchange, upgrade the mechanical and electrical systems, provide better access for people with disabilities, and some cosmetic upgrades.

Meanwhile, Phase 1 is an excellent plan that satisfies all parties and will serve them -- and us -- well for many years. It's good and timely work that will have a proper courtroom ready when the new judge takes the bench January 1.

More on land use

Lots of comments hidden down in the blog about land use and where do I really really REALLY stand. Here I'll repeat what I wrote in one of those nether regions:

As County Commissioner I'll do everything I can to help expand your business and protect your property rights.

I'm an early and vocal advocate of the Rural Economies Strategy of economic development.

I support the thorough, assistive and timely process of all Measure 37 claims.

I want permitting and inspections to apply equally to all citizens.

I want an unpaid volunteer expert review of the permitting and inspections process, to determine whether there is unnecessary "red tape" and make recommendations for streamlining the process for individuals and businesses. There are two horrendous examples in Astoria of what can happen if projects go ahead too quickly, without following the recommended process, so we must be very careful when cutting red tape that we don't cut the lives out from under people.

I want a full-time staff person who can react flexibly and nimbly to the needs of businesses (this may not require an extra person, but reassigning the duties of a person), and not make them wait for the next meeting of some committee, which may be too late for their needs.

I'm advocating for additional resources to Public Safety and Community Corrections so that property crimes will continue to be prosecuted and that at least some minor sanctions will exist.

If we can use Measure 37 as a first step, to substitute common sense for the fine print (to paraphrase Tryan Hartill), then some day the benefits will outweigh the burdens. That's going to be a very difficult conversation, and one which I think will best come out of the larger economic development discussion that I hope will start this summer.

The overarching point is that as County Commissioner I will begin from the standpoint of working for the people, not for myself. I don't have a dog in this fight: I don't own any land that I want to protect or develop and I live in a downtown historic district. Sixty-eight percent of the people from District 3 voted for Measure 37. That's a clarion call that I won't ignore.

When I help Clatsop County, I help myself. My opponent works for himself, and that occasionally helps the County. That's backwards. I'm going to turn that around.

On the issues

Later today I'll be posting my thoughts on forest management and the use of timber funds. Here's a quick reference to essays on other issues:

UPDATED Sat., May 13, with links that work!

Economic Development, and here and here
Drug and Alcohol Abuse, and the Jail, and here
Measure 37
Public Safety
Open Government
The College and here.
The Port

UPDATE 9:22PM: The forestry essay is delayed until sometime on Thursday.

For the Collins and Trabucco Families

The original post has been deleted.

Another sort of support

The Marquis family loves animals. If there is such a thing as reincarnation and I die anytime soon, I want to come back as one of Annie Marquis' dogs or one of Josh Marquis' cats. One of Josh's cats, Max -- aka the Fluffy Guy, the Demon Cat, the Meepster -- went to the good Dr. Kilponen for a regular checkup a couple weeks ago and she found a half-dollar-sized mast cell tumor on the roof of his mouth. Today I'm taking Max to a veterinary radiation oncologist in Beaverton. Josh and I didn't get to have kids, so we have cats and we're dotey about them. Send out a good wish for Max, if you would, that he can be relatively easily treated and will go on to live a long and healthy life of shedding on the couch, peeing in the corners, getting stoned in the catmint and otherwise providing his humans with hours of entertainment.