..News Register..McMinnville,Or..
..Grand Island farmers widely expected to appeal decision..
..by Ossie Bladine..
After more than a year of continuation, to await resolution of related legal issues, the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners made quick work Thursday of a controversial application from Baker Rock Resources for permission to strip gravel from 175 acres of Grand Island farmland.
It granted approval on a 2-1 vote, with commissioners Leslie Lewis and Kathy George casting the yes votes and Commissioner Mary Stern sounding the dissent.
However, no one is naive enough to think the board has delivered the final answer. The approval will most certainly be appealed on up through the courts, possibly for years to come.
Both sides believed Lewis to be a solid supporter and Stern a solid opponent.
To the extent either harbored doubts about where George stood, she dashed them straight out of the box.
" I will be voting in support of this application," she announced.
The Grand Island resident living closest to the gravel mining site was shaken by the words and fought back tears as George continued.
" This is a business that is providing a necessary natural resource product to the community and to the region," she said in support of her decision.
George went on to say she was disappointed that the needed aggregate had to come from productive farmland and not from a section of the Willamette River known as Lambert Bend, where gravel has built up for decades, threatening farming operations. George joined others in a fight to win approval for mining there, figuring it would be a win-win, but were thwarted by federal environmental regulations.
In countering George's vote, Stern said she was not satisfied Baker Rock had met it's burden of proof and had doubts it can adequately mitigate conflicts with neighboring agriculture operations.
As potential conflicts, she cited " the lowering of groundwater resources, increased flooding, traffic impacts, geese predation and the general dust, which would be damaging to crops." She said, " I do not believe that the benefits of allowing the mining out-weigh the impacts on the identified conflicts."
And the argument will no doubt be carried forward by Protect Grand Island Farms, a group of local farmers and area residents opposed to the mining operation.
Spokesperson Kris Bledsoe, a Grand Island farmer herself, said she was 99% sure the group would appeal to the state Land Use Board of Appeals, but she would have to wait until the group's board meeting next week to say for sure.
" Of course we're disappointed, but we're not surprised," Bledsoe said of the 2-1 commissioner split. " In general, I think the decision was the wrong one for the health of the farmers."
Bledsoe said the group would have to engage in fundraising efforts to cover it's legal fees, but she thinks it is prepared to accept that burden.
The application will go to the county's counsel for a review of the supporting findings. It is scheduled for final formal approval June 7.
Meanwhile, the first element in the Goal 5 aggregate process-determining whether a site contains a legally significant resource-is back in play.
The county commissioners found that the Grand Island deposit was a legally significant resource on a 2-1 vote last spring.
They held off further proceedings on the Baker rock application, however, while opponents appealed that finding first to LUBA, then to the Oregon Court of Appeals. Only after prevailing at both levels did they take up the application itself.
Last week, Protect Grand Island Farms appealed the board's initial sufficiency decision on to the Oregon Supreme Court, and it's legal team is confident the court will take the case.
" We're not going to give up," Bledsoe said.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Court Rules on One Part of Battle to Protect Grand Island
..For Immediate Release..
Farmers Plan to Fight On to Protect Their Family Farms, Water Supplies
( Grand Island, Oregon ). In a decision issued April 4th, the Court of Appeals affirmed a determination by Yamhill County that high value farmland proposed to be converted into a large gravel mine contains a significant aggregate resource. Next, the mining corporation must prove that the proposed mine will not negatively impact existing farming operations immediately adjacent to the pits. The County counted two distinct layers of minerals to meet the " thickness "test, which is a prerequisite before high value farmland may be destroyed for commercial mining operations.
However, because the County bi-furcated it's decision the question remains whether the operation will have a negative impact on farming operations. The mining corporation also faces other hurdles, including the need to seek permission to cut a large ditch across popular State park lands along the Willamette River. The company has proposed the ditch as a way to allow endangered Salmon to escape if they get captured in the pits during seasonal flooding.
Grand Island is home to a diversity of family farming operations and orchards. The island draws people to a stretch of the Willamette just downstream from the historic Wheatland Ferry and is home to Grand Island State Park. Baker Rock Resources seeks to dig a series of mining pits adjacent to existing orchards and family farms and haul the rock out on the islands narrow roads. The land regularly floods from seasonal rains in the spring and summer and the operation requires the dewatering of the pits which will alter the flow of water for neighboring farms. While Grand Island farmer Sam Sweeny is disappointed in the Court's decision, he is optimistic that other state laws will protect the island from the proposed mine. " The Court's decision means too much valuable farmland along the Willamette could be mined, and underscores that state land use safeguards need to be fixed to protect these valuable resources. Regardless, these mining pits cannot co-exist with our farming operations. The proposal to dewater the pits will negatively impact our water supplies. Without water, we cannot farm."
Orchardist Ron Schindler took over the farm started by his father and he echoed these concerns: " The mining corporation proposes to mine below the water table, which will significantly impact shallow wells that I rely on to grow cherries. I cannot shoulder the burden of depleted and contaminated water supplies. We farmers have enough to worry about already."
The mining corporation also proposes to cut a channel across an Oregon State Park, because in floods endangered fish will get captured in the stagnant mining pits. Long time local resident Margaret Scoggan stated " The mining corporation proposes to cut and dig a large ditch across a state park that is owned and enjoyed by all Oregonians. They promise that the pits will become ponds and habitat- they will, for invasive weeds and hungry geese and ducks." To these local residents and thousands of Oregonians who visit the Island annually, Grand Island is a special place, the Suavie's Island of the Willamette. The mining operation would be in operation for three to four decades and would seriously harm the investment that local farmers have made in this land and a place enjoyed by thousands of Oregonians.
BACKGROUND & CONTEXT
Oregon's Land Use Laws Protect Farms from Mining Using a Two-Part Test
Oregon land use safeguards protect the highest value farmland from conversion into mining unless the mining corporation can show two things:
1. The site contains a significant aggregate resource which is mineable.
2. The mine will not conflict/negatively impact neighboring farming operations.
The County has only decided one of many issues. The Yamhill County Planning Commission issued a decision recommending the proposal be denied because of conflicts to family farming operations. The County Commissioners have not decided whether the operations conflicts with farming operations-this issue remains to be determined.
Grand Island has a very long growing season that supports a diversity of family farms. The Island is home to a popular pumpkin patch and a State Park and it draws lots of visitors on bike and by car. The family farms include CSA operations, staple crop farmers and cherry and fruit orchards.
Local farmers, residents and concerned citizens are working together as Protect Grand Island Farms to protect Grand Island. Hundreds of people turned out to testify and submit comments in opposition. The family farmers and local residents submitted uncontested evidence of how their operations will be impacted.
For example, the dewatering of the mining pits will affect shallow wells immediately adjacent to the pits. The farmers and the families on Grand Island cannot afford to pay to install new wells if their pumps get clogged.
The farmers grow specialty vegetables and fruit crops. The crops cannot take heavy washing from the dust of the operation, nor can the farmers afford the increased cost from interference with traffic and road damage from heavy trucks.
Farmers Plan to Fight On to Protect Their Family Farms, Water Supplies
( Grand Island, Oregon ). In a decision issued April 4th, the Court of Appeals affirmed a determination by Yamhill County that high value farmland proposed to be converted into a large gravel mine contains a significant aggregate resource. Next, the mining corporation must prove that the proposed mine will not negatively impact existing farming operations immediately adjacent to the pits. The County counted two distinct layers of minerals to meet the " thickness "test, which is a prerequisite before high value farmland may be destroyed for commercial mining operations.
However, because the County bi-furcated it's decision the question remains whether the operation will have a negative impact on farming operations. The mining corporation also faces other hurdles, including the need to seek permission to cut a large ditch across popular State park lands along the Willamette River. The company has proposed the ditch as a way to allow endangered Salmon to escape if they get captured in the pits during seasonal flooding.
Grand Island is home to a diversity of family farming operations and orchards. The island draws people to a stretch of the Willamette just downstream from the historic Wheatland Ferry and is home to Grand Island State Park. Baker Rock Resources seeks to dig a series of mining pits adjacent to existing orchards and family farms and haul the rock out on the islands narrow roads. The land regularly floods from seasonal rains in the spring and summer and the operation requires the dewatering of the pits which will alter the flow of water for neighboring farms. While Grand Island farmer Sam Sweeny is disappointed in the Court's decision, he is optimistic that other state laws will protect the island from the proposed mine. " The Court's decision means too much valuable farmland along the Willamette could be mined, and underscores that state land use safeguards need to be fixed to protect these valuable resources. Regardless, these mining pits cannot co-exist with our farming operations. The proposal to dewater the pits will negatively impact our water supplies. Without water, we cannot farm."
Orchardist Ron Schindler took over the farm started by his father and he echoed these concerns: " The mining corporation proposes to mine below the water table, which will significantly impact shallow wells that I rely on to grow cherries. I cannot shoulder the burden of depleted and contaminated water supplies. We farmers have enough to worry about already."
The mining corporation also proposes to cut a channel across an Oregon State Park, because in floods endangered fish will get captured in the stagnant mining pits. Long time local resident Margaret Scoggan stated " The mining corporation proposes to cut and dig a large ditch across a state park that is owned and enjoyed by all Oregonians. They promise that the pits will become ponds and habitat- they will, for invasive weeds and hungry geese and ducks." To these local residents and thousands of Oregonians who visit the Island annually, Grand Island is a special place, the Suavie's Island of the Willamette. The mining operation would be in operation for three to four decades and would seriously harm the investment that local farmers have made in this land and a place enjoyed by thousands of Oregonians.
BACKGROUND & CONTEXT
Oregon's Land Use Laws Protect Farms from Mining Using a Two-Part Test
Oregon land use safeguards protect the highest value farmland from conversion into mining unless the mining corporation can show two things:
1. The site contains a significant aggregate resource which is mineable.
2. The mine will not conflict/negatively impact neighboring farming operations.
The County has only decided one of many issues. The Yamhill County Planning Commission issued a decision recommending the proposal be denied because of conflicts to family farming operations. The County Commissioners have not decided whether the operations conflicts with farming operations-this issue remains to be determined.
Grand Island has a very long growing season that supports a diversity of family farms. The Island is home to a popular pumpkin patch and a State Park and it draws lots of visitors on bike and by car. The family farms include CSA operations, staple crop farmers and cherry and fruit orchards.
Local farmers, residents and concerned citizens are working together as Protect Grand Island Farms to protect Grand Island. Hundreds of people turned out to testify and submit comments in opposition. The family farmers and local residents submitted uncontested evidence of how their operations will be impacted.
For example, the dewatering of the mining pits will affect shallow wells immediately adjacent to the pits. The farmers and the families on Grand Island cannot afford to pay to install new wells if their pumps get clogged.
The farmers grow specialty vegetables and fruit crops. The crops cannot take heavy washing from the dust of the operation, nor can the farmers afford the increased cost from interference with traffic and road damage from heavy trucks.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
..Appeal of LUBA..
..Good news, Protect Grand Island Farms has decided to appeal the LUBA decision which ruled in the favor of the county and Baker Rock. We are going to continue our fight against the proposed quarry for as long as it takes to stop the quarry.
The legal fees to continue this battle will be ongoing. This is money well spent. CRAG Is charging us a reduced rate and provides us with high quality legal advice.
If you would like to help us by donating money to PGIF it would be much appreciated by us and all of the many people who will be negatively affected if this quarry is established. Donations can be sent to PGIF, P.O. Box 1803, McMinnville, OR 97114. We are a 501-c3 non-profit organization and your donation is tax deductible. Donations can also be made thru Paypal on our sister website: http://protectgrandisland.com/
If you would like to discuss the quarry application with one of our board members I am certain they would be more than happy to answer questions. The PGIF board members are: Katie Kulla, Laura Masterson, Margaret Scoggan, Sam Sweeney, Neil Svarvervd, Ron Schindler and me.
Thank you for all of your support. This is a great community!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
..LUBA Ruling..
..The Luba Appeal filed by Protect Grand Island Farms was denied..But not to worry, we shall forge on in our fight..We have 21 days to appeal the LUBA ruling..We are awaiting our lawyers advice..Thanks everybody for all your support and help..
Monday, August 22, 2011
Pipeline protesters arrested outside White House
By Sheldon Alberts, Postmedia News Washington Correspondent August 20, 2011
WASHINGTON — They came to the White House planning to get arrested, and very quickly got their wish.
Dozens of environmental activists opposed to the Keystone XL oilsands pipeline were led away in plastic handcuffs after staging a sit-in Saturday aimed at persuading President Barack Obama to deny a permit allowing construction of the 2,700-kilometre project.
The protest marked the opening of a two-week campaign of civil disobedience that organizers hope will scuttle Calgary-based TransCanada Corp.’s $7-billion pipeline, which would carry up to 900,000 barrels of crude from northern Alberta to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
“I’m doing this because this is the clearest environmental test — on both sides of this border — that we have faced in a very long time,” said environmental author Bill McKibben, the chief organizer of the protests.
“The tarsands are the second largest pool of carbon on the planet. If we start burning them in large quantities . . . it is essentially game over for the climate.”
McKibben was one of about 70 protesters who refused orders from the U.S. Park Police to disperse after lining up on the sidewalk along Pennsylvania Avenue, directly in front of the White House entrance.
A bullhorn-wielding SWAT team officer gave the demonstrators three warnings before police began removing the demonstrators one by one. The protesters responded to each of the warnings with a chorus of “Hey-ho, Keystone XL has got to go.”
None of the activists resisted arrest.
“We have got to end tarsands exploitation period if we are going to continue to live on this planet. It’s going to fry the planet,” said Tom Weis, a climate activist from Boulder, Colorado.
“I am risking getting arrested to send a message to the Obama administration that we are not going to stand for this,” added Weis, who is planning a bicycle journey along the proposed Keystone XL route, from the Canadian border to Texas, in October.
Obama wasn’t home to witness the sit in. He and his family are vacationing at Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
Still, administration officials are taking notice of the pipeline opponents and recently agreed to a new round of public hearings this fall on the project.
The State Department, which has jurisdiction over pipelines that cross an international boundary, has promised a decision on the long-delayed pipeline by the end of the year.
Oil industry proponents say Keystone XL is vital to America’s energy security and would create thousands of jobs at a time when the U.S. economy is perilously close to entering another recession.
In the past month, two members of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet have been in Washington pressing for its approval.
“We need Canadians to understand that for the sake of the planet’s atmosphere, that oil simply has to stay in the ground. I know it is inconvenient, but that is the situation we are in,” McKibben said.
“We are very hopeful that the good people of Canada will start to take more environmental responsibility.”
Opponents warn Keystone XL poses unacceptable risks to the environment because it promotes further development of the oilsands. There are also concerns about the possibility of a spill in environmentally sensitive areas, like Nebraska’s Ogallala Aquifer, along the pipeline route.
Several high profile progressive activists, including actors Danny Glover, Mark Ruffalo and Margot Kidder have promised to participate in the protests over the next two weeks.
Canadian opponents, including author Naomi Klein and Council of Canadians chair Maude Barlow, are planning to attend protests later this month and in early September.
On the first day of the sit in, a handful of Canadians were on hand.
Linda Rosier and Liz Armstrong, both of Guelph, Ont., sat on the White House sidewalk as police put up barricades and ordered everyone to leave. They remained until receiving a second warning, then left before the arrests began.
Legal advisers to the activists have told Canadians they risk being deported or barred from re-entering the U.S.
“President Obama is a hero of mine, and I know he has the ability to deny the application for the pipeline,” said Rosier.
“We know that is where his heart is.”
Patricia Warwick, of Toronto, watched the arrests from across Pennsylvania Avenue, but plans to participate in Sunday’s sit in.
“I am a bit concerned about (being barred from the U.S.), but I have accepted that,” Warwick said.
“I am generally peaceful. I go to protests but I have never taken a risk. I feel this is serious enough that I have got to take a risk,” Warwick said. “I have got to make my voice known. So I am prepared to be arrested.”
Among the environmentalists arrested Saturday was Gus Speth, the former chairman of the President’s Council on Environmental Quality during the Carter administration. “If (getting arrested) is what it takes to get attention, to make people understand what is at stake, then it’s worth it,” said Speth. “After 30 years of inaction (on global warming), it is the thing I feel I have to do, because I have done everything else.”
Many of the U.S. protesters on Saturday wore Obama campaign buttons from the 2008 election, to remind the president that he draws substantial support from the environmental community.
“I dug out my old Obama ‘08 button from the sock drawer, and I am wearing it with some mixture of hope and trepidation,” McKibben said before his arrest.
While Republicans have been able to block comprehensive climate legislation in Congress, Obama holds the power on Keystone XL to himself.
“We want Obama to behave like the candidate Obama in 2008, to really stand up, and this time he can, because Congress isn’t in the way.”
The Keystone XL pipeline has been a source of division within the Obama administration and on Capitol Hill. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently criticized the State Department’s early environmental assessments of the pipeline’s impact as weak.
A final environmental impact assessment is expected as early as next week.
The Keystone XL issue “has really become symbolic about what the Obama administration is willing to do,” said Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, director of the international program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Are they willing to live up to their promises on climate change, or are they going to take us in the wrong direction, towards more tarsands dependence?”
salberts@postmedia.com
Read more: http://www.canada.com/business/Pipeline+protesters+arrested+outside+White+House/5283758/story.html#ixzz1Vmq20aIf
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
August 1, 2011
John Kroger, Attorney General of Oregon
1162 Court Street, NE
Salem, OR 97301-4096
Re: Leslie Lewis Investigation, October 2010
Dear Mr. Kroger:
By now your offices in Salem have received our letter of June 14, 2011, in which we requested a reopening or reinvestigation into the Yamhill County Commissioner Leslie Lewis wiretapping investigation of October 2011. That letter was received in the Salem office on June 16, 2011 at 12:22 PM. They have also by now received the second raft of signatories of that letter. -
As of this date, we have not received any kind of a reply from you or your Department. We are copying this third letter of request to both your Salem and Portland offices, with the copies of the previous letter and signatories.
In light of the resignation and reassignment of Sean Riddell because of his unfortunate habitual pattern of mistakes made in the "Energy Department investigation and its 2010 contract with a company co-owned by Cylvia Hayes, Gov. John Kitzhaber's companion, as well as the criminal investigation of former Umatilla County District Attorney Dean Gushwa," (http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/06/chief_counsel_sean_riddell_res.html) we again ask that you direct your Department to reopen or reinvestigate the Lewis Wiretapping Affair.
These developments now lend an aura of potential unreliability to all of his work which may reasonably be extended to all parts of his duties, including the Lewis investigation.
See also Attachments:
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/06/oregon_department_of_justice_a_1.html
We, the concerned citizens of Yamhill County again respectfully and strongly request that you direct that the investigation of this matter be reviewed and reopened. Thank you for your personal attention to this matter.
Enclosed please find an addressed stamped envelope for the convenience of your reply. We will assume that if we do not hear from you within 10 working day of receipt of this letter, that you intend to take no further action to prosecute the Leslie Lewis Wiretapping Affair, and will then pursue whatever other options of Justice of which we may ethically and legally avail ourselves.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Blair
595 SW Ruby Court
McMinnville, OR 97128
U.N.C.L.O.G.
Liz Marlia-Stein
Chair, Yamhill County Democrats
1525 NE 18th Street
McMinnville, OR 97128
Encl:
Cc: Mr. John Kroger
Oregon Department of Justice
621 SW Morrison Street # 1100
Portland, OR 97205-3818
Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney 900 Court St. NE, S-201
Salem, OR 97301 sen.petercourtney@state.or.us
Senate President Pro Tempore Ginny Burdick 900 Court St. NE, S-213
Salem, OR 97301 sen.ginnyburdick@state.or.us
Oregon Senate Judiciary Committee
Sen. Floyd Prozanski, Chair, 900 Court St NE, S-417, Salem, OR, 97301, and PO Box 11511, Eugene, OR, 97440 sen.floydprozanski@state.or.us
Sen. Jeff Kruse, Vice-Chair, 900 Court St NE, S-315, Salem, OR, 97301 and 636 Wild Iris Lane, Roseburg, OR, 97470, sen.jeffkruse@state.or.us
Sen. Suzanne Bonamici, 900 Court St NE, S-403, Salem, OR, 97301 and PO Box 990, Beaverton, OR, 97075 sen.suzannebonamici@state.or.us
Sen. Jackie Dingfelder 900 Court St NE, S-407, Salem, OR, 97301 and PO Box 13432, Portland, OR, 97213 sen.jackiedingfelder@state.or.us
Sen. Doug Whitsett 900 Court St NE, S-303, Salem, OR, 97301 and 23131 N. Poe Valley Road, Klamath Falls, OR, 97603 sen.dougwhitsett@state.or.us
Co-Speaker of the House Rep. Arnie Roblan 900 Court St. NE, H-295
Salem, OR 97301 rep.arnieroblan@state.or.us
Co-Speaker Pro Tempore Representative Tina Kotek 900 Court St. NE, H-395
Salem, OR 97301 rep.tinakotek@state.or.us
Oregon House Judiciary Committee
Re. Jeff Barker, Co-Chair, 900 Court St NE, H-491, Salem, OR, 97301 rep.jeffbarker@state.or.us
Rep. Wayne Krieger, Co-Chair, 900 Court St NE, H-381, Salem, OR, 97301 and 95702 Skyview Ranch Road, Gold Beach, OR, 97444 rep.waynekrieger@state.or.us
Rep. Chris Garrett, Co-Vice Chair, 900 Court St NE, H-377, Salem, OR, 97301 and PO Box 132, Lake Oswego, OR, 97034 rep.chrisgarrett@state.or.us
Rep. Wally Hicks, Co-Vice Chair, 900 Court St NE, H-490, Salem, OR, 97301 and PO Box 73, Grants Pass, OR, 97528 rep.wallyhicks@state.or.us
Rep. Mary Nolan, 900 Court St NE, H-493, Salem, OR, 97301 and PO Box 1686, Portland, OR, 97207 rep.marynolan@state.or.us
Rep. Andy Olson, 900 Court St NE, H-478, Salem, OR, 97301 and PO Box 891, Albany, OR, 97321 rep.andyolson@state.or.us
Rep. Mike Schaufler, 900 Court St NE, H-382, Salem, OR, 97301 and 12910 SE Ridgecrest Road, Happy Valley, OR, 97086 rep.mikeschaufler@state.or.us
Rep. Carolyn Tomei, 900 Court St NE, H-279, Salem, OR, 97301 and PO Box 22147, Milwaukie, OR, 97267 rep.carolyntomei@state.or.us
Rep. Matt Wand, 900 Court St NE, H-378, Salem, OR, 97301 rep.mattwand@state.or.us
Rep. Gene Whisnant, 900 Court St NE, H-471, Salem, OR, 97301 rep.genewhisnant@state.or.us
Fighting Crime
Attorney General Kroger's highest priority is to fight crime in Oregon. Our Criminal Justice Division is comprised of dedicated prosecutors, investigators and analysts who work tirelessly to fight organized crime, protect children, investigate potential terrorism threats, and assist district attorneys across the state with murder and large-scale drug trafficking cases.
In the coming years we will focus on six major law enforcement priorities:
- Prosecuting murderers with our law enforcement partners;
- Fighting dangerous foreign drug cartels;
- Combatting violent gangs;
- Protecting our children from internet sex predators;
- Investigating and prosecuting corrupt government officials; and
- Providing our law enforcement partners with investigative and prosecutorial support.
Aggressive law enforcement is only one part of our plan to make Oregon safer. We are also pushing for a major overhaul of Oregon's drug treatment and prevention programs. Our criminal justice system is driven by substance abuse. Every year drug and alcohol addiction costs us hundreds of millions of dollars in prison and law enforcement expenses, health care expenditures, and lost workforce productivity. Addiction is also the single greatest cause of property crime in Oregon. Even worse, meth is a leading cause of child abuse in Oregon. That is one reason why Oregon received a "D" on a recent child welfare report card issued by a leading advocacy group. This is simply unacceptable
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
2011 Restaurant of the Year: Thistle
Published: Thursday, June 23, 2011, 5:45 AM Updated: Thursday, June 23, 2011, 6:35 AM
Bechard, chef/proprietor of McMinnville restaurant Thistle, chews thoughtfully, and in his eyes the wisp of greenery blossoms into a salad.
"A little bit of that," muses Bechard, "gets your whole palate so excited."
Rarely does farm to fork seem such a short trip.
For his deftness in making his point -- and in making black cod with locally grown squash and brussels sprouts, and house-butchered and cured bacon -- Bechard's Thistle is The Oregonian's 2011 Restaurant of the Year.
Thistle is beyond personal. For its 24-seat dining room, not only does Bechard oversee the menu -- from sampling purple sprouting broccoli in the field, to breaking down whole pigs, to creating glutinous and gamy duck liver pâté -- but his fiancée Emily Howard also does all the serving. (They've been engaged for a while; Bechard envisions an eventual 1920s street fair wedding with food booths and a magician.) There are a few persistent dishes -- the caper- and shallot-studded beef tartare is a regular, and it had better be -- but it's mostly a nightly expression of local harvests and Bechard's inspiration.
Twice a month, Bechard -- in his '65 Mercury lacking amenities such as seat belts -- drives out to visit the farmers who supply his tiny but increasingly prominent restaurant. Other times, he's designing and producing the nightly menu on the blackboard over the dining area, butchering (in plain view of the street) the weekly pig a farmer delivers to his kitchen, and overseeing Community Plate, his new, larger family restaurant down the block, which he opened only after local farmers assured him they could stock a much larger kitchen.
For more than a decade, Oregon chefs such as Greg Higgins and Vitaly Paley have been reimagining the dining scene by bringing the best, freshest local produce to their restaurants. Two years ago, Bechard, after cooking in San Francisco, Portland and Seattle, went off to a side street in McMinnville, bringing the restaurant to the produce.
The food at Thistle may be local, but the style reflects Bechard's classical French training. Squash from Yamhill fields are pureed silken and laced with micro-thin slices of truffle before reaching the soup bowl. The bistro classic hanger steak is accompanied by a sauce described as "onion family," which seems a curious phrasing until you look across the field and see how many kinds of onions Kulla grows
Relying on the local harvest, of course, can be complicated.
"We do a lot of foraging: miner's lettuce, fiddleheads, chicory," Bechard explains. "That fills in the gaps."
Born in Montreal, Bechard grew up across the United States and Canada; his father, a construction executive, moved the family to a new dam or subway project every couple of years. Bored by college, Bechard moved to San Francisco to attend California Culinary Academy and work at progressively better local restaurants. He made a considerable splash as chef at Portland's Alberta Street Oyster Bar -- The Oregonian's Rising Star of the Year in 2006 -- where Howard ran the wine list. When the restaurant's funding collapsed, they moved to Seattle."I hated it in two months," Bechard remembers. "It's more L.A. than it is Portland."
But Seattle provided time to figure out what to do next -- to go to McMinnville, where Howard had grown up, and start something very small, very personal and very local.
"It clicked immediately," he says. "I moved here and fell romantically in love with McMinnville."
Part of the bond was the connection he began building with farmers and ranchers, underlying his commitment to local and nose-to-tail consumption. At the local farmers market, he went up to Betty McKay, selling beef from McK Ranch in Dallas -- still a supplier -- and asked about beef cheeks, tails, hearts and liver.
"Her eyes lit up," he remembers, "and she said, 'I'll give you a great deal.'"
Now Thistle serves braised oxtail and beef heart tartare.
Thistle, Bechard admits, was not an obvious restaurant for McMinnville. But the local wine industry and tourists rapidly noticed it. The restaurant opened in summer 2009 and, by that fall, appeared in Food & Wine magazine. The next year, it was featured in Bon Appétit's description of McMinnville as one of the "foodiest" towns in the country.
By then, Bechard had acquired another notoriety. At a Portland cooking competition setting local chefs to work on whole pigs, Bechard's passionate protests about some of the pigs coming from Iowa somehow simmered into a fistfight, ending in a fractured leg for a promoter and the appearance of the Portland police. In last year's Diner, Thistle's tiny ad promised, "Food worth fighting for."
Now, explains Bechard -- ferociously tattooed, including finger tattoos making a statement to pigs and chefs -- "I was just disappointed" at the out-of-state swine. "It snowballed into something bigger. It was not a good roundtable discussion to have at 2 in the morning after a day of drinking."
This year, Bechard is making a less belligerent point, bringing locavore logic to a wider market. Thistle, after all, is not everybody's meat -- oxtail and rabbit liver parfait can take some people aback. "The menu alienates a lot of people. It's not comfortable food. We've had people with reservations come in, look at the blackboard and walk out."
So this spring, he opened Community Plate, to show that local cuisine works in a larger space for more familiar food -- hamburgers, BLTs and chili. (But Bechard assures it won't be the same food you'll get elsewhere: "Somebody who has the chili here, and chili at Shari's, they're going to know the difference.") And it offers a few dishes not entirely commonplace, such as a Cuban Reuben: Bechard's own ham, roast pork and bacon, with sauerkraut and cheese, on grilled rye.
Nothing would have happened, Bechard says, if he hadn't been able to get his suppliers to come along on the expansion, to commit to producing for a considerably larger operation than the 24-seat Thistle -- and for yet another operation, a sports bar, Oak & Ivy, to open later this year.
"These farmers want to grow," says Bechard. "If they can grow, they're happy. And I'm happy."
Before Bechard walked onto his property, Casey Kulla says he wasn't interested in growing for restaurants; they were, he thought, hard to communicate with. Now, besides Thistle, and Community Plate, Kulla grows for a number of others.
Thistle has expanded the horizons of McMinnville and Oregon, and now Eric Bechard is setting many more tables for his way of thinking.
And Casey Kulla has bought another 30 acres.
-- David Sarasohn
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Court of Appeals Confirms LUBA Ruling: Prevents Expansion of Yamhill County’s Riverbend Landfill
PORTLAND, OR – December 29, 2010. Garvey Schubert Barer, representing Waste Not of Yamhill County, is pleased to report the Oregon Court of Appeals issued a final order in Waste Not v. Yamhill County, Court of Appeals No. A146170, issued December 29, 2010. The decision affirms the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (“LUBA”) final order in Waste Not v. Yamhill County, LUBA No. 2010-002 that Yamhill County violated the law in authorizing the expansion of the Riverbend Landfill.
Waste Not of Yamhill County, a coalition of Yamhill County businesses and citizens, had numerous concerns with the proposed landfill expansion, but LUBA chose to focus on a single issue – whether the county’s decision to take an exception to a local code provision is even possible. LUBA concluded that, because Goal 3 expressly allows landfills on farm land, an exception to the county code provision prohibiting landfills is not possible.
“The Court of Appeals’ decision confirmed LUBA’s decision enforcing Yamhill County’s comprehensive plan, which did not allow landfills. ” said Bill Kabeiseman, a partner with Garvey Schubert Barer and lead attorney on the case.
Yamhill County argued at the Court of Appeals that the LUBA decision was unlawful in substance. In affirming the LUBA decision the Court of Appeals cited Barnes v. City of Hillsboro, Court of Appeals No. A146145, which upheld LUBA’s rejection of the zoning changes to over 7,000 properties in the vicinity of the Hillsboro Airport. Garvey Schubert Barer also successfully argued the decision and the appeal.
Waste Not welcomed the Court of Appeals’ decision and hopes that the County will explore waste disposal options that both protect the environment and benefit the community economically, creating family-wage jobs while protecting thriving local tourism and agricultural industries. Waste Not encourages the County to take advantage of the window of opportunity now created and pursue those other options.
Waste Not of Yamhill County, a coalition of Yamhill County businesses and citizens, had numerous concerns with the proposed landfill expansion, but LUBA chose to focus on a single issue – whether the county’s decision to take an exception to a local code provision is even possible. LUBA concluded that, because Goal 3 expressly allows landfills on farm land, an exception to the county code provision prohibiting landfills is not possible.
“The Court of Appeals’ decision confirmed LUBA’s decision enforcing Yamhill County’s comprehensive plan, which did not allow landfills. ” said Bill Kabeiseman, a partner with Garvey Schubert Barer and lead attorney on the case.
Yamhill County argued at the Court of Appeals that the LUBA decision was unlawful in substance. In affirming the LUBA decision the Court of Appeals cited Barnes v. City of Hillsboro, Court of Appeals No. A146145, which upheld LUBA’s rejection of the zoning changes to over 7,000 properties in the vicinity of the Hillsboro Airport. Garvey Schubert Barer also successfully argued the decision and the appeal.
Waste Not welcomed the Court of Appeals’ decision and hopes that the County will explore waste disposal options that both protect the environment and benefit the community economically, creating family-wage jobs while protecting thriving local tourism and agricultural industries. Waste Not encourages the County to take advantage of the window of opportunity now created and pursue those other options.
Friday, December 17, 2010
..Gravel foes ask Lewis to bow out..
Published: December 15, 2010
By HANNAH HOFFMAN
Of the News-Register
Yamhill County Commissioner Leslie Lewis will be facing a new controversy when the Baker Rock hearing re-opens Jan. 6. Opponents of the company's application to mine gravel on 175 acres on Grand Island have filed a letter - now part of the official record - asking Lewis to recuse herself in the case.
Portland lawyer Ralph Bloemers of the Crag Law Center filed the letter Thursday. He cited Lewis' Dec. 2 admission that she had independently visited some reclaimed gravel sites in Salem, which he equated to potentially prejudicial ex parte contact.
In the letter, he wrote, "While I would like to give Ms. Lewis the benefit of the doubt, her testimony on behalf of the applicant plainly demonstrates that she is either unable or unwilling to objectively evaluate this proposal.
"For this reason, I see no alternative but to respectfully request that Ms. Lewis step down from deciding this matter before a decision is reached ... that prejudices the substantial rights of the local residents, farmers and property owners who will be significantly and negatively affected by the proposed quarry on Grand Island."
While he termed Lewis' comments "testimony," they were not offered as such. She made them during a part of the hearing reserved for commissioners to disclose any ex parte contact they might have had.
For example, Commissioner Kathy George noted that she had received an e-mail after an earlier installment of the hearing from opponent Kris Bledsoe.
George said she did not reply. She said she simply forwarded the message to County Counsel Rick Sanai.
Lewis' disclosure went this way:
At the first installment in the hearing in November, wetlands biologist Craig Markham testified that mine sites reclaimed as wetlands, proposed for this one at the end of its projected 30-year life, don't always turn out as well as companies promise. He cited a set on Highway 22, near Salem's Oregon State Correctional Institution, as an example.
Lewis disclosed at the Dec. 2 continuation that she had since driven to the site to get a first-hand look. But she actually ended up at another reclamation site, near Lowe's Home Improvement Store, that the Salem Chamber of Commerce had helped turn into a park.
She described the scene as a pleasant natural setting hosting a wide variety of activities.
Lewis did not offer a direct opinion of her own, but her description left the audience with a positive impression and served to introduce information into the hearing record that neither side had introduced on its own.
Bloemers latched onto that aspect, saying, "The opponents of this application are entitled to a hearing before an impartial tribunal. This means county commissioners should not be conducting their own investigation in support of or in opposition to either party."
He cited a 2007 Land Use Board of Appeals case that dealt with the issue. In that case, a city council member independently investigated the case before him, as well as attacking opponents in the newspaper and elsewhere.
The state Land Use Board of Appeals found that with one of the arbiters of the issue collecting evidence and drawing opinions from it, opponents had not gotten a fair and impartial hearing.
However, in that case, the conduct was much more extreme that anything Lewis has been accused of.
In an attempt to remain impartial, Lewis said, she has gone so far as to avoid reading any newspaper coverage of the issue. However, she said on the advice of the county counsel's office, she could not comment on the merits of the recusal request itself.
Bledsoe submitted a letter of concern of her own. Though she stopped short of joining in the call for recusal, she took a sharply critical approach.
"It appeared that she was attempting to discredit the testimony by looking for errors," Bledsoe said of Lewis' Dec. 2 remarks. "She spent an entire afternoon looking at former rock quarries in an effort to testify on behalf of Baker Rock."
Bledsoe closed by saying, "I sincerely hope that Commissioner Lewis can rise above her biases and give this application hearing the true quasi-judicial review that is appropriate."
Under Oregon land use law, Bloemers can use his request for Lewis to recuse herself and the precedent of the 2007 case in an appeal to LUBA if the commissioners ultimately vote to approve the Baker Rock application.
Oregon law requires parties to raise any such legal issues prior to the decision, and Bloemer's letter serves that end.
By HANNAH HOFFMAN
Of the News-Register
Yamhill County Commissioner Leslie Lewis will be facing a new controversy when the Baker Rock hearing re-opens Jan. 6. Opponents of the company's application to mine gravel on 175 acres on Grand Island have filed a letter - now part of the official record - asking Lewis to recuse herself in the case.
Portland lawyer Ralph Bloemers of the Crag Law Center filed the letter Thursday. He cited Lewis' Dec. 2 admission that she had independently visited some reclaimed gravel sites in Salem, which he equated to potentially prejudicial ex parte contact.
In the letter, he wrote, "While I would like to give Ms. Lewis the benefit of the doubt, her testimony on behalf of the applicant plainly demonstrates that she is either unable or unwilling to objectively evaluate this proposal.
"For this reason, I see no alternative but to respectfully request that Ms. Lewis step down from deciding this matter before a decision is reached ... that prejudices the substantial rights of the local residents, farmers and property owners who will be significantly and negatively affected by the proposed quarry on Grand Island."
While he termed Lewis' comments "testimony," they were not offered as such. She made them during a part of the hearing reserved for commissioners to disclose any ex parte contact they might have had.
For example, Commissioner Kathy George noted that she had received an e-mail after an earlier installment of the hearing from opponent Kris Bledsoe.
George said she did not reply. She said she simply forwarded the message to County Counsel Rick Sanai.
Lewis' disclosure went this way:
At the first installment in the hearing in November, wetlands biologist Craig Markham testified that mine sites reclaimed as wetlands, proposed for this one at the end of its projected 30-year life, don't always turn out as well as companies promise. He cited a set on Highway 22, near Salem's Oregon State Correctional Institution, as an example.
Lewis disclosed at the Dec. 2 continuation that she had since driven to the site to get a first-hand look. But she actually ended up at another reclamation site, near Lowe's Home Improvement Store, that the Salem Chamber of Commerce had helped turn into a park.
She described the scene as a pleasant natural setting hosting a wide variety of activities.
Lewis did not offer a direct opinion of her own, but her description left the audience with a positive impression and served to introduce information into the hearing record that neither side had introduced on its own.
Bloemers latched onto that aspect, saying, "The opponents of this application are entitled to a hearing before an impartial tribunal. This means county commissioners should not be conducting their own investigation in support of or in opposition to either party."
He cited a 2007 Land Use Board of Appeals case that dealt with the issue. In that case, a city council member independently investigated the case before him, as well as attacking opponents in the newspaper and elsewhere.
The state Land Use Board of Appeals found that with one of the arbiters of the issue collecting evidence and drawing opinions from it, opponents had not gotten a fair and impartial hearing.
However, in that case, the conduct was much more extreme that anything Lewis has been accused of.
In an attempt to remain impartial, Lewis said, she has gone so far as to avoid reading any newspaper coverage of the issue. However, she said on the advice of the county counsel's office, she could not comment on the merits of the recusal request itself.
Bledsoe submitted a letter of concern of her own. Though she stopped short of joining in the call for recusal, she took a sharply critical approach.
"It appeared that she was attempting to discredit the testimony by looking for errors," Bledsoe said of Lewis' Dec. 2 remarks. "She spent an entire afternoon looking at former rock quarries in an effort to testify on behalf of Baker Rock."
Bledsoe closed by saying, "I sincerely hope that Commissioner Lewis can rise above her biases and give this application hearing the true quasi-judicial review that is appropriate."
Under Oregon land use law, Bloemers can use his request for Lewis to recuse herself and the precedent of the 2007 case in an appeal to LUBA if the commissioners ultimately vote to approve the Baker Rock application.
Oregon law requires parties to raise any such legal issues prior to the decision, and Bloemer's letter serves that end.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
..Gravel industry fuels GOP coffers..
..Flurry of contributions come with contentious gravel hearing looming..
By HANNAH HOFFMAN
Of the News-Register
Yamhill County Commissioner Leslie Lewis, poised to vote next month on a hotly contested gravel mining proposal from Baker Rock Resources, sought and obtained a series of gravel company contributions last month for the county's Republican Party coffers.
She said they were for an election-eve voters guide touting the party's local legislative state and gubernatorial candidates-and possibly an ideologically compatible in a nonpartisan county commission race.
Though term limit rules prevent Lewis from running again, she also accepted a $1,000 contribution from one of the firms, Meisel Rock Products, to her own campaign fund.
She said the company is headed by an old friend who simply wanted to help her pay off about $10,000 of her $20,000 in campaign debt-the part not owed to her family business. She said it was not related to either the pending gravel mining application or the Republican Party voter's guide project.
On Saturday, Sept. 25, the GOP recorded a $1,000 donation from Baker Rock itself. It was intended for the voter's guide project, according to President Todd Baker.
On Monday, Sept. 27, the ostensibly nonpartisan county commission campaign of Mary Starrett-not a Republican, but a kindred ideological spirit who has been embraced by local Republican officials-recorded a $1,000 donation from the party.
If she succeeds in ousting two-term incumbent Mary Stern, Starrett could end up voting on the Baker Rock proposal in some form.
However, local party leader Dale Stepper said the timing was coincidental; there was no link. He said it should be considered a party contribution, not a Baker Rock or gravel company contribution.
In all, four local gravel companies contributed $4,500 between Sept. 20 and 25. Baker Rock and Meisel were joined by Wilsonville Concrete and Kizer Excavating.
The party received only one other business contribution during the period-a $1,000 contribution from A-Dec, a Newburg-based dental equipment manufacturer that traditionally supports Republicans.
However, Lewis said she had solicited contributions from an array of GOP-oriented individuals and businesses for the voter's guide, not just the gravel industry, and significant contributions would be forthcoming from several of them.
She said she has limited her gravel industry contact to Rich Angstrom, executive director of the Oregon Concrete & Aggregate Producers Association, a long-time associate of hers. She said she would not have solicited any of the companies individually, and most certainly not baker Rock.
Commissioner Kathy George, who joins Lewis and Stern on the three-member body, accepted $4,000 from Meisel for her campaign for re-election in the may primary. At that point the Baker Rock proposal had not reached the planning commission level.
State records indicate gravel interests had not offered her any campaign money since. She confirmed that by phone, adding,"If they had, I would not have taken it"
George, whose Republican Party ties run as deep as those of Lewis, was not aware at the time that her commission colleague had just accepted a $1,000 contribution from Meisel.
Stern, who was aware, said she had not and would not accept gravel industry money under the circumstances. She termed Lewis's acceptance of such money on the eve of the hearing" extremely inappropriate and very unfortunate for the citizens of Yamhill County who expect and deserve impartiality from their commissioners.
Baker Rock is seeking land use approval for a 174 acre quarry at the south end of Grand Island, a local area of sustainable and organic agriculture. That has stirred strong opposition from both environmental and agricultural interests.
Lewis, George and Stern-whose Democratic party affiliation often leaves her the odd person out and has spurred Lewis to campaign ardently for Starrett-are set to open the climatic public hearing on the proposal Nov. 10. That will set the stage for a widely anticipated showdown-but one coming post-election.
Were Starrett to be elected Nov. 2, she would be involved in any future proceedings involving resubmissions or remands stemming from the appellate process.
Baker said the donation and land-use proposal were not related.
He said he was encouraged to give the local GOP $1,000 for it's voter's guide by Angstrom, in his capacity as head of the industry trade association. He said he was not trying to funnel money to starrett or any other candidate, nor had he to his knowledge.
Angstrom said the association had no intention of supporting Starrett either. He said it often supports Republican-affiliated candidates, but only at the state level, where its aim is to influence the makeup of legislation and the Legislature.
He said Lewis had approached him about the project and he had decided the association should get on board.
Stepper said both the flurry of gravel company donations and the party donations to Starrett were coincidental in their timing. He said there was no ill intent in either case.
He said the party had been seeking, and is expecting donations from a range of business interests for the voter's guide project. He said it opted to donate to Starrett-even though she has been sharply critical of the Republican party in her previous capacities as national director for the libertarian-leaning Constitution Party-because it likes her conservative ideology.
Just last year, Starrett said in an online post on News with Views.
"Ive been searching high and low for any signs the RNC has kkowtowed to the conservatives in the party. I can't find one. What I did find was a long list of the party's sellouts of that'right wing' on amnesty,border security,bailouts,spending,guns,abortion,free speech,civil liberties,national sovereignty,industry killers like NAFTA and GATT and the federal takeover of education, to name a few.
"Meanwhile, it seems the left is softening towards the GOP because GOP is softening on the issues. Soft, in this case is not good."
Stepper said that didn't bother him. At the state and national levels, Republicans have not done a good job including true conservatives, he said.
That's not the case in Yamhill County, he said. Starrett's brand of staunch conservatism ideology resonates with local Republicans, he said.
Meisel Rock's $1,000 contribution to Lewis came on Sept. 20, state records show. It was made in the company's name, even though Lewis termed it a personal contribution from the company CEO Lloyd Town.
The next day, Meisel and Kizer Excavating each gave $500 to the county GOP. Wilsonville Concrete gave the party $500 on Sept. 23 and Meisal and Baker Rock each gave $1,000 on Sept. 25, records show.
Lewis said she did not even consider it awkward, let alone unethical to accept campaign money from a local gravel company with a contentious gravel hearing looming. She said she took strong offense at any suggestion.
She said she is prepared to absorb the portion of her campaign debt owed to her family business, but hates to leave a good faith outside lender in the lurch.
In this case, that would be George Advertising, owned by colleague Kathy George and her husband, Gary. State records indicate George Advertising is virtually her sole creditor.
Lewis said she doesn't like to have any debt, either business or personal, so it troubles her as she nears the point of being termlimited into political retirement. She said Town was simply a longtime friend sympathetic to her plight.
She said it's hard for a non candidate to raise money in an election year, so she wasn't inclined to pass up Town's offer. She said Meisel and Baker Rock are staunch competitors in the marketplace, so Town certainly didn't have Baker Rock's interests in mind.
She said the donation would have no effect on her neutrality and objectivity in the hearing.
By HANNAH HOFFMAN
Of the News-Register
Yamhill County Commissioner Leslie Lewis, poised to vote next month on a hotly contested gravel mining proposal from Baker Rock Resources, sought and obtained a series of gravel company contributions last month for the county's Republican Party coffers.
She said they were for an election-eve voters guide touting the party's local legislative state and gubernatorial candidates-and possibly an ideologically compatible in a nonpartisan county commission race.
Though term limit rules prevent Lewis from running again, she also accepted a $1,000 contribution from one of the firms, Meisel Rock Products, to her own campaign fund.
She said the company is headed by an old friend who simply wanted to help her pay off about $10,000 of her $20,000 in campaign debt-the part not owed to her family business. She said it was not related to either the pending gravel mining application or the Republican Party voter's guide project.
On Saturday, Sept. 25, the GOP recorded a $1,000 donation from Baker Rock itself. It was intended for the voter's guide project, according to President Todd Baker.
On Monday, Sept. 27, the ostensibly nonpartisan county commission campaign of Mary Starrett-not a Republican, but a kindred ideological spirit who has been embraced by local Republican officials-recorded a $1,000 donation from the party.
If she succeeds in ousting two-term incumbent Mary Stern, Starrett could end up voting on the Baker Rock proposal in some form.
However, local party leader Dale Stepper said the timing was coincidental; there was no link. He said it should be considered a party contribution, not a Baker Rock or gravel company contribution.
In all, four local gravel companies contributed $4,500 between Sept. 20 and 25. Baker Rock and Meisel were joined by Wilsonville Concrete and Kizer Excavating.
The party received only one other business contribution during the period-a $1,000 contribution from A-Dec, a Newburg-based dental equipment manufacturer that traditionally supports Republicans.
However, Lewis said she had solicited contributions from an array of GOP-oriented individuals and businesses for the voter's guide, not just the gravel industry, and significant contributions would be forthcoming from several of them.
She said she has limited her gravel industry contact to Rich Angstrom, executive director of the Oregon Concrete & Aggregate Producers Association, a long-time associate of hers. She said she would not have solicited any of the companies individually, and most certainly not baker Rock.
Commissioner Kathy George, who joins Lewis and Stern on the three-member body, accepted $4,000 from Meisel for her campaign for re-election in the may primary. At that point the Baker Rock proposal had not reached the planning commission level.
State records indicate gravel interests had not offered her any campaign money since. She confirmed that by phone, adding,"If they had, I would not have taken it"
George, whose Republican Party ties run as deep as those of Lewis, was not aware at the time that her commission colleague had just accepted a $1,000 contribution from Meisel.
Stern, who was aware, said she had not and would not accept gravel industry money under the circumstances. She termed Lewis's acceptance of such money on the eve of the hearing" extremely inappropriate and very unfortunate for the citizens of Yamhill County who expect and deserve impartiality from their commissioners.
Baker Rock is seeking land use approval for a 174 acre quarry at the south end of Grand Island, a local area of sustainable and organic agriculture. That has stirred strong opposition from both environmental and agricultural interests.
Lewis, George and Stern-whose Democratic party affiliation often leaves her the odd person out and has spurred Lewis to campaign ardently for Starrett-are set to open the climatic public hearing on the proposal Nov. 10. That will set the stage for a widely anticipated showdown-but one coming post-election.
Were Starrett to be elected Nov. 2, she would be involved in any future proceedings involving resubmissions or remands stemming from the appellate process.
Baker said the donation and land-use proposal were not related.
He said he was encouraged to give the local GOP $1,000 for it's voter's guide by Angstrom, in his capacity as head of the industry trade association. He said he was not trying to funnel money to starrett or any other candidate, nor had he to his knowledge.
Angstrom said the association had no intention of supporting Starrett either. He said it often supports Republican-affiliated candidates, but only at the state level, where its aim is to influence the makeup of legislation and the Legislature.
He said Lewis had approached him about the project and he had decided the association should get on board.
Stepper said both the flurry of gravel company donations and the party donations to Starrett were coincidental in their timing. He said there was no ill intent in either case.
He said the party had been seeking, and is expecting donations from a range of business interests for the voter's guide project. He said it opted to donate to Starrett-even though she has been sharply critical of the Republican party in her previous capacities as national director for the libertarian-leaning Constitution Party-because it likes her conservative ideology.
Just last year, Starrett said in an online post on News with Views.
"Ive been searching high and low for any signs the RNC has kkowtowed to the conservatives in the party. I can't find one. What I did find was a long list of the party's sellouts of that'right wing' on amnesty,border security,bailouts,spending,guns,abortion,free speech,civil liberties,national sovereignty,industry killers like NAFTA and GATT and the federal takeover of education, to name a few.
"Meanwhile, it seems the left is softening towards the GOP because GOP is softening on the issues. Soft, in this case is not good."
Stepper said that didn't bother him. At the state and national levels, Republicans have not done a good job including true conservatives, he said.
That's not the case in Yamhill County, he said. Starrett's brand of staunch conservatism ideology resonates with local Republicans, he said.
Meisel Rock's $1,000 contribution to Lewis came on Sept. 20, state records show. It was made in the company's name, even though Lewis termed it a personal contribution from the company CEO Lloyd Town.
The next day, Meisel and Kizer Excavating each gave $500 to the county GOP. Wilsonville Concrete gave the party $500 on Sept. 23 and Meisal and Baker Rock each gave $1,000 on Sept. 25, records show.
Lewis said she did not even consider it awkward, let alone unethical to accept campaign money from a local gravel company with a contentious gravel hearing looming. She said she took strong offense at any suggestion.
She said she is prepared to absorb the portion of her campaign debt owed to her family business, but hates to leave a good faith outside lender in the lurch.
In this case, that would be George Advertising, owned by colleague Kathy George and her husband, Gary. State records indicate George Advertising is virtually her sole creditor.
Lewis said she doesn't like to have any debt, either business or personal, so it troubles her as she nears the point of being termlimited into political retirement. She said Town was simply a longtime friend sympathetic to her plight.
She said it's hard for a non candidate to raise money in an election year, so she wasn't inclined to pass up Town's offer. She said Meisel and Baker Rock are staunch competitors in the marketplace, so Town certainly didn't have Baker Rock's interests in mind.
She said the donation would have no effect on her neutrality and objectivity in the hearing.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
....McMinnville Food and Farm Forum....
hope you can attend along with a friend or two!
McMinnville Food and Farm Forum
Hosted by Friends of Family Farmers and Slow Food Yamhill
Date: Tuesday, September 28th, 6-8:30pm
Location: McMinnville Community Center, 600 NE Evans Street, Room 103
6-7pm: Meet & Greet with an opportunity to write down questions
7-8:30: Panelists consisting of candidates for House District 24; Susan Sokol Blossor and Jim Weidner will answer questions written by the audience and posed by a Moderator.
Slow Food Yamhill County is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the awareness, availability and access to locally grown food.
For questions about Slow Food or an upcoming event please contact me via email to this address or telephone at 971.237.3953.
Judi
for Slow Food Yamhill County
McMinnville Food and Farm Forum
Hosted by Friends of Family Farmers and Slow Food Yamhill
Date: Tuesday, September 28th, 6-8:30pm
Location: McMinnville Community Center, 600 NE Evans Street, Room 103
6-7pm: Meet & Greet with an opportunity to write down questions
7-8:30: Panelists consisting of candidates for House District 24; Susan Sokol Blossor and Jim Weidner will answer questions written by the audience and posed by a Moderator.
Slow Food Yamhill County is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the awareness, availability and access to locally grown food.
For questions about Slow Food or an upcoming event please contact me via email to this address or telephone at 971.237.3953.
Judi
for Slow Food Yamhill County
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
..NEW HEARING DATE..
..The Baker Rock Mining Application Hearing has been postponed again..The new date is November 10th at 1:00PM at the McMinnville Community Center..This gives us more time to prepare and more time to make more people aware of our fight..Keep the cards and letters flowing in to the Yamhill County Planning Board..Hope to see ALL of you there..Thanks..
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
THE LATEST TOUR
ON SUNDAY AUG. 29TH A TOUR SPONSORED BY MCMINNVILLE COOPERATIVE MINISTERIES AND YAMHILL COUNTY DEMOCRATS AND ORGANIZED BY LIZ STEIN CAME TO GRAND ISLAND. THE BUS WAS DRIVEN BY BEN STEIN. NEIL SVARVERUD ACTED AS TOUR GUIDE AND DID A GREAT JOB. THE TOUR ENDED AT THE SCOGGAN FARM, WHERE SAM SWEENEY GAVE AN INFORMATIVE TALK WITH MAPS AND AERIEL PHOTOS OF GRAVEL PITS ALREADY SURROUNDING US. THERE WERE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS AND SUGGESTIONS ALL AROUND. OUR GUESTS SEEMED IMPRESSED WITH AND CONCERNED FOR THE ISLAND. MANY HAD ALREADY COME OUT FOR A LOOK PRIOR TO THE TOUR. WE HAD A SNACK OF DELICIOUS GRAND ISLAND FRUITS VEGETABLES AND GOOD WELL WATER. THANK YOU, TO ALL THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
..Oregon Agriculture is adaptive, renewable, sustainable and efficient..
..The crops and commodities produced will change over time in response to market signals, technology, and consumer demand. Witness the rise in production of nursery products, wine grapes, grass seed, blueberries, and other specialty crops in the past decade even as there has been a decline in acreage devoted to vegetable crops, strawberries, hops, garlic and other specialty crops.
..Aricultural production provides us with a source of renewable food, fiber, fuel, and medicine...and if the land is protected and properly managed it will continue producing into perpetuity.
..Ariculture is one of the most constant and stable economic engines our economy has, while also producing many ecolgical and community benefits. More than 1,800 farms in Oregon have been operated by the same families for over 100 years. There is no other industry in the state with that type of sustainable, long-term record of operation. Properly managed, agricultural soils can continue producing crops, livestock, fiber and other materials, and proving carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, open spaces and other amenities critical to human subsistence and enjoyment for generations to come.
..Agriculture efficiency is another factor that has increased dramatically over time and will undoubtedly continue in the future, making any measure of future productivity based on a single point in time a simplistic approach. Today the average American farmer can feed as many as 130 people, compared to 27 in 1950. Developments in technology, agronomy, water conservation, hybrid seeds and other applications make agriculture a continually evolving and effective means of generating more output (economic activity) and in increasingly environmentally friendly ways, on existing farmland. A recent study demonstrates that productivity growth over the 1947-1985 periods accounted for 82 percent of the economic growth in agriculture, compared with only 13 percent in the private non-farm economy. Moreover the rate of productivity growth over this period in agriculture(1.58 percent) was nearly four times the corresponding rate in the private non-farm economy(o.44 percent. Efficiency also means the consumer in the USA spends less time earning enough money to buy food than in any other country in the world at any point in history, on average, less than 9% of disposable income goes for food in the United States. Countries that have small production bases relative to population and which import large portions of their food supply pay significantly higher prices. Loss of farmland is not without a price. Retaining a viable agriculture base is a long-term investment in food security and economic sustainability of a community and a nation.
..History has shown that agriculture lands can be productive year after year and increasingly so at an accelerated pace. It would be a mistake to minimize agriculture's future contributions to society as being of little or no value due to analysis on a constant time value of money with a constant income stream i.e. the same amount of income year after year. Oregon agriculture is not stagnate. Land in agriculture production is renewable, perpetual and adaptive. Oregon's agriculture industry has a history of growth. Annual increases in productivity spurred Oregon's agriculture total output to grow from $428 million in 1964 to $3.8 billion in 2004: a 788% increase! That equates to an annual increase of 5.61% compounded annually.
..Aricultural production provides us with a source of renewable food, fiber, fuel, and medicine...and if the land is protected and properly managed it will continue producing into perpetuity.
..Ariculture is one of the most constant and stable economic engines our economy has, while also producing many ecolgical and community benefits. More than 1,800 farms in Oregon have been operated by the same families for over 100 years. There is no other industry in the state with that type of sustainable, long-term record of operation. Properly managed, agricultural soils can continue producing crops, livestock, fiber and other materials, and proving carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, open spaces and other amenities critical to human subsistence and enjoyment for generations to come.
..Agriculture efficiency is another factor that has increased dramatically over time and will undoubtedly continue in the future, making any measure of future productivity based on a single point in time a simplistic approach. Today the average American farmer can feed as many as 130 people, compared to 27 in 1950. Developments in technology, agronomy, water conservation, hybrid seeds and other applications make agriculture a continually evolving and effective means of generating more output (economic activity) and in increasingly environmentally friendly ways, on existing farmland. A recent study demonstrates that productivity growth over the 1947-1985 periods accounted for 82 percent of the economic growth in agriculture, compared with only 13 percent in the private non-farm economy. Moreover the rate of productivity growth over this period in agriculture(1.58 percent) was nearly four times the corresponding rate in the private non-farm economy(o.44 percent. Efficiency also means the consumer in the USA spends less time earning enough money to buy food than in any other country in the world at any point in history, on average, less than 9% of disposable income goes for food in the United States. Countries that have small production bases relative to population and which import large portions of their food supply pay significantly higher prices. Loss of farmland is not without a price. Retaining a viable agriculture base is a long-term investment in food security and economic sustainability of a community and a nation.
..History has shown that agriculture lands can be productive year after year and increasingly so at an accelerated pace. It would be a mistake to minimize agriculture's future contributions to society as being of little or no value due to analysis on a constant time value of money with a constant income stream i.e. the same amount of income year after year. Oregon agriculture is not stagnate. Land in agriculture production is renewable, perpetual and adaptive. Oregon's agriculture industry has a history of growth. Annual increases in productivity spurred Oregon's agriculture total output to grow from $428 million in 1964 to $3.8 billion in 2004: a 788% increase! That equates to an annual increase of 5.61% compounded annually.
Friday, August 20, 2010
....Sunday Tours....
Grand Island tours: Educational tours of Grand Island to the site where Baker Rock Resources wants to establish a rock quarry will be held from 1 to 3 PM Sundays, Aug 22 and 29, sponsored by the McMinnville Cooperative Ministries and the Yamhill County Democrats. Two vans/buses will leave from the parking lot of the Ministries building at 544 N.E. Second St. There is no cost to attend. For more information, contact Liz Marlia-Stein at 503-434-5352
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