Letters - June 24, 2010

Have the facts

I have read in the newspapers about a problem the Colfax City Council seems to be having. That is what this letter will be about.

The Council seems to be unhappy with the Mayor and the city administrator. I have strong feelings about what is going on, thus this letter goes beyond the fact that the administrator is my son-in-law.

As I understand it, there is the possibility that the mayor may let the Fire Chief go or change his position. Some of the Council members don’t want that to happen so they would like to fire the administrator. They don’t have the authority to do that, so they want to do away with his position, so in effect, firing him.

In the course of my lifetime I have had the privilege of sitting on the board of directors of two Ag co-ops.

One of the first things a person learns in that position is the importance of the company manager.

In fact the main job of the board is to hire the manager.

If you get the right man the board’s main job is to stay out of his way.

The board makes policy; the manager manages.

As a rule the company does not do well if the board feels the need to manage.

In the rare occurrence of an important question arising that the board has to make a decision on, any board I was on tried to come to a unanimous decision; they weren’t required to do that.

We had a chairman with the patience to take the time it took to discuss the issue from every angle and as a rule we could come to a unanimous agreement.

I appreciated that.

I think there is a similarity to an Ag co-op board and the City Council.

Back to the issue being discussed; both the mayor and administrator are competent, reasonable people. They have been doing a good job; things have been running smoothly. Prior to this flair up the Administrator was doing his job when he evaluated the fire chief. One of his duties is to evaluate personnel. He is in a position that makes him able to do that. The City Council Members are not, they are not in a position to see the day to day goings on. Personalities are not a good basis to judge job performance.

I am not acquainted with members of the council; if I were I’d talk to each one of them about this. This letter is my effort to do that.

I would urge each one of you that before you take such a drastic measure as to do away with a position in order to fire someone, be sure that you really do have the facts. Talk to everyone involved. The voluntary firemen would be a good place to start. Ask them if this present fire chief is a man you would be willing to follow into a fire?

If you let the man you have as administrator go you will have to find someone else. I think that a good man would be reluctant to take a position with an outfit that is going to question his every decision. Remember that the purpose of a board of directors is to let their manager manage. If you don’t have any confidence in his ability to do that, then let him go. I think your present administrator has proven over and over that he has the ability to do the job. Be sure that you are doing the right thing before you let him go. It isn’t the easiest thing to do to find the right person to take his place.

The fact that the administrator sometimes goes on emergency ambulance runs was part of the discussion. He seems to be able to get his administrator duties tended to and still do this. That he has both the capability and the availability to do this is an asset to the community. That some try to make it a negative thing is beyond my comprehension.

Personally I think that the two council members that brought up this issue are the ones that should be replaced.

Wind facts for dummies

County planner Alan Thomson said that removal of Butte Protection areas in the Ag Zone has nothing to do with a wind farm on the Palouse buttes.

He said it was only about “rural residential” zoning, using the analogy that it was to protect from “someone building a pig farm” on a butte.

Well, Mr. Thomson, that is exactly what the removal of this zoning will do.

It will allow Corporate Pigs to build their Pig (Wind) Farm on the buttes and allow them to feed at the Ratepayer’s Trough! The zoning reads “buildings and structures located on hills or ridges shall be sited and/or constructed to minimize the appearance of a silhouette against the sky...” It is obvious to any thinking person, that IF the County will not allow a residence or structure to mar the landscape, then certainly it cannot allow a 400-foot tall wind turbine, either.

Does the County think we are Dummies?

How about some Wind Facts for Dummies:

Commercial wind is not free.

It is one of the most expensive methods of producing electricity.

Wind farms are predominantly paid for by government subsidies; in other words, your tax dollars.

First Wind, the company with an office in Oakesdale, has received a huge bail-out in order to stay in business, only to find themselves, once again, needing more money.

What you get from wind farms are extremely high electric rates.

Who profits? The developers, powerful government officials and a very few landowners.

Wind farms are a fraudulent method of redistributing wealth from the general public to the billionaires.

Ask investors in ENRON. The carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere during manufacture, transport and installation of a turbine can be more than the turbine will save in its lifetime.

Commercial wind has never replaced an existing power plant anywhere, anytime.

Wind farms never stand alone; they must always be “backed up” by another more productive energy source.

Commercial wind energy produces no public good and, in fact, its inconsistency causes massive problems for the energy grid.

In some cases, turbines have been known to take more electricity out of the grid than they put into it, just to remain operational.

It is unlikely that covering the entire State of Washington in wind turbines would produce enough electricity to match that produced by any one of our existing dams.

Unintended consequences are devastation of landscape, lower property values, decimation of wildlife and health problems for those who live nearby.

The fact is wind farms tear apart communities, families, neighbors and even churches.

It all boils down to some people getting the “gold” while the rest get the “shaft.” Energy companies flee from wind farm development when they are not mandated or subsidized heavily.

The numbers just do not pencil out!

Whitman County has made another bad decision and keeping the Butte Protection areas intact is a way for the County to redeem itself. If the Butte Protection areas are removed, it will be a mockery of those on the planning commission who spent over a year carefully crafting zoning, only to have it “tossed aside” for special interests.

Thornton