County gets national media spotlight
Lou Marzeles
Editor
A lengthy story on Goldendale and Klickitat County ran Monday in The New York Times.
The story, by Anne Mulkern, was written for Greenwire, an online energy and environmental policy news service based in Washington, D.C. The service is widely subscribed to by major print media, and the Times picked up the story and ran it in Monday’s edition.
The story was titled, “Wind is the New Cash Crop in Rural Washington Town.” Its dateline reads, “Goldendale, Wash.,” and it begins with quotes from Cheryl Davenport. “It’s a T&E day,” Davenport is quoted as saying, meaning “turn and earn,” “a mantra whispered to hundreds of windmills,” Mulkern writes.
Mulkern was in town this past summer, interviewing many area residents. She stopped in at The Sentinel office to inquire about possible sources to call on her story and identified herself as a writer for Greenwire.
Her story, more than 3,000 words long—quite long for a news story but fairly routine for online think tanks—paints a colorful portrait of wind farms in the area and the people involved with them. In all, 20 people are directly quoted in the story, including county officials Mike Cannon and Victoria Allen; business people Michael Kitchen, Dee Dee Connor, and Dan McCredy; Bickleton school superintendent Ric Palmer; and people representing both land owners on which wind farms are located and the wind farms themselves. There are also quotes from a person owning land in the county but not living here who expresses disdain for the wind towers.
Mulkern writes a panorama of wind farms and their effects on Goldendale and the county as sweeping as the county itself. She describes the economic consequences of the wind farms in specific dollar amounts to some land owners and, less specifically, the economy of downtown Goldendale. In a striking contrast to the high-stakes drama of wind farm economics, Mulkern quotes a pair of women looking for work in Goldendale. One of them, Hot Rods bartender Trisha Williamson, reports better, if cyclic, earnings; while the other, Marie Gatz, has a monosyllabic response to the question of what impact the wind farms had on her job prospects: “None.”
“It is small town America in the age of clean energy promotion,” Mulkern writes of Goldendale as she paints her verbal portrait. She says that Klickitat County’s wind farm power capacity exceeds that of the state of Colorado. “[The county]’s windmills make enough electricity to power between 300,000 and 400,000 homes,” she writes. “As the nation wrestles over its future energy policy, Goldendale and Klickitat [County] offer a window into the changes that occur when wind comes to town.” She reports that the county’s taxable property value grew to more than $3 billion, up from $1.7 billion just four years ago. Sales tax revenues in Goldendale went up 50 percent from 2005 to 2010, Mulkern writes, though county unemployment remained higher than the state average.
The story, running as it did in a high-visibility online energy policy news source that is routinely scoured by major national print media, puts Goldendale and Klickitat County in a substantial national light, in regard to renewable energy. Of all the areas in the country that could have served as locales for such a story, this one was chosen. Overnight, millions of readers across the country have access to a highly detailed story on this area and its dealings with wind energy and its impact on everyday life in downtown Goldendale and the surrounding county areas.
As of Tuesday, the entire New York Times article could be found at: www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/10/18/18greenwire-wind-is-the-new-cash-crop-in-rural-wash-town-3529.html.
Final candidates night gives last forum for views
Rebecca Gourley
Reporter
A large crowd came out to hear candidates speak for the last time in the 2010 election. The final candidates night in Dallesport Thursday sparked many questions from attendees.
Park and Recreation commissioner candidates were up first. Among them were Mike Solbach, Vern Harpol, and Hugh Whitson.
Next to speak were PUD commissioner candidates Ray Mosbrucker and Doug Miller, who gave brief statements but were asked no questions.
Sheriff Rick McComas was there as well and was asked a couple of questions, including, “Why are you going from SUVs to sedans for county vehicles?” He answered that it’s a cut that they had to make, and sedans get better gas mileage.
Among the four 15th Legislative District candidates, Tom Silva was the only one who came to speak.
A heated discussion came when Bob Hansen, representing Charlie Wiggins for Supreme Court, spoke about why he is so strongly against his opponent, Richard Sanders. Hansen quoted a report saying that Sanders had stated a 13-year-old, who allegedly had a relationship with her teacher, should be at least partly responsible for what happened. Representing Sanders, Tom Reynolds stated that it was found that the girl had lied about being in a relationship with the teacher.
Next up were candidates for Klickitat County assessor, Victoria Allen and Darlene Johnson. Allen stated again that she believes she has been campaigned against with misinformation. The four-year-cycle, Allen says, is the real problem. Johnson continued to say there are problems in the office needing to be addressed. She also stated that the county could have gone to annual revaluation sooner than it did.
Candidates for Klickitat County auditor Connie Kayser and Brenda Sorensen came up to the microphone next. Kayser brought with her a police report from Skamania County stating that the previous Skamania County Auditor, Sorensen’s previous employer, had been convicted on election fraud in the amount of $80,000. Sorensen came up and stated that she had been questioned and “if there was a problem, charges would have been made against me.”
A question was asked of Kayser, “How many people have you really managed?” She responded saying that over time it’s been hundreds, but only seven at one time.
Sorensen was then asked, “Has the Skamania County Auditor endorsed you?” She stated that he endorsed her in 2006.
The prosecuting attorney candidates, Lori Hoctor and Craig Juris, were next. Hoctor said she wants to reduce dependency on outside council and find more talent to be put into the office. A question was asked of Hoctor as to if she was going to hire Dave Brown if she were to get elected. She responded that what was done was “trying to ruin a good man,” referring to the allegations of sexual harassment by Brown. She said she has made no decisions in who she will hire.
Juris told attendees to “check your facts” referring to the amount of cases said to be dismissed by Hoctor and her percentage of wins while in the prosecuting attorney’s office. Juris was questioned about his affiliation with the Democratic Party. “I’m not sure where that question is going,” said Juris. He responded that he and Hoctor were both invited to speak at the county Democratic party meeting held Oct. 11.
The most questioned position was for Klickitat County commissioner. Candidates David Sauter and Laura Morris each received six to eight questions. Sauter said his goal has been to bring energy and enthusiasm to the office and to not be “a good ole’ boy.” A question to Sauter asked of his accomplishments in the past four years. He said that he helped add $1.5 million to the county reserves. By the end of the year, Sauter said, this will have accomplished. He also added that Insitu may be coming to Dallesport, allowing 800 jobs to stay in Klickitat County.
Sauter and Morris were asked if they approve of the $6 million to be spent on the Klickitat County emergency vehicles radio system Project. This project will eliminate first responders (law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services) having to go through a dispatch center and enable them to communicate countywide. Both replied that yes, they do support spending the reserve fund on that project.
Morris stressed that she doesn’t believe reserve funds should be spent all on roads. Morris stated at one point that the county was facing a projected $1 million shortfall next year. Morris was asked, “Where is the shortfall you mentioned?” She answered that it’s between the revenue and the expenditures and doesn’t include the reserves.
City council focuses on county radio project
Rebecca Gourley
Reporter
Steve Brown, Project Manager for the Klickitat County Public Safety Communications Project, gave a presentation at the Goldendale City Council meeting Monday about the progress of the public safety radio project that is to be completed by Dec. 31, 2012.
Twenty-five years ago the County knew they had to make the switch from wide band to narrow band radios and communication. Over the past 10 years, the police and fire departments in Goldendale, White Salmon, and other communities across Klickitat County have been steadily making the mandatory switch. The necessary and costly change is to benefit all first responders (law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical services) and the people they are helping, according to Brown. Chief of Police Rick Johnson said that the police and fire departments have updated the majority of their radios to be “narrow band capable.”
In 2008 it was discovered that the current dispatch center is too small to accommodate the new equipment.
As of now, some spots in the county have no signal, making it impossible for responders in those areas to communicate with dispatch. The new system, as stated by Brown, will have no “white spots,” or spots with no signal.
A total of nine towers is expected to be put up across the county. Some of those towers will actually be across the river and set up in Hood River and Arlington because there’s a better line of sight to Goldendale from those locations. They will all be set up on mountain tops to avoid “dead spots,” said Brown. “They overlap a little bit so that if one tower goes out, another will back it up.”
The Economic Development Association (EDA) will pay $300,000 of its annual $350,000 grant every year for the next 10 years to cover half of the $6 million remaining projected expense. After 2011, the remaining grant money for the EDA will be $50,000 annually, which will be used for projects that solely address public safety needs of communities. After that, there is $3 million not covered by potential grants and other funds; according to Brown, they aren’t going to wait any longer to receive grants to go forward with the project. “We’re looking at every possible avenue to take in order to save money wherever we can,” he said.
Brown made the point that people need to realize the funds in the Klickitat County reserves are not there to be spent on just anything. All but $2.3 million has already been set aside for emergency funds. The project is looking at using the $2.3 million unallocated funds to help with its remaining costs.
Among other topics discussed was the newly revised parking ordinance that has some residents upset. Definitions of terms were the most important for some. A parking strip is now defined as “that portion of the city street lying between the constructed curb and the property line exclusive of the sidewalk area, which is more than 10 feet in width.” A planting strip is defined as “that portion of a city street lying between the constructed curb and the property line exclusive of the sidewalk area, which is less than 10 feet in width.” Review of the parking ordinance is highly advised, as there is a $50 fine for violation. |
