Go dig for dirt

Below is a letter to the editor that I sent to the Daily Jefferson County Union that was printed on September 30, 2004. It was in response to two responses from my original letter.

For background on all these details, see the other Jefferson economic development pages.

The Daily Union printed it with the words in blue edited out.

- John

Chuck Frandson's response to my letter starts out by admitting that the St. Joseph's revenue bond “wasn't the City's finest hour” and closes by wondering whether openness in economic development efforts will have a positive, long-term effect.

I believe we reap tremendous benefits when the public is more aware of the government's actions. Opportunities for public participation must be the norm, not the exception. We should be able to participate, early and often. Closed-door decisions should not be a part of small-town government.

When controversy grows and repeats, it might be a good time to ask if it's a good time to make changes. “The way we've always done it” doesn't cut it. Let's strive for continuous improvements.

As we saw in the last few years, many came to agree with my suggestions to make small corrections to the operation of our area's economic development groups, including the City of Jefferson Common Council, the County Board of Supervisors, the County's attorney, the District Attorney and the State Attorney General.

I have no doubt the FAIDC has done good deeds. My previous letter stated this. I have no doubt it has tireless, hard-working, generous and well-intentioned volunteers. The same was and still is true of the other economic development groups in Jefferson County.

However, in Jefferson and at the County, as soon as the reporters were allowed in meetings and the public could participate, some of the volunteers disappeared. In the months before openness, they were the ones with the most puffed-out chests and the loudest exhortations, claiming credit for every positive development and demanding that operations stay closed. Some of these “good-ol'-boys” fled like rats when the lights were turned on. Why?

Please, Mr. Frandson, stand up and defend the closed process: Why is it good to have no reporters, no open public participation, a self-selecting and secret membership, a close relationship with the City with a glaring lack of documentation, and no chain of accountability to elected officials?

Meanwhile, the Jefferson and County economic organizations underwent relatively minor reforms. Now they post their meeting agendas. They meet in public places. They add a “Public participation” item to the start of every agenda so the public has a chance to speak. They allow anyone to view their records. That's all.

They are still carrying out all the same good deeds. Ask the current leaders at the Jefferson County Economic Development Consortium and the Jefferson Development Commission. Again and again I've been thanked for my efforts. These leaders believe their groups are better-off when the public can participate.

When the FAIDC is closed, we only hear what they want us to hear. If the public could attend and speak, then they could influence the decisions from the start - as opposed to last-minute objections after a quick reading of a recommendation just before a Council vote. I'd like reporters on the scene. I'd like to read the minutes of past meetings. Certainly in sixty-seven years, they must have made a mistake or two they do not want to repeat.

How is it that the City Manager can attend FAIDC meetings and not return with a single piece of paper – no agenda, no memos, no meeting minutes? The only paper trail is the final recommendation given to the Council. I think all this is a deliberate hiding of the decision-making process.

We only get a FAIDC press release when there is a success. You can always claim success when you cook the data. We don't hear about businesses that were deliberately turned away or prospects that decided not to come here, and why. For centuries there have been stories of dolphins that rescued drowning sailors by pushing them towards shore. We never again hear from the sailors that the playful dolphins pushed out to sea, do we?

The City promotes the FAIDC as its liaison in an almost official sense. It is listed as Fort's point of contact on both the County and the Department of Commerce web sites. Eight other communities in the County list public officials as their contact. The FAIDC's web site positions itself to the public as the conduit for inquiries for development in the business parks as well as the City's Revolving Loan Fund. If you were a business interested in expansion, this is all you'd find. The City doesn't have a web site.

Fort's arrangement with the FAIDC is probably legal in the sense that it doesn't cross the line into becoming a quasi-governmental agency because of contracts, board composition or ordinance powers, unlike the other organizations I've questioned.

Using a private group to make recommendations regarding the City's economic development efforts may not violate the letter of the law, but it does violate the spirit of open government. It is the Council's decision to subsidize and cooperate with this private group. They can choose to change the relationship without endangering the good deeds.

My first reaction to Chris Larsen's September 23 letter was “Who is Chris Larsen?” I had no idea. Such vitriol from someone I don't know! And not a word about revenue bonds or the best ways to conduct economic development.

I'd like to improve the level of civic discourse. If I ever get the facts wrong, please correct me. Show me your evidence, I'll show you mine. I won't respond to his ridiculous claims that I'm a one-man Mafia.

Rejected from the Jefferson Development Corporation? No, I was initially welcomed as a member by president Gaylin Morgan himself. Ask him. David Olsen, then JDC director, put the kibosh on it. Ask him why.

Then I remembered – last January, someone made a series of open record requests at City Hall to see voter records, City phone bills and former Administrator David Schornack's personnel evaluations. The requests arrived via email under the name “Wes Tennyson” but the email address was ‘clarsen@jefnet.com'.

In the spring election, the Daily Union printed two letters of support for David Olsen's City Council campaign – one signed Chris Larsen, the other Wes Tennyson. Those two letters, like Larsen's latest, contain so many details that could only have been memorized and polished by David Olsen himself. Spooky! It's as if all three of these letters were guided by the same hand.

It's easy to see where Larsen's self-described “mean-spirited and vile” words are coming from. Olsen's dirty-tricks team is still in action. Boy, that Open Records law comes in handy when it works in your favor, doesn't it? I never did get those JDC phone records I requested years ago.

As for my web, I welcome submissions of letters on any local topic, as anyone can see if you read it. If you'd like me to publish yours, just send it.

Broken and outdated links? Yes, my web grew like Topsy. It is a lot of work. I can't keep up on every aspect, just like most volunteer webmasters. I maintain dozens of other webs, too. Give me credit for putting hundreds of meeting minutes online for years before the municipalities themselves started doing it.

Favoritism towards my ex-wife? As for my business guide, as it says on the top of that page, I'll give a link to anyone who asks.

Constant negativity? My good deeds are a personal end in themselves and I don't trumpet them. I enjoy helping many people and organizations around town. Go dig for that dirt.

Sincerely,

John J. Foust