They don’t want us to vote

Published 5:00 pm Sunday, April 20, 2008

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan: There they go again.

NorthernStar Natural Gas Inc., and its allied interests are seeking judicial intervention to halt a referendum on the Clatsop County Commission’s approval of the proposed liquefied natural gas terminal at Bradwood Landing.

Northern Star’s retention of the Portland law firm Stoel Rives is reminiscent of the gambit used by former county Commissioner Richard Lee and his allies to keep county residents from voting on a ballot initiative in response to the commission’s decision to eliminate the district attorney’s stipend.

Lee’s forces brought longtime Astoria lawyer Nick Zafiratos out of retirement to plead their case. Josephine County Judge Loyd O’Neal did not buy Zafiratos’ argument and issued a decision to let the ballot measure move forward.

The most appropriate re-sponse to commissioners who didn’t want their judgment questioned was a sign carried by Jean Dominey which said “Let us vote.”

To counter the efforts of an alliance of three anti-LNG public interest organizations, NorthernStar Natural Gas argues that county commissioners made a land-use decision, which is quasi-judicial and therefore exempt from the referendum process. It will be a judge’s job to ascertain the validity of that argument.

When the County Planning Commission voted 3-2 on the LNG matter, it became clear that the fix was in. It was only a matter of time before the commission would follow suit in a 4-1 vote.

The county commission’s rejection of the county planning staff’s lengthy LNG analysis and recommendation was a jaw dropper. The biggest joke was commissioners’ judgment that the proposed LNG terminal was a small to medium facility.

In other words, this commission decision was an insult to the intelligence of Clatsop County citizens. It was part of a pathology of subterfuge and hidden agenda.

The LNG site selection process is taking hits all across America. Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden particularly has identified the basic flaw in the process as administered by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The Texas-based NorthernStar has its hands full.

Clatsop County commissioners’ 4-1 decision on LNG was intellectually corrupt. Voters deserve the opportunity to review it.