Chief
08-02-2007, 05:34 AM
http://www.westerndredging.org/cgi-bin/mail.cgi/archive/Local/20070801221147/
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/network1.jpg
Date: August 1st, 2007
An open letter to the Columbian, (Lou Brancaccio, Jonathon Nelson, Julia Anderson)
My apologies. I erred. I wrongly assumed that if anyone was to report such an important bit of information it would be the Columbian. I do however find it difficult to believe that the Columbian did not receive a copy of what appears to be a Port of Vancouver Press Release.
The article in which the port Director made statements that the port had already purchased the Alcoa/Evergreen property and had the funding in place for the Rail project before the IDD levy was imposed and the petition signatures gathered that I referred to in my last email was published in the Daily Insider on February 21, 2007 not the Columbian. (see below)
The fact remains however that the Port Director did,at a public meeting, make those statements and as the primary media outlet in the city, it remains my opinion, that the Columbian has a duty and obligation to its reader to ask the Port, and publish their response about what happened between the day those statement were made and the property tax levy imposed.
If the Port did not purchase the property or have the funding as Mr. Paulson stated, why were those statement made. If they did, why impose a 132% property tax increase.
It is my opinion that the port's long range creditability is at stake here.
If Mr. Paulson was telling the truth during his Port Report, we should not now be having a vote on whether or not to increase our property taxes by 132 %.
Don't let the rascals tax you out of your home.
Larry Patella
Here is the Article in Question.
----- Original Message -----
From: Tony Bacon
To: Daily Insider Subscriber
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 4:09 PM
Subject: Insider, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007
dailyinsider.info
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 21, 2007
Print Edition Back Issues Search Free Unclassified Ads Arts & Films Contact
Port of Vancouver bustling, projects
will double employment to 32,000 jobs
Port of Vancouver executive director Larry Paulson today opened his Port Report to a packed breakfast audience in the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay, declaring that “the port’s role is to provide family wage jobs, jobs that pay enough to buy a house.”
“We believe we can create enough of these jobs to help form a defining moment for our community,: Paulson continued, “Imagine a time when thousands more Clark County residents can work close to home. We believe that time is now.”
According to Paulson, the port today contributes over 15,500 jobs, with 6,000 of those jobs directly on port property.
“The Port of Vancouver could potentially generate another 15,000 additional jobs resulting from development of Columbia Gateway, the newly bought Alcoa/Evergreen site on the Columbia River and the new light industrial properties in Fruit Valley,” Paulson said.
The Alcoa/Evergreen property was bought this month by the port and is being financed by a property tax-based industrial bond issue.
The port recently initiated a $60- to $70-million rail improvement project, being financed both privately and by the port, that will provide direct access to all port tenants. The project, to be completed in 2009, will result in a dramatic decrease in rail congestion on the west coast and on lines leading from Vancouver to Chicago in the east and Houston in the south, Paulson reported.
Paulson declared the port profitable in 2006. Revenue has more than doubled since 2001, he said. Last year saw a 50 percent increase in steel imports and a 13 percent increase in scrap steel exports.
Although part of the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay, which leases its site at Terminal 1 from the port, is potentially in the path of a new I-5 Interstate Bridge, the hotel spent $1.7 million in upgrades to the facility and its 160 rooms, for which the port named it winner of its Facilities Improvement-of-the-Year Award.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/network1.jpg
Date: August 1st, 2007
An open letter to the Columbian, (Lou Brancaccio, Jonathon Nelson, Julia Anderson)
My apologies. I erred. I wrongly assumed that if anyone was to report such an important bit of information it would be the Columbian. I do however find it difficult to believe that the Columbian did not receive a copy of what appears to be a Port of Vancouver Press Release.
The article in which the port Director made statements that the port had already purchased the Alcoa/Evergreen property and had the funding in place for the Rail project before the IDD levy was imposed and the petition signatures gathered that I referred to in my last email was published in the Daily Insider on February 21, 2007 not the Columbian. (see below)
The fact remains however that the Port Director did,at a public meeting, make those statements and as the primary media outlet in the city, it remains my opinion, that the Columbian has a duty and obligation to its reader to ask the Port, and publish their response about what happened between the day those statement were made and the property tax levy imposed.
If the Port did not purchase the property or have the funding as Mr. Paulson stated, why were those statement made. If they did, why impose a 132% property tax increase.
It is my opinion that the port's long range creditability is at stake here.
If Mr. Paulson was telling the truth during his Port Report, we should not now be having a vote on whether or not to increase our property taxes by 132 %.
Don't let the rascals tax you out of your home.
Larry Patella
Here is the Article in Question.
----- Original Message -----
From: Tony Bacon
To: Daily Insider Subscriber
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 4:09 PM
Subject: Insider, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007
dailyinsider.info
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 21, 2007
Print Edition Back Issues Search Free Unclassified Ads Arts & Films Contact
Port of Vancouver bustling, projects
will double employment to 32,000 jobs
Port of Vancouver executive director Larry Paulson today opened his Port Report to a packed breakfast audience in the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay, declaring that “the port’s role is to provide family wage jobs, jobs that pay enough to buy a house.”
“We believe we can create enough of these jobs to help form a defining moment for our community,: Paulson continued, “Imagine a time when thousands more Clark County residents can work close to home. We believe that time is now.”
According to Paulson, the port today contributes over 15,500 jobs, with 6,000 of those jobs directly on port property.
“The Port of Vancouver could potentially generate another 15,000 additional jobs resulting from development of Columbia Gateway, the newly bought Alcoa/Evergreen site on the Columbia River and the new light industrial properties in Fruit Valley,” Paulson said.
The Alcoa/Evergreen property was bought this month by the port and is being financed by a property tax-based industrial bond issue.
The port recently initiated a $60- to $70-million rail improvement project, being financed both privately and by the port, that will provide direct access to all port tenants. The project, to be completed in 2009, will result in a dramatic decrease in rail congestion on the west coast and on lines leading from Vancouver to Chicago in the east and Houston in the south, Paulson reported.
Paulson declared the port profitable in 2006. Revenue has more than doubled since 2001, he said. Last year saw a 50 percent increase in steel imports and a 13 percent increase in scrap steel exports.
Although part of the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay, which leases its site at Terminal 1 from the port, is potentially in the path of a new I-5 Interstate Bridge, the hotel spent $1.7 million in upgrades to the facility and its 160 rooms, for which the port named it winner of its Facilities Improvement-of-the-Year Award.