Chief
08-07-2007, 07:28 AM
http://www.westerndredging.org/cgi-bin/mail.cgi/archive/Local/20070807062545/
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/network1.jpg
Date: August 7th, 2007
Please forgive me for sending all these emails, but it is important that you know how the taxpayers feel about the Port's Outrageous 132% Property Tax increase.
Feel free to forward this to anyone that might be interested!
I apologize for this being late. Call Patty Murray anyway and give her an earful. Unfortunately I have been out of town because of a family medical emergency.
Larry Patella
CDR UN (ret)
-----Original Message-----
From: DM Bertish [mailto:dmb88@iinet.com]
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 8:51 PM
To: Larry Patella
Subject: Patty Murray & Port
Importance: High
Larry,
I have a good one for you to pass around regarding the port tax, and I know you will move on this right away.
Please review the letter below that I have faxed to Patty Murray's office re: the port tax issue. This would be a good opportunity for everyone opposed to the tax to call Patty Murray's office and demand answers to these questions. I'm asking for your help on this important opportunity. Please distribute as soon as possible.
Patty Murray's local office number: 696-7797
Please call me if you have questions:
Many thanks.
Dvija Michael Bertish
906-8810
////////////////////////////////////////////////////
To: Senator Patty Murray URGENT – TIME SENSITIVE ISSUE
From: Dvija Michael Bertish, Vancouver Washington
Member, Columbia Riverkeeper
Member, Rosemere Neighborhood Association
Volunteer, Petition to place the IDD Port Levy on the Public Ballot
Re: Port of Vancouver West Vancouver Freight Access Project Groundbreaking
Date: August 2, 2007
Sent Via FAX to Senator Murray’s Seattle and Washington DC Offices
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Dear Senator Murray,
The Port of Vancouver has advertised a special groundbreaking ceremony for a new Railroad project next Tuesday, August 7, and you are advertised as a special guest who will be in attendance at this ceremony. We interpret this to mean that you endorse this railroad project. Your presence at this event is confusing to the public, and we respectfully request some clarification on your involvement in this project.
As recently as yesterday at a Port of Vancouver environmental forum, Port Officials carefully explained that no federal monies were being used to build phase I of the new railroad. The advertised groundbreaking is specifically for the phase I spur of the railway expansion project. If no federal monies are being used here, why are you, as our senator, endorsing this project?
Furthermore, since there are no federal monies being spent on the phase I spur of the railroad, the Port of Vancouver is seeking exemption from National Environmental Policy Act review, which would in turn diminish public review on this project. NEPA guidelines prohibit the compartmentalization of projects into sub-sections (that would otherwise be noted as contiguous and interdependent components in a broader project) that would only marginalize environmental impact assessment. Exemption from NEPA review for the phase I spur does not make sense when additional, contiguous phases of this railroad are being reviewed by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Highway Administration.
The groundbreaking ceremony comes at a time when the public is voting on a proposed Port Industrial Levy, part of which is to fund the additional phases of this railroad. We interpret your attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony for the phase I spur to mean that you intended to influence the public vote to support this levy, even though it is a local, not a federal issue.
We ask that you clarify your position on these noted interpretations, including whether you condone the port’s demand for public funding of industrial expansion while diminishing public review. Please understand that this letter has been widely circulated in our community, and we await your prompt response.
Thank you for your time and attention to these matters.
Dvija Michael Bertish
Box 406
Vancouver WA 98666
360-281-4747
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/network1.jpg
Date: August 7th, 2007
Please forgive me for sending all these emails, but it is important that you know how the taxpayers feel about the Port's Outrageous 132% Property Tax increase.
Feel free to forward this to anyone that might be interested!
I apologize for this being late. Call Patty Murray anyway and give her an earful. Unfortunately I have been out of town because of a family medical emergency.
Larry Patella
CDR UN (ret)
-----Original Message-----
From: DM Bertish [mailto:dmb88@iinet.com]
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 8:51 PM
To: Larry Patella
Subject: Patty Murray & Port
Importance: High
Larry,
I have a good one for you to pass around regarding the port tax, and I know you will move on this right away.
Please review the letter below that I have faxed to Patty Murray's office re: the port tax issue. This would be a good opportunity for everyone opposed to the tax to call Patty Murray's office and demand answers to these questions. I'm asking for your help on this important opportunity. Please distribute as soon as possible.
Patty Murray's local office number: 696-7797
Please call me if you have questions:
Many thanks.
Dvija Michael Bertish
906-8810
////////////////////////////////////////////////////
To: Senator Patty Murray URGENT – TIME SENSITIVE ISSUE
From: Dvija Michael Bertish, Vancouver Washington
Member, Columbia Riverkeeper
Member, Rosemere Neighborhood Association
Volunteer, Petition to place the IDD Port Levy on the Public Ballot
Re: Port of Vancouver West Vancouver Freight Access Project Groundbreaking
Date: August 2, 2007
Sent Via FAX to Senator Murray’s Seattle and Washington DC Offices
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Dear Senator Murray,
The Port of Vancouver has advertised a special groundbreaking ceremony for a new Railroad project next Tuesday, August 7, and you are advertised as a special guest who will be in attendance at this ceremony. We interpret this to mean that you endorse this railroad project. Your presence at this event is confusing to the public, and we respectfully request some clarification on your involvement in this project.
As recently as yesterday at a Port of Vancouver environmental forum, Port Officials carefully explained that no federal monies were being used to build phase I of the new railroad. The advertised groundbreaking is specifically for the phase I spur of the railway expansion project. If no federal monies are being used here, why are you, as our senator, endorsing this project?
Furthermore, since there are no federal monies being spent on the phase I spur of the railroad, the Port of Vancouver is seeking exemption from National Environmental Policy Act review, which would in turn diminish public review on this project. NEPA guidelines prohibit the compartmentalization of projects into sub-sections (that would otherwise be noted as contiguous and interdependent components in a broader project) that would only marginalize environmental impact assessment. Exemption from NEPA review for the phase I spur does not make sense when additional, contiguous phases of this railroad are being reviewed by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Highway Administration.
The groundbreaking ceremony comes at a time when the public is voting on a proposed Port Industrial Levy, part of which is to fund the additional phases of this railroad. We interpret your attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony for the phase I spur to mean that you intended to influence the public vote to support this levy, even though it is a local, not a federal issue.
We ask that you clarify your position on these noted interpretations, including whether you condone the port’s demand for public funding of industrial expansion while diminishing public review. Please understand that this letter has been widely circulated in our community, and we await your prompt response.
Thank you for your time and attention to these matters.
Dvija Michael Bertish
Box 406
Vancouver WA 98666
360-281-4747