NHA--Commissioners hear citizens, ShoreBank; more discussion ahead

Good or evil? Innocent or devious? Economically beneficial or personally threatening?

Wahkiakum County commissioners and their guests spent over two hours Tuesday discussing the potential for a proposed Columbia-Pacific Natural Heritage Area (NHA) without getting closer to an answer to those questions.

ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia, a non-profit bank headquartered in Ilwaco, is conducting a feasibility study about the start of the Columbia-Pacific NHA, a project that came out of cooperative efforts of the regions economic development councils and chambers of commerce during the Lewis and Clark bicentennial.

If there is sufficient interest, ShoreBank will ask Congress to establish the NHA and appropriate funds which ShoreBank will loan to businesses and individuals in the area who are trying to preserve or enhance traditional industries and activities in the area.

The proposal has drawn criticism from a vocal group of citizens who cite Internet sources to warn that the NHA will simply allow the federal government or the NHA to impose strict controls over the use of private property.

ShoreBank officials announced last week they wanted to find out if Wahkiakum commissioners or citizens would support the effort; if not, they'll drop Wahkiakum from the proposed area. Clatsop County commissioners have already told ShoreBank they want to be in the NHA. Pacific County officials, Commissioner John Kaino indicated Monday at a meeting in Cathlamet, are straddling the fence.

"I still don't have enough information," Wahkiakum Commissioner Lisa Marsyla said at the end of Tuesday's discussions. She said she wanted to read the draft feasibility study (available on the internet at http://www.columbiapacificnha.org) and have a town hall meeting to gather more public input.

During the commission's public comment time Tuesday morning, about 26 persons attended the NHA discussion, and many offered comments opposing the proposal.

"We're pretty upset about this whole deal," said Puget Island resident Len Lindsley. "Our constitution is supreme. We want to limit government power. No place is too small to start a revolution. If we need to start a revolution in this county, we will."

Some speaking in opposition shared stories of how government had restricted the use of their private property over the years, and they don't want to see an agency or process that might do that in this area.

Cathlamet resident Lilly Kolditz presented the board petitions with 173 or more signatures of persons opposing the NHA proposal. She and others pointed to a May 14 Wall Street Journal article outlining financial troubles of Chicago-based ShoreBank Corporation and how its officers have social or political connections to President Obama and others in his administration.

In the afternoon, Mike Dickerson, ShoreBank executive vice-president, offered his point of view.

ShoreBank is able to tailor the structure of the proposed NHA to meet local needs and politics, he said. ShoreBank staff have heard the opposition and will structure the proposed legislation accordingly, he said. The legislation will specifically prohibit the NHA administrator from being involved in land use activities. The group will stick to administering a revolving loan fund, he said.

To ally fears further, the group will exclude language calling for an inventory of heritage businesses and sites. It will have language allowing individual property owners to formally opt out of the NHA, even though they wouldn't be involved if they didn't apply for a loan.

"Our goal is to use funds to invest in the resource based sectors of the lower Columbia region," he said.

He added that the group will submit language to Congressional representatives, but there is no guarantee that Congress will pass the language as written, or even pass it all.

Chicago's ShoreBank Corp. helped start ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia, Dickerson said, but the two are no longer connected. ShoreBank Corp. could dissolve, and there would be no impact on ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia he said. The local firm has been in operation for 16 years, he said, and its loan loss rate is less than 3 percent.