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About CCIA
Our purpose is to hold government
accountable to the public while
serving the public interest.
Our purpose is to hold government
accountable to the public while
serving the public interest.
Port of Camas-Washougal regular commission
meeting, Monday, February 16th at 4pm. The
commissioners now offer two public comment
times, and are attempting to answer questions
from the public as they arise. There are plans
for an additional meeting each month devoted
entirely to public questions and feedback. For
times and dates as they become listed, see
www.Portcw.com and click on the link to the
calendar and events.
Next City of Washougal Workshop. The City
of Washougal will have its next workshop on
Monday, February 8th at 5:30pm. The Mayor
and council have been putting in lots of hours
as they get to know each other's working
styles and plan for Washougal's future. The
public has been treated with great respect at
every meeting.
Next East County Fire & Rescue Commission
meeting is February 16th at 7pm. Location:
600 NE 267th Ave., Camas, WA, Station 9-4.
This is the Mt. Norway Station. Public
comment at beginning, and questions politely
accepted throughout the meeting. See
website http://www.eastcofire-rescue.
org/Facilities1.htm for all locations and other
information.
______________________________________
Port Commissioners' Arbitration Depositions
Available for download.
CCIA has made a public records request for the
Port of C/W commissioner depositions regarding
the Arbitration with RiverWalk. We now have
those depositions and have posted them under
our "Public Documents" link. The documents
have not been edited in any way by CCIA.
However, there is a "redacted" portion in Rich
Gunderson's deposition which was done by the
Port. The explanation we were given is that it is
"Attorney-Client privilege".
A deposition is "The taking and recording of the
testimony of a party or witness under oath before
a court reporter, in a place away from the
courtroom, before trial. A deposition is part of
pretrial discovery. The testimony is recorded by
the court reporter, who will prepare a transcript
that can be used for pretrial prepration or in trial
to contradict or refresh the memory of the
witness, or be read into the record if the witness
is not available."
The public is free to read these documents, make
copies, and forward to any citizen to review. Click
on the "Public Documents" link (here or above).
Martha Martin, Ph.D.
President
Concerned Citizens In Action
_____________________________________
Don't forget to vote! Send your ballot in
the mail, postmarked no later than November 3rd,
or drop it off the day of the election until 8pm at:
The October 13, 2009 Candidates Night can be
viewed online at http://www.cityofvancouver.
us/cvtv/cvtvindex.asp or channels 21 and 23.
Over 120 citizens attended this successful event.
See story below for format and participants.
League of Women Voters Candidate's Night
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 6:30pm
Washougal High School Commons
1201 39th Street, Washougal, WA
This event is sponsored by the League of Women
Voters, Camas-Washougal Chamber of
Commerce, and the CW Rotary.
This format will be different from the usual
forum/debate. Instead, each candidate, opposed
or unopposed, will have five (5) minutes to share
their platform, which will include qualifications
and reason for seeking this position, issues of
concern, improvements and/or changes, and their
focus for the future.
Candidates will speak in the order in which they
appear on the ballot:
Carol Keljo, League of Women Voters member,
will open and introduce the candidates. Local
cable channel CVTV will record the event, and this
will be available for later viewing online at http:
//www.cityofvancouver.us/cvtv/cvtvindex.asp or
channels 21 and 23.
There will be no interaction between candidates,
nor will questions from the public be allowed at
that time. However, at the conclusion of all
candidates statements, candidates are
encouraged to engage the voters individually at a
candidates table provided by the sponsors. At
that time, citizens may ask questions and learn
more about each candidate.
___________________________________________
Angry Commissioner tells citizen to "sit down".
During public comment at the September 21st
Port of Camas-Washougal regular meeting,
Commissioner Hargrave became visibly angry and
told a citizen to "sit down".
While Commissioner Hargrave was being asked
pointed questions about the expenditures for the
Riverwalk lawsuit, and it became apparent that
Hargrave was not willing to discuss or even
engage the citizen in a respectful manner. His
body language was telling as he turned his chair
away from the public, huffing, and showing
disdain even before the citizen was able to
complete his first sentence. The citizen was told
to submit his questions in writing. The citizen
expressed concern that this information would
not be presented in the public meeting format,
and the citizen was told to "sit down". It was an
uncomfortable moment for all who had been
sitting through a long (over 2 1/2 hours) meeting,
waiting to have a chance to give comment or ask
questions.
___________________________________________
Nabiel Shawa, City of Washougal Administrator
Takes Job with City of Walla Walla
It was announced at this evenings City of
Washougal Workshop (August 31, 2009) that
Nabiel Shawa had accepted a position with the
City of Walla Walla, and his last day will be
October 16th. He begins his new position on
October 19th. Mr. Shawa expressed good will
toward our city, and seemed happy about his new
position.
Mr. Shawa will be assisting the city in the
transition between recruitment and hiring of a
new City Administrator.
There were many long faces of staff and council
as this news was announced. He has done a
great job for our city, and his loss is tremendous,
in my opinion.
President Martin
Concerned Citizens In Action
_________________________________________
Port of C/W posts Arbitration results
The Port of C/W today posted the court document
describing the Arbitration Process and the
Monetary Awards decision. Click Here
to read the entire document. Please note that the
Port, in neglecting to attach certain documents to
the original Option Agreement (Exhibit A, which
describes the properties to be developed), was
able to use this as part of the persuasive
argument in their favor; Their sloppy and rushed
process made them lucky! Also note that
expenses incurred by Port Attorney MacPherson
were not granted to be recouped by the Port. He
was able to charge for his time, and we will not
get that back. A very flawed process from the
beginning....very poor choices by our Port
Commissioners. And we may never see the award
of over $600,000 in "awarded" attorney fees, in
conjunction with the losses already incurred, all
totaling close to $2 Million.
_________________________________________
Concerned Citizens In Action Complete Public
Records Request
CCIA recently requested the Working Papers from the
State Auditor’s Office for the Accountability and
Financial audit done for the years 2004-2006. This
audit included the concerns expressed by CCIA
regarding the Riverwalk process, and the auditor
followed up on our concerns.
The Working Papers are the documents that were
included in the entire audit process; over 800 pages of
documents. The final document that the Port of
Camas-Washougal presented to the public was the
report itself.
Following our request to the State Auditor’s office for
these public records, it was brought to our attention
that the Port’s attorney, Shawn MacPherson, was
claiming exemption for 33 documents. The State
Auditor was not claiming these documents as exempt,
and proceeded to allow the Port attorney to have 30
days to file with the Clark County Court to have these
records placed before a judge, who would then decide
if there were indeed exempted from public record.
During the 30 day period, Mr. MacPherson contacted
CCIA and other involved parties to try and “negotiate”
this process and not go to court. His argument was
that the Auditor “pulled records willy-nilly”, and had
obtained records that they should not have. The
Auditor’s office described their audit process as
professional, supervised at all times by Port staff, and
did not obtain any records without permission. CCIA
was being asked by the Port attorney to not request
the 33 pages, and this delay continued right up until
the 30 days ran out.
The Auditor’s office graciously allowed the Port
attorney to have an additional 2 weeks to file, since he
now was indicating that he would do this. However,
the number of pages he was claiming exempt had
now been reduced to 13 pages. The extension was
granted by the Auditor’s office with the understanding
that Mr. MacPherson would notify CCIA and involved
parties about the date, time, and place of the court
hearing. He did NOT do this. CCIA obtained this
information from the Auditor’s office, and several of
our members attended that hearing. The 13
documents remain exempt.
Some of the pertinent documents have been posted to
our site for the public to review, and make their own
copies. We will continue to review the 800 pages for
more information, and will post some additional
documents in the near future.
Please visit the Public Documents link on the above
task bar to view these documents.
Areas of special interest are highlighted and
underlined. The Auditor’s office has used red print for
areas of special interest; please note the conclusions
in the Audit History document. Click Here
to go directly to the Public Documents page.
Presented by the President
Concerned Citizens In Action
_______________________________________________
www.concernedcitizensinaction.org
meeting, Monday, February 16th at 4pm. The
commissioners now offer two public comment
times, and are attempting to answer questions
from the public as they arise. There are plans
for an additional meeting each month devoted
entirely to public questions and feedback. For
times and dates as they become listed, see
www.Portcw.com and click on the link to the
calendar and events.
Next City of Washougal Workshop. The City
of Washougal will have its next workshop on
Monday, February 8th at 5:30pm. The Mayor
and council have been putting in lots of hours
as they get to know each other's working
styles and plan for Washougal's future. The
public has been treated with great respect at
every meeting.
Next East County Fire & Rescue Commission
meeting is February 16th at 7pm. Location:
600 NE 267th Ave., Camas, WA, Station 9-4.
This is the Mt. Norway Station. Public
comment at beginning, and questions politely
accepted throughout the meeting. See
website http://www.eastcofire-rescue.
org/Facilities1.htm for all locations and other
information.
______________________________________
Port Commissioners' Arbitration Depositions
Available for download.
CCIA has made a public records request for the
Port of C/W commissioner depositions regarding
the Arbitration with RiverWalk. We now have
those depositions and have posted them under
our "Public Documents" link. The documents
have not been edited in any way by CCIA.
However, there is a "redacted" portion in Rich
Gunderson's deposition which was done by the
Port. The explanation we were given is that it is
"Attorney-Client privilege".
A deposition is "The taking and recording of the
testimony of a party or witness under oath before
a court reporter, in a place away from the
courtroom, before trial. A deposition is part of
pretrial discovery. The testimony is recorded by
the court reporter, who will prepare a transcript
that can be used for pretrial prepration or in trial
to contradict or refresh the memory of the
witness, or be read into the record if the witness
is not available."
The public is free to read these documents, make
copies, and forward to any citizen to review. Click
on the "Public Documents" link (here or above).
Martha Martin, Ph.D.
President
Concerned Citizens In Action
_____________________________________
Don't forget to vote! Send your ballot in
the mail, postmarked no later than November 3rd,
or drop it off the day of the election until 8pm at:
- Ballot Drop Box - Center of 14th Street,
Vancouver, between Franklin Street and
Esther Street (24 hour drop box currently
available) - Elections Office - 1408 Franklin Street,
Vancouver - Dorothy Fox Elementary School - 2623 NW
Sierra Street, Camas - Helen Baller Elementary School - 1954 NE
Garfield, Camas - Grace Foursquare Gospel Church - 717 SE
Everett Road, Camas - Washougal Community Center - 1681 C
Street, Washougal
The October 13, 2009 Candidates Night can be
viewed online at http://www.cityofvancouver.
us/cvtv/cvtvindex.asp or channels 21 and 23.
Over 120 citizens attended this successful event.
See story below for format and participants.
League of Women Voters Candidate's Night
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 6:30pm
Washougal High School Commons
1201 39th Street, Washougal, WA
This event is sponsored by the League of Women
Voters, Camas-Washougal Chamber of
Commerce, and the CW Rotary.
This format will be different from the usual
forum/debate. Instead, each candidate, opposed
or unopposed, will have five (5) minutes to share
their platform, which will include qualifications
and reason for seeking this position, issues of
concern, improvements and/or changes, and their
focus for the future.
Candidates will speak in the order in which they
appear on the ballot:
- 15th State Legislative District Representative
- Camas City Council
- Washougal Mayor
- Washougal City Council
- School District Commissioners for Camas,
Washougal, and Mt. Pleasant - East County Fire & Rescue District
Commissioners Position No. 3 - Port of Camas-Washougal Commissioners
No. 1 & No. 3 Districts - Cemetery Board District No. 1
Carol Keljo, League of Women Voters member,
will open and introduce the candidates. Local
cable channel CVTV will record the event, and this
will be available for later viewing online at http:
//www.cityofvancouver.us/cvtv/cvtvindex.asp or
channels 21 and 23.
There will be no interaction between candidates,
nor will questions from the public be allowed at
that time. However, at the conclusion of all
candidates statements, candidates are
encouraged to engage the voters individually at a
candidates table provided by the sponsors. At
that time, citizens may ask questions and learn
more about each candidate.
___________________________________________
Angry Commissioner tells citizen to "sit down".
During public comment at the September 21st
Port of Camas-Washougal regular meeting,
Commissioner Hargrave became visibly angry and
told a citizen to "sit down".
While Commissioner Hargrave was being asked
pointed questions about the expenditures for the
Riverwalk lawsuit, and it became apparent that
Hargrave was not willing to discuss or even
engage the citizen in a respectful manner. His
body language was telling as he turned his chair
away from the public, huffing, and showing
disdain even before the citizen was able to
complete his first sentence. The citizen was told
to submit his questions in writing. The citizen
expressed concern that this information would
not be presented in the public meeting format,
and the citizen was told to "sit down". It was an
uncomfortable moment for all who had been
sitting through a long (over 2 1/2 hours) meeting,
waiting to have a chance to give comment or ask
questions.
___________________________________________
Nabiel Shawa, City of Washougal Administrator
Takes Job with City of Walla Walla
It was announced at this evenings City of
Washougal Workshop (August 31, 2009) that
Nabiel Shawa had accepted a position with the
City of Walla Walla, and his last day will be
October 16th. He begins his new position on
October 19th. Mr. Shawa expressed good will
toward our city, and seemed happy about his new
position.
Mr. Shawa will be assisting the city in the
transition between recruitment and hiring of a
new City Administrator.
There were many long faces of staff and council
as this news was announced. He has done a
great job for our city, and his loss is tremendous,
in my opinion.
President Martin
Concerned Citizens In Action
_________________________________________
Port of C/W posts Arbitration results
The Port of C/W today posted the court document
describing the Arbitration Process and the
Monetary Awards decision. Click Here
to read the entire document. Please note that the
Port, in neglecting to attach certain documents to
the original Option Agreement (Exhibit A, which
describes the properties to be developed), was
able to use this as part of the persuasive
argument in their favor; Their sloppy and rushed
process made them lucky! Also note that
expenses incurred by Port Attorney MacPherson
were not granted to be recouped by the Port. He
was able to charge for his time, and we will not
get that back. A very flawed process from the
beginning....very poor choices by our Port
Commissioners. And we may never see the award
of over $600,000 in "awarded" attorney fees, in
conjunction with the losses already incurred, all
totaling close to $2 Million.
_________________________________________
Concerned Citizens In Action Complete Public
Records Request
CCIA recently requested the Working Papers from the
State Auditor’s Office for the Accountability and
Financial audit done for the years 2004-2006. This
audit included the concerns expressed by CCIA
regarding the Riverwalk process, and the auditor
followed up on our concerns.
The Working Papers are the documents that were
included in the entire audit process; over 800 pages of
documents. The final document that the Port of
Camas-Washougal presented to the public was the
report itself.
Following our request to the State Auditor’s office for
these public records, it was brought to our attention
that the Port’s attorney, Shawn MacPherson, was
claiming exemption for 33 documents. The State
Auditor was not claiming these documents as exempt,
and proceeded to allow the Port attorney to have 30
days to file with the Clark County Court to have these
records placed before a judge, who would then decide
if there were indeed exempted from public record.
During the 30 day period, Mr. MacPherson contacted
CCIA and other involved parties to try and “negotiate”
this process and not go to court. His argument was
that the Auditor “pulled records willy-nilly”, and had
obtained records that they should not have. The
Auditor’s office described their audit process as
professional, supervised at all times by Port staff, and
did not obtain any records without permission. CCIA
was being asked by the Port attorney to not request
the 33 pages, and this delay continued right up until
the 30 days ran out.
The Auditor’s office graciously allowed the Port
attorney to have an additional 2 weeks to file, since he
now was indicating that he would do this. However,
the number of pages he was claiming exempt had
now been reduced to 13 pages. The extension was
granted by the Auditor’s office with the understanding
that Mr. MacPherson would notify CCIA and involved
parties about the date, time, and place of the court
hearing. He did NOT do this. CCIA obtained this
information from the Auditor’s office, and several of
our members attended that hearing. The 13
documents remain exempt.
Some of the pertinent documents have been posted to
our site for the public to review, and make their own
copies. We will continue to review the 800 pages for
more information, and will post some additional
documents in the near future.
Please visit the Public Documents link on the above
task bar to view these documents.
Areas of special interest are highlighted and
underlined. The Auditor’s office has used red print for
areas of special interest; please note the conclusions
in the Audit History document. Click Here
to go directly to the Public Documents page.
Presented by the President
Concerned Citizens In Action
_______________________________________________
www.concernedcitizensinaction.org
Proud Member of Washington
Coalition for Open Government
Coalition for Open Government
Frequently Asked Questions
Click Here to learn all about
CCIA and how we serve our
community.
Click Here to learn all about
CCIA and how we serve our
community.
Want to join CCIA?
Click here to download a copy
of our Membership Application.
There is no fee to join!
Click here to download a copy
of our Membership Application.
There is no fee to join!