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Port of Camas-Washougal ends legal battle with
RiverWalk on the Columbia LLC
The Port has announced that it will no longer
pursue legal action against the developers who
managed to obtain an 80 year lease option from
the Port for 65 acres of prime riverfront property
for $100 per month. The Port and taxpayers are
now left with a debt of over $1M for attorney's
fees alone, and the lesson learned is "don't do
business with people you have not thoroughly
done due diligence".
Our wish is that the Port and the taxpayers will
be able to move forward from all of this, and
continue to improve their relationship with each
other. By open and honest communication, this
will never be allowed to happen again.
Martha Martin, Ph.D.
President, CCIA
April 2010
___________________________________________
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.Port
Commissioners' Arbitration Depositions
Available for download.
_______________________________________
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
_________________________________________________
Port of Camas-Washougal Arbitration is now delayed
until April, 2009.
According to the Port's attorney, Shawn MacPherson, because of
the extensive process and need for more time to prepare by both
parties, the original time of December 1-5 has been changed. The
new date is now April, 2009 for the arbitration panel to hear and
rule on the case of The Port vs. RiverWalk. Just a heads up for
those who are following the cost of this; the expenses for legal
fees are now over $200,000.
_____________________________________________
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
_________________________________________
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
RiverWalk on the Columbia LLC
The Port has announced that it will no longer
pursue legal action against the developers who
managed to obtain an 80 year lease option from
the Port for 65 acres of prime riverfront property
for $100 per month. The Port and taxpayers are
now left with a debt of over $1M for attorney's
fees alone, and the lesson learned is "don't do
business with people you have not thoroughly
done due diligence".
Our wish is that the Port and the taxpayers will
be able to move forward from all of this, and
continue to improve their relationship with each
other. By open and honest communication, this
will never be allowed to happen again.
Martha Martin, Ph.D.
President, CCIA
April 2010
___________________________________________
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.Port
Commissioners' Arbitration Depositions
Available for download.
_______________________________________
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
_________________________________________________
Port of Camas-Washougal Arbitration is now delayed
until April, 2009.
According to the Port's attorney, Shawn MacPherson, because of
the extensive process and need for more time to prepare by both
parties, the original time of December 1-5 has been changed. The
new date is now April, 2009 for the arbitration panel to hear and
rule on the case of The Port vs. RiverWalk. Just a heads up for
those who are following the cost of this; the expenses for legal
fees are now over $200,000.
_____________________________________________
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
_________________________________________
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
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.
