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community bulletin board
december1
2016
Leaving Office:
the most advanced and ergonomically
designed plant in the world which will
employ around 100 people at competitive
wages. In Rainier it’s USG and Teevin
Brothers that really turned things
around. When I started we were looking
at the loss of Trojan and everything there
was in serious trouble – their schools,
their fire department, everything. We
formed an Urban Renewal District and
installed infrastructure and brought in
USG, Conrad and now the expansion of
Rightline and now they’re talking about
the Columbia Crossing Mall being built
there, all happening because of the work
we did early on. In Clatskanie, it’s Port
Westward which is still controversial,
but it is still an 800 acre industrial site
with a self scouring, deep water port and
you just can’t ignore that because those
things just don’t exist everywhere. I’m
extremely proud that we put together
that Urban Renewal District at Port
Westward and invested in infrastructure
because we turned around a 20 year trend
of negative growth in Clatskanie, which
is always an indicator of economic
blight, that is a fact. We paid a lot of
attention to that site. Everything we’ve
done out there hasn’t worked out the
way we planned because of changes in
fuel prices and consumption trends, but
we have had ongoing construction and
development out there that’s actually
been more than three quarters of a
billion dollars in construction. That
means that since 2003 we’ve had huge
crews, sometimes upwards of 2,000
workers – welders, plumbers, pipe
fitters, steam fitters, electricians – and a
good share of those people are living in
this county and they’ve been busy for 13
years. You can’t discount having those
people working in our county instead
of somewhere else. The retail leakage
alone can be huge. What that does for
the Clatskanie economy is monumental.
They have new hotels, restaurants, and
it’s vibrant. We’ve turned that around and
added almost a billion dollars in value to
the town. I would submit that because of
all that growth out there, it is how we as
a county have turned the corner with our
budget. We have no more furlough days,
we’re open five days a week, we have
a budget surplus and a PERS surplus.
We are making double payments on the
Urban Renewal District so we can close
continued from page 3
that out sooner and get those taxes back
on the rolls. I’m very proud of what has
happened out there – negative growth
rate versus positive growth rate – you
just can’t argue with those facts.
Another thing I’m really proud
of is the development of a very sound
Emergency Management System. We’re
connected hard to the region and to Or-
egon Emergency Management. In 1996
when Vernonia flooded it was obvious to
me that we needed to build and be part
of a solid system. In 2007 it was bet-
ter. Just the piece of being approved
and getting FEMA dollars back into the
community – you just can’t let that not
happen; you have to be prepared. 9/11
brought all kinds of new regulations and
new funding, but our communities did
not have the capacity. By forming the
Columbia County Homeland Security
Emergency Management Commission
we were able to collectively bring ca-
pacity and continuity in terms of a level
of preparedness to all our communi-
ties. That’s why we’re being used as a
model all over the state. We have good
people at the helm who are competent
and smart. We’re really at the top of our
game and our system is second to none.
I’m also really proud of our Co-
lumbia County Economic Team (CCET)
which is a public/private partnership, not
a government agency, with Columbia
County as a major funder. Our goal has
been, should be, and will always be, to
become more than 50% private because
private business and industry are the real
drivers of economic development. A
lot of the time what government needs
to recognize is that we should get out of
the way and just let a new business or
industry know that we are friendly and
open-minded about bringing them into
our community and try to help them and
not get in their way. I’m proud that we
have developed this partnership that is
collectively paying into economic de-
velopment for the County, and is heav-
ily used and highly effective. That leads
into our regional economic development
entity, which is COLPAC, which is part
of a federal program. As a founding
member of that back in the 90s, along
with Western Washington County, Til-
lamook County and Clatsop County that
make up our District, we’re made up of
different stakeholders. And that leads
Columbia Humane Society
Featured Pet
Web: www.columbiahumane.org
2084 Oregon Street
St. Helens, OR 97051
Phone: 503-397-4353
Email: animalwelfare@columbiahumane.org
Hi! My name is Kipp.
I am a white/black
neutered male pointer
mix, and weigh approxi-
mately 46 lbs. I have a
ton of energy and love
to hike. I love everyone
I meet, am highly food
motivated and good
with cats. Please stop
by and introduce
yourself. I would love
for you to take me to
my forever home.
us to the statewide Regional Solutions,
which is something I’ve had a big hand
in. It breaks the state up into five re-
gions and allows each region to dictate
what they want to accomplish and then
receive assistance from state agencies.
Back in the 90s, Oregon state agencies
weren’t aligned on projects and weren’t
talking to each other and you would see
a project moving along smoothly and
then one agency would step in and halt
it for one reason or another. Those of us
concerned about economic development
lobbied the Governor and said, ‘This is
an issue for us.’ So he created Com-
munity Solutions, which led to Regional
Solutions, which has been very effective
at looking at projects that were arising
and trying to help develop those projects.
That was huge. And what else devel-
oped was the change in top down move-
ment of funds – it used to take some type
of magic, either through associations,
relationships, or capacity, to enter those
doors of economic development oppor-
tunity. So it was about who knew what,
who knew whom, and how much clout
you had. Today we have Districts that
have Community Economic Develop-
ment Strategies that identify the most
important projects. So now we have a
system that is written into policy, that I
helped write and have been part of from
the ground up, that creates Regional So-
lutions teams that allows us to tell the
state what projects are important to us,
not the state deciding what is important.
That is a huge paradigm shift that we’ve
been looking for, for a very long time.
I’m on the Regional Solutions team. I’ve
been part of state economic development
commission for eight years. I’ve been
on the Governor’s Budget Committee
on the Economy and Jobs, and I’m just
now stepping down as the Chair from
the federal Economic and Community
Development Steering Committee. Eco-
nomic development has really been one
of my main focuses and I’m really proud
of that. I’ve tried to provide leadership
in this area as a team builder. I think this
county is in the best shape it’s ever been
in, in terms of being ready and we’re in
one of the best spots in the state for an
economy that is ready to flourish.
VV: Do you have any regrets as you
leave office?
TH: To be honest, I haven’t really
thought about that much. I guess I
regret that I won’t be here for the fin-
ish. I’ve been involved for a very long
time. Everybody knew I wasn’t going
to run again after this last election and
the reason I ran this last time was to
see some of these projects completed.
That’s really my only regret. I went
to work every single day excited about
getting to work. I never saw it as a job.
I saw it as an opportunity, not for me,
but for our communities.
Upcoming
Events
The Spirit of Christmas in
Vernonia - Saturday, December
3.
For more info: Facebook
page The Spirit of Christmas in
Vernonia Oregon.
Christmas in the Country Bazaar
- Saturday & Sunday, December
3 & 4 at the Vernonia Schools
Commons.
Vernonia Ballet Presents Peter
and the Wolf - Friday, December
16, 7:00 pm at the Vernonia
Grange. No admission, donations
accepted.
I don’t think you could ever
explain to someone on the street just how
much goes on and all the responsibilities
we have as County Commissioners and
the myriad of issues that come before us
day in and day out. I coined this phrase
years ago, “If you’re not at the table,
you’re on the menu.’ It is absolutely true
and it’s always been my mantra. It’s why
I’ve always sat on so many committees
and commissions. You have to be at the
table. Our job is to represent the citizens
of this community. You don’t do that in
your office.
VV: What kind of plans do you have for
the future?
TH: Well I certainly hope for the best
for the Board. I’ve always been proud
of the way we worked together as a team
and we had great camaraderie. I hope
that continues. That is very heartfelt on
my part. I want to see them succeed.
I do have my shingle hanging
out, but I haven’t really had a chance to
think about it much because my focus
has been to get ready to turn over this
office. As soon as the election was over
I realized that I had a lot of projects in
play and a lot of it was stuff that only I
knew about, or that I had a lot of inside
knowledge about. So I had to figure
out ways to pass that knowledge on and
transition well. I’ve seen it done wrong
and watched it go horribly with outgoing
Commissioners, especially ones that
were ‘deposed’ with lots of hostility.
For me, I just wanted to double down
and work hard to get stuff done in a way
that allows for a smooth transition rather
than drop off the edge. Because that
would not be good for the county and
that has always been the bottom line for
me, what is good for the county. I get
paid until the end of December and I will
work until the end. Once I get there, I’ll
worry about what is next.
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