4A • December 1, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Views from the Rock
‘Tightwad Thompson’
answers back to critics
E
R.J. MARX
Q: Tell me about your back-
ground.
Thompson: My dad drove a truck.
My mom was a secretary in Lansing,
Michigan. They were upwardly mo-
bile. They bought into a wholesale beer
and wine distributorship.
Q: How did you form your out-
look on life?
Thompson: I received an under-
graduate degree from Michigan State
and graduated from the University of
Michigan with a degree in social work.
I started out as a caseworker at the
Ingham County Department of Social
Services in Lansing in 1968.
I moved from Lansing to Detroit
when Detroit was “Murder City.” I
worked with kids in the precinct that
had the highest murder rate in the
country. You could really see what hap-
pens when an economy disintegrates.
I’ve never forgotten what it’s like
to be surrounded by people with no
opportunities. I really paid attention.
I never forgot: I’m white, I have an
education. There are people that really
have problems. They’re hungry, they
are addicted. People have physically
abusive relationships — real problems.
So those of us that have the ability —
the background, the skills — we ought
to come forward, to come to the table,
so we can all work together on what
there is to work out.
Q: How did you arrive here in the
West?
Thompson: I married my second
husband and moved up to Anchorage,
Alaska. I ran a senior center in Anchor-
age. Then I started a small business in
Portland. In five years I sold it for five
figures. I was proud. So I haven’t done
just public service. And I still have a
coaching degree.
I have three grown-up children and
three grandchildren.
Q: Why did you enter the political
arena?
Thompson: My parents raised us
to be good citizens and that’s what I
strived for. When I was 23 years old, I
handed out campaign literature for my
husband‘s boss at the Ingham Coun-
ty Fair. I worked on a couple dozen
campaigns.
I ran for Multnomah County
auditor in 1988. I talked to someone
and (during the campaign) they said,
“You’re just too tight. You should call
yourself ‘Tightwad’ Thompson.”
Q: Are you still frugal? You are
accused of spending more than other
Clatsop County commissioners.
Thompson: For over a decade now I
have lived in a house that is 846 square
feet. It’s a beautiful house, It’s small
but compact, efficient. I drive a Prius.
I drive like grandma — 52.8 miles a
gallon. That takes some doing.
Q: When did you take office in
Clatsop County?
Thompson: I got on the county
planning commission in 2011 and
served for five years until I got onto
the board of commissioners.
I ran and won in May 2014. But
before I won, County Clerk Maeve
Kennedy Grimes told me we would
have to re-run the election because bad
ballots went out. I won the election by
81 votes but it didn’t count. The judge
said the whole district had to re-vote
because there were bad ballots in
Seaside. We ran in a September special
election. I won again and took office
January 2015.
Q: Was there conflict with other
commissioners at the start?
Thompson: Not everybody agrees
what the role of a county commissioner
should be. That is the meat of the issue.
Q: Do you have a particular
philosophy?
Thompson: I do the best job I know
how to do. I try to learn from others
and hope to contribute to the group as
we work together. That’s my hope.
Q: What is the county commis-
sion expense issue about from your
perspective?
Thompson: I moderated a panel of
experts at the Earthquake Engineering
Research Institute in Portland to focus
their attention and have the benefit of
their best thinking to help Seaside. It
was way more than a marketing oppor-
tunity. The room was full of experts,
because Seaside is ground zero. I
thought it was important to attend, not
only to learn and grow, but to network
with people to bring their expertise and
resources to Clatsop County.
I submitted bills that I thought were
simple and as frugal as could be. They
paid part and I paid part. (Commission
Chairman) Scott Lee thought my hotel
bill was extravagant, but I worked
hard to get the best deal I could find. I
understand people have limited time,
but don’t thump on me because I’m
working hard. Don’t complain because
I am using public resources for public
good. They hired two Portland lawyers
to “investigate“ me as an employee. If
I were an employee, I would’ve gotten
stress disability and sued the socks off
them for a hostile work environment.
ver since her election as
District 5 representative for
the Clatsop County Board of
Commissioners, Lianne Thompson
has been a lightning rod for critics
and supporters alike. A resident of
Arch Cape, Thompson’s approach
drew claims from the commission that
she had overspent and that her trips
outside the region were unproductive
and unrelated to the county’s goals.
Thompson responded by insisting that
her trips to conferences and training
are attempts to build relationships and
bring resources to the county.
In September, an investigation into
an incident alleging that Thompson
“crossed the boundary of decorum”
led to further headlines. At the board’s
November meeting, the board agreed
to reimburse her for travel and other
expenses she has incurred so far this
year, though she may have to pay her
own way on some future trips. What’s
coming up as the seat goes up for
re-election next spring?
CANNON SHOTS
COURTESY BRUCE’S CANDY KITCHEN
Christmas chocolates from Bruce’s Candy Kitchen in
Cannon Beach.
MCKENZIE FARRELL
Lianne Thompson
Q: What would you like to see
from the board of commissioners?
Thompson: We did visioning in
2014. I went to six sessions all over the
county, from Knappa to Elsie to Arch
Cape. (Former Commissioner) Dirk
Rohne came to one. I didn’t see any
other commissioners at the sessions.
We have not translated vision into mis-
sion. At the end this is a rubber-stamp
process.
In June 2015, I put a written state-
ment on the record that I am not voting
for this budget because we don’t have
a plan, we don’t have goals.
Q: So you’ve been looking
forward for a change in the budget
process?
Thompson: Oh, yes. Lord, yes. I’d
like to see an open, extended budget
process. I’d like to see the budget
sessions move around.
We have every single meeting at
night in Astoria that limits the people
who can attend, The board of commis-
sioners used to meet in Seaside pretty
regularly. That no longer happens.
Now they say that’s because all the TV
cameras are at the Boyington Center.
That just started. It’s comfortable for
some people to keep doing the same
thing.
Q: In September, commissioners
alleged you placed your hands on a
county employee and spoke in a loud
and frustrated tone about County
Manager Cameron Moore after a
Red Cross meeting at Fort Clatsop
in June.
Thompson: There was no written
complaint ever. And my attorney
asked.
Q: Do you think this debate is
over?
Thompson: I don’t know. It came
out of the blue.
Q: Do you regret your actions?
Thompson: I don’t want to offend
anybody. Do I wave my hands around,
do I touch people? If I offend you,
please tell me. I will apologize. But
to make this into something where I
harassed and intimidated somebody?
Q: Do you have hopes that you
can work it out with this group?
Thompson: Sure, I always hope. I
hope that the county commission can
come together for a common purpose
to serve the people of Clatsop County.
Q: Is there a way out of this? It
sounds like a deep mire.
Thompson: There’s a phrase in a
“dark room wandering.” I’m a hopeful
person, so I hope so. I don’t know.
Christmas
candyland
‘M
y major achievement of the day is I found your
missing sock,” my husband said. This was big
news as I’d held on to its mate for nearly a
year. Normally if six months goes by and a missing sock
has not turned up, the survivor is resigned to the trash
bin. But this was a special sock, a red sock, a Christmas
sock, and there it was, buried deep in my husband’s closet,
clinging to an old sweater.
When December rolls around, I do a lot of rooting.
Mostly I root around the closets and the cedar chest and
the old armoire. I take a poke around the laundry room, in
hopes of discov-
ering where last
January I stowed
VIEW FROM
the holiday or-
THE PORCH
naments. To my
chagrin, every year EVE MARX
they turn up some-
place else. A few
years ago, I never
‘WHEN IT COMES TO
did locate any of
the twinkly lights
GIFTS, ANYTHING
or our Christmas
stockings. This
TO EAT IS ALWAYS
meant I went out
and bought more
WELCOME.’
stuff which means
there’s twice as
much stuff now to get lost.
I’m not keen on last minute shopping, because that’s
when you really break the bank, so I’ve become that
person who hoards gifts to give all year. An entire cabinet
in my kitchen is devoted to fancy soaps, candles, body
creams, perfumes, lotions, potions, and scrubs and other
feminine effluvia of the beauty-enhancing trade. Some of
these items I buy; others just appear in the mail, courtesy
of one of my many jobs, blogging about beauty products.
When it comes to gifts, anything to eat is always wel-
come. One year we received a large tub of popcorn from
The Popcorn Factory featuring six different flavors of
popcorn. I was very pleased with this gift and for a week
ate popcorn morning, noon and night. I had to keep eating
it, because I couldn’t decide which flavor I liked best.
Speaking of sweets, I’d like to mention Bruce’s Candy
Kitchen. There are two stores you can visit, one on Hem-
lock Street in Cannon Beach, the other at the outlet mall
in Seaside. Both stores are stocked with mouthwatering
temptations including salt water taffy, caramels, brittles,
homemade fudge, and popcorns. They have licorice, malt-
ed milk balls, cordials, sugar-free candies, and of course
chocolates. They have almond and coconut haystacks,
almond bark, chocolate covered gummy bears, and choc-
olate seashells. They make their own gumballs and candy
corn. Special for the holidays they’re offering Christmas
Twinkies, Nutter Butters, candy cane popcorn and Dutch
mints.
Holidays are a time for indulgence and the heck with
the dentist, apologies to my own great dentist, Dr. Stepha-
nie White, at Gearhart Dentistry. I know she understands.
It would be so easy to do all my shopping for friends
and family back East via Bruce’s Candy Kitchen. They
offer standard delivery, two-day and overnight delivery if
you’re really behind the eight ball.
LETTERS
Actions hard to accept
I am troubled by recent letters
supporting Commissioner Lianne
Thompson that suggest that Chair-
man Scott Lee, and the commis-
sioners asking for her resignation,
are the ones acting unprofession-
ally.
For the better part of a year I at-
tended Clatsop County Commission
meetings in order to make regu-
lar public testimony on the Linn
County timber lawsuit. I can say
unequivocally that during that time
I never observed any behavior, or
heard comments made by Chairman
Lee or the other commissioners,
that were in any way unprofession-
al. Regrettably, I cannot say the
same about Commissioner Thomp-
son.
At one of the meetings, I pointed
out that Commissioner Thompson’s
husband serves as the business
manager for Linn County, and was
integral to the filing of the timber
lawsuit. I suggested that she recuse
herself on the lawsuit vote. I made
this suggestion after conferring
Publisher
Kari Borgen
Editor
R.J. Marx
Circulation
Manager
Jeremy Feldman
Production
Manager
John D. Bruijn
with someone who had served on
various boards who agreed that
recusal would be the professional
thing to do. Thompson’s reaction to
my suggestion was one of defiance,
because I was bringing up her “per-
sonal life.”
At another meeting, Thompson
claimed that she had not been on
the commission when the vote
was taken to approve the Clatsop
County Vision 2030 Together plan,
which demonstrates the public’s
support for conservation of forest
lands.
A review of the record showed
that Thompson was on the board at
the time, and had voted to approve
the plan. When confronted with
the misrepresentation of her voting
record, Thompson said she had “a
senior moment.” That’s a difficult
excuse to accept, considering the
importance of that vote.
In her efforts to keep Clatsop
County in the class of the lawsuit,
Thompson discredited the vision
plan because the meetings held by
the research firm conducting the
Advertising Sales
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Danielle Fisher
Staff writer
Brenna Visser
Contributing
writers
Rebecca Herren
Katherine Lacaze
Eve Marx
Nancy McCarthy
study were only attended by “activ-
ists.” Having attended one of those
meetings myself, I can say that
was not the case. Finally, when the
overwhelming majority of public
comments, along with many emails
and letters sent to the commission
called for opting out of the lawsuit,
Commissioner Thompson chose to
go against the public with her vote.
Roger Dorband
Astoria
District 5 needs
Lianne Thompson
I have known Lianne Thompson
for several years, and supported her
election as commissioner in District
5. She has not disappointed me in
her commitment to the needs of
Clatsop County. Her work has been
steadfast and exemplary. Rarely has
there been a county commissioner
more dedicated to service for the
well-being of all in Clatsop County
and beyond.
She has done hours of volunteer
work, attended meetings, and has
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been receptive to the ideas from
the communities she serves. Lianne
studies issues from all angles, and
is not beholden to any specific
interest group. That she attends
meetings and training outside of
Clatsop County for knowledge and
other perspectives is a plus.
The number of assignments she
has accepted, and her attention to
them, is remarkable. In reading the
numerous letters written in her sup-
port, obviously she has made an im-
pact in helping constituents in the
county as a whole, which has been
noted not only by state Rep. Deb-
orah Boone, but by commissioners
from other counties, and from those
holding, or have held, significant
positions in Clatsop County.
District 5 is large and diverse.
The issues affecting coastal areas
can be very different from those in
rural areas. Commissioner Thomp-
son works diligently to help find
solutions to everyone’s needs: fam-
ily wage jobs; affordable housing;
environmental impacts affecting
regional liveilhoods; and prepared-
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ness to deal with catastrophes and
recovery.
Much coverage, and I assume
county expenditure, has been
devoted to a situation that occurred
after a Red Cross meeting earlier
this year. What seems to have had
little coverage is what perpetrated
it. Why would the county manager
schedule a meeting, knowing that
Commissioner Thompson could not
attend, when the chief agenda item
was one under her purview? At the
very least, this seems disrespectful.
In the future, I would hope that
the commission would find ways
to address the challenges facing
Clatsop County with more cooper-
ation, and less castigation. There is,
indeed, value in listening to other
perspectives on issues. No one has
all the answers.
I will, indeed, support Lianne
Thompson for another term repre-
senting District 5.
Karen Hoyt
Cannon Beach
See Letters, Page 5A
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