Commissioner Work is Backwards

December 2015

Commissioner work is backwards

This Tuesday, the 8th, the commissioners will vote on a grant from the Department of Ecology for a project that will (taken from the grant document):

serve as the cornerstone of a larger effort to improve water quality and community health in

Cowlitz County. The goal is to perform a comprehensive survey of septic systems using existing geospatial data, historic records, and survey data collection methods … The information obtained will be available for use by the public, professionals, regulators, and key decision makers.

I won’t waste space to discuss the rationale that we all know will be offered for why this grant is good for us. These categorical arguments are flawed; we should not fall for this continued overreach.

Instead, let me state that the business of commissioners is conducted backwards. Rather than projects/programs originating from the commissioners, which then requires a disadvantaged citizenry to fight off the commissioners, let the people be the source of the projects. That means that new projects come to life only by measurable and published demand and subsequent approval by the citizenry at large. Imagine …