ABOUT THE AUTHORS By The Chronicle Lewis County comes off as an "ultraconservative," pioneering community with rough-and-tumble characters in a profile included in a research paper by two students from The Evergreen State College. County politics, attitudes toward growth and historic flooding all come to bear in the paper "Flood Policy on the Chehalis River in Lewis County, Washington- Who Makes the Decisions?" by Katarzyna Pierzga and Amy Manchester Harris. In highlighting what they see as the county's less than fine qualities, they point to the county's declining economy, failing wages and low level of college education - - half the statewide average rate. The authors cauterize Lewis county as a "hotbed of ultraconservatism in the John Birch Society tradition" possibly a reference to the Hamilton sign with its conservative slogans south of Chehalis near Interstate 5. Citing Lewis County Commissioner Richard Graham as the source, they say, "Until recently; when the commissioners meetings were moved to a secure hearing room, it was not uncommon for a citizen testifying against proposed land-use laws to casually reveal a gun tucked in a waistband. Citizens still commonly bring their guns into the county building however, they are not required to check them at the entrance." Graham told The Chronicle he never saw a gun but he was told by two people of an incident. S.C. Schantz, whose unpermitted septic system ultimately resulted in an armed standoff with sheriffs deputies in 1997, used to attend commission meetings wearing holster, Graham said he did not know whether Schantz had a gun in the holster. "One time somebody told me he had a bunch of pencils and stuff in it," Graham said. Federally declared flooding disasters in Lewis County between 1990 and 1997 cost taxpayers an estimated $28 million in: disaster relief through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The February 1996 flood alone was estimated to have cost the states economy $80 million, largely because floodwaters inundated Interstate 5 near Chehalis. |
MASTERS' THESIS: Evergreen students determine in their research that group of local businesses, government dominate flood-control policies. John Henderer, The Chronicle,12/23/2000 A "growth coalition" of local business and government officials dominates flood control policies for the Chehalis River, according to a master's thesis by two students from The Evergreen State College. The research paper "Flood Policy on the Chehalis River in Lewis County, Washington: Who Makes the Decisions?" by Katarzyna Pierzga and Amy Manchester Harris explores how the local community sets flood policies. The authors note how local business officials from the Lewis County Economic Development Council initiated a response to the 1996 flood by forming the Flood Action Council, citing economic development as the overriding concern behind controlling flooding. The authors conclude pro-growth interests continue to guide flooding. They suggest several ways to improve communication, and to clarify roles of various interests. They also conclude citizen voices are sometimes muted by a pro-development mind-set. "Lewis County government consistently applies the goals and values of the growth agenda to its land use and flood policy decisions," they write. "These (pro-growth) organizations wield considerable influence over county land use and flood policy decisions." PIERZGA, A FORMER newspaper reporter, and Manchester Harris, an HIV-AIDS prevention worker at the state Department of Health, teamed up for the paper last year. 'They interviewed a variety of local officials, conducted a mail-in survey and reviewed scores of documents. "We did it because we wanted to be able to provide a mirror back to the community so they could do maybe better policy planning or understand the issues," said Manchester Harris: Lewis County Commissioner Richard Graham, project manager of the flood-control study, told The Chronicle he doesn't believe the county's policy direction is off base. "Personally, I think that if we were going in the wrong direction here, we wouldn't have the (financial) support of our legislative people here and back in Washing ton, D.C.," Graham said. IN A SURVEY mailed to 338 homes, the authors found 45 percent of county residents dissatisfied with the amount of information they receive about flood-control plans from the county. To improve communication, Pierzga and Manchester Harris recommend improving delivery of reports and meeting notices to the media, adding to the county's Internet Web site a page devoted to flood planning, developing a periodical newsletter, holding more frequent meetings, and inviting a broader range of organizations to sit on advisory groups. To eliminate confusion of roles of each committee, the authors suggest drafting a letter of understanding between the Chehalis River Flood Reduction Project Executive Committee, the Chehalis Basin Partnership and the Lewis County Flood Project Citizens' Advisory Committee, and reviewing membership of committees for broad representation. At the time they wrote the paper, the authors said, "growth coalition members constitute the majority" on all the county's land use and flood policy committees. The paper's growth-coalition thesis, however, drew laughs from Bill Lotto, executive director of the Lewis County Economic Development Council. "Let's see now, I have worked in six different counties in over 30 years in economic development, and I have always heard critics of job development say that there was some growth coalition controlling what was happening," Lotto said. "I was never able to find who they were; it's always this amorphous somebody out there pulling strings. It would be nice if things moved so smoothly." The report quotes Bainbridge Island's David Korton, president of the People-Centered Development Forum: "When the institutions of money rule, it is perhaps inevitable that the interests of money will take precedence over the interests of people." THE STUDY SUGGESTS Lewis County should focus less on engineering solutions such as dredging and excavation, and turn more toward reworking land-use laws to reduce flood risk. The authors warn the county's emphasis on engineering a solution could compromise the river's ecosystem, threaten fish and oysters, harm threatened salmon and cutthroat trout, increase erosion and cost more money. They warn the county's reluctance to adopt stronger landuse laws will result in increased filling in the flood plain and consequent flooding, leading to fewer businesses moving here, higher flood insurance premiums, increased litigation and more. "Weak efforts" to invite citizen participation in policy setting could result in exclusion of diverse interest groups, a "crisis of legitimacy" and growing "disenfranchisement" and lack of confidence in the government, the authors warn. "Throughout the course of this project, Lewis County elected representatives and staff have cited economic development as the primary goal of county land use and flood policy," they write. "However, when respondents included in our survey project were asked to name the top three concerns they believe Lewis County government should consider when developing flood policy, economic development was ranked the lowest." But as he works, to help improve economic development in the community, Commissioner Graham said, he frequently hears concerns from businesses about flooding. "We can't seem to draw family-wage job businesses in here," Graham told The Chronicle. "The first thing they talk about is flooding." SOLVING FLOODING problems by engineering carries high costs and overlooks opportunities for good land-use planning, the authors state. They recommend a combined approach of land-use zoning and physical projects to alleviate flood damages. Pointing to the county's resistance to the Growth Management Act, the authors say "The growth agenda appears to be the main force driving Lewis County land use and flood management policy decisions." While the county acted to include citizens views in setting flood policies, the authors suggest commissioners did not go far enough by establishing the Lewis County Flood Control District Citizens' Advisory Committee. "They chose the members of the group to try to appease the public," Dona Petersen told the authors. "A lot of citizens' groups form and nothing comes of it. The commissioners didn't realize how seriously we would take it." Graham said, however, he rarely hears any more from the flood advisory committee. Former Chairman Duane Bryant used to attend briefings with the commissioners to update the officials on their work. "Then for a while they were sending us minutes from their meetings," Graham told The Chronicle. "We don't even see that stuff any more. It's kind of a two-way street." On the Web: http://www.crcwater.org/issues11/20001006index.html. John Henderer covers county government and environmental issues for The Chronicle. He can be reached by e-mail at jhenderer@chronline.com or by calling 807-8239. |
THE SURVEY By The Chronicle A survey mailed to Lewis County residents living within the Chehalis River Basin found room for improvement in government communication about flooding policies. The survey, mailed to 338 residents, was part of a research project by Katarzyna Pierzga and Amy Manchester Harris. They received back 40 percent of the survey questionnaires. Respondents criticized the county's policy of allowing filling in the flood plain to encourage development, When asked to lay blame, nearly 75 percent say filling in the flood plain caused flooding, while 57 percent cited the weather, and more than 50 percent cited existing and new construction. Ranking the top three concerns to consider in making flood control policy, respondents selected the following,
Asked another way, just 18 percent said maintaining the economy should be an important goal of flood control, nearly the same percentage as cited keeping the river clean and safe for fish. Moreover, 29 percent said maintaining the goal economy is not an important goal for flood policy News about flooding clearly mattered to the respondents, with 45 percent saying they were not satisfied with the information they've received about flood plans . Just 36 percent were somewhat satisfied, 11 percent satisfied and 7 percent not interested. Asked to rank the level of power and influence exerted over flood control plans, respondents put govern at the top: Lewis County government got a 24 percent vote, state and federal government 24 percent, local politicians I 9 percent and business organizations 13 percent, with business owners getting 6 percent |
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