Mailbox

[July 4th, 2007]

CLEARED TO LAND

Dear Nigel Jaquiss: Having read your article ["Dirt, Cheap"] in the June 27 Willamette Week newspaper, I feel it is necessary to respond. Many of the points that you attempted to make, I believe are very misleading:

1. Of the 232 acres I purchased from the Wagners, 142 of those acres are of little value. As I explained to you prior to your article being written, a large portion of that land is encumbered by the runway protection zone, or is wetland. It is all outside of the urban growth boundary. Therefore your values are off by 150 percent.

2. I told you that I would be spending an additional $2 million (on top of the monies already spent for bringing sewers to the site) to improve the 90 acres. Again, you valued the land by dividing my figures by the entire 232 acres. Another error of 150 percent. Also, this does not include planning, engineering, permits and financing costs, which will be an additional $10,000 per acre.

3. Industrial land is not the hot commodity that many folks would like it to be. Columbia County has a 30-plus year supply of industrial land, according to the Regional Industrial Land Study. Personally, I have 16 acres of industrial land in the Sunset corridor listed for sale. We have not had one offer on this land in the past five years.

4. Sen. [Betsy] Johnson's support for SB 680 and SB 807 has not influenced my decisions to invest in Scappoose. I have never looked to public support for our developments. Scappoose Airport already had "thru the fence" [airport access], otherwise I would have never purchased land at the airport.

5. You quote Greg Leo as being critical of these two Senate bills. Mr. Leo is a lobbyist who is paid by the City of Wilsonville to make such statements.

6. You quote a Mr. Tom Heckman, who claims that the Wagners "got robbed." Did Mr. Heckman also mention that he once wanted to buy this same land from the Wagners?

Ed Freeman, President
Sierra Pacific Communities
Tigard

Nigel Jaquiss responds: Mr. Freeman paid $2.385 million for 232 acres. Let's assume the 142 acres has no value. That means his cost for the remaining 90 acres is $26,500 per acre. Add another $32,222 per acre for the money he plans to invest. That brings his cost for the 90 acres to $58,722 per acre. What's the land worth? Records show that in August 2005, Mr. Freeman sold 18.99 acres of adjacent land (which he earlier bought from Sen. Betsy Johnson) for $1.65 million, or $86,888 per acre. So Mr. Freeman would appear to have a paper profit of about $2.5 million on the 90 acres alone. With those economics, it would not be surprising if Mr. Heckman also wanted to buy the land.

WHERE'S THE CONFLICT?

Let me see if I have this right. Sen. Betsy Johnson bought and sold some property. Then she introduced some legislation that would benefit that property and its new owners. How is it wrongdoing if she no longer owned the property? There doesn't seem to be any evidence that Sen. Johnson got an above-market price for the property or that there was some quid pro quo when Johnson sold the property that she would introduce the legislation. It seems to me that all Sen. Johnson has done is to try to aid economic development in her district. She no longer owned the property that would benefit from her efforts. Is there anything wrong with that?

Roy Hemmingway
Southwest Comus Street

LET YOURSELF BE MOVED

I was stunned and disappointed after reading Willamette Week's review of the Portland Gay Men's Chorus' June 16 performance of "Brave Souls and Dreamers," the newly commissioned work on war and peace. My first impression was that your reviewer, Mr. [Stephen] Beaudoin, must have been at the wrong concert.

I found the evening to be one of the most moving and touching concerts I've ever experienced.

As a child of the '60s, "Brave Souls and Dreamers" evoked the same kind of passion and purpose that I felt during that time, leaving me with a renewed sense of commitment to everything I've come to believe in. I was not alone. The foyer was clogged with audience members anxious to share with whomever would listen how profoundly impacted they were by this music. It is my hope that somehow, someday, somewhere this extraordinary work will be heard again.

I may not be a choral sophisticate, but I know that when music like this touches my heart and makes me tear, evoking an emotion so profound that it calls me to action such as writing this letter, that it has accomplished exactly what the composers envisioned. I've long felt that PGMC's music and their thoughtful message "packs a punch," touching that part in all of use that stirs us to embrace hope and a peaceable life.

I can only conclude that the reviewer came to the concert wanting to write something controversial and subsequently managed to miss a powerful evening that most attendees, like myself, will remember for a long time to come. By obsessing on trivial details (like the body-mics and announcements), Mr. Beaudoin missed the big picture—that this was a timely, meaningful and poignant artistic statement worthy of being repeated again and again for all who have the heart to listen.

Terry Bean
Southwest Portland

DON'T COUNT TOMEI OUT YET

I am writing in response to the June 13 cover story rating state legislators in your annual "The Good, the Bad and the Awful." As a constituent in District 41, I take umbrage with your characterization of Rep. Carolyn Tomei. I am confident that she continues to keep her nose to the grindstone at the Legislature.

As well, as the former representative of that District, I believe she is a worthy successor and I continue to endorse her as a fine Democrat and a hardworking legislator.

Finally, as the current labor commissioner for the State of Oregon I have contact with Rep. Tomei on a regular basis. Her committee has worked hard this session to bring important legislation to the floor—from the Breastfeeding Bill which strengthened the rights of working mothers to the Family Leave Act, which expanded the rights of employees across the State.

Carolyn is steadfast, hardworking and honest. I can't imagine the constituents of District 41 being better represented in today's Legislature than they are with Rep. Tomei.

Dan Gardner
Commissioner, Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries