To All:
I just returned from DC and am catching up on the local news. I just ran across this tidbit in the Inlander by Kevin Taylor (See below). I was watching the S-R web page while I was away and I can’t say I saw this headline.
Yes, I am a cynic, but with my knowledge of the last mayoral election and the last minute campaign loan of !0K to help finance Hession’s negative ad campaign from non other than Michael Ormsby (I rather doubt this was Ormsby’s own money), I think this is akin to leaving the fox to guard the hen house. This is much the same as Michael Ormsby being tapped to be US Attorney for the Eastern District of WA which Tim Connor made the astute analogy that this is like putting Bernie Madoff in charge of the SEC.
There is a commonality here with their very deep associations/connections with the Cowles Co’s interest. This is all about the water, albeit sewer effluent on top of the Rathdrum Aquifer. A comment in the recent FORBES article thread [Spokane] Fraud: Scam Capital of America, referring to Spokane as a cesspool may have some truth.
The Rathdrum Aquifer which straddles the Spokane – Coeur d’Alene Region has been designated as a sole source water supply for this region. This designation has led to the requirement of sanitary sewers e.g., the Spokane Valley. This is all related to the water quality of the Spokane River. Coincidentally the Cowles Co has considerable financial and real estate interests in this area e.g, the Inland Empire Paper Company (2nd largest by concentration of phosphates to the river) and tracts of undeveloped land. The previous MO of the Cowles Co is to shift the burden of providing this infrastructure onto the taxpayers instead of paying an equitable share up front. I posted a piece on this before:
‘Sewer Wars’ a Redux – Law extends time limit for Spokane River cleanup
Here’s Kevin’s piece:
Former Spokane Mayor Dennis Hession is among the handful of candidates with hopes of being presented to the U.S. Senate as a candidate to run the Northwest regional office of the Environmental Protection Agency.
If named administrator of EPA Region 10, Hession would face challenges far greater than potholes and alley garbage collection. There is the ongoing Superfund cleanup (the nation’s largest) in the Silver Valley, as well as melting permafrost and sea ice in Alaska from the effects of climate change and endangered species from salmon to polar bears.
But Hession says he’s ready for that. The problems on a federal level may be larger in scope, but his approach to addressing them will be the same as in City Hall.
“I have things to offer. I have government experience, an extensive legal background. And, as mayor, your two greatest assets are the ability to influence and the ability to convene,” Hession says.
Among known candidates, the frontrunners include former Seattle city attorney Mark Sidran, former state Sen. Phil Rockefeller and Dennis McLerran, director of Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. — KEVIN TAYLOR
UPDATE:
S-R Reporter Becky Kramer now has this article up on the S-R website:
Hession a contender for regional EPA top spot
Former Spokane mayor recently resigned as interim CEO of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture
Becky Kramer
The Spokesman-Review
OK this article is only presenting the same info that Kevin did in his article. When will we get the rest of the story? 