Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Conservation District Watch: The Series - Installment #2

In the last post, we saw Barbara Rosenkotter write to Kit Rawson to ask for a list of tribal contacts who might publicly support the move of the Salmon Lead Entity program from San Juan County to the Conservation District. Dutifully, Rawson provided a tribal contact list to Rosenkotter, and Rosenkotter started writing to the tribes. It was just that simple.

This is how influence works, and this is how easy it is for a rogue County staffer to wield influence in league with a power-hungry Conservation District. Below is the tribal contact list sent to Rosenkotter by Rawson. Then, below that is one of the emails sent by Rosenkotter to one of the tribal contacts without the knowledge of our Council or even so much as a cc to our Council. At the very bottom of this post, we have one of the tribal letters sent to the State in response to Rosenkotter's request ... again no cc by the tribe to our Council. It was all done on the QT.

We'll publish some of the other tribal letters in coming posts.
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As of 12/12/2012 - Tribes and Tribal Chairs

Here are the names of the tribes and tribal chairs (in alphabetical order), along with others to whom the letter should probably be sent. As far as honorifics go, treat the tribal chairs as you would treat any other executive level leader of government.

Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe
1033 Old Blyn Highway
Sequim, WA 98328
William “Ron” Allen, Chair
(also send to Scott Chitwood, Natural Resources Director)

Lower Elwha Klallam tribe
2851 Lower Elwha Road
Port Angeles, WA 98363
Frances Charles, Chair
(also send to Doug Morrill, Natural Resources Director)

Lummi Nation
2616 Kwina Road
Bellingham, WA 98226
Cliff Cultee, Chair
(also send to Merle Jefferson, Natural Resources Director; Eldon Hillaire, Natural Resources Commission Chairman; Randy Kinley, Policy Representative; Alan Chapman, ESA Coordinator)

Makah Tribe (not a tribe with U&A in the San Juans, but I think you wanted to send to them too)
P.O. Box 115
Neah Bay, WA 98357
Michael J. Lawrence, Chair
(also send to Russ Svec, Fishery Manager)

Nooksack Tribe
P.O. Box 157
Deming, WA 98244
Bob Kelly, Chairman
(also send to Gary McWilliams, Natural Resources Director)

Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe
31912 Little Boston Road NE
Kingston, WA 98346
Jeromy Sullivan, Chair
(also send to Paul McCollum, Natural Resources Director)

Suquamish Tribe
18490 Suquamish Way
Suquamish, WA 98392
Leonard Forsman, Chair
(also send to Rob Purser, Fisheries Director)

Swinomish Tribal Community
P.O. Box 817
11404 Moorage Way
La Conner, WA 98257
Brian Cladoosby, Chair
(also send to Lorraine Loomis, Fisheries Manager and Charlie O’Hara, Planning Director)

Tulalip Tribes
6406 Marine Drive
Tulalip, WA 98271
Melvin R. Sheldon, Jr., Chair
(also send to Ray Fryberg, Sr., Executive Director of Natural Resources; Terry R. Williams, Commissioner of Fisheries and Wildlife; Kit Rawson, Conservation Science Program Manager)
_______________________________________________________
From: Barbara Rosenkotter
Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2013 10:43 AM
To: Stan Walsh (swalsh@skagitcoop.org)
Subject: San Juan Lead Entity Transition

Dear Stan,
As a follow up to our conversation yesterday, we are considering moving the fiscal agent for the San Juan / WRIA2 Lead Entity from San Juan County to the San Juan Islands Conservation District. As you may recall, the Lead Entity was originally housed within the San Juan Islands Conservation District when the Lead Entity program was established in the San Juans in 2000. It was moved to San Juan County in 2005.

Due to ever tightening county budgets San Juan County has sought to recoup additional overhead costs at the same time that federal and state funding for the Lead Entity program has been reduced. This has put an ongoing squeeze on the local program. As you know, the Lead Entity Coordinator position was reduced to part time this last year due to the reduction in funding.

The San Juan Islands Conservation District has offered to become the fiscal agent once again to house the Lead Entity program for San Juan / WRIA2. And is offering to do so at about half the overhead costs that San Juan County requires. It seems like a prudent step to accept this offer to move the Lead Entity program back to the local Conservation District. This move will allow for more funding to support the actual program and require less of the funding to be expended on overhead costs.

Based on the Salmon Recovery RCW 77.85 it is our understanding that tribal governments should be consulted regarding the proposed fiscal agent change for the San Juan / WRIA 2 Lead Entity program (see the statutory language below). And in consultation with Lloyd Moody of the Governors Salmon Recovery Office and the Recreation and Conservation Office, who oversees the Lead Entity programs across the state, he has confirmed that tribal governments would need to provide their support by letters or resolutions.

Thus this email to you requesting your assistance to provide a tribal letter of support or resolution in support of the change in fiscal agent for the San Juan / WRIA2 Lead Entity.

Please let me know if you perceive any issues with this request and how I may be of assistance.

Thank you,
Barbara Rosenkotter
Lead Entity Coordinator for Salmon Recovery
San Juan County / WRIA2
barbarar@sanjuanco.com
360-370-7593
PO Box 947
135 Rhone Street
Friday Harbor, WA 98250

77.85.050
Habitat project lists.
(1)(a) Counties, cities, and tribal governments must jointly designate, by resolution or by letters of support, the area for which a habitat project list is to be developed and the lead entity that is to be responsible for submitting the habitat project list. No project included on a habitat project list shall be considered mandatory in nature and no private landowner may be forced or coerced into participation in any respect. The lead entity may be a county, city, conservation district, special district, tribal government, regional recovery organization, or other entity.
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Click to enlarge. Right click to download.


32 comments:

  1. "Treat the tribal chairs as you would treat any other executive level leader of government." For BR, that would mean ignore them and do whatever you want!

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  2. "As you know, the Lead Entity Coordinator position was reduced to part time". Seems the main issue is that Barbara Rossenkotter wants to be full time w/ benefits, a expense account to go to the many meetings available, etc. No mention of fish, only funds. Me first, fish are being used.

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  3. Barbara starts every single appearance before the council with, "I'm here to speak for the fish, salmon, etc." I don't see her speaking for the fish very much in these documents. It's me me me. Give me money. Did the tribes even ask if the new org structure might be better for fish? Cronies supporting cronies with no regard for the ecosystem.

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  4. Who is this woman's supervisor? Seems like the problem here may be two fold. One thing is an employee doing nefarious or questionable things, another to have a supervisor that allows it.

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  5. Her supervisor is Rene Beliveau. It's not clear precisely how much he knew, but on some emails, Beliveau was copied. Looks like he allowed it.

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  6. Please tell me the County Commissioners have seen this. It's horrific. "We're considering..." WAY out of line. Just shocking.

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  7. By now, I think some of them have seen some of it, but I don't believe all of them have seen all of it.

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  8. What will it take for this commission to let some people go? Insanity!

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  9. AUDIT THE CD, LEAD ENTITY, AND MRC
    I am telling you THAT will rip open the curtain and answer for all the question of where and to WHOM tens of MILLIONS of dollars has gone.
    INDEPENDENT AUDIT and see for yourselves how many FOSJ have their paws in the honey jar...SCAM SCAM SCAM

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  10. @5:35
    I imagine that if an employee came forward with a proposal that said "here is a way we can reduce some regulations while offering the same level of protections, and cut our expenses 15%".
    They would probably be shown the door.

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  11. First we had Shireene getting outside direction, now its Barbara. Rene has got to get a grip on his department and employees or does everybody just persue their own agenda with pay.
    How can the council know what's going on, except for after the fact, if the department heads don't know or care what is happening in their own departments.

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  12. @5:54

    At the CC meeting where Barbara R suggested this fiscal change Rick Hughes asked what the difference/savings would be. Didn't she say about $10,000 per year?

    Did you know that? And did you hear Rick Hughes response?

    Please, when you post something like that, could you explain in more factual detail your reasoning? Fewer regulations? 15%? That's certainly not the scenario we're talking about.

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  13. @6:00
    Explain my reasoning? Ok here goes.
    I was being entirely sarcastic about "what would it take to get rid of some of these county employees". It was in response to a previous poster (the one signified by my time stamp reference). The 15% figure was invented out of thin air.
    Just trying to use the literary tool of sarcasm to illustrate a point.
    Let me know if you want to know what the point was.

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  14. @5:54

    Or...did I misunderstand you? Sorry if I did

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  15. I was posting at the same time. I misunderstood. Oops...I get it. Good one :)

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  16. About $10,000 per year. People have been known to lie to the council. What did she back it up with? Seems there have been problems before with the council being misled.

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  17. Ron Zee says he can administer the Lead Entity position for about half the overhead cost of the county.
    Just a cheap sales pitch. More control for boss Zee, plain and simple.
    Re: previous poster calling for an audit of these orgs. I think that is a great idea but most likely won't happen. Needs to be a citizen audit. TH editor, you need a little $ or volunteer time to help wade through these fin docs?

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  18. @6:49

    Help is always appreciated. We have lots of financial information, but not all of it. The more people who look at it, the better. Many hands make light work :-)

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  19. @6:00 -- what was Rick's response?

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  20. I am not the poster at 6pm but I believe Hughes indicated a willingness to look at reducing the county's overhead or subsidizing it.
    I think Rick gets it.

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  21. You know Ron makes himself a convenient poster child and punching bag, and well deserved. But is he really Bozz Zee or just another member of the wandering lost Wannabe Tribe obsessed over consensus driven collectivism? He seems to really want to hook up with the tribes, equally so in his past life in the southwest as here. Active with National Conference of American Indians, and so forth. OK. Far out. I can connect those dots.

    I am trying to think of the classic Mafia Godfather organizational structure ... boss, underbosses, capos, soldiers, associates. Pretty standard structure for rackets. Of course omerta comes without saying. Keep your mouth shut if you want into the club.

    I can't see one boss. Especially one obsessed with consensus driven collectivism. There is a small group. Plus they need a consiglieri. A wise advisor on the side. I am very interested in who that trusted individual might be. I keep coming up with Bill Ruckleshaus. But there may be others, and I could be wrong.

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  22. 8:29

    If I recall correctly..Rick said that that amount could probably be covered by the county and implied he didn't feel comfortable relinquishing the counties involvement in the Conservation Districts decisions. I'm paraphrasing here.

    I really appreciated his response. Barbara R was obviously frustrated that their little plan was not immediately approved. She's just amazing. And I don't mean in a good way.

    The Commission at that point said they would look at this issue again but in the meantime Bob Jarmon asked for records of what the CD had accomplished w/their 12 million over the years.

    I haven't been watching since then and haven't heard anything about their actions except from the lucky hobby farmer responding to the previous TJ post.

    I anxiously await the news of all the good they have done but am fearing they might not be able to think of quite enough to justify their existence.

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  23. @9:47
    I agree with your sentiment, Rick asked some tough questions and didn't fall for this sneaky attempt at a power shift. Jamie looked pissed. Watch the video again of the meeting. He had this all laid out, BR made the pitch, it was supposed to be a "nothing to see here vote".
    Also, Rick asks about how much money the MRC or LIO has been funneling. She starts off with a number of 6mil, changes it to 9mil, then mumbles something else and we get a 12mil for 10 year figure.
    This is why we need to audit these folks. See who is getting this money, who is getting a cut for administering the grants, how much are FOSJ getting. How much of this is for studies and reports, how much for actually putting newly spawned salmon in to the water?
    Jamie is in the thick of this too.
    Rosenkotters contempt for authority is much more subtle and disguised than say, Lyshall's, but make no mistake, Rick and Bob asking questions and not going along with her script is definitely putting a crimp in her style.
    Hopefully on the 20th, they vote again on "reconsideration" of some of these MRC committee appointments. It looked stacked with FSOJ stooges, who will, of course, vote for more FSOJ grants to "study" things, or even do outreach.

    Thanks again to the TH for exposing the sneaky stuff going on behind the scenes.

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  24. Does the TH have any bios on the recent appointments to the MRC that are being reconsidered?
    Once again slick Jamie just poo-poos this stuff thru. Folks need to realize that Jamie is the machine candidate. He continues to do their bidding. Keep an eye on him. Anything brought for a vote motion by him should be HEAVILY VETTED by Bob and Rick.
    #accountibility
    #oversight
    #they work for us

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  25. Apparently Barbara can't channel the fish spirits unless she gets paid to do so. She will be busking at the county fair. Step right up! Come a little closer! See the Amazing Rossenkotter!

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  26. AUDIT THE CD, SALMON LEC, MRC NOW!

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  27. If you want to see what the ultimate CD operation looks like, go to www.missionrcd.org. This outfit in CA even has its own GIS program. This is where Zee and company appear to be headed.

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  28. Money, power, and control...more addicting than crack, and those so addicted will fight to keep the fix...fish be damned, decency be damned, and Constitution be damned.
    The Machine is reeling from efforts to expose it and are now attempting a scorched earth policy - threatening those attempting to expose Zee, Rosenkotter, Lyshall, and the rest of the non-talented hacks feeding at the public trough.
    The fight is about to get dirty, and no one fights dirtier than a crack head.

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  29. If you make it to the County Fair be sure to go take a look at Green Grant Gulch stuck way back in Siberia. They used to have the most prominent area at the front of the fair. No longer. Way back behind the food court you will find a clutch of dismal little booth tents. FOSJ. Stewardship Network. Conservation District. Land Bank. Shoved off into a corner.

    But, there is big gruesome display right in front of them of a hulking evil Coal and Oil Tanker Thingee, with black vinyl covering the ground and killing the grass, images of dead fish, and many scolding signs of dire doom and despair. Repent, Sinner! The end is Near! You gotta see it to believe it. So creepy. So weird.

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  30. And in other related news, a confirmation of downtrending global temperatures was reluctantly announced 2 days ago. On the same note, record ice pack in Antartica.

    Yet the clowns in the Fed are going to force a new regulatory scheme down our throats.

    Anyone catch the study that showed a strong positive correlation between the ban of CFCs and a decreasing global temperature.
    Sorry folks, it the problem ain't CO2. Too many people have too much vested in it to admit they were wrong.

    It, like our local Eco mafia, are about money and power.

    Who will speak for the quarks and leptons?

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  31. I am going to assume all the black plastic oil spill folks at the fair have all agreed to shut off their power from opalco and instead use off the grid methods.
    If you go by their booth, be sure to ask f they have. It not, why not?
    Oh yeah, the things they demand are for you and me, not them.
    Let's get this audit rolling and see how much money individuals and other groups are getting.

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