Take it or leave it? Leave it
posted to KBC 8/1/04

I read Brook Reinhard's power plant story with great interest. What bothered me was that it appears that Rob Trotta has Commissioner Al Switzer in his back pocket, and that means Commissioner John Elliott as well.

I was informed that Elliott's public calendar at the county building shows that he meets almost weekly with Trotta, behind closed doors. Since Trotta is not a constituent, what they talk about cannot be ascertained, but bet your bottom dollar it is not the weather.

I also note that Trotta says in essence that "you better take our deal because if you think we are 'bad,' the other guys are worse." There is a great analogy. We are bad, but the other guys are "really" bad. So for that we are to give up $50 million to appease Peoples Energy of Chicago? Get real. We have been railing against Scottish Power owning our electrical supply company, and Trotta says, "Take it or leave it."

For my money, "leave it."

I see no reason to give Chicago our money for a lousy 10 jobs. Also, Peoples Energy has a dismal record of complying with environmental concerns. It has been fined over and over again, and that is "just the cost of doing business."

The power it produces goes to California, at a discount, and we get $1 million a year to the general fund, not the schools as Trotta asserts. The general fund gives the schools only a portion of that, and a small portion at best.

Switzer is behind this, and everyone should call him at the commissioners' office at 883-5100, and let him know that if he persists in destroying Klamath Falls for 30 pieces of silver, he may need to look for a new job, and soon.

Shades of Tammany Hall politics, city of New York, 1789 - look that up.

Ray Cowan

220 Pacific Terrace