First, an administrative note: I want to apologize for not moderating comments in a timely fashion. I was pulled in reluctantly to start this blog
when I witnessed the RGA's disappearing tweets bragging about Chris Dudley's meeting in Aspen, CO when he should have been debating John Kitzhaber. I'm still figuring out how this all works. Doing the research is easy (yes, you can do this yourself). Finding the time to write about it is harder. I'm also an artist, always trying to get some time in the studio. And I am a principal in my family's corporation. You will find no one who is happier than I am for the elections in November to be over with, but in the meantime I will try to be more aware of the mechanics of this blog. And so, I apologize. Your comments should be posted in better time from now on.
And now, on with the show...
-----------
In case you were wondering who is contributing to Chris Dudley's campaign, the high rollers are a veritable who's who of environmental ne'er -do-wells and inhumane shitbags. Are you surprised? I'm not. If you believe as I do, that Dudley's function at Filigree Advisors is to glad-hand and essentially pimp his celebrity for his company (and now his party) and if you read Filigree's application for IAR (see below), the types of investments they are involved in jump out at you:
Real Estate. OK. Oil and gas partnerships? Just looking at this alone, it comes as no surprise that Chris Dudley nonchalantly
told Laurel Porter on KGW Straight Talk that he was "open" to off-shore drilling EVEN AS the BP oil spill nightmare unfolded before the nation's horrified eyes.
This is the "nugget" that Dudley wants the voters to believe: Because he is "pro-business" (supposedly more than his opponent), this translates into job creation. When you look at Dudley's donors, you have a list of persons and business entities that are certainly expectant of wealth creation, especially through use of our natural resources. That, however, doesn't necessarily mean "job creation". And when you look at some of these donors' behaviors, it seems downright disgusting to reward them with anything, least of all a friend in the Governor's Mansion in Salem.
So, let's start the Dudley's Douchey Donors list with the natural resources category:
Stimson LumberAggregate Donation to Dudley: $50,000
Personal donation form CEO Andrew Miller: $8450
As a special interest group, these guys are no stranger to an election.
No on Measure 49 involvement (2007):The Portland Mercury
explains better than I can why scrutiny of political donors is so important:
There's a reason journalists and good government activists spend so much time poring over campaign donor lists—the motives of each side's backers can reveal what's really in store for the state. That's clearly on display with M49, and with M37 three years ago. The biggest M37 claimholder, with over 109,000 acres in contention, is Stimson Lumber, who donated the largest contribution yet ($200,000) last week to the Stop 49 campaign. Stimson, a major player in the Northwest timber industry for over a hundred years, was the preeminent sponsor of M37 three years ago.Understand: Stimson logs and then parcels the land for housing.
"In Washington County, west of Beaverton, Stimson Lumber holds the largest M37 claim, for nearly 15,000 acres subdivided for residential development. The cumulative area slated for development under various Measure 37 claims would immediately double the suburban land area in Washington County—and the Stimson claim is the lion's share of that potential sprawl."In explaining the Stimson claims, CEO Andrew Miller
told the Willamette Week "his company’s claims are 'political leverage'.” It should be mentioned that Stimson was also a $30,000 contributor to the original Measure 37 campaign.
Luckily, the voters prevailed and M49 passed.
No on Measure 67 involvement (2009/10):Stimson Lumber has not been in agreement with the majority of Oregon voters on other issues. As explained in an excellent article regarding campaign funding which is worth a full read, it is not surprising that
they pumped massive cash into defeating M67 campaign which passed this year. Measure 67 primarily
effected large corporations such as Stimson, and closed a huge inequitable tax loophole for large corporations in this state. The anti-tax crowd is still complaining about it and Chris Dudley
has plainly stated he was against it. But so far there is no proof that a single company has left the state as a direct result of Measure 67. No doubt, this issue will still be discussed this election until there is proof positive to shut the Chicken Little's up. In any case, Measure 67 was not the job-killer that the lousy economy in general is.
More Stimson/Measure 49 links:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/politics/2007/10/stimson_lumber_adds_money_to_m.htmlhttp://www.wweek.com/editorial/3349/9812/http://www.forestgrovenewstimes.com/news/print_story.php?story_id=116906024346035100More Stimson/Measure 67 links:
http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=5692411&auid=5773288 (Some of the same donors to both the campaign to defeat M67 AND Chris Dudley are named on this list.)
Legal matters:Being a company over 100 years old, you are bound to run afoul of the law and regulations now and again. Stimson has its share of
polluted ponds, DEQ and OSHA
violations and deplorable as those are, three more egregious matters should make anyone wonder why any campaign would take this company's money.
Most recently, just this year "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ...
Northwest Environmental Defense Center (NEDC) v. Brown, No. 07-35266, a three-judge panel overruled a Federal District Court's dismissal of NEDC's suit alleging that the Oregon State Forester and several private timberland owners had violated the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA)." Stimson was named as one of the defendants in this case. Basically they fought for and lost the right to dump their polluting run-off water in the ditches where they log without a permit.
More:
http://www.leagle.com/unsecure/page.htm?shortname=infco20100817216Before that,
there was the biggest fire-related settlement in Idaho's history, paid by Stimson Lumber for negligence.
"BOISE – A North Idaho logging operation is one of two companies that must pay $1.5 million to the state to settle negligence claims stemming from a 2003 wildfire.
The Hunt Creek fire torched nearly a square mile of state-owned timber on the eastern shore of Priest Lake.
Babbitt Logging Inc., based in Coeur d’Alene, and Portland-based Stimson Lumber Co. signed the settlement Oct. 9. The state had alleged that the companies caused the fire by improperly rigging logging equipment.
The money represents the largest forest-fire-related settlement Idaho has ever received, said Roger Jansson, head of state Department of Lands’ northern operations."
That takes us back further to
Oliver vs. Stimson Lumber, a case that by everything I could find and understand (I am not a lawyer), seems to be some sort of precedent case regarding evidence destruction through negligence where an employee was injured on the job and evidence was re-tooled so as to render it useless even after it had been named as evidence.
But there's nothing like
a Civil Rights case against a Reservist to really drive the case home: These guys suck.
Department of JusticeOffice of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Justice Department Settles Lawsuit Against Stimson Lumber Company to Enforce the Employment Rights of Oregon Reservist
WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice announced today that it has entered into a consent decree with Stimson Lumber Company (Stimson) that, if approved by the court, will resolve the Department’s complaint, also filed today, that Oregon-based Stimson failed to reemploy Oregon reservist David Eckhardt in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).
...
The Department’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, Ore., alleges that Stimson violated USERRA by failing or refusing to promptly reemploy David Eckhardt upon his return from military service in the Naval Reserves. In March 2007, Eckhardt attended a required military training program. After a short recovery period from an injury sustained during his military training obligation, Eckhardt contacted Stimson in April 2007 to seek reemployment as a boiler operator. The complaint alleges that Stimson failed or refused to reemploy Eckhardt, notifying him that the company had hired another individual to replace him. Under the terms of the consent decree, Stimson is required to provide remedial relief to Eckhardt in the form of an undisclosed monetary payment. Stimson is also prohibited from retaliating against persons who exercise their rights under USERRA.Regulations? Laws? Who cares about laws?
In closing, Stimson already has its tentacles in all levels of forest management, and I realize that the timber industry in Oregon has fallen on hard times in recent years (ironically causing much of the job loses that Dudley is blaming on John Kitzhaber during the time when he was Governor). But Stimson has proven by the examples shown here and by their political activism that they are scrambling hard to get a Corporate Welfare Savior in Salem. Dudley is their guy and the association may not be beneficial to the rest of us.
If you have links to other Stimson Lumber stories, please tweet them to me @bujeeboo
More of Dudley's Donors in coming days...
And allow me one last divergence. What is up with the Republican Party of Oregon? No platform yet? I guess they have Empty Suits and no standards by which to judge them, even amongst their own party.
