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Cable Park / Hotel Negotiations (II )
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CUSalin



Joined: 11 Mar 2001
Posts: 405
Location: Hood River, OR

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 8:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I feel compelled to let everyone know that MikePhillps post which quotes me as asking name of County Commissioner is misleading. I did not ask that question. MikePhillps quoted me quoting another.

Please be more careful MikePhillips

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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 8:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mikephillips2011 wrote:
He is also actively trying to use his county commissioner position to outlaw vacation rentals in the county which just coincidentally would compete with the hotel.

No surprises there, regarding politicians in general. Even after exposed emails revealed deliberate fraud such as the conflict of interests mentioned above, we had a helluva time overriding similar commissioner corruption in our county. Too few pols (or voters) have any morals these days, to the extent that "following the money" will too often lead to a pol's personal gain of some sort. Right or wrong, my default opinion of any politician (or developer) is that he is probably guilty of conflict of interest until proven innocent. Plenty of them prove me wrong, but the odds still seem to favor my assumption.
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MauiMeyer



Joined: 01 Nov 2012
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mikephillips2011 wrote:
CUSalin wrote:

I am curious however about one thing, not being a Hood River "local". Can anyone tell me who this county commissioner is that is on the Naito's game plan?


His name is Maui Meyer. His real estate company is the exclusive leasing agent for the commercial properties of the development. He will also run the restaurant in the hotel. He is also actively trying to use his county commissioner position to outlaw vacation rentals in the county which just coincidentally would compete with the hotel.


Whoa. Sounds like a party in here. Lets clear up a few facts first, Mike.

Hood River County isn't trying to "outlaw" anything. Currently, under the state laws of Oregon, rentals for under 30 days in the EFU zone are already illegal. Believe it or not, vacation rentals in EFU zones are a fairly recent thing, and the state law is out of synch with whats happening on the ground. We are attempting to fix this, but it's a slow process. In most other zones, (especially in the City) vacation rentals are all fine, and no one, including me is trying to run them off. In fact, I'm a huge supporter of tourism, and sit on the Visitors council, the group that is charged with spending the money associated with the TRT.

When I speak on this issue of Vacation Rentals, I can speak as an expert. I've got a good, long list of accomplishments regarding hospitality and tourism in this community. What's important to our long term success with respect to Vacation Rentals however, is how we put things (like our vacation rental ordinance) together. It must be a well thought out process that includes a wide audience.

Also, its true, I'm a big supporter of the Cable Park, but my proposed restaurant isnt in the Hotel, it's located in the commercial building. (I'd be a tenant) I am also one of the leasing agents on the property. I think it's a great project, and will be great if it has a cable park or not.

I like the cable park because it opens up Hood River to a new set of visitors, a younger crowd, not unlike us when we moved here to windsurf back in the early 90's and had to make our case to the powers that ran this county back then. That's an important demographic to reach if we want to consider continued "relevance" to the next generations.

Some of my friends don't support a cable park, but many, many of my friends do. There are benefits and detriments of either action, but what matters is that we come together, honestly and openly debate the issues and let the decisions fall where they may. Hood River will be better with either decision, just in different ways, to different people.

I'm really proud to be associated with the project, and I really think it will make Hood River better, not worse. (And again, both with a cable park or without) Will it benefit me personally? It could, but there's a lot of work, risk, and investment that I'll have to put up, just to get the doors open. Not unlike any other business or venture that I've had the honor starting in this community.

Is there a conflict of interest? No. There isn't. As a County Commissioner, I choose to work within the city limits mostly because the decision pathways are different, (under the aegis of the City)and I don't vote, or see, or have any control over that process. They are two separate units of government, and other than Intergovernmental agreements, have no real "interconnectedness."

And Finally. re: politicians. I've got to say, in my 8 years of elected service, that the hundred or so elected politicians I've met, I never got the sense they were anything more than honest, hard working, people. Most of them work for very little pay, if any at all, and dedicate hundreds of hours to making their communities better. I may not agree with them, but that doesn't make them wrong of their efforts nefarious.

Call me naive, but I think that counts, and their efforts deserve more than being called crooks and liars.

I'd be happy to sit and meet with anyone who would like to talk about the cable park, the Hotel, conflicts of interest, or politicians. coffee's on me.
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wind_pimp



Joined: 26 Jul 2004
Posts: 156

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well said Maui!

For you anti-cable park folks, please take the time to learn what they are really like before you make up your mind. Find out whay they are such a success in other parts of the world. Imagine a windless day where you can have your lunch on the sides of the pond and watch some of the worlds best throw down right in front of you...while your kids learn new skills.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 12:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MauiMeyer wrote:
re: politicians. I've got to say, in my 8 years of elected service, that the hundred or so elected politicians I've met, I never got the sense they were anything more than honest, hard working, people. Most of them work for very little pay, if any at all, and dedicate hundreds of hours to making their communities better. I may not agree with them, but that doesn't make them wrong of their efforts nefarious.

Call me naive, but I think that counts, and their efforts deserve more than being called crooks and liars.

I hope you didn't think that's what I was doing. I carefully avoided saying that because it's not what I think. But AS an elected official, you get to see all kinds, good and bad. OTOH, the public's direct interaction with most pols is via contentious issues they have a stake in and got involved in because they smelled a rat or at least a political extremist. That process predisposes the public to distrust them. The minute I see/hear words like developers, public officials, and lawyers in the same sentence with private talks, my hackles arise automatically, right or wrong.
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tweeky



Joined: 19 Sep 2004
Posts: 256

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

wind_pimp wrote:

For you anti-cable park folks... and watch some of the worlds best throw down right in front of you...


Rolling Eyes
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 1:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

wind_pimp wrote:
Find out whay they are such a success in other parts of the world.

Does Hood River want Disneyland, gambling casinos, whorehouses, poppy fields, 100-story buildings, or an 800,000-member evangelical church just because they work elsewhere?
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phazle5499



Joined: 06 Oct 2015
Posts: 104

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 1:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MauiMyer writes:

"I like the cable park because it opens up Hood River to a new set of visitors, a younger crowd, not unlike us when we moved here to windsurf back in the early 90's and had to make our case to the powers that ran this county back then. That's an important demographic to reach if we want to consider continued "relevance" to the next generations."
_______________________________________
That all sounds very benign, Maui. But actually it just skirts the fundamental issue of public waters. You might like to check out the editorial 3 days ago (Oct. 29th) in the Oregonian titled "Squatting--on the river" in reference to the Willamette River:
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phazle5499



Joined: 06 Oct 2015
Posts: 104

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 1:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

continued from my post above:
"the problem with the aquatic squatters is tha t they claim for themselves somthing everybody owns: the river. The Willamette (read Columbia) is a navigable waterway (read the boat basin) of the state of Oregon, no more open to private taking than, say, a state forest or highway wayside. Legally, it can't happen. As a matter of course, it shouldn't happen..."

It's really not a matter of the fun factor, tourists, number of participants, etc. It's a matter of whether the Columbia River waters in the boat basin should belong to a private developer or to all of us, young or old, locals or tourists. I have yet to see this issue addressed by the supporters of the cable park.
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CUSalin



Joined: 11 Mar 2001
Posts: 405
Location: Hood River, OR

PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 2:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

wind_pimp wrote:
Well said Maui!

For you anti-cable park folks, please take the time to learn what they are really like before you make up your mind. Find out whay they are such a success in other parts of the world. Imagine a windless day where you can have your lunch on the sides of the pond and watch some of the worlds best throw down right in front of you...while your kids learn new skills.


Wind_Pimp, I think many of us (clearly most of us) have fully imagined what you described and decided this is exactly what we DON'T want to see in The Basin. Furthermore, I've not met anyone who is "anti-cable park," but rather anti-cable park IN THE BASIN. Maybe somewhere else..., like on private property as the other parks you refer to are, but NOT IN THE BASIN.

Finally, The Waterfront is not just for those with nothing to do when it's not windy. The Basin, particularly the South portion where the cable-park is proposed, is the only wind protected that can be enjoyed by non-windsurfing / kiting types of all kinds.

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