Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District agenda tomorrow, under New Business, Item 11 b is Consideration of renewal of Coast Seafoods Company Tideland Lease.
District 2 Harbor Commissioner Greg Dale manages Coast Seafoods.
This conflict of interest, will it continue after the upcoming election?
If Mr. Dale recuses himself from discussion and voting on that particular agenda item (thus, disclosing the conflict) there is no problem. No scandal, everything's above board. Mr. Dale is an ethical person and I am certain that he will not participate in the discussion or would he vote on the matter.
ReplyDeleteIf he recuses himself. Do you have any proof he has in the past? This is a concern brought up in comments by the public since 2011 in various media. As an anonymous commenter, you could be anyone. Tomorrow's meeting will show if Mr. Dale will live up to your testimonial. It would be after this post and prior to the next election, so take that for what it is worth.
DeleteThis is the first time I have commented on your blog and I did not take the time late last night to register when I made my comment on the fly. (I will do so as soon as I figure out that process.) I understand your reluctance to accept what an anonymous poster predicts at face value. Suffice it to say, I have observed Mr. Dale's character over several years as he has participated in Rotary, kids' organizations, etc., and I have never known him to be anything but above board and a fine example of a good citizen. "Do you have any proof he has in the past [failed to recuse himself]?" is a strange question in that it appears that you have already judged him guilty of conflict. Do you have any proof that he has in the past failed to recuse himself when required? Certainly, the issue of potential conflict of any elected official is a valid one. Just as certainly, there are other fine citizens serving the public in various capacities in our community who, from time to time, encounter situations in which potential conflicts exist, and the those situations are almost always dealt with in an appropriate manner by the individuals recusing themselves. Those who do not disclose their potential conflicts and recuse themselves should face the consequences of their under-handed behavior. You are right to raise the issue of their being potential conflicts of interest, but don't indict the individual before a crime is committed.
DeleteUnknown, talking about judging or indicting. You have certainly that to me. In my original post, I did not mention anything about Mr. Dale recusing or not recusing himself from votes. I simply stated a conflict of interest. And raised a question. You brought up the issue that there is no conflict of interest if he recuses himself. I asked you for proof because you raised that issue, not me.
ReplyDeleteWhether you register or not is immaterial, because now you have identified yourself as someone who knows him well for years, so you have a social view of him and a biased view. No one is questioning his community involvement or whether he is a good person. This is an elected official, working for a company whose business is impacted by decisions made by the Harbor District. This is a small town. People do not want to offend people they do business with or serve on a board with. I raised a question. I did not indict or accuse.
The only indicting that is going on is you leaping to conclusions about me and in less than 24 hours, commenting twice very defensively about questions that are routinely asked of elected officials.
Thank you John, for your thoughtful reply. Indeed, this is a small community and there are probably more opportunities for potential conflicts than might be found in a more urban environment. Because it is a small community, we are probably more aware of these potential conflicts and that is a good thing. Perhaps I would have been happier if your headline had included "potential". Again, no harm/no foul to have a potential conflict of interest. The problem lies in not disclosing it and failure to abstain from the board's discussion and vote on the issue.
ReplyDeleteUnknown, thank you for your thoughtful response as well. I would open my blog to more anonymous comments, if they were like yours. In the world of news and blogging and public information, this quote from John Lydgate is very appropos.
ReplyDelete“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.”