Politics and bioenergy
Saturday, March 17, 2007 11:47 PM PDT
Kristin Gribben Argus Observer
TREASURE VALLEY
Several city, county and state officials are investors and serve on the board of managers of Treasure Valley Renewable Resources, the group that is pushing the bio-refinery concept in Malheur County and while the investments are legal under Oregon and Idaho state law, they raise legitimate questions about who will benefit from the bio-refinery project.
Among the politically connected group of investors are two city mayors, a county commissioner, a former candidate for county commissioner, and an Idaho state senator.
According to lists provided by TVRR and the state of Idaho, investors include: Calvin and Curtis Hickey, Weiser, co-owners of an onion packing business called Wesier River Packing. Both men serve as chairman of the board of managers of TVRR; Francene Hickey, Weiser, real estate agent; Erma Hickey, Weiser; Kevin Stott, Emmett, who operates Stottland Yard, Inc. and is an independent dairy nutritionist, serves on the board of managers; Lorraine Stott, Emmett; Dean Obray, Kuna, real estate broker, also serves on the board of managers; Dennis Codr, New Plymouth, farmer, serves on the board of managers; Judy Codr, New Plymouth, farmer; Dennis Campo, Fruitland, owns Campo Oil Company; Carla Campo, Fruitland; Mike Farnworth, Emmett, farmer; Angie Farnworth, Emmett, farmer; Wilma Hoover, Weiser, leases dry land wheat; Blaine Lindley, Meridian, farmer; Loya Lindley, Meridian, farmer; Leroy Loomis, Weiser, employee of Hay-Pro; Jan Loomis, Weiser; Scott Moscrip, New Plymouth, president of Truckstop.net; Anne Moscrip, New Plymouth; Dave Paulsen, Parma, co-owns P and I Produce; Doris Paulsen, Parma, co-owns P and I Produce; Monty Pearce, New Plymouth, rancher; Merry Pearce, New Plymouth, rancher; Karen Post, New Plymouth; Bill Smith, Boise, employee of Intermountain Gas Company; Ann Smith, Boise; Tracy Walton, Emmett, farmer and assistant chief of Gem Rural Fire District; Sherri Walton, Emmett, farmer; Brent Edwards, Payette; Joann Edwards, Payette.
Several of the listed investors serve on key political posts: Monty Pearce is an Idaho State Senator; Scott Moscrip is the mayor of New Plymouth; Dean Obray is the mayor of Kuna; Dennis Codr is a Payette County Commissioner; Brent Edwards was a candidate for Payette County Commissioner in 2002.
The names and professions of the investors are public record, but many of the documents identifying the investors are conflicting.
For example, Wilma Hoover, Weiser; Karen Post, New Plymouth and Blaine and Loya Lindley, Meridian, are listed as investors in documents submitted by TVRR project manager John Hamilton, but they are not identified as investors on the Idaho State Business public records. Brent and Joann Edwards, Payette, are listed as investors on state records, but not in a list submitted by Hamilton.
Hamilton would not provide a comprehensive list of the investors, or explain the discrepancies existing in the multiple lists naming the investors. Hamilton also refused to answer questions relating to potential conflicts of interest with investors.
One politically active investor was willing to speak about potential conflicts of interest. Dean Obray, mayor of Kuna, said he has no conflict of interest stemming from his role as a city politician, and said he believed none of his counterparts are acting with a conflict of interest.
“I would say there is absolutely no conflict of interest with anybody that has invested, because no one lives in Oregon,” Obray said.
Obray would not say how much he has invested, or provide a price range of investment.
All of the investors in Treasure Valley Renewable Resources live in Idaho. TVRR made an attempt to site an ethanol plant in Payette County in 2003. TVRR left Payette County for Malheur County last year because of zoninh issues and a resistance from a coalition of local residents opposed to the venture.
While the investors and board of managers are Idahoans, at least one key local official in Ontario has expressed open support for the bio-refinery.
Ontario City Council member Pat Phillips is also a member of Friends of the bio-refinery. Phillips is the sister of investors Calvin Hickey and Curtis Hickey and she testified in favor of the bio-refinery at a Malheur County zoning hearing in December. She is also a real estate agent involved in the land transaction for the bio-refinery site south of Ontario.
Phillips denies any conflict of interest. She said she is a “realtor by trade,” and the property deal she brokered was county - not city - land. The Oregon Government Standards and Practices Commission backs up Phillips’ assertion. According to OGSPC executive director Pat Hearn, Phillips has not violated Oregon’s law on governmental ethics.
Hearn said there is no Oregon law that forbids city officials from supporting and profiting from a business that is situating on county land. Hearn said if the parcel of land slated for the bio-refinery facility is annexed into city limits, Phillips would have a conflict of interest under Oregon law.
Hearn said the amount of politicians that play a financial role in TVRR is a “problem of perception” in the minds of local residents, but not a violation of law. He said he has encountered public officials who serve as investors of potential businesses, but not on the same “magnitude” of TVRR investors.
Unlike Oregon, Idaho does not have a commission on ethics laws for government employees. The Idaho legislature did pass an Ethics in Government Act in 1990 that lays the framework for ethical standards for government employees in the state.
The Idaho guidelines for government employees states that public officials must “inform citizens of the existence of personal interests which may present a conflict of interest between an official’s public trust and private concerns,” the law says. The guidelines go on to define “conflict of interest” as “any official action of any decision or recommendation by a person acting in a capacity as a public official, the effect of which would be to the private pecuniary benefit of the person, or a member of the person’s household . . .”
The Idaho Secretary of State’s office could not provide a spokesperson to speak on the legality surrounding the public official status of TVRR investors, and only said the information about Idaho’s governmental ethics laws was public information.
In the state of Minnesota, the third largest producer of ethanol, almost all of the ethanol facilities are run by farmers exclusively. Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Joy Powell said she has not encountered Minnesotan public officials that have money tied up in ethanol production with her coverage on several ethanol plants, including the Benson and Gopher State ethanol facilities in the Twin Cities area.
