Recently the Coastal Jobs Coalition (CJC) accused the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) of illegally offering to pay for the travel expenses of elected officials to go to the Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting to give testimony regarding why they backed the trawl fleet in asking that processors not be a part of the new Individual Fishing Quota system that is being proposed this year.
Locally, Clatsop County Commissioner Ann Samuelson and Warrenton City Councilman Richard Hellberg went to San Diego to testify. Samuelson said she did receive the invitation from Environmental Defense Fund for it to pay her way. Hellberg could not be reached for comment. Samuelson said that she wrote to the Coastal Jobs Coalition and asked that they retract their press release that said it was illegal for elected officials to take travel expenses, however, Coastal Jobs Coalition refused. CJC stated that what they wrote was correct and that whether or not Samuelson or any other elected official took the offer didn’t detract from the legality of it.
While the Coastal Jobs Coalition may refer to the Environmental Defense Fund as a “lobbyist” group, it is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Its website states that it partners with businesses, governments and communities to “find environmental solutions.”
Coastal Jobs Coalition wrote to the Oregon Ethics Commission and the Association of Oregon Counties, stating that, “…(EDF) is actively lobbying state and local officials in Oregon regarding ocean fisheries issues, is offering to pay current and former elected officials – county, port and city commissioners ‐‐ from Oregon coastal communities to attend and testify at a hearing of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council. … it is highly inappropriate at best and illegal at worst for lobbying groups – such as EDF – to offer payment of any kind in exchange for elected and government officials to testify at public meetings. The 2007 Oregon legislature passed new ethics laws to specifically address this type of activity.”
The Environmental Defense Fund responded by stating, ““Coastal Jobs Coalition” attempted to discredit EDF and local elected officials in Oregon on Friday, by charging unfounded ethics violations related to those officials’ travel reimbursements … The statute governing local elected officials’ travel expenses is ORS Chapter 244. Under this statute, a public official may receive reimbursement for attendance at a convention, meeting, or trip if the official is scheduled to make a speech or presentation or participate on a panel or is representing state or local government and the expenses for such trips are paid for by federal, state, or local government, a recognized Native American tribe, a membership organization in which the public body is a member, or a nonprofit corporation that receives less than 5 percent of its funding from for-profit entities.”
The CJC’s letter continued on, writing: “We request that your organizations immediately investigate the actions of EDF and notify elected officials in Oregon’s coastal communities, who may not be aware of this situation, that they will be violating state ethics laws by accepting payment of any kind to attend this meeting in California next week.”
“Large industrial seafood processors are hoping the Council will disregard the concerns of fishermen and local elected officials, and award processors as much as 20 percent of the fishermen’s quota,” said Johanna Thomas, Pacific Fisheries Project Director for the Environmental Defense Fund in a press release. “This baseless ethics charge may be nothing more than seafood processors trying to discourage local elected officials from testifying against them.”The Environmental Defense Fund went on to state: “EDF supports catch share programs or Individual Fishing Quotas as a way to provide incentives for conservation, increase accountability, and to make fishing sustainable. Catch shares work to rationalize fishing by providing certainty to fishermen about how much they can catch in a given year. It greatly reduces bycatch and habitat destruction because fishermen are no longer managed by a shortened season and they have time to fish sustainably and bring fish to market when prices are best. Recently a study published in the journal Science concluded that fisheries with catch share programs were 50 percent less likely to be overfished. Yet the financial incentives in catch share programs are great, and important. Studies by EDF concluded that catch share programs increase profits by 80 percent per boat. The IFQ that is being designed for West Coast groundfish is the first multi-species program in the United States. Seafood processors have never been allocated such a large portion of fishing quota and if they were to do so in this case, it would undermine the fishermen’s financial incentives for conserving the resource. This would set a terrible precedent for the rest of the country where catch share programs are being considered.”
The Oregon State Ethics Commission and the Association of Oregon Counties have been contacted regarding the letter and the press release.
Coastal Jobs Coalition Letter:
October 31, 2008
Ronald Bersin, Executive Director
Oregon Ethics Commission
3218 Pringle Rd SE Suite 220
Salem, OR 97302
Mike McArthur, Executive Director
Association of Oregon Counties
1201 Court St., NE
Salem, OR 97301
Dear Mr. Bersin and Mr. McArthur:
It has come to our attention today that the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), which is actively lobbying state and local officials in Oregon regarding ocean fisheries issues, is offering to pay current and former elected officials – county, port and city commissioners ‐‐ from Oregon coastal communities to attend and testify at a hearing of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council next week (Nov 3‐7) in San Diego California.
Our concern is that these government officials, while well intended, may not be aware that this type of gift from a lobbying organization is illegal under Oregon law.
The Coastal Jobs Coalition strongly supports legitimate public participation in the regulatory process by citizens and elected officials, but it is highly inappropriate at best and illegal at worst for lobbying groups – such as EDF – to offer payment of any kind in exchange for elected and government officials to testify at public meetings. The 2007 Oregon legislature passed new ethics laws to specifically address this type of activity.
We request that your organizations immediately investigate the actions of EDF and notify elected officials in Oregon’s coastal communities, who may not be aware of this situation, that they will be violating state ethics laws by accepting payment of any kind to attend this meeting in California next week.
Sincerely,
Heather Gleason
Coastal Jobs Coalition
503.546.7878
http://www.coastaljobs.org
Commissioner Ann Samuelson’s letter to Coastal Jobs Coalition:
From: Ann Samuelson [mailto:asamuelson@co.clatsop.or.us]
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 10:55 PM
To: Heather Gleason
Subject: Errors in your story.
Ms. Gleason,
Your story regarding the testimony taking place in San Diego this week to address fishery issues for our local fishermen and the quotas sought by large processors contains a serious error or two. First of
all, I am a County Commissioner who is volunteering to go testify I am not being paid, as a matter of fact I am paid 800.00 per month as a stipend with no benefits by Clatsop County. Further I am writing a personal check to the Environmental Defense Fund for my airfair, therefore it is not a gift as per my personal clarification with the Oregon Ethics Commission, I will then put my hotel on my personal credit card and plan on paying for my own meals. If my fellow Commissioners see fit to reimburse me for this trip, that will happen as per our policy. They have all been made aware of this trip to testify, and participated in our unanimous resolution to support local fishermen. I expect a retraction immediately, and look forward to seeing it tomorrow.
When asked about her letter Samuelson stated she will not accept reimbursement from the County nor from the Environmental Defense Fund. When contacted regarding Coastal Jobs Coalition demand that EDF be investigated and local officials be made aware of ethics violations, Mike W. McArthur, Executive Director Association of Oregon Counties, stated, “We believe county elected officials are quite aware of the current ethics rules. We have held a number of sessions covering the new rules and county counsels advise local elected officials appropriately.” His reply to the questions asked indicated that the letter had not provoked a response from the association.
The Coastal Jobs Coalition responded to Samuelson’s letter stating, “Whether illegal or not, payment by a lobbying group for government and elected officials to testify at a public meeting is highly inappropriate. We recognize you did not take part in this.” Heather Gleason, for the CJC goes on to refuse Samuelson’s request by declaring, “We cannot retract anything because we are not a news organization and have never published anything with your name or circumstances mentioned.”
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