It is now obvious that the quest for incorporation is not a mandate of the many but a personal agenda of a few. Falcon Cove has withdrawn from the Incorporation Study and the Arch Cape community has said “No” with a strong. shared voice. Now is the time for the Arch Cape Steering Committee to stop.
A. Falcon Cove Steering Committee: Listened to their community and withdrew on October 9th.
For the Falcon Cove Steering Committee, the “Incorporation Study” was as a process of discovering whether “incorporation with Arch Cape is currently in the best interests of the community.” They hung in with the discovery process, while continuing to listen to their community, through the development of the 89-page draft of the Incorporation Study. And once the draft Study was published, they surveyed their community to determine “whether [the community] favors withdrawing from or remaining in the study”. The response from a “near consensus” was that incorporation is not in Falcon Cove’s best interest. So, the Falcon Cove Steering Committee withdrew Falcon Cove from the process and will use the information gained from the Incorporation Study as “a valuable resource… for future discussions about local governance and community priorities” That is leadership!
B. Arch Cape Steering Committee: Persists, without listening to their community.
The Arch Cape Steering Committee has taken a different tact. Throughout the discovery process they gave no public acknowledgement to the 9 pages of community feedback from their own Public Feedback Survey. At their fire hall meetings, they talked over and around the polite and sometimes blatant concerns (i.e., walkouts) that were expressed by the attendees. Once the draft Incorporation Study was published, they didn’t survey residents or taxpayers about whether incorporation is in the best interest of the community. Rather they are ignoring the growing community discord and continuing to move forward with spending even more time and potentially money on the Incorporation Study, and potentially beyond.
On October 10th, the Steering Committee held their regularly scheduled monthly meeting <click here for meeting recording> and, even after Falcon Cove withdrew, they didn’t miss a beat in moving the process forward. The direction being set seems to be;
Revenues: They are leaning towards adopting the County’s methods for collecting money.
- Short Term Rentals: Would continue in order to provide very needed revenue for the cost of services.
- Permanent Property Tax Rate: Would have to increase beyond the County’s, even more so since Falcon Cove withdrew from Incorporation.
Services: They continue to lean towards the bare minimum level of services.
- Public safety policing and enforcement: Considering reduced service level & costs in these areas. The below two questions were discussed – with no final answer.
- Is having even a $30,000 contract for local policing (e.g., from Manzanita) worth it, since the County only received “5-6” policing calls last year? The County representative did mention the possibility that calls for policing could go up since residents will have a local contact.
- Could the cost of municipal court be reduced by having the local policing effort not write tickets for parking and other infractions?
- Emergency Preparedness & Insurance for Law Suit Liability: Considering increased service level & costs in these area. (The law suit liability may be wise considering what happened with the Incorporation in Damascus).
Expenses: They continue to lean towards the lowest possible cost options and continue to ignore the more realistic cost estimates provided by La Pines.
Members of the community with finance expertise have expressed concern about the reality of these estimates. The project consultant was emailed to ask for a phone discussion. She responded promptly asking what the meeting would be about. When she understood that we wanted to get a better handle on the rigor of the process that was used to make the estimates, she failed to return that or any followup email. Why would the consultant avoid the opportunity to confirm the basis of these very important numbers ?
IMPORTANT NOTE: From listening to the Steering Committee discussion, two of the six members were asking questions focused on the financial viability of Incorporating and two others were pretty quiet (maybe one of them wasn’t there). The other two seemed to be vocal advocates of continuing the process. The Committee may not be united in wanting to move this forward.
Their next steps:
- Make a decision at their November 13th Steering Committee Meeting about whether or not to continue with the process of putting Incorporation on the ballot. That meeting will be from 11:00 – 12:15 via Zoom link https://econw.zoom.us/j/84328928015 (you can also cut and paste it into your browser)
Yes – unlike Falcon Cove, their intention is to make a decision for the community without first asking the community. Hopefully the survey results will help them to make an inclusive decision.
- Announce their decision to the community at the Arch Cape Firehall on the evening of November 15 .
There will be another blog update on Thursday November 13th after the Steering Committee meeting.
C. Arch Cape Residents and Non-Resident Taxpayers: 97% of Respondents say No Incorporation
The below survey results were current as of Wednesday evening, October 15. These results will be updated as additional surveys are received. For the most current survey results and comments, go the the Documents page of the blog site.
Survey Question: Are you in favor of incorporating an Arch Cape City?
<Click here> for the comments submitted by the respondents.
D. Conclusion: This effort needs to stop!
- The objective is nebulous at best: The Steering Committee’s objective, simple stated, seems to be “Since the county won’t do what we want them to, we need to go it alone”.
- The financials are flawed: The Steering Committee is trying to figure out how to incorporate and operate a city on the cheap in order to get everyone to believe that any increase in the personal property tax rate will be minimal at worst. Yet, the hidden truth in low-ball estimates is the financial risks to tax payers in the form of bonds and tax levies that are in addition to the personal property tax. (click Fact Check: Is the juice worth the squeeze?)
- This is a quest of the few and not the many. This Study is in no way an inclusive effort. A small handful of people with limited expertise in municipal management are setting their own personal direction without listening to the voice of the critical mass of people who live here. If inclusion is not a foundational principle in forming a city, it’s not likely to be a foundational principal in governing it.
9 months of effort and at least $106,500 has already been spent. Continuing to spend more time on the Incorporation Study to produce an updated set of unrealistic numbers will not clarify the objective, will not fix the financials and will not convince the community. It will just be a waste of even more time and potentially more money.
The sooner we stop this, perhaps any remaining money can be put to better use. And our time can be better spent paying attention to the things we really love about being here.
Let’s listen to the heartbeat of the community and just stop!
If you haven’t already, please submit the ‘To Incorporate or Not’ survey (names will be used to avoid duplications but will not be published). <Click Here>
Arch Cape Conversations 
4 responses to “97% say NO!!! So, Let’s Just STOP!”
I have stood back until now. We did not participate in the survey, but we are also opposed.
residents, Jan Priddy and Gary C. Anderson
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Since almost no one wants it, it shouldn’t even be on the ballot. and wont likely pass if it does.
It seems to me to be a tiny group who want control and to increase their own benefits from this.
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The “coffee klatch steering committee” [it is a misnomer for them to appropriate Arch Cape] needs to realize that they are NOT representing the Arch Cape community AND they are failing miserably at comprehending the wishes of the community. 97% against is a landslide and a clear public mandate.
We do NOT want incorporation! Stop wasting valuable county monies that could be far better deployed on upgrading our domestic water and wastewater systems.
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We have spoken to 40 property owners on the ground, neighbor to neighbor and 97.5% do NOT want an incorporation or a city. The next step is the “discussion” (defined by Becky Steckler ECOnw) which needs voices directly with the Arch Cape Committee. We are forming a collective group to communicate directly with the Committee. Anyone interested? Send email to capecottage10@gmail.com
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