Greenpeace

 As someone concerned about current trends in politics, I make my concerns known to my elected officials.  I write to them, call their offices on the phone, and send them emails.  This includes my senators, the governor, the mayor - you name it.  And I've found that they usually write back.  They may not agree with my views, and I may not like the answers they give, but most politicians go to the effort to respond to the concerns of citizens with some explanation of their position on an issue.  After all, we're the ones they represent, right?

Not so with the Washington County Board of Commissioners.  Commissioner Dick Schouten remains the only member of the Board to have sent me any meaningful response regarding my emails about the Cool Counties Declaration.  I've talked to the co-chair of Washington County Peak Oil, and that group is having a similar problem.  Despite more news coverage our request has received lately, four out of the five members of the Board remain silent.  If you're looking for an answer from the Washington County Board of Commissioners, you might as well be yelling at a black hole.

TELL THE BOARD TO PASS THE COOL COUNTIES DECLARATION!

Fortunately, this can only continue for so long.  There will come a point when the County Board cannot ignore its constituents on this issue any longer.  The only way to overcome the barrier of their silence will be to bring the attention of county residents to the problem.  News coverage in the Forest Grove News-Times, the Hillsboro Argus, and Pacific University's Index is a good start, but more will be needed.  The Step It Up event at the county building and the fossil fuel forum at Pacific earned us the coverage we have received so far, but we have to keep building on that progress.  Round about January, I'm thinking, it will be time to visit Downtown Hillsboro again, and stop by the county building to say hello.  This next major (and completely peaceful) action of the Cool Washington County Campaign will take some planning, and the details haven't been worked out yet.  But stay in the loop.

PLEASE TELL THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS TO HELP SAVE THE CLIMATE!