Lane County Commissioners altered a previous vote this week after learning that it could put the county at odds with federal flood rules.
The vote heeded county staff warnings that could have had dire consequences for the county’s ability to receive federal emergency assistance.
On July 7, Commissioners voted 3-1 to override staff and waive part of Lane Code 16.244 for a property owned by Kathleen Jones-McCann. The waiver came at the request of Jones-McCann’s attorney, Mike Reeder, and was motioned by Commissioner Pat Farr.
“The motion that was made last time and the waiver of 16.244 was last-minute, wasn’t noticed and it wasn’t thoroughly discussed, vetted, nor did the maker of the motion–which happened to be me–discuss with our land use department or counsel regarding the waiver,” Farr said at the Sept. 29 meeting before introducing the alterations to the motion to correct the issue.
Jones-McCann’s property had several unpermitted structures and violated county building codes.
County staff told commissioners at the Sept. 29 meeting that they were contacted by Federal Emergency Management Agency officials after that vote and said it may put the county out of compliance with National Flood Insurance Program rules.
Staff told commissioners that allowing a waiver of the rules that govern floodplain regulations and development standards would possibly result in FEMA placing Lane County on a one-year probation.
“If action isn’t taken to resolve within that one year, the county could be ejected from the NFIP, and that would result in loss of the ability of individuals to purchase federally-subsidized flood insurance, and it’d be much more expensive on the private market,” Lane County Land Management Division Manager Keir Miller told commissioners.
Miller also said it could end the county’s eligibility for FEMA disaster relief in the event of a disaster.
“Should the board choose to maintain the regulations but ultimately modify the flood plain regulations to remove the prohibition on floodway development, that will likely have an impact on residents’ flood insurance rates as well,” said Miller.
Commissioners voted 3-2 in favor of the change. Commissioners Heather Buch and Laurie Trieger voted against the change because they would rather the board not overturn county staff’s denial of Jones-McCann’s retroactive building permits.
Trieger stated that she missed the original vote due to bereavement leave.
A heated exchange
When explaining her vote against, Buch pointed to Jones-McCann’s history of political donations to board members.
“It sends a message to all of those people upriver, all of those people who rebuilt after the Holiday Farm Fire, who went through all of the right steps to rebuild, that ‘well, gee. If I had just paid off commissioners after the fact, I could have just done this and got it rebuilt right away,” said Buch. “And that’s really frustrating as a representative of folks upriver who felt like they were trying to do every right.”
Farr took exception to Buch’s statement, asking what “paid off commissioners” meant.
Buch pointed to Jones-McCann’s donations while this division was in process and commissioners were acting in a quasi-judicial role while making the decision.
She said she thinks donations should not be allowed during such times.
When asked by Farr, Buch said he was not among those to whom she was referring.
“I take an affront to the term ‘paid off commissioners,’” Farr said. “That’s not a term we should use here without an allegation, a charge and an investigation to follow through on that,” he said.
Jones-McCann’s donations were also mentioned during the July meeting.
Farr, who is not up for election this year, has not received donations from Jones-McCann, though he received donations from the company she formerly ran, Seneca-Jones, in 2016 and 2019.
Commissioner David Loveall, who lost in the May primary, received $42,215 from Jones-McCann this election cycle. He remains in his seat until his successor takes office in January.
Jones-McCann has donated $49,716.10 to Ceniga’s campaign this election cycle. Of that, $10,000 came a week after a primary ensured Ceniga would be the only name on the November ballot.
Buch’s challenger, Jake Pelroy, has received the most in donations from Jones-McCann with $57,656.50 donated before the May primary.
Since the primary, Pelroy has also received $25,000 donations from Weiser River Paradise LLC on Sept. 22. and Gerking Ranch LLC on Sept. 25
Both companies list Jones-McCann as a manager. Gerking Ranch also lists Jones-McCann’s daughter, Casey Roscoe, as a manager while Weiser River Paradise lists another relative, Jennifer Hamaker, as a manager.
