By Donna Westfall – October 17, 2017 – When people of the public implore the Board of Supervisors to start working together, it is astounding that Sup. 2nd District, Lowi Cowan, takes that and twists it around. And Sup Cowan wonders why she was subject to a recall earlier this year and will probably be facing another one come January, 2018.
In response to 5th District county resident, Liz Freeman’s plea to Chair Howard, and Sup’s. Cowan and Hemmingsen to take the high road and allow Sup’s Gitlin and Berkowitz be on the committee that goes to Sacramento; Sup. Cowan reports as though she’s reciting the facts and only the facts.
Let’s take a look at Sup. Cowan’s comments after Liz Freeman’s public comment:
Not one to sit still for false accusations, Sup. Berkowitz responded. Let’s look at the video:
First off, whenever Sup Cowan refers to Howard or Hemmingsen -have you noticed she uses their titles: Chair Howard. Supervisor Hemmingsen. Not so with Berkowitz. It’s always, “Bob.” Petty, but this small slight is just meant to build up to bigger slights and misinformation to tear down, in my opinion, a hard working supervisor.
Secondly, how many committee meetings has Sup. Cowan missed? Don’t be surprised if it’s more than Sup’s Gitlin and Berkowitz combined.
Thirdly, the 4 M’s are kept alive by the likes of our politicos Howard, Hemmingsen and Cowan to denigrate opponents: They are:
1.) Minimize
2.) Marginalize
3.) Misstate
4.) Misrepresent
No, Del Norte County will never become like Carmel, Calif. as long as there’s either 4-1 or 3-2 voting in the stance of “Let’s keep our place the same, who needs change?” And that’s one of the reasons why Last Chance Grade is still there…. eroding. And our town continues to look like a trash heap, albeit less of one since Sup’s Gitlin and Berkowitz constantly organize clean-ups throughout the year. But as for more money for Code Enforcement – that’s not going to happen in this coming budget year barring a miracle. What about the money for Klamath Chamber of Commerce? Nope, not a high priority to the 3 (Howard, Hemmingsen & Cowan). So when they vote as a unit, they block progress in this town.
How to combat that? By getting some good people to run against them. Please talk to your friends and neighbors in the 3rd and 4th Districts. We’re never going to change as long as politicians like Howard, Hemmingsen and Cowan remain in office.
I watched as Supervisor Cowan blew off the Grand Jury, explaining during public comment why she felt there was no need for the BOS to submit a response to the Grand Jury’s recommendations. This was in response to my question in public comment on 10/10/17, in which I asked whether the Board intended to submit a written response to recommendations made by the Grand Jury this year.
To back up a little, earlier this year the Grand Jury recommended budgeting more money for Code Enforcement to aid in their battle with blight. The BOS compromised the Grand Jury recommendations. The usual 3 to 2 supervisors provided a method that may eventually provide more funding for blight in a few years. Cowan claims this decision complies with the Grand Jury recommendations. Cowan also claims that this is all Code Enforcement asked for. Cowan then used these excuses to decline to respond to the Grand Jury with the BOS’s final decision.
Chair Howard agreed and dropped the matter. So, there will be no response to the Grand Jury explaining the BOS’s final budgeting decision.
It was so bizarre to watch. I have to believe that when a government entity declines to follow the recommendations of a Grand Jury, they sure as heck better respond and offer an explanation, out of courtesy and respect if for no other reason. But it’s apparent to me Cowan is far above that.
But don’t take just my word for it. I encourage everyone to watch the recording (first public comments for the 10/10/17 Supervisors meeting) and form their own opinion.
Dealt with Cowan for all of five minutes on one occasion, and it was enough to figure her out. It is difficult to believe that she represents this area in any way.
She is originally from St. Louis, but was in Pasadena prior to moving to Crescent City in 2000 to purchase the closed Jefferson State Brewery.
There’s already murmurs of recall on Cowan in 2018 so there will be no special election cost.
Wes, I understand that you live in Lori’s District? I do believe there is enough now to consider a recall effort. I think it would help immensely if you would announce you’re running for her seat. We need people of high integrity and involvement such as yourself on that board. You would win, hands down.
I usually don’t respond to the articles on this page, but in this case, the accusations by Supervisor Cowan require a response. Supervisor Cowan will tell you that I encouraged her to run for the board in the first place. I helped her with the campaign and even donated funds to insure her success. Why she feels compelled to falsely accuse me of not working hard to help achieve the objectives of our county is a mystery to me. It’s especially puzzling when I just returned from meeting at the White House with the Special Assistant to the President where I was able lay out our case for getting a replacement for Last Chance Grade.
Supervisor Cowan accuses me of leaving two meetings with CSAC, our statewide organization of counties. She is right. It was in the height of the storms we had here in our county last year, where much of Klamath was under water including Hwy 101. I was asked by the President of that organization if I wanted to leave early to meet with the families who were being flooded out of their homes and needed assistance. By leaving that meeting early, I was able to visit numerous families in Klamath along with business owners and managers, so that they could get the assistance they needed. The second time was because I was involved with a conference call with members of the National Association of Counties who are working to get legislation passed that will mean a million dollars to help repair our county roads and also provide funds for our local schools.
Her accusation that 30 years ago I “worked for somebody” is somewhat incomplete. I was employed by the U.S. Congress and served as a field representative of Congressman Frank Riggs with a mission to serve the people of Del Norte County.
Supervisor Cowan says I have not been back to D.C. in years. The fact is that since I served as an employee of the congress, I have been back to Washington D.C. on a regular basis advocating for issues that are important to the people of this county.
Why Supervisor Cowan is compelled to be less than truthful about me and personally attack me at a board meeting is still a mystery to me.