Page 18 RAIN May 1982 High one recent, rainy Sunday afternoon to demand that something be done to free the local PUD from the WPPSS debt. The gathering had a distinctly Middle American feel. Loggers, small business owners, members of the area VFW Post, housewives, children and older women and men crammed the bleachers. Near me sat a working man in his 50s, his hardhat decorated with an American flag decal. Leaning against the back wall, gazing with wonder and amazement at the crowd, was one of the original organizers of the local anti-nuke group, the Crabshell Alliance. The alliance had long fought against two WPPSS plants at nearby Satsop. With the cancellation, only one of the plants is still under construction. “We never had this many people at any of our meetings," said the organizer. "I just wish they had been here five years ago." One division appears to be growing, the gap between the Northwest and the financiers of the East Coast. The rally began, appropriately enough, with a Pledge of Allegiance and an invocation by the local Presbyterian minister. Standing on the platform were one congressman and several state legislators. Their sensitive noses had obviously picked up a scent in the political winds. All would get their chance to speak today, but none would get a reception like the one given to Dorothy Lindsey, the middle-aged housewife who leads the Irate Ratepayers. "This crowd shows that democracy is healthy and very much alive at the grassroots," she told the gathering. "It shows we can win. For too long, the citizens of this state have sat back and let others manage our public power. Those days are over." Sustained applause and a shout of approval rose from the crowd. "We want this debt of $2.25 billion for two dry holes to be challenged in court," she continued. The applause grew louder. "We want public power representatives to get control of the WPPSS monster that is endangering our livelihoods and our lives." The response grew louder still. "We want the Grays Harbor Public Utility District to push conservation and renewable energy sources to develop electricity our people can afford." The crescendo of applause and enthusiastic shouts increased with each sentence. "We want the commissioners of the Grays Harbor PUD to conduct their business in the open." The crowd jumped to its feet and clapped and yelled its approval for nearly half a minute. Clearly, this was a group with a sense of being shut out of decisionmaking processes and some very strong emotions about that. "We are fully aware we are taking on greedy contractors, greedy bankers, the nuclear industry, the entrenched bunch of WPPSS managers with their $125,000 salaries. We expect a rough, bitter and protracted fight, but with your help, we can win." This middle American gathering loudly agreed. Next spoke local attorney Jim Duree, an older man dressed in a gray suit and string tie. He lauded early WPPSS critics. "There are many, many people. Some of them were hippies. They had long hair. But they saw much better than some of our business interests, and I think we ought to give them a round of applause." The response was immediate and warm. Loggers, seniors, VFW and Chamber of Commerce members in this tradition- respecting community applauded the longhairs. It just wouldn't have happened here a few years ago. Old divisions seem to be healDorothy Lindsey, leader of the Irate Ratepayers ing in Grays Harbor County. But one division appears to be growing, the gap between the Northwest and the financiers of the East Coast. At the rally, I asked housewives and old Vets, "If defaulting on the WPPSS bonds would mean the collapse of the major financial institutions of the East (and some believe that it would), is that a price you would be willing to pay?" The answer, uniformly, was, "Yes." They told me that with the local economic depression, their personal finances are already collapsing, and paying the WPPSS bill imposes an impossible burden. If non-payment means some big banks go broke, "better them than us" was the general feeling. An officer of the local VFW Post went further. "'There's going to be a civil war if this keeps up, right here," he said, pointing at the ground. Some people believe default holds one immediate and serious danger for the Northwest. In default they see the end, at least for a time, of the ability of public agencies to borrow money from private financial institutions. "That idea, that if we try to pull the plug on WPPSS by not paying, by ratepayers revolts, that that's going to mean the collapse of the region, I think is blackmail to begin with, and if we understand how our economic system works, is simply not the case," says Dan Leahy, a leader of Progress Under Democracy. The group is coordinating the statewide revolt and helping organize political campaigns to unseat pro-WPPSS PUD commissioners in fall elections. Financiers, says Leahy, "are interested in investing in tax-exempt bonds. They love that smff. It's hard for me to imagine that anybody is not going to float bonds in an entire three- or four-state area if they can float them at all. That's what they are in the business of doing, shifting capital from the west to the east, from our pockets into their investors' pockets. "I think this argument about regional responsibility is really a question of, 'Responsible to who?'," Leahy continues. "I heard a couple of PUD commissioners say, 'Gee, Dan, you don't think we Patrick Mazza
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz