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Thursday, Jun. 18, 2009

Herald editorial on migrant housing misses mark

By Ben Casper, Mid-Columbia Voices

On June 8, the Herald editorial board took a nice big potshot at the residents in rural Franklin County who are against the Ringold Housing project.

The fact that the editorial board used such phrases as "We're guessing," "they probably," and "it sounds like," leads me to believe that the board members don't see the picture very clearly from their office chairs and are doing exactly that — guessing!

I have lived in the Ringold area for 50 years and I'm going to be a next-door neighbor to this complex. The Herald editorial board derogatorily accuses my neighbors and me of basing our opposition on a "not-in-my-backyard" attitude.

I guarantee, if the state decided to put a $3.25 million temporary housing facility with a standard law enforcement delay of 30 minutes next door to any of the Herald editorial board members' properties, they would immediately begin screaming, "Not in my backyard!" It would be an ongoing campaign on the news and opinion pages.

Taxpayer cost? Over $32,500 for each bed, not counting the daily charges the farmer will pay, all to barely nibble at a two- or three-week annual problem! It sounds like (to borrow a Herald phrase) Olympia has adopted Pentagon spending habits.

Over the last 25 years, I have experienced hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses from vandalism, thefts and unpaid bills. A drunken farmworker was killed in my field after wrecking his car and others have crashed into the same field. Once I interrupted a rape on our farm.

I have experienced numerous instances of waiting 30 to 45 minutes for a deputy to show up after making an emergency call.

These and many other similar experiences have shaped my opinion against this expensive, poorly thought-out, yet Heralded project.

I am friends with many migrant laborers. Most of them are wonderful people. I agree that they need better living accommodations. But this is a bad plan.

There is no infrastructure at this location. Putting a couple of irrigation circles in the middle of the city of Kennewick and raising turnip seed makes as much sense.

A large irrigation canal flows a few feet past the proposed site and drains into the Columbia River a mile down the road. The soil is sandy and the septic system is bound to leach into the canal and the salmon-bearing Columbia in short order.

I keep cows on my farm periodically. My farm adjoins the site.

State law requires any structure of this type used for sleeping or preparing and serving food must be at least 500 feet from any area in which livestock is kept.

It looks to me like Washington (WAC) law prohibits the state from building on this site because of historical and future grazing practices.

In my mind, the fact that the state is handing out $32,500 per bed of taxpayer money to build this fiasco sends up a big red flag. Their people are dead set on doing this deal.

Quit blaming the locals. The growers need the workers. Let the growers deal with the problem, not the local residents. This year, some local growers have stepped up and put in their own facilities for the temporary influx. That is the correct solution for this problem.

Put the housing where the cherries are or at least where workers can be accommodated correctly, not where my cows want to graze.

* Ben Casper has lived in the Basin City area since 1957. He farmed, ran a tire store, a propane operation and has settled down to being a full-time inventor. He and his wife of 30 years, Michele, are the parents of six children.

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