Lakeport >> The Board of Supervisors (BOS) elected not to vote on whether or not to support a letter to be sent to Congressman Mike Thompson declaring their support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a program that would presumably ease trade relations between California and the U.S. as a whole with various countries in the Americas and Southeast Asia.
The proposal was placed on the agenda by District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington, not present at the meeting, and presented to the BOS by Agricultural Commissioner Steven Hajik, who identified the original request as coming from a “lobbyist” Emily Lynn Smith of KP Public Affairs.
The letter, which would have required the signature of Farrington as Chair had it been approved, states that the trade agreement would “lead to greater trade between the West Coast and Asian markets in which Lake County would benefit,” ostensibly by boosting the amount of agricultural products, pears and walnuts specifically mentioned, that the county is able to export to Asian markets.
District 3 Supervisor Jim Steele objected to sending a letter directly to the Federal representative, stating that he felt like the letter “would bypass Lake County’s State representatives who are lobbying the state agencies for our behalf.” He expressed he would be more favorable to the letter if it were addressed to Representatives Dodd and McGuire.
District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown similarly requested input from state representatives before the board moved forward; also adding he would welcome input from the Farm Bureau.
District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith was in favor of reaching out to Thompson directly, but echoed Brown’s request to have input on the issue from the Farm Bureau.
“They’re more involved in the Ag community than we are,” he said. “It should go before their board. They should make a decision and present it to our board with their recommendation with what we should do.”
Only two members of the public chose to address the BOS regarding the subject, both voicing strong opposition to the TPP and potential negative effects on U.S. sovereignty.
“Nobody in this room can tell you with any specifics what’s in [the TPP]. Mike Thompson, today, can’t tell you what’s in this treaty,” claimed resident Phil Murphy. “This is being completely controlled by large, multinational corporations with no input from consumer advocates, environmentalists, human rights activists, and the list goes on and on. The only way we know what’s going on in here is that whistleblowers have shown parts of the treaty and it’s shown up on Wikileaks.”
“This isn’t just about trade; it’s a whole slew of issues. Everything from how the internet works, to how much medicine costs […] and we’d have no recourse because all these things will be settled by an international tribunal, not by our government,” he added. “Is that the kind of direction you want to go in, to hand over our democracy, our sovereignty, to foreign corporations?”
Although the board had already declined to vote, Murphy wished to reiterate the apparent lack of preparation behind any decision.
“The most outrageous thing is that [Farrington] is asking you to vote on something you’ve never even seen,” he said.
