I attended the July meeting of the Lane County Board of Commissioners when Kathleen Jones-McCann and her attorney petitioned commissioners to waive a portion of county code for a property she owns along the McKenzie River.

Staff informed the board that her property had several unpermitted structures and violated county building codes, and carefully explained why her request for a waiver should be denied. Commissioners hastily voted 3-1 to waive federal and local regulations for one person. I was incredulous.

Commissioner Pat Farr later stated himself, “The motion that was made … 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.”

Maybe these numbers can shed some light.

Farr received donations from a company Jones-McCann ran, Seneca-Jones, in 2016 and 2019.

This year, commissioner David Loveall received over $42,000. Commissioner Ryan Ceniga received over $49,000. Jake Pelroy, currently running against commissioner Heather Buch, received over $57,000.

After July’s reckless decision, FEMA let county staff know that Lane County could be dropped from federal disaster relief. So on Sept. 29 they voted 3-2 to modify their ruling to maintain the federal regulations but modify the local floodplain regulations, allowing Jones-McCann’s unpermitted buildings.

Rules are there to protect us and should be applied fairly. That’s good governance. No one is above them, no matter how much they donate. The voters won’t forget.

Patricia Hine
Eugene