LETTER: County should uphold rulings on SSNW

Posted

The role of the county commissioners is to provide general oversight of county employees, develop and implement policies and ordinances, manage the budget and revenue, and ensure compliance with laws and regulations.

The county has failed to ensure compliance with laws and regulations of land-use issues and does not provide for the legal requirement to enforce land-use decisions.

The hearing examiner decision stated, in essence: Security Services Northwest (SSNW) may not provide weapons training to off-site employees or non-employee third parties, such as law enforcement officers, military personnel, employees of other companies or the public.

Helicopters may land only for transportation of K-9 units, security personnel and emergencies such as accidents on U.S. 101, boating, etc.

SSNW “thumbs its nose” at the county, which refuses to enforce the decision.

This county needs to provide leadership in renewing the quality of life that is affecting all of those that live around historic and pristine Discovery Bay.

In the aphorism of the day: “Make Discovery Bay a great place to live again!”

ROBIN ORNELAS

Discovery Bay

(The Leader asked Joe D’Amico, president of Security Services Northwest Inc., to respond to questions about a hearings examiners decision. D’Amico wrote: “The land-use decision involving Security Services Northwest, Inc. is more complicated than meets the eye. County commissioners and the Administrator are aware that after the Hearing Examiner’s decision was finalized in 2009, SSNW obtained hidden records that show the Hearing Examiner process was tainted and biased which included ex parte communication. To date, SSNW has chosen not to make the scathing details public, in the interest of working in a positive manner with new county leadership and staff in our ongoing effort to relocate some of Fort Discovery’s higher-intensity uses.”)