Some weeks back we noted a story in Willamette Week about Oregon House Majority Leader Wayne Scott; the Portland weekly said that the legislator had been behind legislation which benefitted a business of which he was president, Western Fireworks.
There’s been but limited explosions since, some of which seem aimed – to whatever extent properly so – at clearing Scott of questions about the incident.
We still have a few questions.
But the followups are certainly worthy of notice.
The following short essay, unsigned and unattributed, appeared in a draft section on our site; we discovered it today (in the aftermath of an ugly database incident last night) but it may have been there longer. Apparently from a Republican source, here is its full text:
Willamette Week Squeezes Sour Grapes
The current speakers obituary has been written — and now Willamette Week is attacking the next in line…
In today’s edition, Willamette Week got suckered into exposing early, an agenda to embarass the next Speaker of the Oregon House.
RinoWatch has maintained a disgust for Rep. Scott’s reported participation in holding up the reforms, last session, relating to the issuing of driver’s licenses to non-residents & illegal aliens….
NONETHELESS
• Willy-Week has got the wrong man for “Rogue of the Week”.To wit — some facts:
• SB 667 was introduced by Sen. Kurt Schrader (D-Canby)….. lobbyist John DiLorenzo was responsible for passing it through the Legislature and having it signed by the Governor.
• SB 667 was Sen. Schrader’s 2003 take-home bill for his district. Sen. Schrader and Rep. Scott are not political allies, considering Rep. Scott defeated Schrader’s wife, Martha Schrader, to earn a seat in the House of Representatives.
• Western Fireworks Co. split into two distinct entities in 1984, when a separate company spun-off to become Western Display Fireworks Ltd, an aerial display fireworks business. They sell the fireworks you see at big shows.
• The companies retail operations, which sold and distributed fireworks for sale at roadside stands, continued to operate until 1994. Wayne Scott and a business partner acquired the original retail business, which became Western Fireworks, Inc.
• There is no financial relationship between Western Display Fireworks Ltd and Western Fireworks Inc.
• In 1985, Western Display Fireworks Ltd moved to a new location on property zoned exclusive farm use and received a temporary permit from Clackamas County to operate and store fireworks.
• Clackamas County received a complaint that the facility was not a conforming use in an EFU zone, and was unable to authorize the use.
• SB 667 provided WDF a conditional use on lands zoned exclusive farm use.
• SB 667 represented an effort to keep jobs in Canby.
• Rep. Scott supported SB 667 because it helped the local economy of his district. The passage of SB 667 did not financially benefit Rep. Scott in any way.
• Some in the Legislature wanted to re-write the bill so that it applied to other fireworks businesses. 1,000 Friends of Oregon defeated this effort.
• If anything, SB 667 demonstrates the need for the Legislature to examine how Oregon’s land-use system affects our economy and job growth.
Rep. Wayne Scott will be the next
Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives!
Take it to the Bank…..
Assuming all of this is accurate, a number of questions still occur, including what has happened to Western Fireworks Inc., and why Scott has been president of it all these years without (according to the essay and according to Scott’s spokespeople) any compensation in return for – some? substantial? – responsibility. Basically, we’d like to know more.
So would Loaded Orygun, whick also followed up on the Week story.
But then additional information surfaced suggesting that while there was indeed a company given a storage rights monopoly for fireworks in Oregon, it wasn’t Wayne Scott’s company, but a sister company split off years ago. So we still had Scott helping out a single business, but without apparent financial benefit as the WWeek had implied.
To make sure that was the case, I spoke with Nick Smith, mouthpiece for Scott and the House Majority Office. I asked him several questions to determine the extent of the ties between Scott, president of Western Fireworks, and Western Display Fireworks–the ‘sister’ company and sole beneficiary of HB667-A. Was he on the payroll of WDF? No. Did he have any financial interest like stocks? No. But surely, I thought, his own company does business with WDF, right? No, was the answer. So I finished up with what I thought was a catch-all: Did Scott have ANY financial connection to Western Display Fireworks? No. None whatsoever, I pressed? No. So why did Scott file a potential conflict of interest disclaimer on the bill? According to Smith, because he runs a fireworks company. (I didn’t bother asking how owning a fireworks company would be a conflict of interest, given that only one fireworks company in Oregon can benefit in perpetuity from the bill.)
Having already looked through Scott’s C&E report for the 2006 primary, just for giggles I thought I’d check the 2002 and 2004 elections {both files in pdf} as well–since the former would be the election before the 2003 rule change, the latter the election after. And whaddya know, right there on page 109 of the 2002 summary, detailing all of Scott’s $50+ contributors: Western Display Fireworks, Ltd…$1,500.
What does it mean to say there’s a “financial relationship”? The phrase is almost a term of art; but the more significant point may be the series of relationships people and organizations have with one another (and the benefits that can accrue thereby).
None of this should be taken as an indictment of Scott; there’s nothing clearly demonstrable that he’s done anything wrong.
But there are a lot of questions. And sooner or later, answers will find their way in their direction.
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