"This is
Davis' choice, not ours," said Larry Toelle,
field director for People for the USA and a resident
of the town of Scott Valley in Siskiyou County,
reported Mt. Shasta Live, a local Internet newssite.
"[Davis] deliberately waited until January to
appoint a member of the Audobon Society to this seat.
He slapped the hell out of us, is what he did, and I
think it sets a very disturbing tone for the whole
year."
"We're really
more upset with Gray Davis than with Anne
Marsh," Toelle told WorldNetDaily. "There
are two other candidates on the March ballot who
would better reflect the views of the residents of
Scott Valley and the views of [the late] Kay
Bryan."
At the swearing-in
ceremony, Marsh did not comment on the demonstration
or the protesters who packed the hearing room, but
following her seating she thanked the people for
being there. "It's wonderful to see so many
people involved in our county government," she
said.
She has declined
on several occasions to take a stand on the coho
salmon issue and the likely listing of the coho as
endangered, and took the same tack on Tuesday.
"I'm still
studying the issue and listening to both sides,"
she said in response to a question from the audience.
Since listing
brings additional regulations on ranching and farming
activities along streams and rivers to protect
"critical habitat," the matter is of great
concern to an agricultural community.
The salmon issue
is scheduled for discussion at the next board
meeting.
Marsh moved to
Siskiyou County in 1997 after marrying Jerry Marsh, a
20-year resident of Scott Valley. Though a relative
newcomer, Marsh became involved in local politics and
environmental issues. A press release from the
governor's office notes she has a financial business
and is a member of the Audobon Society.
It does not
mention that she heads a group – Scott Valley
Citizens for Quality Growth – that has an active
lawsuit against the county for having approved a
gravel quarry operation. The lawsuit, filed Dec. 17,
1999, is a petition for writ of mandate and
declaratory and injunctive relief. Marsh reportedly
asked for $1 million in damages in the original suit.
Property owner
Dusty Nash, who with her husband, Steve Nash, is
named in the lawsuit as one of several respondents,
outlined the history of the case to the Siskiyou Daily News.
"[Nash] and
her husband talked with Supervisor Kay Bryan and then
got a use permit from the country to lease 33 acres
of their property along Kidder Creek to Kiewit
Pacific for the processing of rock and gravel,"
the News reported.
"Nash said
this permit included all the required environmental
studies but was challenged by the Scott Valley
Citizens for Quality Growth led by Anne Marsh. This
challenge was denied by the planning department and
appealed to the supervisors who, on Feb. 8, 2000,
also approved the project.
"Marsh's
group then filed a lawsuit with the superior court
and on Jan. 17, 2001. The petition for Writ of
Mandate for Declaratory Relief and injunction was
denied by Judge Peterson. This decision is now under
appeal and no gravel has been processed due to the
legal process.
"'Anne Marsh
tried to stop this project from the very beginning,
even before it went to a public hearing,' Nash said.
'She lives about three miles away from our Kidder
Creek property.'"
Nash said Marsh
should either step down as supervisor or drop the
lawsuit.
"She is a
part of a group that uses any means, including lies
and half truths, to get where they are now," she
told the Daily News. "Not very many people in
the Scott Valley are pleased with this appointment;
we are all very upset."
Gerald Edwards,
project manager of Kiewit Pacific Company, said his
company has spent over $200,000 defending the action.
"We think it
is a part of the environmental agenda," Edwards
said. "Siskiyou County needs a good source of
rock, and this project would create some jobs and be
of some help to the economy."
Marsh and her
group are not acting alone.
Joining Marsh on
the suit is Felice Pace, director of the Klamath Forest Alliance, a nonprofit environmental
advocacy group based in Etna, Calif., dedicated to
curtailing "consumptive uses" of forest,
grasslands and rivers, according to the Alliance's
website and 990 forms that are filed with the IRS.
Klamath Forest Alliance was one of several groups
that joined the lawsuit to deny any and all water to
the farmers of the Klamath River basin last year.
Pace was elated to
learn of Marsh's appointment to the board.
"Good
News!" he cheered in an e-mail to "friends
and colleagues," obtained by WorldNetDaily.
"I've just learned that Siskiyou County has a
new supervisor. …"
"Annie is the
volunteer coordinator of Scott Valley Citizens for
Quality Growth," Pace continued. "She has
worked in this capacity and with KFA to block an
ill-advised gravel mine proposed for a residential
area near Greenview. She has also been involved in
several other progressive land use issues around the
country. She is a Democrat."
Pace added that
"Annie was about ready to declare her candidacy
for the position. There is a primary in March. …"
Pace urged his
supporters to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
"You can be
sure Annie will be attacked for her moderation and
connections to public trust issues and KFA," he
wrote. "It is very important that the press and
the other supervisors see that Annie has a base of
support. Bring an American flag to wave."
Reports to
WorldNetDaily estimated that less than a dozen Marsh
supporters showed up, and none carried a flag.
The news of
Marsh's appointment shocked Daniel Webster, editor
and publisher of the Pioneer Press, a weekly paper
based in Ft. Jones. As WorldNetDaily reported, the
Pioneer Press was the paper that created the "Virtual Bucket
Brigade" last summer, enabling people all
over the world to show support for the Klamath Basin
farmers.
When Webster
learned of Marsh's appointment, he called the
governor's office for an explanation as to why Davis
would appoint a person with an active suit against
the county.
"I spoke with
the governor's office Monday regarding the lawsuit
Marsh is involved with," Webster wrote in an
editorial in this week's edition. "His spokesman
said the governor was aware of the suit when she
submitted her application. It 'wasn't a red flag' for
the governor, as he was led to believe that this was
a very personal issue for her as the gravel operation
in question was near her property. In actuality, it
is miles from her home."
Webster wrote that
the governor's office assured him that Marsh promised
that if appointed she "would not be part of the
group" that sued the county.
That provided
little assurance for Webster. He views her
appointment as "frightening" not only
because of the positions she may take on issues as
supervisor, but because of the information she will
now be privy to.
"Supervisors
in a rural county like Siskiyou, which has a low
population, wield enormous influence," Webster
explained. "But I think one of the most
frightening aspects of Anne Marsh being in there is
that she will have access to all of the information
that even we as press don't have access to. She'll be
attending closed sessions, be able to look at files
that normal persons can't look at, like inside
information about litigation and land-use permits and
projects. She could be an information funnel to
environmental groups."
But what if
someone other than Marsh wins the election in March?
Perhaps Marcia Armstrong, who is executive director
of the Siskiyou County Farm Bureau and the Siskiyou
County Cattlemen's Assocation, will prove successful.
Armstrong threw her hat in the ring month's ago and
also filed for appointment consideration.
Armstrong is
campaigning hard, but even if she wins she would not
take office until January of 2003.
It's for this
reason that the action by Davis is perceived as an
end run around the election process. When Bryan died
suddenly on Christmas Day 2000 due to complications
of an illness, the remaining four county supervisors
requested the governor appoint someone promptly to
the seat. Davis waited over a year. During that time
several candidates submitted the forms requesting
they be appointed. Nothing happened, and several
Siskiyou County residents decided to run in the March
2002 primary for Bryan's vacated seat.
Then, with only
two months remaining before Election Day, Davis
announced the appointment. Rather than appointing one
of at least three candidates who were running for
supervisor, he appointed Marsh who had filed her
request for the appointment last January. Marsh will
hold her position till at least January 2003, even if
she loses in the March primary.
And she cannot be
recalled. Davis' timing, some say, was perfect. In
the recall process, a person must be in office at
least 90 days before a recall petition can be
circulated, and they cannot be recalled if they are
in their last six months or less of their term.
"We'd have
nine months of Anne Marsh," said Webster.
"And Anne Marsh would have no fear of voters
putting her out. There'd be zero fear. She can't be
recalled, she can't be booted out, so she has nine
months to turn this county upside down."
Earlier stories:
Virtual Bucket Brigade
supports farmers
'Us now, you're next,' say
desperate farmers
Sarah Foster is a staff reporter for
WorldNetDaily.
