Can we trust the Ford Motor Company and the Ford Site Planning Committee?

From: Anne Carroll Date: 2007-10-09 17:32

Posted on behalf and at the request of Brian Bates:

Ford apparently owns the power plant - there may be some issue as to
whether Ford owns the land the power plant sites on and there is the
issue of transferring the FERC permit - in process now.

BUT the real issue is distinguishing between the ownership of the hydro
plant and the ownwership of the lock and dam - called the ford lock and
dam and also called lock and dam #1 - which creates the "fall" or power
for the hydro plant..

Ford does not own the lock and dam and never has - it is owned us all
and run by the Corps of Engineers.

There is absolutely no guarantee that the lock and dam could not be
removed and leave the power plant high and dry without a source of power.

Nor does the possession of the FERC permit guarantee that the lock and
dam will remain; FERC and the Corps are two very different animals.

Brian Bates



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My comment:

This is an interesting post from academic Anne Carroll who has posted on behalf of Brian Bates; Bates is not identified as to who he is and who he represents in all of this.

Second, I note the word “apparently” as it is used to define “ownership” of the Ford Hydro Dam. Someone selling something either owns what they are selling or they don’t. Who would purchase anything on the basis the seller is “apparently” the owner.

Third, the issue of who owns the land the power plant sits (or is it “sites”) on is a very important issue since the public may have more claims to have a say than what we have previously been led to believe.

Fourth, if the FERC permit is in the process of being transferred now, why is it none of the agencies will provide me with information concerning the permit transfer and the public hearing process?

Fifth, from the very beginning working people--- Ford employees especially--- have intentionally been kept out of the information loop and the decision making process at each stage as this plant closing/dam issue has proceeded. There is the continued boast that the United States is the world’s greatest bastion of democracy; yet, the majority of the people--- working people--- are repeatedly kept out of the information loop and the decision making process on these very basic issues affecting the lives of working people and the communities they live in.

From the very beginning of when Henry Ford first looked at this site for his manufacturing facility to be powered by this hydro dam which can not be separated from the lock and dam… the public and working people have been subjected to lie after lie after lie… Ford Motor Company continued the “big lie” in forcing, by scare tactics and threats, hundreds of workers into giving up their jobs in return for “buy-outs” that amount to a mass swindle… Ford claimed it was closing the operation this year and gave workers an ultimatum: accept the buy-outs or face an even more uncertain future… sheer trickery and deceit since Ford management is now laughing all the way to the bank pocketing millions of dollars they will save by paying temporary workers substantially less in wages and benefits than what long-time Ford employees would have received in wages and benefits… thereby cheating these workers out of well over $130,000.00 each based upon the length of time the plant will continue to operate.

Ford uses the same kind of lies to deceive the public regarding the hydro dam and Brian Bates who is apparently someone “in the know” being relied upon by a professor whose services were engaged by Merrit Clapp-Smith doesn’t even question the use of the term “apparently” regarding who actually owns the Ford Hydro Dam.

I am wondering what kind of paper-work transactions will have to be carried out in order to provide this multi-national Canadian power generating corporation with what is required. Is this entire transaction taking place in the darkness of Ford’s corporate boardroom? And, to what extent are local, state, and federal politicians and regulatory agencies “bending the rules” (as they did over eighty years ago) without informing the public?

Merritt Clapp-Smith has been the advocate of the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce, the Summit Hill Club of wealthy real estate speculators and upscale housing and retail developers… she is their hand-picked choice to lead the “Ford Site Planning Committee.

The UAW local and national leadership hasn’t questioned any of this. Local, state, and federal politicians haven’t raised their voices, much less acted, to protect the interests of Ford workers and the public in any of these crooked shenanigans… this is all the epitome of corruption.

Than you have this bunch of charlatans claiming to be community watch-dogs and worker advocates, many of them funded by “philanthropically” linked grants, others by union dues, and still others claiming to be advocates of social justice… all claiming this is a “done deal” as they sit on their hands, close their eyes, and cover their ears to the continuing, mounting injustices.

Kind of a little different than what most people expect from democracy I would say.

What is really bizarre is that Ford continues with its lies and deceit as the Ford Site Planning Committee and the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce seem to be able to find those in academia, the business community, and even among organized labor and political parties claiming to represent the interests of working people who are willing to help hoodwink working people as this fiasco continues to play out.

The lies and deceit of the Ford Motor Company will not end until this plant and the hydro dam are brought under public ownership and ordinary people become an integral part of the decision making process.

The MN DFL leadership doesn’t even care enough about Ford workers to put together a delegation composed of members of the MN DFL State Central Committee and elected public officials to go and talk to Ford workers--- those presently employed and those tricked into taking these “buy-outs--- to find out what Ford workers are thinking about all of this.

It appears we can trust the Ford Motor Company in all of this as much as we can trust President Bush concerning the war in Iraq… but then again, the Ford Motor Company is the only one in the neighborhood with a huge sign proclaiming support for this dirty war for oil in Iraq… and I notice the Blackwater Agency has a huge fleet of Ford pickup trucks they use in Iraq.

Something to think about while sitting around the kitchen table.

Alan L. Maki
58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763
Phone: 218-386-2432
Cell phone: 651-587-5541
E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net