O’Neill says 20-20 hindsight brings regret on comment ban

Commissioner Pat O’Neill, now in the final weeks of a heated re-election race, last Thursday said he now believes the commissioners made a mistake last January when they shut off public comments on the county’s revised proposal for the Hawkins shopping center project. O’Neill made the comment during a campaign interview with Bill Weed on Pullman radio station KQQQ.

He noted 20-20 hindsight on the decision now leads him to the conclusion the commissioners should have listened to all the residents in the room at the time.

The comment related to a session last Jan. 3 in the commissioner’s chambers when residents had gathered to comment on the county’s move to revise its agreement with Hawkins Company to increase the county’s commitment for infrastructure to $15 million.

O’Neill and Commissioner Greg Partch voted in favor of the revision which added $5.8 million to the county’s commitment. Commissioner Mike Largent opposed it.

The pending Hawkins decision drew a crowd of residents which packed the commissioners room, but Partch, chair of the commission, cut off public comment by noting the commission was in a business meeting mode.

O’Neill last week said he believes they made a mistake in not listening to comments from the public at that time. He added during the interview that he believes he still would have voted in favor of the revision unless the comments changed information which led to his decision at the time.

Partch, who was in a three-candidate race, was eliminated from the race in the primary. Republicans Art Swannack and Bill Tensfeld advanced to the general election under the state’s “top two” election rule. Partch was seeking a fourth term.

O’Neill’s opponent, Dean Kinzer, has contended during the race that the Hawkins stateline project would be a great addition to the county, but the county should not be a partner in the project.

The shutdown of public comment on the decision has been one of the contentions in the civil suit which has been filed against the commission by the Organization to Void Illegal Conduct.