What's Up Hupp?

Submitted to Shelton Blog by Tom Davis

When Port Commissioner, Jay Hupp, claimed he was “neutral” on the subject of biomass fueled incinerators, even after it was revealed he was a longtime advocate, the door swung shut on his credibility.

Now, the public knows he can’t be trusted. So, when it was reported that a “business owner” wants to build a 35,000 square foot manufacturing building in Johns Prairie Road Industrial Park, a big red flag went up for me.

The announcement was made on the heels of two other, ‘benign’ events:

1) The port voted to adopt the recommendations of the newly updated comprehensive plan, and now has the authority to sell port property to the aforementioned “business owner.”

2) Port commissioners moved to alter the conditions of the Foreign Trade Zone agreement.

So what’s up Hupp? Getting ready to drop another environmental bomb on the residents of Mason County?

Given Hupp’s track record, it is reasonable to wonder if the new manufacturing building that needs to be located near a rail system will not turn out to be yet another big polluter and/or a supporting business for the Adage incinerator. Who knows, but I’ll bet it also has something to do with the changes to the Foreign Trade Zone.

You see what happens when a commissioner loses credibility? The public keeps waiting for the next deception. But maybe, just maybe, I’m wrong, and Hupp is trying to lure in a company that makes solar panels, or wind turbines, or…flying pigs. I can hardly wait for the news.

At the risk of stating the obvious, Hupp’s lack of credibility is the reason Initiatives 1 & 2 are on the November ballot. It’s curious that a guy who plans his moves so far in advance would fail to consider the possible downside of lying to the public. But then the political landscape is littered with the careers of politicians who sought to outsmart those they had sworn to serve.

But by the time Hupp finds out what he should already know, it may be too late. Having spent many years trying to throw Mason County under the biomass bus, he is committed to the industry. Where we see trees, he sees fuel; where we see clean water, he sees industrial cooling fluid; and where we see home, he sees an epicenter of heavy industry.

That’s the problem with allowing old men to shape the future; they don’t have to live in it for very long.