Correcting the Record: Camas or Vancouver?

In the city's first remote public council meeting, the first "citizen" selected was neither a Camas citizen or a chance selection it seems - And the city of Camas has now officially falsified the public record covering up that important issue.

As that meeting started on the evening of April 6th, Camas' deputy clerk introduced a "Kim Logan" as the first citizen for public comment. "Kim" said that he didn't have much to say and then gave his actual name as Kimbal Logan and address as "9513 SE 14th street VANCOUVER, WA". Kimbal is not a Camas resident.

You can hear that call here:

Though not introduced as such by the city that seems to have done business with him, or by Kimbal himself subsequently, Kimbal is a realtor. As he goes on , Kimbal vaguely states on the call he was voicing something on behalf of the Mill's family and "we are in full support of it" before he hangs up abruptly - The Mills family being one of the four families in Camas that had their land purchased for as high as 700% of appraised value in the city's recent "legacy lands" transactions - which have jumped from $4m total cost to a $22m cost-to-date in just a few years. All of that work seemingly finalized during the height of COVID-19 with tens of thosands of Americans dead from a virus that may dictate the world's collective future.

Kimbal's story is detailed further in this WATCH Camas feature from around the time of this meeting.

The first issue to highlight is that Kimbal was never stopped by the deputy clerk, the mayor or a council member and told that this was a forum for citizens of Camas to express themselves to their elected city council and neighbors. In fact, it seems as if Kimbal was essentially given a front row seat to address this town that he holds no tax liability in and no vote within, immediately after Camas made a generous deal with his potential client using your wallet to pay the tab.

Why does it matter?

1. Why does the city demand citizen names and addresses during comment, on the public record, if it doesn't intend to enforce these meetings as a forum for neighbors that pay for the privilege? What purpose does it serve outside of intimidating the more timid neighbors among us from speaking their minds on controversial issues?

2. What if the city knew that was wrong and actively worked to cover it up?

Unfortunately that's a real possibility to consider after what happened tonight. On April 20th, during Camas' second remote city council meeting, WATCH Camas was watching and something didn't quite add up. After a bit of quick research, we're here to provide the proof and ask the city to explain its actions and the citizens to hold them accountable.

This evening, Greg Anderson, Bonnie Carter, Steve Hogan, Shannon Roberts, Don Cheney, Ellen Burton and Melissa Smith all voted unanimously, while Mayor Barry McDonnell watched silently, on approving the minutes of the April 6th council meeting. In those meeting minutes, Kimbal Logan's address is listed not once, but twice, as 9513 SE 14th Street, Camas.

None of the seven city councilors, the mayor, the city clerk or any staff said a thing.

You can click here to view the altered record yourself from Camas' online meeting portal and compare it to the video of the call above. Both of these documents have been archived by WATCH Camas in case any attempts should be made to further change the record. Here are screenshot from the two instances in the document.

That brings us to consider the reality that these city councilors and this mayor either do not review their meeting materials that they seal into the public record with their vote or worse. If this was just laziness, we should wonder how many other "Oopsies" are in the Camas Public Record and why they don't take their jobs more seriously - is this the reason some city's have term limits on their elected officials?

OR

Was this an intentional cover up of an abuse, and of an attempt to manipulate the people of Camas and potentially violate the State of Washington's OPMA or PRA laws? If the latter, we have a big problem to consider Camas.

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Reach out to your representatives if you need answers:

Mayor Barry McDonnell (Term ending December 31, 2023) bmcdonnell@cityofcamas.us City Hall: 360.834.6864

Councilperson Greg Anderson (Term ending December 31, 2023) ganderson@cityofcamas.us Home Phone: 360.834.3426 Cell Phone: 360.281.3918 City Hall: 360.834.6864

Councilperson Don Chaney (Term ending December 31, 2023) dchaney@cityofcamas.us Home: 360.834.3242 City Hall: 360.834.6864

Councilperson Steve Hogan (Term ending December 31, 2021) shogan@cityofcamas.us Home: 360.834.2046 City Hall: 360.834.6864

Councilperson Ellen Burton (Term ending December 31, 2021) eburton@cityofcamas.us Cell Phone: 360.597.5339 City Hall: 360.834.6864

Councilperson Bonnie Carter (Term ending December 31, 2023) bcarter@cityofcamas.us Cell Phone: 360.281.6117 City Hall: 360.834.6864

Councilperson Shannon Roberts (Term ending December 31, 2023) sroberts@cityofcamas.us Cell Phone: 509.637.5192 City Hall: 360.834.6864

Councilperson Melissa Smith (Term ending December 31, 2021) msmith@cityofcamas.us Cell: 360.624.3199 City Hall: 360.834.6864