2 On Jan 9, 10:55 am, Patrick McGee wrote:

Here’s the story from Oregonian June 4, 2007

Sen. Johnson tried to help developer she profited from
Posted by The Oregonian June 04, 2007 07:00AM
Categories: Breaking News, Multimedia
State Sen. Betsy Johnson tried to help a Portland-area developer obtain land to build an industrial park on prime property at the Scappoose airport two years before she sold him another piece of land for a quick profit.

In an August 2002 meeting with Port of St. Helens and Columbia County officials, Johnson, a Scappoose Democrat, urged the port to allow Ed Freeman to buy and develop about 435 acres of land adjacent to the local airport. She also suggested the port could help subsidize the development.

The meeting was videotaped, and The Oregonian obtained a copy of the tape from a critic of the deal. On it, Johnson, then a state representative, bluntly criticizes port officials for not working with Freeman and for looking for other possible developers for the land.

“If development for the highest and best use is what you want to do, why are you out hunting for other developers when you’ve got one with an open checkbook?” Johnson says on the tape. “Instead of maligning Mr. Freeman and casting aspersions on his company and on him . . . why hasn’t the port stepped up and said, ‘We’d like to work with you’?”

Freeman is the same developer to whom Johnson in early 2005 sold a 36-acre plot of farmland next to the airport for nearly $119,000 more than she paid for it three months earlier. She bought the land from Stanley Wagner, a longtime friend, for $635,425, then sold it to Freeman for $754,950.

A few weeks after the sale, Johnson introduced a bill in the Legislature to promote special airport access for private landowners—something Freeman needed to create an industrial park catering to the aviation business. Johnson did not initially disclose her interest in the land deal, as state law requires.

In previous interviews, Johnson has downplayed her relationship with Freeman, who owns Sierra Pacific Communities, a Lake Oswego-based development company. She told the newspaper she was merely a “link” between Freeman and Wagner and her interest was in creating jobs in Columbia County.

But the videotape shows Johnson was a vociferous advocate for Freeman far earlier as he worked to become a major player in the development around the Scappoose Industrial Airpark, which is owned and managed by the Port of St. Helens.

Johnson said Sunday that she touted Freeman to the port because she wanted to see some action on the land. “The port had no money, no wherewithal, no interest” in developing the property, she told The Oregonian. “Ed had the capability and the integrity to do it. Why wouldn’t I?”

4 On Jan 9, 05:50 pm, Patrick McGee wrote:

Daily “A” was scooped by you for sure and nothing I can see they’ve latched onto it yet.

Hell, KAST was on it first thing today and even making excuses for “The Betsy” already.