By Samuel Strait, Reporter at Large – June 29, 2021 It is a rare occasion when the grifters in this community come out on the losing end of things and the Taxpayer/Ratepayers actually get a break from the near constant reach into their collective pockets by various members of our bureaucratic class. It probably won't be long before our current grifters are in front of other boards with their hands out, the fair board, the airport authority, or the harbor district. It only takes one to fall for the preposterous notion that the "Kamome Foundation" merits anything but a swift exit out the door. The four men responsible for what is being referred as the "Japanese Annual Vacation Club" are making the rounds of government bureaucracies in the hopes that some one will relieve them of the responsibility of reaching into their own pockets to come up with the necessary funding to launch their pipe dream. If not the taxpayer, perhaps an easy mark for a con from the private donor, should pleading in front of the County's various Boards fail. Keeping in mind Chris Howard, Blake Inscore, and Jeff Harris all make six figure salaries, much of it from the Taxpayer, as well as from other sources, Bill Steven, the group's front man, who spent many years at the Sheriff's Department is no doubt quite comfortable in his retired years continuing to feed at the public retirement trough. All men who can quite comfortably pay their own way to Japan as often as they wish to go, and, could no doubt come up with the funds to form the foundation without resorting to using the taxpayer. So what's up with these four clowns? In the most recent appeal in front of the Del Norte Solid Waste Authority, Mr. Steven was asked what the "foundation's" mission was, and he responded with what has been used to justify government involvement in the sister city relationship with Rikuzentakata, Japan. Cultural exchanges which up to this point have produced little in the way of benefit to the local community other than providing the local "in-crowd" vacations to Japan. Keeping in mind that the DNSWMA's staff headed by Tedd Ward was responsible for allowing this traveling circus to appear on the Authority's agenda. Unfortunately for Mr. Steven, Supervisor Valerie Starkey pointed out once again the fact that the yet to be formally formed "Kamome Foundation" had little to benefit the public to justify the expense of fronting the cost for the foundation's application for non profit status. Mayor Pro Tem Blake Inscore, who is also on the Authority's Board and an officer on the yet to be formed foundation's board, was kind enough to recuse himself. The Authority then actually took the matter seriously and voted 4-0-1 to deny the request. Taxpayer/Ratepayer 2 Gang of Four/Kamome Foundation 0. What should be embarrassing for men who are purported to be leaders in this community, is their jarring disconnect with the sentiment of the community towards spending anything further on "cultural exchanges" with Japan using public money and should be a wake up call to the community about what kind of leadership these men provide. Because the DNSWMA's director, Tedd Ward is on board with this nonsense and tried to tie this some how into concern over "ocean waste" should raise a huge "red flag" over his administration of the Waste Authority itself. Keep in mind Director Ward was recently responsible for a significant increase in your waste removal bill because of his obsession with recycling which has become insanely expensive. The bottom line is, that as long as Chris Howard, Blake Inscore, and Jeff Harris are in positions of responsibility, this notion that the connection to Rikuzentakata, Japan is somehow essential to the citizens of this County they will continue to reach into local pockets. These four men need to reach into their own pockets if they wish to continue to front for the "Japanese Annual Vacation Club".