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My account of (and response to) the Coos County Board of Commissioners meeting on 8/17/2021

Last updated on March 5, 2023

Some of you may have heard about what happened at today’s Coos County BoC meeting. The meeting was cut short and rescheduled for tomorrow. Below is the response that I submitted (for the record) to the BoC.

I am sending this email to be entered into the public record for the Coos County Board of Commissioners meeting on 8/17/2021 that was adjourned and continued on 8/18/2021.

My name is Matthew Wilbanks. I have been a resident of Coos County for the past 15 years and am the editor of Dailyresister.com.

I attended the meeting on 8/17 to address Commissioners Cribbins and Sweet, who voted on 8/12 to follow Governor Kate Brown’s newest mask mandate despite the entire board sending her a letter demanding local control after the previous meeting on 8/3. I and many others voiced our support for local control on 8/3 and thanked the BoC for their letter.

The group attending the meeting on 8/17 was much the same size and composition as those who had been there on 8/3. As the meeting began, most of the attendees were not wearing masks but were sitting quietly. As the meeting began, Commissioner Sweet asked to be recognized to read the new mask mandate. There were several jeers from the crowd, but nothing out of the ordinary given the contentious issue. Commissioner Main had already called the first person for public comment before the mandate was read. This individual then asked to be recognized and began his commentary.

Shortly after his comments, one of either Commissioner Sweet or Cribbins, I don’t recall which, indicated that everyone would need to put on their masks. There were a few more jeers and one of the citizens said something to the effect of, “we’re not leaving, you’ll have to arrest us”. No threats of any nature were made that I could hear. The crowd was obviously unhappy, but far from a “mob” as Commissioner Cribbins would later claim.

I understand that the majority of meetings held by elected bodies are not attended by great amounts of average citizens. I also have been to plenty of meetings where serious issues were being discussed and things got a little heated. During this meeting, Coos County Sheriff Craig Zanni and CCSO Captain Gabriel Fabrizio were in attendance and sat at the back of the room. As someone trained in security, personal protection and law enforcement procedures, I am sure Sheriff Zanni would have stepped in if he felt there was a threat at any time. He did not, because there was no threat of violence, either stated or insinuated.

Commissioner Sweet then made a motion to dismiss the meeting and resume it at a later time remotely. Commissioner Cribbins seconded the motion immediately, and before most of the crowd even realized what happened, they began to walk toward the back door. This immediately elicited a response from the crowd, with boos/jeers/insults and calls for the two of them to be replaced. Even at this point I heard no threats of violence. After the Commissioners exited the rear of the room, Captain Fabrizio stood in front of the door but no one attempted to pass him.

When I later saw Commissioner Cribbins had done a short livestream on  Facebook, crying and claiming she feared for her safety, I could only laugh in disgust at her pathetic attempt to garner sympathy. She must have attended the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez school of acting. I’m so glad she survived the Coos County “insurrection” of 8/17/2021 (my sarcasm should be obvious). When an elected official, particularly one with a law degree, can’t handle backlash from her constituents and responds like a teenager on social media, it’s time to find another representative.

Although he did not over-dramatize the event, Commissioner Sweet is just as complicit in his refusal to stand for his constituents and uphold his oath to the U.S. Constitution.

Finally, I would like to address the procedure Coos County uses for announcing it’s meetings. By law, meetings must be publicly posted at least 24 hours in advance, except in cases of an emergency meeting. As soon as the meeting on 8/17 ended, I began watching the Coos County website for an updated time for the resumption of the meeting. I am typing this email just before midnight on 8/17 and still nothing has been posted about the new meeting time.

I was shocked to find though, that KCBY posted an article about today’s events a few hours ago and a time for the new meeting was listed. Why does a local television station know the new meeting time when it has not even been posted to the County’s own website? A friend then informed me that there is an email list for meeting notifications and he was nice enough to forward it to me. Strangely enough, I can find no mention of said mailing list anywhere on the County’s website either. It’s almost as if the BoC doesn’t want citizens knowing when the meetings are. They already hold them at 9:30am on Tuesday, when most people are at work. I guess making it nearly impossible to stay informed is the next logical step.

To sum up, I am utterly disgusted by the behavior of 2/3 of the Coos County BoC. I will put my effort into either shaming them into resigning or voting them out in the next election.

-Matthew Wilbanks

13 Comments

  1. DMFarrel DMFarrel August 18, 2021

    Agreed 1000%, Sweet and Cribbins aren’t up to the job. Real leaders don’t run away.

    • Editor Editor Post author | August 18, 2021

      👍

  2. Gabe Knapp Gabe Knapp August 18, 2021

    Thank you for your time and effort to inform Coos county residents of the truth. I have attended the last 2 meetings and it is obvious that the citizens are not being heard or represented. Bob Main & our Sharif are great citizens! Cribbing & Sweet need to be replaced. Government in general is corrupt ( top to bottom ) Big JOB ! Let’s make it happen !

    • Editor Editor Post author | August 18, 2021

      Thanks for the comment Gabe. It’s going to take a lot of hard work.

  3. Gloria robinson Gloria robinson August 18, 2021

    I love it!! You are so right calling them out!!! Well done!!

  4. Rinky Dinky Rinky Dinky August 18, 2021

    I saw this hide behind a computer screen meeting anouncement on KGBY and the link to ‘attend’ the meeting and speak did not work. How convenient. So I emailed the county and managed to get on. Because I am friends of the parents of Cribbens I did not identify myself and speak.

    So I sent an email to the Commisioners that said “I am a fully vaccinated nurse and I got covid anyway. I am not an antivaccer, I am an American citizen. People of the United States of America can choose to get vaccinated and/or wear masks – Or Not – The majority Coos County Commisioners do not stand up for free will and free choice of the people. In addition, Commisioner Cribbens has shown herself to be a scared little Karen.”

    Do not vote for the Democratic party. They have gone so far left they have fallen off the world.

    • Rob Taylor Rob Taylor August 21, 2021

      For the record, I was there and this account of the Commissioner’s Meeting is true.

    • c mcnair c mcnair August 22, 2021

      A sad sad day for Coos County! Surely there must be more than meets the eye? Perhaps they were given death threats or threats to withhold funding from Coos County? But, as you pointed out; if you cant take the heat stay out of the kitchen.

  5. Charles Stsm Charles Stsm August 21, 2021

    Good summary Matt, I’m out of town in Durango, Colorado. I greatly appreciate your account and everyone who attended this meeting and made our voices heard.

  6. Tina Tina August 22, 2021

    Could I get the link for the email list for the meeting notifications of the BoC please and thank you.

  7. Delores r Caldwell Delores r Caldwell August 22, 2021

    Thank you for your update. I think

    cribbins and sweet need to be replace

    • Editor Editor Post author | August 22, 2021

      I absolutely agree. Tune in to the Rob Taylor Report tomorrow at 3pm, we are going to be talking about this exact issue.

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