40,000 pounds of cheddar and a witch hunt....

March 19, 2010: Chalk it up to just another chapter in the "look the other way administration" of Governor Sean Parnell.

Another $200,000 state bail out, granted two weeks ago to the Matanuska Creamery after they presented 40,000 pounds of cheese and their accounts receivables (which obviously weren't enough to keep their head above water) as collateral.

Only in DNR Commissioner Tom Irwin's world would this be possible.

After all, Irwin was the master who brought us such fan favorites as AGIA, the gas pipeline plan that state lawmakers are abandoning faster than the Titanic.

He brought us the continuation of the Point Thomson litigation after he rejected a development plan that the court later ruled was done illegally.

And he brought us an all Mat-Su Valley Board of Agriculture, whose director has a father in law in the dairy business that continues to benefit from the state handouts that are keeping a money losing dairy in business.

But those are public policy disputes right? 

Those are disputes that can be debated on blogs like this and others.

However, now Irwin, in his obvious frustration, is looking to settle some scores. Well...that doesn't fly with me. 

If Tom Irwin has a score to settle with me and my reporting of the massive fraud that is going on with the Matanuska Creamery and his growing incompetence as a Commissioner, while lawmakers look the other way, so be it.

But if Tom Irwin wants to start a witch hunt and try and intimidate hard working state employees, that’s where I draw the line.

Especially since all of the material I've obtained from legislative sources has all been PUBLIC INFORMATION. And it all reflects a pattern of gross mis-management.

But it seems the folks on the Agriculture Board along with the Matanuska Creamery, with Irwin's blessing, have declared war on the employees of the Division of Agriculture.

I thought it was class less enough that Karen Olson, the head milk maid of the creamery, read a scathing letter to the board attacking my blog just before they granted her another $200,000, but the recent action by the DNR rises to another level.

This week, DNR's human resource people were poking around, investigating a complaint brought forward that there was a breach of confidentiality in the Division of Agriculture based on my blog three weeks ago (link below).

Really? I guess in this administration, you go after hard working employees who are concerned that state dollars are being thrown after really bad credit risks.

Ignore for just a moment that everything I've ever written about the faltering creamery in the Valley has been public information and all of it has been factual and come true.

Ignore for a moment that we warned back in 2008 that the owners/managers of the creamery, including Karen Olson, had previously defaulted on taxpayer funded agricultural loans before their creamery crusade. 

Ignore for a moment that we warned three weeks ago, before the latest $200,000 was loaned to the creamery, that the creamery had insufficient assets to justify another 200k as well as a modification of their existing debt.

Hell....even ignore the fact that the creamery's hometown newspaper raised an eyebrow over this latest loan and stated the creamery's finances raised questions.

But you cannot ignore that this witch hunt is personal and the entire basis for it is that the creamery folks are angry the truth is getting out to the public.  

Reportedly, the human resources folks are interviewing the staff at the Division of Agriculture to determine the source of the leaks.

They won't find any.

What they will find, if they look, is a $200,000 loan that was granted from the Agriculture Revolving Loan Fund for a 1 year operating loan that was secured by creamery receivables and 40,000 lbs of cheese. (See above document) 

ARLF loans are limited to a maximum of 75% loan to value of the collateral which is information available on the state's web site. Can anyone believe that creamery's accounts receivables and 40,000 lbs of cheese is worth at least $267,000? 

They'll also find hard working employees who have watched management, including their director whose father in law benefits every time the state gives more cash to the creamery crew, ignore the clear warning signs of conflict of interest.

What they will find is a director who, along with Board Chair Kristan Cole, keeps the creamery documents locked up out of the staffs view.  

The fact that Commissioner Irwin is allowing this witch hunt is a sign he's trying to cover himself. His miss-management of the entire Board of Agriculture, since former Gov. Palin fired the old board and replaced them with an all Valley board is epic.

I cannot for the life of me understand why Irwin (or Governor Parnell for that matter) would allow this dairy debacle to continue....unless they're afraid of Kristan Cole.

There are other questions that Irwin would be better advised to answer, rather than harassing state employees:

Why is Kristan Cole still acting as Board Chair of both boards when her seat expired 9/2009? What happened to the equipment lease that was due to be paid in full in November of 2009?  Does the lease even exist anymore? (some say not...but could get someone fired if that got out)

Why was the Matanuska Creamery given additional state money when the legislative audit said they were not a good credit risk?

Why was the senior loan officer in the Division of Agriculture removed from "all things dairy related?"

Why were there no signatures of guarantee required for the lenders on the last $200,000 loan and the previous $630,000 loan?

Why is Franci Havemeister still involved with dairy loans when she was supposed to remove herself from any dairy decisions due to the fact that her father-in-law is a dairy farmer?

Meanwhile, the next scheduled Board of Agriculture meeting is April 5th and the Matanuska Creamery loan modification request will be on the agenda. As described in their operating loan, the Creamery will be asking to extend the term of their loan....which is circumventing the intent of the statute governing ARLF loans.

Gov. Parnell, I understand you inherited this mess from former Gov.Palin (another brilliant legacy of hers) but maybe you could just act like a governor and stop the wanton abuse of handing state dollars to a handful of Valley residents whose creamery has yet to survive a day without government funds.

Oh yeah....and once again, fire Tom Irwin.

AGIA, Pt. Thomson and the dairy...three strikes eh?

But since firing Irwin would be an admission that both you and Irwin were wrong about AGIA and he's been a total disaster as DNR Commissioner, I know that's not going to happen.

So Gov. Parnell...at least take a moment to call off the dogs on the employees at the Division of Agriculture.

After all....they did nothing wrong, it was public information and your DNR Commissioner screwed up by allowing the lending of almost $1 million in total to a failing dairy that is now using their cheddar cheese as collateral. 

bbb