CRC Critics Home Vandalized

The note left on the Couch's porch

Call it a sign of the heated times if you will or a throwback to a lawless era long thought behind us, but the forensic auditor hired by David Madore to delve into where taxpayer monies spent by the Columbia River Crossing project, Tiffany Couch and her husband were woke up about 2 AM Sunday morning, July 31, 2011 to what initially sounded to her “like a bomb.”

Cowardly vandals, under the cover of darkness decided to target Ms. Couch’s home.

The Couch’s have no teenage children at their home, so the prospect of a teenage prank from rivals is highly unlikely, considering no other home was targeted nearby. Clark County Sheriff’s Deputies came out, but seeing the marks of a teenage prank, did little more than take the Couch’s name.

Ms. Couch’s husband had awoken moments before the loud noise to what he; a “car-guy” described as “the distinct sound of a hopped up Turbo-charged Subaru” Mr. Couch looked outside but did not see anything and that was when the loud noise occurred and the car was heard speeding off.

Later inspection outside reveled the noise to have been caused by a can of Chunky soup thrown against the front door, now splattered all over their front porch.

Additional vandalizing found was, “2 Gallons of bleach dumped across the front lawn, 2 bottles of oily salad dressing (thousand island and Italian it appeared) over the front of the garage, 1 dozen eggs also splattered across the front of the garage and a note on the front porch that read ‘KARMA’.”

Ms. Couch has spoken out on questionable or irregular accounting procedures she has discovered in auditing CRC records that she has been able to obtain. She has also spoken out on some records not being made available in a timely matter and has been critical of claims made by the CRC that “just don’t add up.”

I find it highly unlikely that anybody that is part of the CRC project would have any connection to this vandalization of the Couch’s home and at this time there is no actual way to tell if the act is even related to her work, although the note left might appear to be linked.

If it is related to her work I would look towards hotheads as seen daily commenting on articles on the Columbian’s web page and believe they have the right to shout down others, especially conservatives.

Cowardly cretins seen belittling others do not realize that if they do pull such stunts, they hurt the cause they believe they are supporting more. They also do little more than damage someone else’s property as Ms. Couch does not intend to stop auditing CRC records.

I find the lack of concern by the Sheriff’s Department troubling, though. While the act also appears to be in the form of a teenage prank, I recall 2 prior incidences in our community of vandalization that were given a more serious look.

June 2009 saw what was described as “rash of [racist] graffiti in the Truman neighborhood” that drew the ire of then Vancouver City Councilman (now Mayor) Tim Leavitt who stated, “These are the kinds of crimes that are distinguished from other crimes in that they should be intolerable. They leave residents feeling intimidated and unsafe.”

The other was in July 2008 when the community became outraged at vandals keyed the car of a supporter of then Senator Barack Obama in his successful run for president with the words “White Power.”

That act drew the comment of then candidate, not 17^th legislative district representative Tim Probst of, “If someone scratches ‘white power’ on a car, it’s important that we send a message as a whole that our community doesn’t accept racism.”

Be it racism, retribution, or trying to intimidate someone from doing a job, or even kids looking for “kicks,” such cowardly acts should not be and must not be tolerated.

Tiffany said, “At this time there is no way to prove one way or another whether this is related to my work. Only time will tell. This was more than a prank - as our lawn and front door and (possibly the paint on the front of the house) are most likely ruined.”

Such acts have no place in our community, regardless of the reason behind them.

Kudos to David Madore, Tom Hamm and WePeeps.org for organizing a work party to help clean up the Couch's home.