RIP Don Chance ~ June 13, 2021
Dear Friends of Don Chance,
Our good friend Don Chance passed away at 11:20 PM Sunday, June 13, 2021, at his home just south of Bandon. He was with his partner Diane when he passed.
Don had many friends who admired the work he did for our county and state. He ran for the Bandon Port Commission in the May Election of 2013. He lost the election, but not his spirit to fight the eternal battle for liberty.
Don was instrumental in the hugely successful campaign to save the Coquille Valley from the planned Bandon Marsh Expansion by the USFWS. His political strategy proved to be a success in stopping the largest wetland expansion on the west coast.
We will miss Don greatly and there will be an announcement if any public ceremonies are planned for the celebration of his life.
Don donated his body to OHSU
Sincerely, Rob Taylor
Bio: Don Chance moved to the southern Oregon coast after serving 6 years in the US Navy as a hospital corpsman primarily with the US Marine Corps. He earned a BS in Health Administration and has worked for several years in the long-term care industry.
Mr. Chance was the Chief Administrator of Heritage Place and was instrumental in the planning and development of the project. He is actively involved with many local community organizations. He is a member of the Coos Bay and Bandon Rotary Clubs. He served a term as president of the Bandon Rotary and graduated from The Coos Leadership Program. Don is a true outdoorsman with genuine respect for nature and a consummate defender of the agrarian lifestyle.
The following is a letter Don wrote to the press about his Campaign for the port.
Letter of Intent:
Over the last several years, I have become increasingly concerned about the expansion of the federal government and the severe shortage of strong representatives for the rural populations of our state. I began to monitor and ask questions at the local level of the US Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other federal agencies, only to find an arrogant and angry establishment. It was obvious then that someone had to stop the hostile environment and brazen contempt for the public that permeated these agencies.
In November of 2011, I attended a meeting in the Bandon Library held by the USF&WS. The Service met me with threats of imprisonment and denial of my civil rights just for wanting to ask and receive an honest answer to my questions from this agency.
After that incident, I began the process of organizing with other citizens, which has become the first group to begin the arduous process of stopping the expansion of the Bandon Marsh.
We call ourselves Coos County Today and I am proud to call myself one of the founding members of this organization. We have realized that in order to regain control of these federal agencies we must become involved and earn the trust of the people of Coos County through the election process. This is why we started a “get involved” program in our group---simply put “GET INVOLVED”. That means you and me, as residents of our county, have to run for office at all levels of our government, so we can stop the federal takeover at the grassroots level.
The group presented a strongly worded resolution against the creation of more wetlands to our commissioners last fall and the voters approved that position by an overwhelming 72%. We want to build on that victory and solidarity, so that is why I am asking you for your vote and continued support for Commissioner Position #3 on the Port of Bandon.
My goals as a Port Commissioner are:
1. Rebuild relationships between all the ports & restore port maintenance & dredging funds. My attitude is that if the government defunds one port, they have defunded them all.
2. Use the available authority of the Port Commissioners to stop the expansion of all federal agencies into the Coquille Valley. The Port of Bandon has property adjoining all the property desired by the US Fish & Wildlife Service & that includes the first piece of property requested for acquisition by the Service to expand the Bandon Marsh.
3. Design an annual review process to update all policies & procedures at the port relating to public access of port property & port operations while striving for utmost transparency & accountability in all the decisions made by the commissioners.
I thank the citizens of Coos County for their opposition to the Bandon Marsh Expansion and I look forward to representing you, the people of our county.
Don Chance
Bandon OR
Don with Senator Ron Wyden debating the Bandon Marsh expansion.
