Reporter’s Notebook

CONFUSION AT THE AUCTION BLOCK

I find that as a reporter, there is nothing I like better than being out among the people chasing a story. It’s even better when nobody has a clue what is going on.
I love this for the same reason I love inclement weather – it brings strangers together with a wild shared experience.

Fitting for the way I spent Friday morning, trying to stay warm outside the Clark County Courthouse. You see, there was to be a major property auction – the failed Two Creeks luxury condo project developed by Rick Bowler and his wife Marilee Thompson – and the idea of a courthouse-steps auction was too novel for me to miss.

However, details on this would-be shindig were scarce. It took five phone calls to track down the tentative time of 9 a.m. So there I was, in front of the courthouse all by my lonesome when I noticed several other folks with confused looks on their faces. We didn’t know when the action would happen or even where.

All the while, rumors were flying.

You see, Bowler and Thompson now owe Columbia Credit Union more than $21 million for Two Creeks, near Camas Meadows Golf Course. So as part of the judgment against Bowler and Thompson, the Sheriff’s Office must auction off the 29 unsold units – which likely will be auctioned as a chunk, rather than unit by unit.

Word from the Sheriff’s Office is that CCU will likely be the first bidder up to the plate because the credit union is eligible for what’s called a credit sale – meaning that if the credit union wins the auction, it doesn’t have to pay because it is already out the money loaned to Bowler and Thompson. Then CCU has control of the property.

It turns out, many of my compatriots Friday morning were from the grassroots group Save Columbia Credit Union, also there to watch the action – if there would be any action. Because at 9:45 a.m., we were told to go home. The auction had been postponed, which is also what we were told at 1:30 p.m.

What does this spell for CCU and Bowler and Thompson? Only time will tell.
But one thing is for sure: If you want to get rid of property, make it clear when and where to show up with your checkbook.

-Megan Patrick-Vaughn can be reached at mpatrick@vbjusa.com