COOS BAY — The “cold war” between Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Coos County Commissioner John Griffith is over.

There is no clear winner. There is no clear loser.

But South Coast residents now have representation — the representation they’ve asked for repeatedly — on the Ocean Policy Advisory Council. On Friday, Kulongoski appointed Griffith to the council, effective Jan. 25, for a four-year term.

“I don’t look at this as a win and a loss,” Sen. Joanne Verger, D-Coos Bay, said from Salem on Friday. “There’s not a backing down. There’s an agreement that we need to move forward.”

The battle between Kulongoski and Griffith goes back to before Kulongoski was elected to state office, but it’s been no secret that Griffith supporters have repeatedly asked the governor that he be reinstated to the council for the south county seat.

The issue of Griffith’s reinstatement came to a head at the Nov. 30 OPAC meeting in Gold Beach, when the council was discussing moving forward on marine reserves, off-limits areas in the ocean.

Council members voted to stop the majority of public outreach plans until the South County seat issue was resolved — one way or the other. Elected and appointed officials and residents repeatedly said during the public comment session that they wanted Griffith in that seat.

The Coastal Caucus heard that message loud and clear, too. It sent at least one letter to the governor asking for Griffith’s reappointment, but it wasn’t until Verger and fellow Democrat, Rep. Arnie Roblan, also of Coos Bay, sat down with Griffith that things started to change.

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It’s difficult to talk about Griffith without including the words “opinionated” or “controversial.” He has opposed marine reserves or the process by which they are being considered at OPAC in the past.

That kind of attitude was part of what started the cold war in the first place, but this is where it ends, Verger and Roblan said.

“I felt that our discussion with him, his positions — while strong — would be handled in a fair and democratic way,” Verger said.

To both Verger and Roblan, the democratic process is of utmost importance. Everyone should be at the table when it comes to making decisions or recommendations about major issues, such as marine reserves.

The two then went to Kulongoski and requested — again — that Griffith be reappointed.

“If we want any process to work, we need to have all the members,” Roblan said Friday. “It really came to an impasse.”

And Kulongoski was clear in his letter.

“I take the work of the Ocean Policy Council very seriously, and it is well-known that in the past I have been resistant to your appointment,” Kulongoski wrote. “However, I am unwilling to let that reluctance stand in the way of the important tasks before the council. Therefore, I am appointing you with faith that your service will be rendered in a fair and balanced manner.”

On Friday, Griffith said he was surprised. He said he had not yet seen a copy of the letter from Kulongoski, but said that the discussion before the holidays was good.

“We had a good chat. Open communication,” he said.

But his thoughts, too, were primarily about the process.

“I’m really glad the governor fulfilled the wishes of the south counties,” he said, noting that he had the support of the commissioners in Lane, Douglas, Coos and Curry counties.

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OPAC members hadn’t seen the letter yet on Friday. They didn’t hear about Griffith’s reappointment until they began getting calls from the media.

“That is awesome!” OPAC Chairman Scott McMullen said from Astoria.

The tribal seat on OPAC was empty, too, but now has been filled by Robert Kentta, of Siletz, with the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz.

“I’m pleased that the issue has been resolved and that OPAC is now able to fully function with a full complement of members, including the South Coast,” McMullen said.

Other council members were pleased, too, and planned to move ahead with work on marine reserves and wave energy when OPAC meets in Astoria on Monday and Tuesday.

McMullen said he didn’t have any specific plans for Griffith. He will be treated as any other council member would be, he said.

Some people might wonder whether Griffith has already made up his mind with regard to marine reserves.

No, he said, noting that he worked with a shellfish biologist in the 1990s to establish the Gregory Point research area, near Bastendorff Beach.

“If the coast and the affected stakeholders want something and they decide it’s justified, then it could work out,” he said. “If they’re ignored, it can’t.”

The integrity of the OPAC process had been in question by residents in the past, due to the standoff between Kulongoski and Griffith.

Now the council can begin work in earnest.

“One person should not hold up the process,” Verger said. “I believe that all of us working in public life, whether we are appointed or elected, should have appropriate behavior in the democratic process.”