Way Scarff is no activist, just a concerned businessman who understands “Main Street,” the automobile industry and how important a long-standing family-held dealership can be to a tight-knit community.

But when Congressional leaders recently blew smoke about the plight of vulnerable American automakers and the controversial bailout proposal, Scarff had heard enough.

“There seems to be so much misinformation out there, and it burns people like myself,” Scarff said from behind a desk at his Ford dealership on Auburn Way North. “It really hurts when you listen to these senators and the media regarding the domestic auto industry.

“They’re grandstanding … with all the rhetoric,” he added. “They’re short on the truth.”

So much in fact that Scarff crafted a letter to Washington state leaders – Sens. Cantwell and Murray and Reps. Reichert and Adams – urging them to support the financially-troubled industry and look more closely at what the industry, in particular the Ford Motor Co., has done to re-invent itself in the wake of a changing clientele and world economy.

He also mailed a letter to Sen. Richard Shelby, Ala.-R, who considers the federal bailout of the Big Three automakers “a bridge loan to nowhere.”

Scarff is calling Shelby on the carpet for sheer hypocrisy.

“He has such a disdain for ‘government subsidies,’ yet he was the driving force behind incentives given to Honda, Hyundai and Mercedes to build factories in Alabama. Hundreds of millions of dollars, $180,000-plus per job, created in Alabama,” Scarff wrote.

Shelby’s office at least acknowledged it had received the letter, but Scarff doesn’t imagine they will become pen pals anytime soon.

Regardless, Scarff made his point.

Scarff is a third-generation owner and operator of Auburn’s oldest business, a venture that his grandfather began back in 1922. He cares about his business, his people and the community.

And while 2008 and the deepening recession have been hard on many, the year has been especially cruel to dealerships. New and used shops across the country have consolidated, and many have closed, never to return.

Scarff Ford, a popular go-to spot for area customers, intends to stay open. But it is leaner. It has laid off about 25 percent of its workforce.

“We have to survive,” Scarff said. “Since June, it has been quite brutal … but we intend to be here for our customers.”

Despite an uncertain future and a controversial bailout fight on Capitol Hill, Scarff is optimistic.

He is certain about a few things.

Help is needed. He’s for anything that will stimulate a big chunk of the country’s retail sector.

“Bailout? No, it’s a loan,” Scarff said. “And it’s good for the taxpayer.”

As for those leaders who will allow Detroit to go broke, Scarff can’t understand their thinking.

“Is that we need now? To cancel 20 percent of our retail in this country?” Scarff asked.

Some experts predict that if Detroit’s Big Three don’t get the multi-billion-dollar bailout, car and truck prices will shoot up, vehicles will be in short supply and owners of American and Asian cars will find it harder and harder to obtain replacement parts. As far as what’s best for the industry, Scarff says the customer, not Congress or a heavy-handed government task force, should determine what will work.

Politicians have never made good engineers, Scarff said. And he remains skeptical about a federally-appointed car czar.

“These people from Washington (D.C.) haven’t produced anything,” Scarff said.

Still, the future isn’t entirely gloomy. Domestic carmakers still are making safe, competitive, mileage-efficient cars.

Scarff noted that Ford takes great pride in building safe, economical cars and best-selling trucks while keeping an eye on the future. Trucks sales have improved, he said, with the downturn in fuel prices.

The industry is by no means a “dinosaur” as Shelby has suggested.

Ford, alone, has invested $22 billion in research and development of technologies for tomorrow.

These are the facts, Scarff said, not rhetoric, not smoke blowin’. These are good reasons to stand behind the country’s automakers.

And reasons to help the industry regain its feet.

“The future?” Scarff was asked. “I think it’s pretty darn bright.”

Mark Klaas can be reached

at 253-833-0218, ext. 5050,

or mklaas@reporternewspapers.com