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VOL. 141
NO. 28
8 Pages
Wednesday, July 13, 2022
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Recalls launched against Commissioners
Lindsay and Doherty
Will need 564 signatures for a recall election
The special fair insert
to be included in the August
10 issue of the Heppner
Gazette-Times is seeking
your stories related to 4-H,
fair, rodeo, etc. Businesses
are also invited to submit
their ads for this special
publication.
The deadline for ar-
ticles and ads is Tuesday,
August 2 at 5 p.m. Ads may
be submitted via email to
graphics@rapidserve.net
and stories to editor@rap-
idserve.net. For additional
information contact the G-T
at 541-676-9228.
Volunteers pick up signatures sheets to begin gathering the necessary 564 to force a recall
election. -Photo by David Sykes.
are not held in accordance the fire and health districts
with public open meeting hiring lawyers over the
law requirements. Doherty dispute. Hughes has been
does not cooperate with to several county com-
other public and private mission meetings asking
agencies to the detriment for the license, with both
of Morrow County citizens. Doherty and Lindsay so
His decisions regarding far not granting it. Some
Morrow County
members of the au-
employees have de-
dience at Monday’s
moralized county
meeting did question
employees and has
Hughes’ motivations
been detrimental to
in seeking the license.
a functional county
The refusal has
government. Deci-
caused Hughes and
sions are not made
the Fire District to
in the best interest
become involved in
Commissioner
of county taxpayers Jim Doherty the recall effort. And
resulting in fiscal
although their reasons
detriment to the county,” are not stated on the filed
Spicer concluded. Contact- petitions, he and members
ed by the Gazette-Times of the district were at the
Doherty said he had no meeting picking up sig-
comment.
nature petitions to get the
Members of the public, recall on the ballot.
including Lindsay support-
According to County
ers, were allowed to speak Clerk Bobbi Childers, the
and at times the discussion petitioners will have 90
got heated, with Spicer days in which to gather
repeatedly asking partic- 564 valid signatures of
ipants to be brief, allow registered county voters
others to speak and not in- and return them to her of-
terrupt. Also, some people fice. The clerk then has
from Boardman and Irrigon 30 days to validate the
attended the meeting. At signatures and make sure
one point a member of the they are legitimate. The
crowd did call for a sheriff clerk will then inform the
deputy to come to the meet- recalled commissioner of
ing, however he did not the validated petition and
arrive until the meeting was the commissioner then has
almost over and there were five days in which they can
no physical confrontations resign, or a county-wide
at the gathering which was recall election must be held
held at the local pizza shop within 35 days. Petition
across the street from the gatherers have indicated
courthouse in Heppner.
they are shooting to gather
Also speaking at the 700 signatures to ensure
gathering was Boardman they meet the validation
Rural Fire District Chief threshold.
Michael Hughes, whose
According to records
organization has a separate not only has a county com-
complaint against the two missioner never been re-
commissioners. Hughes’ called in the 137-year-old
organization is in a dispute history of Morrow County,
with both the county com- but a recall effort has also
mission and the Morrow not even been successfully
County Medical District initiated against a commis-
about ambulance service in sioner. Morrow County was
the Boardman area.
created in 1885 from the
Hughes says he wants western portion of Uma-
his organization to be able tilla County and a small
to provide ambulance ser- portion of eastern Wasco
vice in north Morrow Coun- County. It was named after
ty, however the county Jackson Lee Morrow, an
has so far not granted him early settler in the area and
that license. The issue has member of the Legislative
become involved over dis- Assembly when the county
cussions of authority and was created.
state regulations with both
If the recall election is
successful against Lind-
say she would be removed
from office and the remain-
ing two board members
would choose a successor
to fill out the remainder
of her term, which expires
in January 2023. Heppner
resident David Sykes was
recently elected in the pri-
mary to position number
three, Lindsay’s current
spot. Lindsay had not run
for election in position three
but chose instead to run in
the recent election for po-
sition number two. She lost
by 27 votes to Irrigon resi-
dent Jeff Wenholz. Current
position two commissioner
Don Russell chose not to
seek re-election.
If a recall is successful
against Jim Doherty, he
would be removed from
office position number
one, and the remaining two
commissioners would then
choose his successor. That
person would then serve out
the remainder of Doherty’s
two years he has left of a
four-year term.
If both Lindsay and
Doherty are recalled leav-
ing only one commission-
er, then it appears Oregon
law says the governor will
pick one person to fill one
of the spots, and the then
those two commissioners
would choose someone to
fill the empty third seat.
“If vacancies exist at the
same time in all but one of
such offices, the Governor
shall appoint one qualified
person who, with the in-
cumbent serving in office,
Sign at the meeting
shall appoint another, each for many years; whereby
to perform the duties of the county brings in third-party
offices until the vacancies professionals to investigate
are filled.” (ORS 236.225) or to provide counsel in
At Monday’s meeting circumstances when em-
copies of both the Doherty ployees desire to disclose
and Lindsay signature peti- sensitive information with-
tions were made available out fear of reprisal or po-
for petition gatherers to take litical misdirection. Third
with them. The meeting party legal and personnel
lasted about 45 minutes, services are common in
however people remained both private and public
later discussing county is- sector businesses as a way
to create safe environments
sues.
for employees and to ensure
Lindsay Statement
“I have read the peti- an unbiased and confiden-
tioners charges against my tial process. “
“In the recent
service and would like
matters, commis-
to address the primary
sioners relied upon
complaint, my vote
the advice of five
in the recent action
professional and
to dismiss county ad-
licensed attorneys
ministrator. I respect
including those
petitioners desire to
specialized in labor
support their friend
law. Additionally,
and family and can
empathize that the Commission- c o m m i s s i o n e r s ,
as part of normal
lack of available in- er Melissa
process, rely upon
formation and access Lindsay
county counsel, Jus-
to facts is hard to un-
derstand and frustrating. I tin Nelson for legal advice
am writing to explain that on public meeting laws.
it is my duty as an elected The county’s labor pre-loss
official to follow legal advi- company serves as labor
sors and heed public meet- counsel for 98 percent of
ing protocol, all of which cities in Oregon and 78
left a lot of questions about percent of counties. Review
was provided confidentially
the personnel decisions.
“County commission- to all three commissioners.
ers are duty bound to not The parties were provided
to disclose any details of with policy and facts under
the legal work around per- policies.
“What added to the
sonnel, outside of the public
record. Personnel decisions
follow the protocol that
-See RECALL/PAGE SIX
county has had in place
E L E VAT E YO U R A DV E N T U R E
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
NEW
2022
FOR
A meeting called to
discuss the recent firing of
county administrator Dar-
rell Green, and at the same
time launch a recall effort
against Commissioners
Melissa Lindsay and Jim
Doherty, was held in Hep-
pner Monday night.
The 30 people attend-
ing heard from recall peti-
tioners Corol Mitchell and
Annetta Spicer, both of
Heppner, on reasons for ini-
tiating the recall effort. The
crowd later also heard from
Boardman Rural Fire Chief
Michael Hughes, whose or-
ganization is not sponsoring
either recall petition, but for
different reasons is joining
in on the effort.
Reading from her peti-
tion, filed with the county
clerk last Friday, Mitchell
said Lindsay has violated
the public trust of the people
who elected her. “Commis-
sioner Lindsay has violated
that trust in many ways, one
being by intimidating coun-
ty employees, resulting in
either their firing or leaving
their jobs under duress.
Commissioner Lindsay
has repeatedly exhibited
unprofessional behavior
in her role as a public offi-
cial. Commissioner Lind-
say’s actions have created
county wide disapproval
with other government and
charitable organizations
refusing to listen to them,”
Mitchell said. “The action
of the firing of the Morrow
County Administrator, with
no transparency, refusing
to let the public speak, or
answer the administrators’
questions about why he
was sitting there, made it
clear that in the remaining
time of her tenure, this be-
havior would continue and
could cause added financial
burdens to our county. To
prevent irreversible dam-
age, an immediate recall is
the only answer,” Mitch-
ell’s statement concluded.
Although not in attendance
Lindsay was contacted by
the Gazette-Times for a
statement which is printed
in its entirety below.
Annetta Spicer next
read her statement on the
recall petition she had filed
against Commissioner Jim
Doherty Monday. “Com-
missioner Doherty’s deci-
sions are not in the best in-
terest of the Morrow County
citizens. He is not open and
transparent in his actions
as commissioner, making
decisions in secret and out-
side of public purview and
without the inclusion of the
third county commission-
er,” Spicer told the crowd.
“Commission meetings
for more
information
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