North Coast Oregon

Articles listed under the tag: Richard Lee

First Commissioner on Recall Committee's Hit List Vows to Fight

by Staff

I’ve spent my life in Clatsop County as a dairy farmer, small businessman and community volunteer. I believe in public service, which is why I ran for the Clatsop County Commission and have been proud to serve the community I love as commissioner.

One of the risks of public service is that you won’t please everyone, but I stand by my record which I believe represents the majority view of County residents.

The [recall] group says other commissioners should take no comfort from the fact that only Richard Lee was the subject of today’s action.

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On the Jill Goldsmith Report

by Tryan Hartill

After reading over the Goldsmith report I Have a few words of note. This report was done in response to the Jennifer Bunch letter. I would put the thing on NCO, but I think I would burn up my scanner…...

• The report is very harsh on Lynda Lee.

• It reviewed the resignations of Bert Stone and Stewart Scarbrough. (Building Officials) And found that no one, including Lee, pressured them for any favors regarding Lee’s Land-use.

• Joe Gamm’s article on the report is actually fairly accurate.

• It mentions a couple posts on Dried Salmon Matters. (Read Below for more)

• It clears up the natural gas permit issue. The house sits on tax lot #1000….as does part of the golf course which has been “red-flagged”.

Jennifer Bunch Letter Re: Richard Lee - Get it here First

by Tryan Hartill

The letter has just been released to the public. I haven’t even read it yet. It’s a bit big so it’s buried underneath he fold.

Building Permit Conflict Gives Lee Family Chills

by Carrie Bartoldus

Denial of Permit Breaks “ Camel’s Back”

Astoria, Ore – The Moore family returned from a Christmas trip to a cold home. After a week of trying to repair the faulty oil heater Mike Moore made the decision to go to gas.

When the plumbing company went to the Clatsop County Building Department to get a permit for the house they were informed that permits could not be issued to that residence.

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BREAKING: Clatsop County Receives Tort Claim Notice From Lee Family

by Staff

Astoria, OR – A letter informing the County of a tort claim notice was sent February 4, 2008, giving notice that the Land Use Planning Division of the Clatsop County Department of Transportation and Development is being investigated.

A lawyer for Linda and her husband Richard Lee, a member of the Board of Clatsop County Commissioners, wrote that the Land Use Planning Division has attempted to place conditions and restrictions on his clients that, “appear to be unlawful, unwarranted, and in excess of the Department’s statutory authority.” The lawyer goes on to say that the Planning division appeared to single the Lees out for special treatment by attempting to place additional restrictions on them that do not appear to be placed on similar businesses.

The investigation is ongoing and a tort claim merely gives notice that there is a possibility that a suit may follow in the future. It is sincerely hoped, the lawyer clarified, “that this is simply a case of a few planners who have misread or misinterpreted the County’s development code.” The letter does go on to acknowledge that there is open animosity against the Lees among certain individuals in the division and perhaps this has manifested itself by imposing “unwarranted and unlawful” restrictions on the Lees’ businesses.

The letter further states that because the division has attempted to impose the restrictions on the Lees it has delayed their business plans and interfered with their relationship with potential clients and customers which is a violation of Oregon Law, which states that a party may not employ improper means or improper motives to interfere with the business relationships of others (Kalgaard v. Lindo Mar Adventure Club, Ltd. 147 Or. App. 61, 65, 934 P. 2d 637, 639 (1997)). The letter concludes that at this time, it appears that this is “exactly what has happened.”

When reached for comment, Richard Lee said that it had reached a stage with the Planning Division in which simple discussion was not resolving any issues and this step was the next logical one to take when at this type of impasse.

The 20%

by Tryan Hartill

Inevitably there are two sides to every issue. No where does this hold more true than in the world of politics. Every main stream idea has 2 opinions. Whether it be health care, land use, recalls or the candidates themselves. And each side usually has at least 40% of the population agreeing with them at any given time. The rest is what I call the 20%ers. These are the folks that can never be sure one way or the other on any given issue. And really don’t totally make up their minds until they have to. Many times you will hear them be referred to as “flip-floppers” or “wishy-washy”. I admit that I am a 20%er. I don’t know how this came to be, or why, but I really can’t make up my mind on any given issue until I toss my ballot into the election box. Another 20%er is Tom Freel, although I have a feeling some of his “flip-flopping” has to do with enticing people to listen to his show….”stirring the pot” he calls it.

A while back I had this conversation with Oregon Guy. He used this analogy: Everyone is jumping on each side of the boat…..you think it’s going to tip over and move from side to side to make sure it doesn’t.

Political Campaigns

At the start of every political issue with a “up or down vote” at the end, the 20% group is what every campaign should worry about. No matter how much time or effort is put into a given issue, 80% of the population already has their mind made up. The trick for any campaign is to convince a majority of the 20% group that your side is the right choice.

No where is this more glaring than the LNG issue. A poll was taken a while back on whether or not locals support LNG on the Columbia. The results were 42-40% in favor. This poll was taken about 2 years after the LNG issue first came up. The result of this poll shows that neither side really convinced anyone at all. If it was taken the day LNG was revealed to the public, chances are it would have been the exact same result.

In the near future we will have another issue ending in a “up or down vote” which involves Richard Lee. As of now it is about 40% in favor and 40% against recalling Mr. Lee.

Talking to some of the other 20%ers out there, they almost all lean toward voting no on the recall, as do I. The main reason is because there just isn’t enough “dirt”. All the reasons given are all issues that the voters took into account when they voted for Lee 20 months ago. We knew he had questionable land-use issues, we knew he would do anything in his power to welcome LNG, we knew he was against the D.A. and liked “studies” to put issues off for a while. We all knew it and still a majority voted for him. I didn’t like some of these back in 2006 and that is why I voted for Cindy Price. But as of now there is no way I am going to undermine the will of the voters on issues that even someone living in a cave knew were going to happen.

There very well may be “dirt” out there that will be revealed, in fact I’m hearing a whisper here and there about it almost daily. I could easily change my mind if a major issue came about that seriously undermined our County Government’s ability to function properly.

For the sake of CCFog members and supporters, and their ability to bring future issues to the voters, the dirt better come fast and furious, otherwise they are looking at a 60-40 defeat at the ballot box.

CCFOG - First report on Lee recall petition signatures

by Tryan Hartill

News Release via ccfog.org

In their first sixteen hours of petitioning, the group seeking recall of Clatsop County Commissioner Richard H. Lee has collected 78% of the signatures needed to bring about a recall election.

One petition volunteer said it was a little uncomfortable standing in the rain and cold in front of the post office Saturday, but she said the positive response made up for it.

Because of the progress made Friday and Saturday, members of Clatsop Citizens for Open Government think they may not have to go door to door as had been anticipated.

Instead, they plan to have petition volunteers in front of the Astoria Post Office again on Thursday and Friday from 10 AM until 3 PM, to see if that’s enough to complete the job.

The petition signing by District 3 residents wasn’t the only support the CCFOG volunteers got over the weekend. Dozens of residents from outside of Lee’s district, who weren’t eligible to sign, made a point of stopping to say, “Thank you for doing this!”

Once signatures are turned in and verified, a recall election would take place within about 45 days.

Contact: Roger Rocka, volunteer media contact, 325-8618, ccfoginfo@gmail.com

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