Samuelson Sells Astoria Plumbing And Tile! - Just More Perception Reinforcement of "Them Against "Us" You think? Read This!

From KAST Coastwatch Blog

Nasty People
Clatsop County Commissioner Ann Samuelson is selling her business. She was on her way toclose the deal today when she called to tell me why she was doing this. Ann told me she is entirely committed to her job as a commissioner and decided it was time to get out of the plumbing contracting business because the people that work for her were being targeted by those who don't like some of the decisions she has made as an elected official.

Yes, I've seen the list of CCFOG members who are seeking to dismantle county government.

Those who would "agree" to have their names made public.

I've decided some research is in order. It will take some time so please be patient.

The personal attack on me this morning by the group spokesman Rodger Rocka, followed closely by a call from a commissioner telling me she was giving up her family business to protect her employees from these kind of attacks tells me that regardless of what this group may say about their intentions their actionsspeak volumes.

I certainly don't wish to see anyone from this group affecting public policy orattempting a run for office at this point.Neither should you.

Commissioner Sells Business -From Ann Samuelson Explaining Her Reason

The following is the text of an email I recieved from Clatsop County Commissioner Ann Samuelson which clarifies her position.

Hi Tom, I appreciated talking with you the yesterday morning regarding my sale of the plumbing business.

I just want to clarify what I wanted to convey.

I am concerned that my employees "would have been impacted" by how I am treated as an elected official, i.e. their income etc. This was one of the reasons on my list of why I needed to sell at this point in my life.

I have made a commitment to Clatsop County and I have three years left in that commitment.

You can talk to past Commissioners who have businesses of any type and many will tell you they experience a negative effect on their businesses.

Because what I did pay a living wage and benefits on an hourly basis, I was becoming very concerned over the last year about the impact this group behavior in the community would have on others in my life, thus the solution was to sell, and this was part of the reason for that decision.

Further, to protect that as best I could most of our work was not done in Clatsop County, and that had become exhausting as well, I did that because I wanted to limit mine and my employees exposure to the behavior we are seeing from this group.

That is proving to be a real concern, in that I have been turned in to the Secretary of State for laundering money for a campaign, by a fellow Commissioner, and the head of the democratic party in Clatsop County (a false allegation, thrown out by the Secretary of State).

Note that I hold a non-partisan seat as a Commissioner, but I am the only democrat on the BOCC. Currently a Freedom of Information Act request has been submitted to the county building codes department by former Commissioner Helen Westbrook regarding any dealings I have had with them regarding permitting.

The bullying tactics being used here against Mr. Lee, and that I have experienced, are certainly unpleasant but I know and hear daily from supporters of the work we are doing, so it doesn't have the impact I think they hope for.

This is apparently the political climate of our community, it is a climate that is exhausting, time consuming, and very negative, making it challenging to run a business under these circumstances. Know that I will continue to do the work I was elected to do.Thanks so much for the work you do to keep folks informed.Ann
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