Lee Dubunks Accusations - Lee's Debunkment Debuncked

Anonymous said...
Richard Lee's well-financed political machine, complete with push polls is claiming that the accusations against him are not true. The following is taken exactly from his website; http://www.richardleefacts.com/

Accusation: Richard Lee has harmed the future of Clatsop County and its residents through the following actions:Accusation #1: Squandering public funds by choosing to hire planning and management consultants and expensive attorneys but disregarding their professional advice and findings.

LEE: The County Commissioner's hired manager is responsible for these decisions, not the County Commission. The legal and consultant conclusions are balanced against other facts and information presented to the commissioners.

FACT: Lee has been the Chair of the Commission and the chief boss of the County Manager from 2005-2007.The county has paid for studies of the Health Department which were ignored, workload studies of the DAs office which were ignored, and most recently disregarded the professional opinion of both the county planners and the specially hired consultants concerning zoning for an LNG terminal. There have rarely been actual discussions at Board meetings chaired by Lee. It's all decided in advance by avoiding public meetings law by meeting privately with the county manager and one other commissioner at a time._____________________

Accusation #2: Undermining common values, adopted plans, established policies, and regulations of the County.

LEE: These are tied to the responsibilities of the County Manager not an individual county commissioner. There is no substance here and there are no specifics.

FACT: The report issued by all four regular county lawyers and another lawyer hired just to deal with all the legal problems Lee has created say that "Commissioner Richard Lee is a land developer who has not complied with conditional use permits and letters from the Planning Department staff requesting compliance, and who has issues of non-compliance with the Building Codes Department. He is a resistant and non-compliant Planning Department customer. Commissioner Lee and his wife have been confrontational in private dealings with Planning Staff and Building Code Officials"_____________________

Accusation #3: Failing to be open and transparent in decision-making and development of policy, violating the spirit of the public meetings law.

LEE: An outright lie. These accusations are rooted in past political wars with the DA and environmental extremist who seem to be working in collusion to oust Lee.

FACT: Lee handpicked members of both the budget and planning committee to carry out personal and business agendas. He has hated the DA since he was prosecuted for game violations in the early 90's and later for running an unlicensed puppy mill and was prosecuted for refusing to pay the county dog license fees. Lee rarely says anything in Commission meetings, instead meeting with certain other commissioners in bars and behind closed doors with the county manager._____________________

Accusation #4: Ignoring and failing to respond to the advice and concerns of paid staff, volunteer committees, and the public.

LEE: The accusers are not willing to be specific and are using these kind of issues to paint a picture that is not true. Of course, Richard Lee isn't in agreement with everyone he comes into contact with, but he has always been honest and forthright.

FACT: Lee was barely re-elected, winning by only 37 votes. He makes it clear the other half of the voters don't count. His district voted FOR Measure 4-123 yet Lee has led the attack on the DA. The County Counsel's report also says:"In spite of Richard Lee's leadership role in County Government and in the community, rather than act in a matter which is above reproach and which reflects a higher standard, Richard and Lynda Lee by their words and conduct appear to seek special treatment and favors to which others would not be entitled. Richard Lee's history of dealings with the County and Lynda Lee's recent behavior has escalated the situation. Richard Lee has hired counsel to represent him on issues arising from any "hostile workplace" allegations. The Lee development remains out of compliance with the law, and at this time they have not indicated any willingness to correct the past areas of neglect or non-compliance. Several potential legal issues related to potential litigation involving the County are raised by the circumstances, including: Wrongful Discharge under Common Law. "____________________

Accusation #5: Manipulating the membership of the Planning Commission in order to control the Planning Commission's decisions and actions.

LEE: Making leadership decisions about Planning Committee members goes with the turf. There is no truth that any decisions related to replacing any Planning Commission member was done for any other reason than for the good of the County.

FACT: Lee went out of his way to remove two planning commissioners who were not in line with his plans for development. Lee frequently attends Planning Commission meetings even though the County Manager discourages County Commissioners from attending for risk of prejudicing the Planning Commission proceedings.__________________________

Accusation #6: Endangering the public and disregarding public safety by failing to require funding guarantees for emergency services and personnel from major industrial proposals.

LEE: An outrageous claim that is simply a lie. First of all, no single County Commissioner could ever be personally responsible for such actions since it takes a majority of the commission to ratify any policy. In addition, the management of county policies and administrative duties is the responsibility of the County Manager. Perioid.(sic)

FACT: Lee has made it clear he's out to "get" the DA who has been elected county-wide 4 times. He has not supported public safety issues and has attacked the Sheriff and the DA repeatedly. As Chair of the Commission he made sure that the first cuts in the county budget would come out of the DA's office. Lee campaigned for two other commissioners who regularly vote with him on virtually every issue.He voted to make the Clatsop DA the lowest paid DA in Oregon and personally bought thousands of dollars of advertising falsely claiming that Measure 4-123 (which passed in his district) would make the Clatsop DA the highest paid in the state. The truth was if 4-123 had passed the Clatsop DA would have been anywhere between the 10th and 17th highest paid DA out of 36.__________________________

Accusation #7: Creating a divisive environment that is acrimonious and counter-productive in doing the publics business.

LEE: These are a small group of extremist views. What is more divisive and harmful to community good will than a re-call petition which is put forward maliciously and without merit for political gain. The accusers have no facts or substantiation or fact to back their claim.

FACT: Extremist views? Anyone who doesn't go along with Lee's program is apparently an extremist. Under Lee so-called "leadership" the Clatsop County Commission has been called a joke by journalists and others outside of Clatsop County. The very fact that so many voters feel he's doing such a terrible job is evidence of how divisive Lee is. Lee has hired a lawyer to SUE the county he claims to serve.