(This was Richard Lee's First Statement On The News Release Of The Recall Effort To Unseat Him)Richard Lee's statement to NCO and KAST -“As a lifelong resident of Clatsop County I truly believe I represent the silent majority of constituents who want and deserve economic growth, affordable housing, and family wage jobs, along with a fiscally responsible government in a livable and friendly community that your children, my children and our grand-children can continue to live in and enjoy. I am committed to this philosophy.”
Below is the content of his current site:
Click Here to read about the Motive Behind the Recall, an article by Tom Freel?
Richard Lee is being wrongfully accused. If you look at the accusations put forward by the group attempting to re-call Richard Lee, there is not a single factual assertion that can be substantiated.
Here are the Facts:
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.
FACT: The County Commissioner’s hired manager is responsible for hiring consultants and attorneys, not the County Commission. The Board of Commissioners is presented findings from professionals on both sides of an issue, and then the Board makes a determination on the facts presented to them.
Accusation #2: Undermining common values, adopted plans, established policies, and regulations of the County.
FACT: These are tied to the responsibilities of the County Manager along with the entire Board, not an individual County Commissioner. There is no substance here and there are no specifics.
Accusation #3: Failing to be open and transparent in decision-making and development of policy, violating the spirit of the public meetings law.
FACT: An outright lie. These accusations are rooted in past political dealings with the DA and a group who seem to be working in collusion to oust Lee.
Accusation #4: Ignoring and failing to respond to the advice and concerns of paid staff, volunteer committees, and the public.
FACT: The accusers are not willing to be specific and are using these kinds of issues to paint a picture that is not true. Of course, Richard Lee is not in agreement with everyone he comes into contact with, but he has always been honest and forthright.
Accusation #5: Manipulating the membership of the Planning Commission in order to control the Planning Commission’s decisions and actions.
FACT: 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. Volunteer members for advisory committees are appointed by the full board of Commissioners, not a single Commissioner.
Accusation #6: Endangering the public and disregarding public safety by failing to require funding guarantees for emergency services and personnel from major industrial proposals.
FACT: This falls outside the scope of work of a Commissioner and is an outrageous claim that is simply not true. 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. Period.
Accusation #7: Creating a divisive environment that is acrimonious and counter-productive in doing the public’s business.
FACT: These views are from a small group of extremists and have been put forward maliciously and without merit for political gain. The accusers have no facts or substantiation or fact to back their claim.
Richard Lee is being Unfairly Attacked and Accused.Don’t Let Extreme Activists Get Away With it.
No comments:
Post a Comment