Opinion: Power Dynamics Of Government vs. The Will Of The Electors

U.S. Navy Admiral Hyman Rickover once said “If you are going to sin, sin against God, not the bureaucracy. God will forgive you, but the bureaucracy won’t.” His words today describe the bureaucratic holy war that has engulfed Clackamas County officials by their failing attempt to force Commissioner Mark Shull from office.

The shock of Shull, a Constitutionalist, winning over a sitting dependable partisan facilitator, set the County functionaries topsy-turvy. Although commission seats are non-partisan, a sectarian slant has dominated for years. Shull ran on the promise of having the various departments existing for the needs of the taxpayers, based on Constitutional principles, rather than the taxpayers paying for the ever expanding demands of the departments.

Using the assumption of racist social media postings that Shull wrote before he took office in January 2021, powerful voices are systematically destroying this Commissioner’s reputation and trying to overturn an election. This has pitted the County bureaucracy vs. the will of the majority who voted for him last November.

In a letter signed by 22 of the County department heads to the Commissioners dated January 13, 2021 stated “In all the power dynamics of the employees here in the County, those of us at the top of that structure have the most responsibility to raise our voice.” When one goes to the County website that gives job descriptions of all its employees no position has “power dynamics” as a function.

Leading up to the censure resolution, an array of city, county, state public employees, and even one congressman wrote about their disgust, anguish, hurt, and dismay over what Mr. Shull wrote on social media before he took office. Numbers of non-profits chimed in.

The Commissioners, themselves, during the censure comments on January 14, 2021, some barely holding back tears, expressed their own experiences, even vicariously, of their pain of racism. The vote was solemnly taken. It was unanimous. Shull had to go now!

Immediately after the Commission censure, on the same day, County Administrator Schmidt emotionally spoke on video addressing all County employees. He praised the department heads saying he was proud. He applauded the Commission for standing up in doing the right thing. Before the censure he wrote the Commission for “help to set the tone for our employees and the public.” He got it. What followed was BLM attire and posters on display in County offices. “Getting rid of one white supremacist at a time- your life depends on it” was part of the logo on a Housing Department letterhead.

Commissioner Sonya Fischer grabbed the baton for the Commissioners and then week after week spewed vindictive accusations at him. A large public employee union demanded his resignation. Soon after, it gave Fischer’s campaign an unexplained $10,000 contribution. Volunteer committees inserted their own condemning of Mr. Shull as an unscripted part of their agenda. Members of the Budget Committee failed in an attempt to strip Shull of his salary. The Veteran’s committee had emotionally wounded members, one after the other, condemning Shull. The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee demanded his resignation. Some on this committee hadn’t read Mr. Shull’s comments and weren’t in a mood of comity. As one said, “Let’s not get into the forgive-and-forget trap.”

On June 1, 2021 the Commission struck again by suddenly removing Shull from his committee liaison duties. He attempted to introduce a vaccine ban resolution for discussion. The Commission as a whole accused him of racist terminology by him using Jim Crow laws as examples of oppression. All discussion stopped on this subject. This was in spite of weeks of citizens coming forward demanding that the Commission take a stand on the draconian demands coming from Salem.

The public is being manipulated into believing that one Commissioner’s election would destroy established norms of government. The entrenched system is focusing on advancing a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion. It then is easier to curry ideological favor, and create busy work rather than having to explain past failures and lack of performance on current issues.

So here we are, eight months from when the censure and isolation of Shull started. We have experienced an unprecedented stressful time with Covid lock-down mandates, and riots and destruction, out of control fires, and freezing weather. This has caused children stuck at home, jobs and businesses lost, and yet to be measured millions of dollars loss and personal hardship in our area. Still, the Commission cannot find its voice to create a vision of a secure and desirable place to live for its citizens.

The Great Sin of Shull’s election was that it would expose how the governing system is its own self-serving habitat, dedicated to nourishing its own interests. To those in County who impose the “power dynamics” of government, Shull is an intruder. His election demands fiscal accountability. To the electors who support him, he is the People’s Commissioner.