Opinion
When we last left the Board of County Commissioners (BCC), the gang that
couldn’t shoot straight invited the Villages at Mt. Hood Board to a policy
session on Sept. 6.

At that point in time, it was quite possible the BCC had awakened from its
somnambulant state and was willing to recognize the Mountain community as
actually being in Clackamas County.

Our expectations remained guarded, as the BCC had lowered the bar so far
regarding rational thought. The reasons resembled a train wreck that had
stacked up over a three-month period.

Consider the following, which led to this derailment:
The BCC did not approve of the way the Villages at Mt. Hood conducted an
election. (This, from the BCC having corrupted a previous Villages election
when its liaison, Christine Roth, stopped the balloting one hour early when the
desired results [her desired results apparently] had been attained.)
Consequently, the BCC dissolved the Board.

When faced with the possibility it couldn’t actually do that, the BCC changed
the nomenclature, putting the Villages Board on “hiatus.”

Villages Chair George Wilson, his attorney, and Board Director Carol Burk
reacted to the insult, prodding County staff to agree to mediation – with the
mediator, of course, an employee of the county.

A Memorandum of Understanding was reached during the mediation, with
County staff recommending the BCC to allow Wilson et al. to move forward
with a Villages election.

This was followed by the Sept. 6 policy session in which by a 4-1 vote, the
BCC ignored the memorandum (from its own staff), and returned to Step 2,
above, and dissolved the Board – again.

Wilson, refusing to be cowed, responded by announcing an emergency Town
Hall meeting scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Oct 11, in the
Hunchback Room of the Resort at the Mountain.

“Mt. Hood area residents are outraged with the actions and behavior of the
BCC regarding their handling of the Villages issue,” Wilson wrote in an email
to the BCC and County staff. “The BCC has demonstrated their willingness to
dissolve an established board of 10 years, thereby ignoring and disallowing
our democratic system to work in the manner in which it was intended.”
Wilson is urging Mountain residents to rally to the cause against the BCC by
attending the Town Hall.

“We plan to encourage voters to protest the actions of the BCC by voting in
opposition and forcing them to respect the wishes of local residents,” Wilson
told The Mountain Times.

“Please be advised our goal will be to encourage residents to cast a
resounding “NO” vote for the dissolution process, and force our government
representatives to pay attention to the needs and the will of the people,”
Wilson added.

It should be noted that the BCC actions, the four votes for dissolution of the
Villages Board (Commissioners John Ludlow, Jim Bernard, Tootie Smith,
Martha Schrader) provides no evidence of a rational thought process. To the
contrary, it’s quite obvious this is a personal dislike for Board Chair Wilson.
Listen to the Sept. 6 policy session at

www.clackamas.us/bcc/presentation.html and decide for yourself.

These are some of the commissioners’ comments:
“They are well represented by the Rhody CPO.”
“Leaders have thrown wrenches in the process. It’s time to put this to rest.”
“It’s in our DNA to self-govern.”
“The leadership is not there any more. It’s gone rogue.”
“They are burrs under our saddle.”

Mountain resident and business owner Rick Applegate was the first Chair of
the Village Board, and although by his own admission, has not always agreed
with Wilson on everything, rallied to his defense and admonition of the BCC.
“The tape (from Sept. 6 policy session) shows several commissioners’ extreme
hatred of Mr. George Wilson,” Applegate said. “They don’t have the gumption
to name him by name, but they slander him and everyone knows they are
talking about him when they make comments about the ‘one person.’”

Applegate added that the decision to dissolve is driven by the commissioners’
complete dislike, and possibly hatred, of Wilson.

“In this, I support George one hundred percent,” he said. “His tenacious
advocacy for our community is undeniable and honorable.”

It shouldn’t be required, but as a reminder, Wilson has been duly elected to
the Villages Board by Mountain residents. This stubborn fact has slipped
through an I-5 corridor crack.

In the policy session, county counsel reminded the BCC that a Town Hall
Meeting is required before the actual dissolution takes hold. Commissioners
got a good laugh out of this one, claiming the Town Hall would be held in
Oregon City, not on the Mountain. One commissioner can be heard saying
“Anyone can pack a Town Hall.”

Actually that’s not quite true. Not “anyone.” But Wilson can.

It should be noted that Paul Savas was the lone BCC vote against dissolution.
“If the (Mountain) community wants to dissolve, it’s up to them to decide, not
us,” he said during the session. “If the community wants to dissolve, so be it.”
We applaud Savas for standing up to the corrosive forces that run amok at the
BCC.

Finally, we urge all concerned Mountain residents to attend the Oct. 11 Town
Hall. It is incumbent on us to continue the drum beat of democracy – a
concept that has slipped from the grasp of Ludlow, Bernard, Smith and
Schrader.