Election results for two board positions in the Villages at Mt. Hood town hall
meeting, held Dec. 1 at The Resort at The Mountain were invalidated by the
county later in the month, citing election irregularities. In an email to the
board, Clackamas County Director of Public and Government Affairs Gary
Schmidt explained his decision, including candidate Ben Bliesner not receiving
formal approval, names on sign-in sheets not including addresses, unclear
identification to verify attendees with P.O. boxes were eligible voters and
attendees who claimed they lost their ballot and were given new ballots.

“No one did anything purposefully wrong, especially the Village board
members,” Schmidt told The Mountain Times in a phone interview. “They did
the very best they could, and I feel my staff did the best they could.”

Schmidt noted that per county ordinance county staff organizes and runs the
election for board members in conjunction with the village board, but the staff
liaison was unable to attend the town hall. A county representative was
trained and Schmidt noted the process is “fairly strong,” but there was
confusion at the meeting, including some people taking extra copies of an
unofficial survey that others in attendance believed were extra ballots.

“Because of the doubt that has been created, I feel it is in the best interest in
the Village board and the community to have a new election,” Schmidt said.
A new election will be discussed at the Villages’ board meeting, 4-6 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 5, at the Hoodland Fire District main station, 69634 Hwy. 26 in
Welches. Candidates must receive approval of the board to be placed on the
ballot, while candidates must receive a majority of the ballots cast (50 percent
plus one vote) to be elected. Bliesner and Gina Royall were the two candidates
to appear on the ballot for two open positions.

George Wilson, chair of the board of directors, met with Schmidt to express
his concerns over having the results invalidated.

“Gary (Schmidt) was very clear to point out that this was through no fault of
our own,” Wilson said. “But because there wasn’t a way to validate or
invalidate these accusations, the best thing to do was redo the elections and
have proper county representation.”

Other topics at meeting
The town hall also featured further discussion of a possible name and logo
change for the village, with Wilson citing another website that appears at the
top of internet searches that is not the official village website.

“Most people believe that ... website represents the Villages at Mt. Hood
board, which it does not,” Wilson said.

Wilson presented a new seal and has proposed to change the name to Mt.
Hood Villages. Applegate raised the issue of how the proposed name could
cause issues with area businesses with similar names, such as the Mt. Hood
Village RV Resort & Campground.

“I think that’s close enough, you could have a problem,” Applegate said.
Wilson noted he has already secured the domain “mthoodvillages.org.”
“I want to make sure we’ll get this right, I want to make sure that the whole
community is on board,” he said. “Our intention is to clearly define ourselves
from the other website out there.”

Wilson added that if the name change does gain approval, he would “pass
(the url) on to the board and let the board deal with it and manage it.”

An unofficial survey created by Wilson asked the attendees, “Do you support a
Name/Logo change for the Villages at Mt. Hood to Mt. Hood Villages?” 57
responses were in favor, with eight opposed.

Gary Barth, Clackamas County Director of Business and Community Services,
also offered an update on a proposed community park at the site of the
Dorman Center, across from the Welches School on Salmon River Road. The
county is willing to lease the property for $1 per year, but it is up to the
village to figure out funding for any park infrastructure and how to secure
funding for ongoing maintenance.

Barth noted options for maintenance costs include forming a taxing district
(likely based on geographical boundaries such as the Hoodland Fire District)
with a dedicated property tax and led by a board of local citizens, or a county
service district directed by the county’s board of directors.

The unofficial survey asked those in attendance, “Do you support a Special
Parks District for the Villages at Mt. Hood?” 57 were in favor, with eight
opposed.

Barth added the biggest issue is figuring out the assets to maintain a park,
while money for capital improvements could be acquired via grant funding.
The first step, he noted was specifying what the wants and needs for the park
would be, then calculating what funds would be needed to operate them.
Ben Bleisner, who was elected to the village board of directors at the end of
the meeting, noted current plans for the proposed park include a public
shelter, five picnic shelters, a skate park, a BMX track, a playground, a
community garden and a park and ride area.

Wilson said the current estimate on labor and materials (but not including
items such as permits) for the park is approximately $1.1 million.

“This park will change in shape and design as we go along,” he said, adding
the construction of the park is likely to be done in phases.