Here We Go

I'm told by a usually reliable source that the oath of office given to the newly minted Clatsop County Commissioners was incorrect. This undoubtedly means that any actions taken by the new commissioners must be null and void. This must be true because until an individual is officially sworn in they may be elected to the position but have not made the official contract to fill the position.

This may complicate things. If you recall the very first action of the new commissioners was to withdraw approval of the Oregon Pipeline land use plan. If one discounts the votes of those people not yet officially sworn in that means only two actual commissioners voted. One commissioner voted in favor the other voted against withdrawal. That would be a tie vote with no one to break the tie therefore rendering a decision of no change to the original approval.

I point this out as just one example of the complications involved with not getting this very primary function right to begin with. This would mean that any vote taken up until the correct oath of office is performed and duly recorded would be null and void starting with the approval of the minutes of the previous meeting and ending with accepting any department head reports. This new commission is already under attack from the right over charges of holding an unofficial meeting when after the regular commission meeting a quorum of commissioners met with constituents at a local pub to celebrate the democratic process that got them elected. Luckily even though it wasn't known at the time, most of them were not officially commissioners yet.

I say, lets nip this sort of thing in the bud. Let us be supportive of these new commissioners. Let them make mistakes and own up to them without fear of reprisal or recall. Can't we all just get along?