‘This isn't the land of or the county of Nirvana we live in. It is democracy at its best and worst. That is how democracy is designed and how it works.
You have expressed both verbally and in print a desire for county tranquility. While largely ignoring the Court's (cabal) complete guilt in their desire to destroy the Court as it has existed for years by attempting to remove the Judge (6 yr. judicial) from its structure and install a Board of Commissioners (coup). When their illegal order was seen for what it was, they attempted a legislative fix in the Senate Judiciary Committee by using -4 and then -9 amendments. In this phase, Pat Shannon spent his time lobbying Eastern Oregon County Caucus to support the Court's cure for their “mistake” while Liz spent the same week in Salem, first getting an un-informed House member to attach an amendment to Bill 1576 and then testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee that under current ORS law Gilliam County Court couldn't legally do what they had already attempted in December 2023. When the truth of their cover up came to light, Mark Owen withdrew his support and with the help of testimony from the other 4 counties and hundreds of past and present elected officials and citizens the fix FAILED. In February 2024, Frontier Justice paid for and presented a legal opinion to the County Court that debunked the legality of their actions, thereby playing a critical role that drove the final nail in the coffin of order 2023-01. Now they are once again attempting to usurp the vote of the people by creating a new job position of County Administrator who will be the highest paid employee Gilliam County has ever had. Our County Judge was elected to perform various duties, one of which is the County Administrator, she just doesn’t want to do it. So now we are told "be the adults" in the room. We are the adults who have a Court still pressing an agenda that ignores our voice. They are the “kids” who got caught with their collective dirty hands in our County’s cookie jar. Save your scolding for those who are the sole source of the dissention in our County.
P.S. I say to the County Court: If Chaos was a soup you have not only made the soup and stirred the pot but chose all the ingredients.
Lenn Ball, Arlington
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