It’s actually no surprise, it has been pretty well known around the county that Mayor Onslow, a fellow member of the C-Tran Gang of Five that sold us out to Oregon’s Trimet, was going to make sure Stuart received the nomination.
Ridgefield’s loss is Clark County’s gain, though.
Stuart will begin on April 14.
After that, the Democrat Party will put forth three individuals for Commissioner’s Madore and Mielke to select his replacement from. So far, I have only heard of Temple Lentz announcing she wishes to be one of the three.
That Stuart was going to receive the position has been highly speculated for some time and was correctly reported by Clark County Politics several hours before the Lazy C played their dutiful role in making it appear to be an open process, instead of the cronyism we assume it is.
But, after so much ink and outrage expressed over the Don Benton hire, they had to at least make it appear to be an open process.
Something similar was sen back in April of 2011 when Jim Jacks abruptly abandoned constituents over allegations of scandalous conduct and his replacement was chosen by County Commissioners in a similar process before them now.
It was widely assumed Temple Lentz was the favored, even to the point of Commissioner Marc Boldt first being the lone vote for her, then switching his vote afterward to give it an appearance of impartiality and a unanimous decision to appoint Sharon Wylie.
As far as who should replace Stuart, it is much too early to say and unknown who all will vie for the seat. But the Democrat Party will meet in the future to select three and other than Temple Lentz, it is unknown who all else will seek the position.
Some names being floated about as hoping they seek the seat are washed up ex-mayor Royce Pollard, pitiful Pat Jollota, Sunrise O’Mahoney, Jim Moeller and Jim Mains.
Of course, that is hoped for by those unwilling to run themselves who feel they can neutralize the two Republican Commissioners by just one Democrat, forgetting whoever gets the seat will also be in the same minority Steve Stuart was and is considered to be part of the reason why he decided to leave, no longer calling the shots and getting his way on most issues.
That is also much of the reasoning behind the sudden push by Democrats to change the County Charter, after opposing it for so many years and some seem to feel that their one person will carry more weight than the other two as they lead us to that change. Again, forgetting that any change in the charter must pass voters throughout the county and that no matter who they set up for the seat, Commissioners Madore and Mielke will remain the majority until at least 2016.
It should also be noted that whoever is selected will have to face reelection this year as Stuart’s 4-year term is up. They may get some advantage of being an incumbent with no visible record, but at a time many in the county have soured on Democrats efforts for so many years to force Portland’s light rail on us, continue raising taxes and ignore the will of voters, that advantage will likely dissipate.
Of course, no record could also hurt them as well as voters seek more qualified people for office.
For now, though, we can sit back and enjoy Democrats as they go into melt down mode, falsely believing they now will soon be back in control 😉
