Updated February 3 Each time Toledo City Councilor Bill Dalbey drives along U.S. Highway 20 which winds through the tiny timber town he calls home and extends to Newport, Ore., 7 miles to the west he s reminded of the hornet s nest he kicked over. That stretch of highway leading into Toledo, as well as businesses along the town s Main Street, is scattered with more than a dozen Timber Unity signs, Dalbey says. But it s not the signs themselves that bother Dalbey. It s what, in his opinion, they symbolize: far-right extremism. It s a black eye for the city of Toledo to have 15 goddamn 4-by-8-foot signs in this town advertising an organization that has these associations, Dalbey said during a Jan. 27 Toledo City Council meeting. I would think anybody venturing into our town would assume that this town is literally owned by Timber Unity.
Clackamas County halts housing project at Estacada motel
Project would have given first priority to those displaced by wildires, eventually become workforce housing
Clackamas County commissioners voted to put the breaks on a project that would provide shelter for homeless individuals and later transition to workforce housing in Estacada.
During a meeting on Thursday, Jan. 28, the commission voted 3-2 to not move forward with the due-diligence phase of the purchase of the Red Fox Motel in Estacada.
Through a program called Project Turnkey, the Oregon Legislature has earmarked $30 million for the Oregon Community Foundation to administer funds for the acquisition of motel/hotel properties in eight counties and tribal communities affected by the 2020 wildfires, and another $35 million for the rest of the state.
Richard Swift announces resignation from Clackamas County
Health, housing and human services department director will depart on Feb. 19
The director of Clackamas County s largest division has announced he will step down Feb. 19 after a decade at the helm.
County health, housing and human services (H3S) Director Richard Swift told Pamplin Media Group this week that he intends to take a break from public service following more than 28 years working in various government service roles.
Swift came to the county following an 18-year stint at Multnomah County in 2011 when he was hired as deputy director of H3S. He s played an integral role in advancing some of Clackamas County s most impactful programs and projects, including the county s ambulance services contract with American Medical Response Northwest, bolstering the county s response to the mental health crisis and helping to initiate nearly a dozen housing projects developing hundreds of units of affordable housing.
Not so long ago, Oregon politicians awash in scandal knew when to resign. U.S. Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) resigned in 1995 as he faced expulsion from the Senate for sexual misconduct. Just five years ago, Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned a month into his fourth term as he faced allegations of influence peddling by his fiancée. But that was the past, before President Donald Trump weaponized shamelessness and crowds deployed moral indignation so often that some politicians developed an immunity. The present may be shame-free for now. A notable trio of elected officials in Oregon face prominent calls for their resignation for misdeeds that once might have compelled them to leave the limelight red-faced.