Candidate filing for open positions and offices in the May 19, 2020, election just opened Thursday, but already one incumbent and a couple of new (or, more accurately, returning) hopefuls have filed.
Open Clackamas County offices include the chair seat on the Board of Commissioners, currently held by Jim Bernard, along with the No. 3 seat held by Martha Schrader and the No. 4 seat occupied by Ken Humberston. The office of Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts will also be up for grabs.
Schrader was the first and, so far, only to file for her seat and is seeking another term. She has been in her current position since 2013 but had previously served on the commission from 2003 to 2009 (including a two-year stint as chair). From 2009 to 2011, she served as a state senator representing District 20, which includes Canby.
Position No. 1 (Chair)
As she had previously announced, former Clackamas County Commissioner Tootie Smith has filed for board chair, seeking another return to the body she unsuccessfully campaigned for in 2016, when she lost to Humberston in the position 4 race.
In a press release, Smith said she disagreed with the Commission’s decision to enact a countywide Vehicle Registration Fee without voter approval, when voters had previously rejected local transportation taxes and fees numerous times.
“Voters are fed up and demand better from their elected officials,” Smith said. “I will bring a simpler solution that will cost taxpayers a fraction of current spending while balancing budgets. There are better ways to address infrastructure needs aside from huge taxes. Less costly solutions have been ignored too long.”
She went on to compare the current Board of Commissioners to the Democratic supermajority in both chambers of the state Legislature, though the position of county commissioner is officially nonpartisan.
Smith is also a former member of the Oregon Legislature, having served two terms as a Republican member of the Oregon House of Representatives from 2000 to 2004. She was elected to the Clackamas County commission in 2012, but left two years later to unsuccessfully challenge U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader.
Position No. 4
Another newcomer was the first to file for Humberston’s seat in position 4, as Molalla resident Breeauna Sagdal has thrown her hat into the ring. Sagdal has never held elective office before but cites experience in the state capital as an advocate for family rights, medical freedom and freedom of choice.
She has worked to bring light to foster care abuses, due process violations and child trafficking. She is also a business owner and longtime horse trainer, and her platform includes the promise to fight for “private land ownership, water rights, grazing rights and small business in Clackamas County.”
Like Smith, Sagdal takes issue with the current direction of the county’s leadership.
“It’s time that the commission represent residents of Clackamas County instead of special interests,” Sagdal said in a statement. “From the vehicle registration fee rejected by voters and the recent cuts to the public safety budget, to threatening to invoke eminent domain over property owners to serve interests from outside the county, the current county commissioners have lost their way. It’s past time to make the people who govern Clackamas County accountable to those who live, work, and do business here.”
No one has filed for sheriff as of this writing.
