As a Republican who has been involved with the Clackamas County Republicans since high school and has worked on numerous local GOP campaigns, I’m disappointed that some in the county Republican leadership have attached themselves to a corrupt and unethical politician like Dan Holladay.
This is especially true given that most of them don’t even live in Oregon City and clearly don’t understand the damage that Holladay has done.
According to their statement, the committee felt that Dan simply “hurt the feelings of certain people” and nothing more. They are, in a sense, correct.
Holladay hurts the feelings of certain people when his questionable decisions have cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees that could have been spent on important city services.
Holladay hurts the feelings of certain people when, according to groups like the OC Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Oregon City Association, his negative reputation drives away prospective businesses and their accompanying jobs.
Holladay hurts the feelings of certain people when he turns off the city commission meeting livestream so that citizens are unable to watch the deliberations of their local government.
Holladay hurts the feelings of certain people when he refuses to show up or leaves in the middle of commission meetings (10 of the last 17 meetings, to be precise).
Holladay hurts the feelings of certain people when he goes behind the city commission’s back to solicit funds from businesses for his own personal plans.
Holladay hurts the feelings of certain people when he domestically abuses his partners, violates election law, and drives under the influence.
Indeed, Holladay has “hurt the feelings” of many.
This campaign is not about right vs. left, it’s about right vs. wrong. Republicans that actually live in Oregon City, like School Board Member Evon Tekorius and City Commission President Rachel Lyles Smith, have signed the petition because they understand that ethics and accountability are not partisan issues.
Former Clackamas County Commission Chair John Ludlow, a noted Tea Party Republican, has endorsed this campaign because he has firsthand experience working with Dan at the local level.
Instead of defending lost causes like Holladay, the Clackamas County Republican Party should be focusing all of its attention on what matters: the Nov. 3 general election and the disastrous one-party control that is plaguing our state.
If we as Republicans continue to attach ourselves to corrupt politicians like Dan Holladay, we will continue to lose in Clackamas County.
As President Reagan once said, “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” Our mayor is the problem.
Join this Republican by voting “Yes” to recall Dan Holladay by Nov. 10 in the special election. Please visit www.recalldanholladay.com to learn more about our nonpartisan, grassroots campaign.
Adam Marl, a lifelong resident of Oregon City, is the campaign manager for the recall effort.