The Many Losers of The Campaign

Frankly I am glad, yet surprised that Measure 4-123 failed. The “Yes” people had all the advantages in this campaign. They got their signs out first. Their signs were placed at the most visible real estate locations in Astoria. Josh got hours of free time on the Lars Larson Show. He got good air time on KAST. The Daily Astorian, I mean The Daily Marquis, gave him press that others couldn’t buy. His name and photo appeared above the fold on way too many occasions. They gave him positive editorials and vilified the County Commission. They rarely printed letters of opposition. In one case Patrick Webb called an opposition writer and tried to convince him his opinion was wrong and denied knowledge of any wrong doing by the DAs wife. They refused to run an ad from the opposition even when the opposition had documentation to substantiate their claims.

The “yes” side ran more ads in print and on the radio. They campaigned long and hard and were better organized than the opposition.

With all the lies and misstatements and free press and promotion stacked in their favor they still lost, so far by 46 votes. The only possible turn around could only come if 49 of the fifty uncounted ballots are for the Yes side, but that is statistically unlikely to happen.

Many comments seemed to make this a contest between a dislike for Josh or Commissioner Lee, however we can only hope that the voters saw through this fog and voted on the unwise nature of changing the County Charter.

Though the election was close there will still be fall-out that will continue to be seen in upcoming elections. Betsy Johnson, who always had bi-partisan support, lost a lot of respect in our County. She got personally involved in the will of the people to protect their county charter. She could have done so much good for the situation on the State level, but chose to side with Josh on a local level. It will cost her.

The Clatsop County Democratic Party had been hurt by Larry Taylor’s commitment of the Party’s backing of Josh. It would have been acceptable if this were a partisan issue where the philosophy of one Party was up against an opposing Party, but Larry committed the support of the entire Party, which alienated many members and caused some defections. New Party leadership is in order there and efforts should be made to mend fences with those they offended and gave “Cold Shoulders” to.

The Commissioners have had their reputations soiled by a lot of innuendo. They will need to step back up to the plate and get on with the business of the County and rebuild the trust that was undercut and eroded by the campaign. They simply need to hold Josh’s feet to the fire and get the performance measures they wanted and consider reinstating the stipend only if they get what they have asked for. Another problem this may bring to the surface is that if he reports true statistics it will reflect that his office is over-staffed and there will need to be a correction to bring it in line with reality. This provocative remedy will once again bring out the showman in Josh and he will accuse the Commission of punishing him, further dividing the community.

Josh is finished. He speaks of the County Government setting their underwear on fire while he is walking around with soiled underwear himself. He ran a very dirty campaign. He is an officer of the court and he lied openly on several occasions. He lost his election as President of the National District Attorneys Association. His wife lost her election for County Commission and he lost 4-123. His bitterness is more than obvious and he’s left the County divided and it will not be able to heal until he is gone. If he has one ounce of compassion for healing this community he should look for employment elsewhere. Unfortunately, I don’t think his ego will allow him to back down. There are just enough supporters to make him think everything will be fine if he just sticks with his message. His message is flawed and can no longer be trusted as a truthful elected official or Officer of the Court. He needs to work as an ADA somewhere (not here) and learn how to behave and be humble. He needs to learn how to do his job without the media.