Boyd Britton recall, Grant County Commission, Oregon (2016)
| Grant County Commission recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| August 16, 2016 |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2016 Recalls in Oregon Oregon recall laws County commission recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Boyd Britton from his position on the Grant County Commission in Oregon began in March 2016.[1] The recall was defeated with 65 percent of the vote on August 16, 2016.[2]
Julie Carr filed the petition with the county clerk on March 28, which cites four reasons for the recall:
- He failed to represent constituents "on road and access issues."
- He would not call for an investigation of the Canyon Creek Complex fire "despite the overwhelming continued request by the majority of his constituents."
- He failed to recuse himself as a commissioner when dealing with agencies that he has benefited from personally and financially.
- He "deliberately misrepresented his intentions of attending a community meeting on Jan. 26, 2016 acting in the capacity as Grant County Commissioner."[1]
Britton defended his decisions as a commissioner and called the reasons for the recall baseless.[3]
Grant County is near to Harney County, where voters defeated a recall effort on June 28, 2016, against Judge Steve Grasty. Britton said he believed the recall against both himself and Grasty were, at heart, about similar issues.[3]
Recall vote
Voters defeated the recall on August 16, 2016.[2]
| Recall Election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Recall | 1,080 | 34.67% | ||
 Retain | 2,035 | 65.33% | ||
Recall opponents
Response from Boyd Britton
In reaction to the recall effort, Britton said he was surprised and disappointed. "I’m hoping they’re not able to come up with the requisite amount of signatures," he said. "I try really, really hard to represent all of Grant County."[1] After the recall was certified, Britton submitted his statement of justification. He said, in part:[3]
| “ | The reasons offered for my recall are baseless. More importantly, I’ve had the privilege of living here for 20 years and the honor of serving as your County Commissioner for 13 years. I’ve worked hard to represent the entire county.[4] | ” |
In response to the complaint that he voted against an investigation regarding the Canyon Creek Complex fire, Britton said he still feels that he made the right decision. He felt that the community needed to move on and heal, and that they had done what they could to help those affected by the fire. Britton denied any wrongdoing in the accusation that he should have recused himself when dealing with particular agencies that he has benefited from. He owns a welding shop, where he at times works on Forest Service trucks, averaging $4,200 in payments from these projects in each of the previous five years. He could not see why he benefitted by his involvement in county government and called the allegation "baseless." In regards to the January 26, 2016, meeting where Ammon Bundy and fellow occupiers were scheduled to make an appearance, Britton said he attended the meeting at the request of others who were uncertain about attending themselves.[3]
Campaign finance confusion
A campaign finance complaint was filed against the Committee to Recall Boyd Britton on August 5. The complaint was filed by James O. Kelly, and claimed that the committee had not filed any campaign finance activity. "At the very least there should have been reporting of: printing and postage for the distribution of an estimated 4,000 mailers in support of the recall that appeared in mailboxes countywide on or around July 28, 2016," read the complaint.[5]
On the other side of the debate, Vote No on Boyd Britton Recall registered as a PAC and reported its campaign activity, although another group against the recall, Grant County Positive Action, reportedly did not realize that they needed to register as a PAC until the beginning of August. "We didn’t know that we were going to have to do all this. Evidently, if more than one person takes in a donation to support a campaign or person, and since we had our members donate to help pay for the ad, it opened up this other door that we didn’t know we’d have to be going through," said Judy Schuette, the group's treasurer.[5]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Oregon
Petitioners needed 496 valid signatures to force a recall election. The number of valid signatures required to force a recall election is 15 percent of the total number of votes cast in the public officer’s electoral district for all candidates for governor at the last election at which a candidate for governor was elected to a full term. On June 27, 2016, they turned 567 signatures in to the county clerk, who had ten days to certify the signatures.[6] The county clerk certified 505 of the signatures.[7] Ballots were mailed out at the beginning of August and they were due back on August 16.[8]
See also
External links
Recent news
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Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Blue Mountain Eagle, "Petitioner seeks to recall county commissioner," April 12, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Blue Mountaine Eagle, "Voters overwhelmingly back Britton in recall vote," August 16, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Blue Mountain Eagle, "Commissioner Britton files statement of justification against recall," July 12, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Blue Mountain Eagle, "Recall raises campaign finance questions," August 9, 2016
- ↑ Blue Mountain Eagle, "567 signatures turned in for recall effort against County Commissioner Boyd Britton," June 28, 2016
- ↑ Blue Mountain Eagle, "Recall petition moves forward against Grant County Commissioner," July 11, 2016
- ↑ Blue Mountain Eagle, "Recall ballots mailed, due back Aug. 16," August 2, 2016
