Chris Barnett and Andreas Blech recall, Josephine County, Oregon (2025)
| Chris Barnett and Andreas Blech recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Andreas Blech |
| Recall status |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2025 Recalls in Oregon Oregon recall laws County commission recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Josephine County Commissioners Chris Barnett and Andreas Blech is underway in Oregon. The recall petition was filed by Jim Goodwin. Recall organizers need 6,445 verified petition signatures in order to get the recall on the ballot.[1]
Recall supporters
The petition targeting Barnett listed the following reasons for recall:[2]
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This petition demands the recall of Commissioner Chris Barnett for the following actions resulting in loss of public faith and trust. It is Petitioner’s belief that the following actions demonstrate poor judgment, poor management skills, and a lack of integrity: 1) Voted to temporarily give away voting power and hand over personnel authority to just one unelected commissioner. This resulted in lawsuits, unexplained layoffs, unexplained department restructurings, and also the firing of several well-respected County department directors. 2) Voted to approve a voluntary employee resignation program costing over $700,000 in related payoffs without appropriate justification. 3) Oregon Supreme court recently upheld a $3.2 million judgment for elder financial abuse and breach of contracts for Barnett's company’s purchase of an RV resort. 4) Voted in January 2025 to prematurely cancel the lease agreement of the GP Library District branch and in March 2025 paid for Facebook advertising to spread an article that was advocating against the Library’s interests. 5) Threatened and attempted to silence local citizens and media members against their First Amendment rights. These actions are a sample of the many concerns that have severely damaged public trust, hurt Josephine County, and warrant immediate recall. [3] |
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The petition targeting Blech listed the following reasons for recall:[2]
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This petition demands the recall of Commissioner Andreas Blech for the following actions resulting in loss of public faith and trust. It is Petitioner’s belief that the following actions demonstrate poor judgment, poor management skills, a lack of transparency, and disrespect for the County citizens: 1) According to the County’s former Budget Officer, he attempted to promote the IT/Emergency Management Director to a newly created position with a total compensation package cost of approximately $388,000 per year. 2) He accepted temporary sole personnel authority by the Board of Commissioners. Actions taken while holding sole personnel authority resulted in lawsuits, unexplained layoffs, unexplained department restructuring actions, and also the firing of several well-respected County department directors. 3) Recommended and voted to approve a voluntary employee resignation program costing over $700,000 in related payoffs without appropriate justification. 4) Insulted local citizens during several weekly business sessions and refused to answer many questions from citizens and local media. These actions are a sample of the many concerns that have severely damaged public trust, hurt Josephine County, and warrant immediate recall. [3] |
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Recall opponents
Barnett said the following in a Facebook post:[4]
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Thank you Josephine County!!!! Overwhelming Support of true Americans who want their Commissioners to keep doing great things in Josephine County. Today a large group of our supporters who voted us in got word that Mr. Jim Goodwin (in my opinion a former disgruntled Employee) who I've never had a meeting with, turned in a petition to recall Blech and I. I don't know Mr. Goodwin but he ran the Juvenille Justice department before he resigned. [3] |
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As of August 2025, Ballotpedia had not identified a response from Blech.
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Oregon
No specific grounds are required for recall in Oregon. To get the recall on the ballot, supporters must collect signatures equal to 15% of the votes cast in the last regular gubernatorial election in the relevant jurisdiction. Signatures must be collected within 90 days.[5]
Recall context
- See also: Ballotpedia's Recall Report
Ballotpedia covers recall efforts across the country for all state and local elected offices. A recall effort is considered official if the petitioning party has filed an official form, such as a notice of intent to recall, with the relevant election agency.
The chart below shows how many officials were included in recall efforts from 2012 to 2024 as well as how many of them defeated recall elections to stay in office and how many were removed from office in recall elections.
See also
- Ballotpedia's Recall Report
- Josephine County, Oregon
- Recall campaigns in Oregon
- Political recall efforts, 2025
- County commission recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jefferson Public Radio, "Citing lack of trust, petitioners seek to recall two Josephine commissioners," August 27, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Restore Josephine County, "Recall Petitions," accessed September 10, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Facebook, "Chris Barnett's post," accessed September 10, 2025
- ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Recall Manual," accessed October 17, 2023
