Lindsay Berschauer recall, Yamhill County, Oregon (2021-2022)
| Yamhill County Commission recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| March 22, 2022 |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2022 Recalls in Oregon Oregon recall laws County commission recalls Recall reports |
A recall election against Lindsay Berschauer, the Position 2 representative on the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners in Oregon, was held on March 22, 2022. The recall effort was defeated with 52.4% of voters voting in favor of Berschauer.[1]Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag To get the recall on the ballot, supporters had to collect 6,873 signatures by February 16, 2022.[2]
An earlier effort to recall Berschauer did not go to a vote in 2021. The Yamhill County Clerk's Office did not verify enough signatures to put the recall on the ballot.[3]
Berschauer was elected to the three-member board in the nonpartisan primary on May 19, 2020, defeating two other candidates with 52.25% of the vote for the open seat.[4]
Recall vote
Lindsay Berschauer recall, 2022
Lindsay Berschauer won the Yamhill County Commissioner Position 2 recall election on March 22, 2022.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
Yes |
47.5
|
15,936 | |||
| ✔ | No |
52.5
|
17,607 | ||
Total Votes |
33,543 | ||||
|
|
Recall supporters
Second effort
Scroll in the box below to read the full recall petition against Berschauer.
First effort
Recall supporters published the following press release about the recall effort on their website:[5]
| “ |
On Monday, August 2, Save Yamhill County, a newly-formed locally-focused grassroots political action committee, filed a petition with the Oregon Secretary of State for the recall of Yamhill County Commissioner Lindsay Berschauer. Chief Petitioner Philip Forve, retired Cargill executive, is not alone in his shock at her unnecessary and damaging waste of taxpayer money in Yamhill County. Forve is a registered Independent and resident of McMinnville, OR. A minimum of 6,873 signatures is needed to recall Lindsay Berschauer. For the last month, hundreds of Yamhill County citizens have called for Lindsay Berschauer’s resignation. Commissioner Berschauer refuses to resign. Since taking office in January 2021, Yamhill County Commissioner Lindsay Berschauer has cost the county over $1.5 million while accepting $23,000 in special interest money. As County Commissioner, Lindsay Berschauer ended development of the Yamhelas Westsider Trail. Because of this, county taxpayers will have to repay — by taking money from existing County funds — over a million dollars to the Oregon Department of Transportation, while Berschauer’s political campaign collected campaign contributions from trail opponents who personally benefited from her actions. Most recently, Lindsay Berschauer conditioned her approval on the City of Newberg’s Urban Renewal District on voter approval through a special election. The Urban Renewal District had passed Newberg’s City Council unanimously with opportunity for public comment, and represented years of work from the City of Newberg. The City only required County approval for small, unincorporated parts of the City. But now, just for Berschauer to grandstand to taxpayers in a taxing district she couldn’t even define, Yamhill County could be forced to pay $70,000 for a special election in Newberg. Save Yamhill County is gravely concerned that Lindsay Berschauer’s actions as commissioner repeatedly conflict with state law and expose Yamhill County to costly legal liability. Her lack of professionalism toward, and publicly demonstrated contempt for, our county’s civil servants has made her the subject of at least one hostile workforce complaint. Lindsay Berschauer costs Yamhill taxpayers millions. Her continuation in office will surely cost needless millions more. We citizens of Yamhill County demand a recall.[6] |
” |
Past county commissioners Mary Stern, Stan Primozich, and Rick Olson voiced their support of the recall effort. Berschauer won the seat Olson previously held after he did not run for re-election. The Yamhill County Employee Association and the Yamhill County Democrats announced they were endorsing the recall effort.[7][8]
Recall opponents
Second effort
In response to the second effort, Berschauer said:[9]
| “ | Disagreement over public policy does not warrant a recall in the minds of voters, as we just witnessed in Newberg with the failed recall attempts on school board members. [...] Unfortunately, the Save Yamhill County, Progressive Yamhill and Yamhill County Democrat groups have also resorted to unfounded, personal attacks in an effort to gain enough signatures for a recall election. I am confident that over the next month the truth will prevail and we will rise above this divisive attack.
I am humbled by the outpouring of support, especially residents who contacted me to say they didn't vote for me in 2020 but they are disgusted with the wasteful recall attempts and are standing with me. It is an honor and privilege to serve Yamhill County.[6] |
” |
First effort
In response to the recall effort, Berschauer published the following statement on her Facebook page:[10]
| “ |
You will likely hear about a recall petition filed against me today by “Save Yamhill County”. This group has been masquerading as a “non-partisan group of citizens” seeking to save our county from (presumably) Commissioner Starrett and myself. It’s important to know who these folks are and the backstory as to why they are so angry that two conservative commissioners make up the majority of the Yamhill County BOC. First, it’s not really about me. It’s about our values. When I decided to run, I did so with a promise to speak about my principles in ways that were simple, clear, and transparent. Throughout my career in Oregon, I have always been drawn to plain-speaking, no BS, non-establishment candidates who step forward because they’ve reached the point where government is harming their livelihood. This is why Timber Unity has been so effective. Non-political, working-class Oregonians coming together because they realized their jobs were on the line. And they’ve transformed Oregon politics forever. The emails below were given to me by individuals who filed public records requests with the county. They show, in part, that my main opponent ran last year simply to keep the “Timber Unity candidate from winning”. They also show just how committed Commissioner Kulla (who endorsed my opponent) is to disconnecting timber jobs from our economy. His direct line to Governor Brown’s staff providing warnings about Timber Unity’s behavior and politicizing his views on carbon taxes should alarm my supporters. Timber Unity is not, and never has been, anything but a group of thousands of Oregonians who work in our natural resource sectors, believe that conservation means you actively tend to our land so future generations can enjoy its beauty, and understand that these jobs are what support our statewide economy. The emails also show that Commissioner Kulla and his supporters (Save Yamhill County) have weaponized the media to their advantage (and the media is happy to comply). Remember the latest hit piece by Leah Sottile that they were sharing? It appears that was ginned up by YWT trail supporters in conjunction with county staff. What Timber Unity has to do with the trail is beyond me, but clearly the purpose was to discredit Commissioner Starrett and myself, not to promote the failed trail. Finally, as you can see in the photos, Save Yamhill County’s filings with the Secretary of State show that the PAC Director is Lynnette Shaw. Shaw ran against Representative Ron Noble last cycle and was caught lying in her voter pamphlet statement. The PAC’s mission says “Support for progressive candidates and causes in Yamhill County”. The recall effort is being shared on social media by the most progressive groups in Oregon, including Portland Indivisible, a controversial group born from the resistance movement. Why do Portland’s progressives care so much about Yamhill County Commissioners? Because over the past several years, their goal for Yamhill County was to flip it to a “blue county” and weaken the strong agricultural, timber and socially conservative values that have defined us. It’s why progressives have come after Senators Boquist and Thatcher, why Representative Noble’s seat is a priority for them to win, why they’ve been so nasty to Rep. Post and it’s why they were running fake Republicans against Mike Nearman in the primary. Statewide progressive groups see Yamhill County as the next battlefield since we are on the outskirts of the Portland Metro region and in order for Portland’s policies to work (taxation, mass transit, etc) they must expand their reach. It is all about control and unfortunately the needs of our families won’t be a priority if they win. We have taken on many significant issues in the past seven months since I was sworn in. Some of them involved just saying “no” to government plans and proposals because they were not vetted, they abused the proper processes, or they were simply wasteful. It is a purposeful decision to put the families of this county above the pressure to conform to government influence. It’s difficult and exhausting sometimes to be at the forefront of the incoming arrows, but that’s what you elected me to do. I will be unveiling a messaging effort in the coming weeks that celebrates the work we’ve done, how we will continue to be a backstop against government overreach and continue to support our working families. I would love to have your support in getting the message out! In the meantime, if you see “Save Yamhill County” at the County Fair this week with recall petitions, respectfully let them know why you decline to sign 😊[6] |
” |
Mark Pihl, president of Timber Unity, announced his support of Berschauer.[7]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Oregon
To get the recall on the ballot, supporters had to collect 6,873 signatures by February 16, 2022.[2] The number of signatures was equal to 15% of the number of votes cast in the 2018 gubernatorial election.[11] Recall supporters submitted 7,675 signatures on February 1, 2022. The county had to verify the signatures by February 11, 2022.[12] The county verified enough signatures to put the recall on the ballot. The recall election took place on March 22, 2022.[1]
The Yamhill County Clerk's Office approved the first recall petitions for circulation in August 2021. To get the recall on the ballot, recall supporters had to collect 6,783 signatures from county voters by November 1, 2021.[7] Supporters submitted nearly 9,000 signatures on the deadline, but 1,500 of them were disqualified automatically due to the form that was used to collect them. The Yamhill County Clerk's Office did not verify enough signatures to put the recall on the ballot.[3][13]
See also
- Yamhill County, Oregon
- Recall campaigns in Oregon
- Political recall efforts, 2022
- Political recall efforts, 2021
- County commission recalls
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Yamhill County Board of Commissioners
- Yamhill County Elections Office
- Save Yamhill County
- Lindsay Berschauer, Yamhill County Commissioner
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Yamhill County Clerk and Elections, "Current Year Elections: 2022 Elections," accessed February 17, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Yamhill County Clerk and Elections, "Current Year Elections: 2022 Elections," accessed January 4, 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Yamhill County's News-Register, "Recall effort fails," November 10, 2021
- ↑ Yamhill County Elections, "Cumulative Results Report: May 19, 2020 Primary Election Official Results," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ Save Yamhill County, "Home," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 The Newberg Graphic, "Unlikely supporters surface to recall Berschauer," September 13, 2021
- ↑ Portland Tribune, "Yamhill Dems endorse County Commissioner Berschauer recall," October 9, 2021
- ↑ The Newberg Graphic, "Berschauer will face recall electionThe renewed effort to recall Yamhill County Commissioner Lindsay Berschauer came one step closer to fruition last week when the organization leading the drive submitted thousands of petition signatures to the county.'Si," February 13, 2022
- ↑ Facebook, "Lindsay Berschauer, Yamhill County Commissioner post on August 3, 2021," accessed September 14, 2021
- ↑ The Newburg Graphic, "Unthwarted, group begins second effort to recall Berschauer," December 3, 2021
- ↑ Yamhill County's News-Register, "Signatures turned in for Berschauer recall attempt, take 2," February 2, 2022
- ↑ Facebook, "Save Yamhill County post on November 1, 2021," accessed November 2, 2021
