Organizers of a recall effort for Clackamas County Commissioner Mark Shull
have started the prep work before they file the official petition, which is
expected sometime this fall. Cris Waller, who is expected to be the Chief
Petitioner, told The Mountain Times that 50 volunteers have been trained and
are collecting pledges to sign the petition.

“In that way, what we are hoping to do is ensure that before we pull that
trigger, we have enough support, we have enough people lined up to sign,”
Waller said. “We want to make sure that once we say ‘go’ we are going to
succeed and get this on the ballot.”

Shull, who took office in January, came under fire for offensive and racist
comments posted on social media.

“We’re continuing to see that behavior,” Waller said.

Once a petition is filed, the organizers will have 90 days to submit
approximately 30,000 valid signatures from voters from the district to recall
Shull. A signature verification process will follow; if the petition fails to meet
the number of valid signatures the process is stopped, while if the petition
does have sufficient signatures, Shull can either resign within five days or face
a recall election within approximately one month.

Mike Silvagio, another one of the organizers on the effort to recall Shull, noted
that their goal is to have 40,000 signatures, as validity rates in most recall
efforts come in around 75-80 percent.

“I’ve done this a number of times, familiar with campaigns that squeak in and
others that exceed expectations,” Silvagio said, adding that they have learned
from recent recall efforts on how to better prepare to get the necessary
signatures, including one on Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler.

Silvagio noted that the passage of Oregon Senate Bill 761 from the 2019
regular session changed how signatures can be obtained. The new law, in
effect since 2020, requires that only electors who have a personally printed
copy (or requested a print copy from someone) of an electronic signature
sheet for a petition or prospective petition may sign a signature sheet.

“A lot of this is breaking new ground,” Silvagio said, adding that electronic
signature sheets are important due to the ongoing COVID pandemic. “So far
we’re on track. We’ve got a really good head start on that 90-day period.”
Shull told The Mountain Times that he expected the recall effort after he was
elected.

“I knew this was coming,” he said, adding that he doesn’t believe that
anybody he’s dealt with would accuse him of being a xenophobe, homophobe
or racist. Shull also noted that he delivered a statement to Muslim leaders
from Portland, calling that a “resolved issue.”

Shull does not plan on campaigning against the recall petition and remains
intent on doing his job as a commissioner.

“That, in and of itself, is all I should do to counteract any efforts on the
recall,” he said, adding that he has no political advisors working for him.
“More and more people have watched my performance and are very
comfortable with me as a commissioner. That is what I believe is important.”
Shull said that his approach to being a commissioner is to represent
everybody in the county and that he would not resign if enough signatures on
the petition are verified, but he would “happily go home and go about (his)
business” if the recall vote doesn’t go his way.

“I got elected by the people of Clackamas County, I intend to serve them,”
Shull said, adding that he is convinced that in the end he will prevail.