ABOVE: Clackamas County Commissioner Mark Shull, photo via the Friends of Mark Shull Facebook page.
OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) | Clackamas County Commissioner Mark Shull said he would not step down Jan. 14 after remarks attacking minorities including the LGBTQ community were made public, rebuffing a chorus of community and elected leaders who have called for his resignation.
At the same time Shull inexplicably voted in favor of a resolution censuring him and calling for him to resign for making “derogatory, offensive, insensitive, and racist” remarks that “damaged the reputation” of Clackamas County, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
Although the board is nonpartisan, Republicans Tootie Smith and Paul Savas, and Democrats Sonya Fischer and Martha Schrader, voted for the resolution.
The five-member board cannot force Shull to resign. By law the resolution serves as a public rebuke of his conduct.
Shull was unmoved and barely acknowledged the controversy since a Clackamas County resident brought public attention to xenophobic Facebook posts he had made over the past 18 months.
The posts show Shull has commented about Islam, Muslim people, transgender people and the Black Lives Matter movement, which he called “a pawn for the rise of neo Marxism.”
Shull, who lives in Sandy, was elected to the commission in November, defeating incumbent Ken Humberston.
Cris Waller, the resident who brought Shull’s views to light, asked him to resign and said she would initiate a recall effort if he refused.
His colleagues including Schrader, addressed Shull, saying his comments “have caused irreparable damage.”
“It really is causing deep rifts in our community and in our ability to govern,” she said.
