The residents of a Portland suburb have voted to recall their mayor.
According to the Clackamas County Elections website, FOX12-TV reports 68% of people voted to remove Mayor Dan Holladay from office in Oregon City.
Earlier this year, some members of the community began a campaign to recall Holladay following Holladay’s reactions to the pandemic and the recent racial justice movement.
Holladay had asked businesses to defy Gov. Kate Brown’s “Stay Home, Save Lives” executive order. Then, as protests for racial justice began, Holladay posted to Facebook, downplaying police violence against the Black community.
But, those community members also said as they looked further into Holladay's actions, people also became upset over his council meeting attendance record and his managing of city funds.
Oregon City commissioners passed a vote of no confidence in Holladay in July. In October, an investigation found that Holladay had violated the rules of the city commission.
“There were two specific events that really prompted the excitement behind this campaign, but really this was about the basics of being a good government official and doing your job,” said Adam Marl, campaign manager for the Committee to Recall Dan Holladay.
He says the committee was a non-partisan endeavor. He says the message of last night’s vote is that the city is better than Dan Holladay.
City Commissioner Rachel Smith says that now the commission president will act on behalf of the mayor. She says, for now, there will be four commissioners.
Voters will choose a new mayor in March to complete the remainder of Holladay’s term.
Fox 12 contacted Holladay and when asked if he would like to give a statement or interview, his reply was “no.”