Clackamas County commission votes for one of its members to resign

By Beth Hyams (OPB) and Anna Griffin (OPB)
Jan. 14, 2021 9:35 p.m. Updated: Jan. 15, 2021 1:02 a.m.

Newly-elected Mark Shull had been under scrutiny over Islamophobic social media posts

The Clackamas County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution Thursday calling on one of its members to resign over Islamophobic social media posts. The vote was 5-0.

Related: Clackamas County commissioner under pressure to resign over Islamophobic comments

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The full commission joined its chair, Tootie Smith, who on Wednesday called for Commissioner Mark Shull to step down immediately. In their vote, commissioners referred to county Resolution No. 2015-96, passed in 2015, which committed the county to “valuing diversity.”

In Thursday’s resolution calling for Shull’s resignation, commissioners wrote about his online remarks, stating: “..the posted comments are derogatory, offensive, insensitive, and racist.” They went on to say that his comments “imputed to Clackamas County a reputation of racist, sexist, and religious insensitivity and intolerance.”

The commission censured Shull, and called for him to resign immediately. Shull voted for the resolution calling for his own resignation, but he has not yet resigned.

Shull was elected to the county board in November. Other elected officials around the Portland region have criticized him recently for online writings dating from 2019 and 2020 that equated Islam to radical terrorism.

The Clackamas commission is a nonpartisan board. Both Smith and Shull are Republicans.

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