Lincoln County Commissioner Casey Miller objected later Wednesday to the commission’s first meeting of the year being held remotely because of the public wanting to attend in person and at least one person wanting testify on a road legalization public hearing. (Casey Miller photo)By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/ Lincoln Chronicle
NEWPORT – The start of Lincoln County’s first commission meeting of the year was somber as two commissioners recognized the sudden death Sunday of their colleague, Claire Hall. A bouquet of flowers sat at her space on the commission’s dias.
Hall, 66, died in a Portland hospital after months of dealing with health issues and the same week of a contentious election to possibly remove her from office. Now void, the Jan. 9 election would have been the first time in the county’s 132-year history that voters were being asked if a commissioner should be recalled from office.
Lincoln County Commissioner Claire Hall’s political action committee used this picture to go with an obituary and remembrance posted on Hall’s Facebook page.Hall served as county commissioner for 21 years building a reputation as an advocate for unhoused people and affordable housing, and was popular with progressives. She also publicly came out as transgender in 2018 while holding office. But the last year under her leadership was fraught with division and inspired a recall effort.
On Wednesday, commissioners Casey Miller and Walter Chuck shared words about the late commissioner during a virtual meeting that Miller later said should have been held in person.
Hall’s death was shocking, Miller said as he looked at the flowers and card he meant others to sign on the dais as he tuned in virtually to the meeting from the commission chambers. He and Hall had been at odds in the past year over a whole host of issues.
Miller said it was difficult to watch some of the hate that Hall endured for being transgender and said he always wanted any criticism of Hall to be about governance, not her as a person.
“I think we did a great job in this office, supporting Claire, respecting her, but it doesn’t change the fact that that would be certainly difficult for her and for us as her supportive team, to redirect people when they are in the wrong lane, when they are calling to resolve county issues,” Miller said.
Miller wanted people to think about all the positive things Hall had accomplished. She was also funny, loved baseball and Star Trek, Miller said.
“I really hope people take the time to think about the wonderful things that Claire did for this community and and really take time to reflect on how hard it is for our trans community to be exposed to just awful things and stand up against those things,” Miller said. “I’m gonna miss Claire, we certainly didn’t agree on everything, but I respected a lot of work that she did, and she’ll be missed.”
Despite his condolences, Miller complained after the meeting about the unprecedented nature of it being held virtually when it was originally planned to be in-person. Miller tuned into the meeting from the county courthouse and said several other staff had tuned in from their courthouse offices.
Chuck shared that he was impressed by the outpouring of sentiments honoring Hall. Her loss was a loss for Lincoln County, he said.
“She was a tireless advocate for her community,” he said. “She will be missed.”
Chuck and Miller then had to come to an agreement on who would hold the chair position – the commissioner who helps set agendas and presides over meetings. Normally, the chair rotates yearly between commissioners, but Chuck had been filling in for Hall since her injuries in the late summer and health complications in the fall.
The other administrative roles that Hall had assumed in the continued absence of a county administrator were not decided Wednesday.
Chuck proposed that he and Miller alternate the role of Chair every other meeting. Miller proposed the two share the duties. In the end, the two agreed that Chuck would be chair the first meeting of the month and Miller would preside over the second meeting of the month.
Both commissioners are up for re-election in May. Earlier this year, Miller announced that he would run against Chuck but only Chuck, who was appointed last spring, has filed for election so far. It is unclear if Miller still intends to run against Chuck after Hall’s passing.
The process of filling Hall’s position will be discussed at the commission’s Jan. 21 meeting.
The Friday, Jan. 9 recall is basically void, county Clerk Amy Southwell told the Lincoln Chronicle. Ballot collection boxes around the county are locked. After getting in touch with the Secretary of State’s office, Southwell said Wednesday the ballots already cast do not need to be counted.
- Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at [email protected]
I appreciated both commissioner’s comments about Claire Hall as they both seemed very sincere. However, it was troubling how the decision was reached about selecting a chair, particularly the advice they were given. Walter Chuck wanted to be chair and Casey Miller suggested they share the responsibility. Seems reasonable given what’s happened. But then counsel told them past practice is they rotate the chair position so if they can’t agree it would continue to rotate and Walter Chuck would be chair. The law clearly states (ORS 203.240) that if a decision can’t be reached then the longer serving commissioner is chair, which would be Casey Miller. It seems very suspicious that Walter Chuck suddenly agreed towards the end of the meeting to share the responsibility and that counsel didn’t inform them both correctly during the meeting. I doubt she didn’t know this as it is the second time in a year there’s been a vacant seat. Seems like Casey Miller was intentionally misinformed.
What is the matter with you people? Even after Hall’s death you still can’t get along and agree. So sad