Clackamas County Board of Commissioners Suspends Pay of Melissa Fireside in criminal proceedings

One day after Clackama's County Commissioner Melissa Fireside, eight crimes in connection with her alleged fraud of an older man from thousands of dollars, three commissioners voted to suspend their payment on Thursday, March 6, the district commissioner.

The district commissioners Ben West, Martha Schrader and Paul Savas voted to suspend Fireside's salary until the district lawyers were checked. This was followed by several public comments in which Fireside's resignation and the deterioration of the Commission's trust complained. The chairman of the Commission, Craig Roberts, was not present at the meeting.

The commissioners also referred to a message that was shared with them the day before and found that she had said goodbye. According to Savas, the terms and the duration of the absence in their message were not clear.

As district commissioner, Fireside earns around 130,000 US dollars annually.

“The district exists because taxpayers finance this and have a certain amount of expectation that we work ethical and professional, and that continues to collect trust that enables us to do the important work of the people we are appointed,” said West, before we made the application for suspension of Fireside payment. “I believe that Commissioner Fireside is not able and she has broken this trust and has now put the trust of this board at risk with the public.”

West also called for Fireside's quick resignation.

Schrader said she did not know what the result of the criminal proceedings would look, but that the allegations against Fireside Grab are.

“I believe that Commissioner Fireside has to come to work to earn their payment,” said Schrader.

Savas added that the commissioners did not have many details or facts of the case before Wednesday and said that most of what he had learned was due to the reporting in the media.

West also combined Fireside's actions with Emerge Oregon, a program that the Democrats of women advertise on the office. West found that Fireside has completed the program, as did the former Foreign Minister Shemia Fagan, who resigned from this role in 2023 after a conflict controversy in which her advisory work for a cannabis company was involved. Other prominent Oregon executives, including all four current congress women in Oregon, also went through the program.

West offered no reasoning for his mention of Emerge Oregon, alongside Fireside and Fagan, who had participated in the program.