A recent lawsuit casts a shadow over her appointment
A lawsuit filed against Coos County Clerk Diris "Dede" Murphy (D-Coos County) and two of the Commissioners, John Sweet (R-Coos County) and Melissa Cribbins (D-Coos County) has caused further scrutiny over the appointment of Murphy to the position of Coos County Clerk. Though all of these positions are non-partisan, they obviously perform duties that have partisan implications, not the least of which is the Clerk's oversight of elections in Coos County.
The
second amended complaint in the lawsuit, filed by Coos County Clerk candidate Diane Rich and Coos County Commissioner candidate Pamela Lewis -- both Republicans -- suggests that the appointment of Murphy as Clerk lacked the necessary transparency under Oregon's public meeting law and other irregularities. According to the complaint:
On March 5th, in Charleston, Oregon – Defendant Murphy stated on video that “they†asked her to run; “they†referring to the Commissioners and/or former County Clerk Debbie Heller. The officials, who are obligated to follow public meetings laws, intentionally and knowingly asked Defendant Murphy to apply for the position of Interim County Clerk so that they could appoint her. Defendant Murphy’s companion who attended the Listening Session with Mrs. Murphy confirmed on video that they asked Defendant Murphy to apply for the position. Further the Commissioners asked and convinced Diris D. Murphy to run for the position. Mrs. Murphy did not apply for the position the first time it was advertised, so at the Commissioners request, the timeline to apply for Interim Clerk was extended, and the position was held open and republished, to allow for Diris D. Murphy’s application for the position to be submitted.
The
complaint references alleged violations of Oregon's Open Meetings law:
The decision to appoint and hire Defendant Murphy was a violation of Oregon Public Meetings laws and began the process of election law violations for the May 2022 primary election. Defendant Murphy was in fact appointed and began serving as Interim Coos County Clerk. That decision was null and should have been voided at that time however the sixty day window to file public meetings laws violation passed by. The violation of public meetings laws in appointing an elections clerk, still constitutes on of the many illegal acts that took place relating to the canvassing of the votes in the May 2022 Coos County primary election.
The complaint further alleges that "Prior to Monday, December 13th, Coos County Commissioners privately recruited and then outside of a public meeting decided to appoint a highly partisan individual, who was chair of the Democrat Party, Defendant Murphy to oversee their own election, even asking Mrs. Murphy to resign from her position as Democrat Party Chair for the Coos County Chapter so that she might qualify for the Interim County Clerk position."
According to the
Rob Taylor Report Murphy "spent time in the Recording Office, the Elections Office, the Court Clerks, and the Accounting Departments, eventually landing in the Elections Office for 15 years before retiring in July 2017."
She was
sworn in as Coos County Clerk on January 4 of this year.
--Staff Reports| Post Date: 2022-10-30 16:59:58 | Last Update: 2022-10-30 13:01:47 |
