WaCo: Andy Duyck's Enemies List

Carla Axtman

Looks like we've got ourselves a little Nixonian fiefdom brewing out here in Washington County.

Dana Tims, The Oregonian:

Washington County Commission Chairman Andy Duyck is cleaning house when it comes to dissident voices, even those piping up on seemingly insignificant advisory committees, say some citizens removed from such groups.

From the county's planning commission and citizen representation at Metro to seemingly unrelated venues such as the Washington County Farm Bureau, some citizen representatives say that disagreeing with Duyck means risking immediate removal.

"Andy Duyck is trying to orchestrate things to suit his own goals," said Matt Pihl, whose ouster from a rural roads advisory committee Tuesday followed his booting last month from the county's fair board. "In my case, it's nothing but retribution for not toeing the line."

Multiple individuals from across Washington County are complaining that Duyck is orchestrating a systematic dismissal from boards and committees because they don't support Duyck's agenda. Nixon himself couldn't do better.

Duyck of course, denies the charges. Last month, Duyck also denied to me that Washington County staff who were doing personal advocacy on their own time were at risk of losing their job. Multiple sources had informed me to the contrary and Duyck was angry at me for not giving his word more weight than those sources. It's all a partisan plot to make him look bad. Or something.

More from Tims:

This week's removal of Pihl, along with Cornelius farmer Dave Vanasche, from the rural roads advisory committee is only the latest instance of pressure exerted by Duyck and other elected officials in the county to silence naysayers, critics say.

They list other recent attempts to squelch citizen voices at the Washington County Fair Board, the Washington County Farm Bureau, the county's planning commission and citizen representation on the Metro Policy Advisory Committee, or MPAC, which advises the Metro Council on issues such as land-use and transportation.

In the most recent case, Duyck said he emailed the Pihl and Vanasche asking them to contact him prior to a meeting this week to discuss an apparent rift. When neither responded, Duyck said he had no choice but to conclude that they weren't serious about continuing their unpaid service.

"I can't have people on committees who are unwilling to talk to me," he said. "That's it in a nutshell. What this simply comes down to is people trying to justify their own bad behavior."

"....justify their own bad behavior?" Seriously?

Let me see if I have this straight:

The Washington County Farm Bureau was cleared out of all the leaders who didn't support Andy Duyck's position on the Urban & Rural Reserves. (And now Andy's father is the new President--just a coincidence, I'm sure).

The Washington County Fair Board disagrees with Duyck's position on the use of the land at the Fairgrounds and their power to oversee the property and it's uses evaporates. That power is then handed over to others that--gasp!--are pretty much willing to to what Duyck wants.

Basic advisory committees that are supposed to include local citizens are keeping out those whose opinions are in dissent with Duyck.

Somewhere there must be a massive room in Washington County where all the "Let's Get Andy" riff-raff are holding their monthly meetings, plotting to subvert his beautiful Shining County On A Hill. It can't possibly be that Duyck has run roughshod over citizens for the last year and tried to tear the throat out of any true citizen involvement.

Yeah. There's some bad behavior being justified. Andy Duyck need only look into the mirror to find the culprit.

By Carla Axtman Jan. 19, 2012