My name is John Ludlow. I am a candidate for Clackamas County Commission Chair. A man by the name of Dave Adams has been peppering Clackamas County with hundreds of signs stating that I am a bully. Mr. Adams gave my opponent, Clackamas County Commission Chair Charlotte Lehan, over $8,000 in her last election. This time Mr. Adams has decided donate to Charlotte a smear campaign against her opponent.

I will not be taking the time to answer the trumped up, twisted and untruthful claims contained on this man’s website.

Let me give you a quote from Clackamas County Commission Chair Charlotte Lehan. She put this on her Facebook page prior to last May’s primary election when advertising was being unveiled that criticized Commission candidate Dave Hunt’s voting record in the legislature.

“Today I called for an end to the negative campaign advertising that is appearing in advance of the election for Clackamas County Chair. The ads, appearing both on television and through the mail, are funded by outside interest groups.

I challenge the other three campaigns to join us in this pledge.”

I took that pledge long before Ms. Lehan’s call for civility. I have stuck with the issues in this campaign and I will continue to do so. I can only wonder if Ms. Lehan has forgotten the words that she wrote.

President Barack Obama said, “If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.” Charlotte Lehan has followed the advice of her President. I will not.

If being a bully is that we had to bully Chair Lehan in order to vote on the Sellwood Bridge vehicle licensing tax, and the right to vote on Urban Renewal taxes and light rail expenditures, then I’m a bully. You see a bully is simply someone who doesn’t agree with Charlotte Lehan. I will continue to be a champion of voter’s rights. If that makes me a bully, I am guilty as charged.