Fraudulent Candidate for Tent City, Oregon

Jesse Cornett

My wife works in Clackamas County and got home from work one night last week with a flyer on her car from Rick Lamanna, who wants to be the next Sheriff of Clackamas County. I’ve heard of him somewhere I thought, and after reading his flyer I googled and found a Rogue of Week recently about him.

Under state law, Lamanna had to live in Clackamas at least one year before the general election to be eligible to run for sheriff. By almost all accounts, he was not living in Clackamas County by November 4th, 2007. A residency complaint was filed with Clackamas County. What did they decide? The $200 per year rent receipt was proof enough for the good ole county clerk as proof of residence. To boot, the receipt was written by a good friend, new “roommate,” campaign manager and campaign treasurer (I guess Rick only knew one person in Clackamas County).

Here are a few more facts about Lamanna’s lack of residency:

• He didn’t register to vote in Clackamas County until December 26th.
• He was apparently scheduled to appear before the Washington County Peace Officers Association in January to get their support for running for Washington County Sheriff but backed out at the last minute.
• Though he’d been back from Arizona (more below) for an unknown period of time, he didn’t bother to even get an Oregon driver’s license until January 23rd.
• He owns an $800,000 home in Washington County.
• To top it off, he apparently voted in a November 6th, 2007 special election in Washington County, which verifies that he either lived there or committed voter fraud, an offense that makes him ineligible to be a Sheriff in Oregon.

In summary, the Clackamas County Clerk was negligent in allowing Lamanna to be on the ballot.

What is more concerning than that? The author of the fraudulent receipt is now running in the race (see Rogue story, above) to force a May election and Lamanna just reported a $50,000 contribution from one person, presumably a fellow right winger, as Lamanna describes himself as such ideology makes a bit of difference in a race to be a law enforcement officer. Unfortunately, his credentials for the job are so thin, ideology is all he is driven by.

And it gets even worse. What’s Lamanna’s solution for fixing the criminal justice system? He wants to let the county’s investment go to waste by not finishing the current jail project and create a “Tent City” instead. That’s right, after being inspired by a backward Arizona Sheriff, he moved to Clackamas County almost in time to find a run for Sheriff and import their bad ideas. The whole idea of the tent city anywhere is awful, but maybe Lamanna missed the significant climate difference between Arizona and Oregon: rain!

I sure hope Clackamas County voters don’t get duped into supporting this guy.

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    I am concerned that this strange tale of backroom shenanigans isn't getting the coverage it deserves. That seems even odder given the peculiar details, characters and May being a sweeps month ?!? I worry because we see his signs everywhere on the east side of 205 in Clackamas County. I believe his "tent city" idea was for meth addicts. His ideas sound like a bad pilot for a CW network show.Carpetbagging is just the tip of the ice berg.

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    Wow. Wow, wow. Such shenanigans! Thanks for the tip, Jesse.

  • Ernie D (unverified)
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    Good work Jesse. Sherri Hall, the Clackamas County Clerk, is a Republican hack. She's also incompetent and has zero management skills.

    Clearly, she had the responsibility to check Lamanna's eligibility and should have easily discovered he did not meet residency requirements.

    Orestar shows a $50,000 in-kind contribution on 4/29 from a Eric Garner here. This body shop owner provided this for "media promotions." I can see a contribution at that amount but why in-kind? Is Garner going to try to write this off on taxes as a business expense?

  • Katy (unverified)
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    Molly and Jesse, go team! This is crazy, where's the coverage in the paper? Goonies.

  • Steve (unverified)
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    Pardon my trolling my blue friends but you got this right as can be.

    The current Sheriff Roberts is a stellar leader doing great things in a truly nonpartisan way.

    We can all easily get behind his re-election and reject his shady opponent.

  • Jill Thorn (unverified)
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    Jesse,

    Great piece. Maybe this should serve as a call for a qualified person to step forward to run for Clerk in two years. The people in the Elections Department are great, but there is a leadership void at the top!

  • Matt (unverified)
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    This guy is real shady. His campaign manager is his landlord and also running for Sheriff-who got the "quit or be fired" from Washington County not too long ago. What political appointment does he get if Lamanna is able to fool the voters? Why does this guy want to be Sheriff so bad, what's his real motivation?

  • Tom Civiletti (unverified)
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    Maybe John Kauffman wants his old position back!

  • RJ (unverified)
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    Get your facts guys, the guy is not that shady at all; actually beloved by almost all the deputies he worked with in Washington county, and so was his his campaign manager. His campaign manager was not told to quit or be fired at all, that is an absolute lie, ask anyone at the WCSO.

    Just because Rick is more conservative in his law enforcement approach, is no reason to demonize him based on half truths. Rick was born and raised in Clackamas county. Sure he moved to that address to make the resedency requirements, but that is not uncommen at all. Unlike H. Clinton who had no history in New York and moved there to secure a senate seat, Rick actually has a long history in Clack. County

    Cool down guys...

  • Steve (unverified)
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    RJ, Get real, LaManna isn't more "conservative". He's a dishonest carpetbagger trying to buy an election and postion of power he could never actually earn. He has as a lot more sleaze than his phoney residency. And he wasn't living in the county for the year required. Don't you find anything curious about the claim that this millionaire supposedly lived in his campaign manager's basement for a year? If you buy that no wonder you're here trying to defend this clown. His other chronic lying in his campaign and rampant violation of signs in the public right of way make him the worst candidate in sight for any position.

    He's lied about everything happening in Clackamas County regarding the Sheriff's office, crime statistics, spending and the jail needs. How is it that you can be so misguided?

    In reality Sheriff Roberts has been nothing short of amazing as he reformed virtually everything the Sheriff's office does. In doing so he has expanded law enforcement while saving money, opening jail beds and creating new and effective programs. Programs that expand the fight against drug problems, Internet crimes against children and the early release of hardened criminals. This is exactly what conservatives, who are too often accused of just being anti-government would like to see happen at all government agencies.
    The fact that the very nonpartisan Roberts is a Democrat is meaningless. But here again the unethical LaManna attempts to manipulate this election by injecting party.

    If you have no awareness of the tremendous progress this agency has experienced under Sheriff Roberts perhaps you need to do a little more homework.

    Then you would be joining the bipartisan support for Roberts that includes conservative Republican stalwarts such as Rob Kremer, NW Republican, OregonCatalyst and the Executive Club.

    This conservative Republican applauds my blue friends for joining in this bipartisan support for Roberts and I condemn any Clackamas County Republican party support for LaManna.

  • RJ (unverified)
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    I think Lars Larson's open support for LaManna's positions and ideas could have a big influence on the conservative vote in Clackamas. I don't think Roberts has that that big of a bypartisan following at all. We'll see Tuesday...

  • A cop (unverified)
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    If Lars Larson openly supports Lamanna, that is reason enough alone to look at Rick Lamanna twice. Lars claims "Lars Love Cops" (reference his monthly ad in the Portland Police Union's Rap Sheet) but he is so clueless about the realities of law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

    I heard Rick's interview and was disgusted with Lars' very open and biased support for Rick. Rick is also very uneducated and misinformed when it comes to the realities of the criminal justice system. Rick has done a great job of miseducating the public with his non realistic ideals and plans. He has mislead the public with his "experience" and is not qualified to run ANY police agency.

    If the public wants to save money by electing Rick and ousting Craig Roberts, they would actually be doing the opposite. Rick will destroy CCSO just as two terrible police chiefs did to Oregon City and West Linn Police Departments. The money and years it will take to rebuild the sheriff's office after the masses leave for other police agencies will be astronomical. West Linn Police is still rebuilding from their last leadership mistake.

    To anyone who bit into Rick's ridiculous ideas and lies and voted for him, you should be ashamed of yourself. Had you done your homework you would have easily learned the truth about this VERY dishonest man.

  • Steve (unverified)
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    Lars Larson DOES NOT support LaManna.

    Here we have yet another bald faced lie by LaManna people.

    The only tow things Lars has wrestled with at all is his own obsession with Wapato and his uninformed insistence that Clackamas County should join Multnomah County and open that jail instead of building their own.

    The other is a generic call for voting on all things costing many millions.

    At no time has Lars every supported LaManna, period.

    LaMannas's misunderstanding and misrepresenting of the Clackamas county jail needs has him touting the tent city farce.

    Wapato and the jail needs were studied extensively by a grand jury and a citizen blue ribbon committee. Every option, every cost, every inmate number and every fudning means was raised.

    The outcome was Wapato would not work and CC needed a new replacement jail, the county commission voted to fund it and the very astute and responsible Sheriff Roberts worked with his staff to create a plan that will fund the jail debt service within their budget.

    There are a number of people out there who have bought into LaManna's deceit and falsely believe Roberts has not reformed anything and he's just another politician wasting money.

    That is opposite the reality Roberts has achieved with more on the way.

    Anyone who votes for LaManna has swayed way out of line.

    There's not a thing about LaManna that is preferrable. Nothing.

  • A cop (unverified)
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    Steve,

    Read my comment again. I am not a Slick Rick supporter.

    Lars' interviews with Sheriff Roberts and Slick Rick prove my point. Lars is so clueless about the jail situation yet he thinks he knows what he is talking about. He stopped short of asking Rick out on a date. Lars was so happy with Rick's unrealistic idea for a tent city (correction now a "warehouse" as Rick put it during the interview).

    I lost any respect I had for Lars Larson over this issue and I hope The Rap Sheet refuses his ads in the future. He is not helping law enforcement, he is hurting it.

  • Steve (unverified)
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    A cop,

    No doubt Lars was out of line. He hasn't studied the jail or county at all, leaving him misinformed, uninformed and acting on impulse and knee jerk impression.

    And uncharacteristicly vulnerable to the con man pitch of LaManna. But he has not supported LaManna.

    His two interviews were all about the jail issue. And he was simply wrong on all of it.

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