Shemia Fagan (D-Portland), who won election as Oregon’s next secretary of state in November, recently held an event in her home in which 7 adults from 6 different households shared close quarters indoors without wearing masks. This event violated the emergency restrictions on large gatherings ordered by Governor Kate Brown (D-Oregon) to slow the spread of the Wuhan CCP coronavirus. A neighbor witnessed the Sunday event and snapped some pictures from the street.
Several folks were seen milling about outside under pop-up tents, and inside the residence as well. None wore masks, despite the governor’s emergency COVID-19 orders. The residence was identified as Shemia Fagan’s home, where she hosted a child’s birthday party. On November 25, Gov. Brown placed 21 counties into an “Extreme Risk” category and extended deadlines for restrictions on social gatherings through the month of December. These restrictions include no more than six visitors from no more than two households for private gatherings, indoors or out.
Stan Pulliam, the Republican mayor of the neighboring town of Sandy, has frequently criticized Brown’s heavy-handed regulations that have done little to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Oregon. At the Open Our Oregon rally on Sunday afternoon, he blasted Fagan’s hypocrisy:
In a Facebook post, Pulliam said,
While Oregon’s Main Street small business owners and employees gather to fight for their families and livelihoods, Oregon’s new Secretary of State Shemia Fagan breaks the Governor’s mandates (which she enthusiastically supports) by hosting a birthday party with multiple families at her home.
Their mandates only apply to you, not them. While our small business owners and their employees file unemployment claims and our children are forced into virtual learning, the elected elite’s children get birthday parties. Oregon can and must do better. It’s time to open.
Of course, the governor encouraged Oregonians to snitch on their neighbors:
Oregon Governor Kate Brown (D) is asking citizens to call the police on neighbors who violate her new lockdown restrictions.
“This is no different than what happens if there’s a party down the street and it’s keeping everyone awake,” Brown said in an interview Friday. “What do neighbors do [in that case]? They call law enforcement because it’s too noisy. This is just like that. It’s like a violation of a noise ordinance.”
Newly elected (Republican) Chair of Clackamas County, Tootie Smith, made waves when she openly defied Kate Brown’s Thanksgiving shutdown.
The controversy around Fagan comes at a time when rumors are swirling in Oregon’s capital of Salem. Many believe that Kate Brown, who can’t run for reelection as governor due to term limits, has attempted to position herself in a favorable light for a spot in a Biden-Harris administration in January. The secretary of state is second in the line of succession in Oregon if the governor resigns or is incapable of continuing in the job. In fact, that’s how Brown first elevated to Oregon’s governor, after John Kitzhaber resigned due to scandal early in 2015. Should the new administration tap Brown for a position in DC, Fagan would elevate to the governor’s mansion, having served for a matter of weeks as secretary of state.
Lots of moving parts here, but it appears Shemia Fagan follows Kate Brown’s example that COVID-19 regulations must exempt (Democrat) elected officials. Remember, Kate Brown was caught violating her own mask order over the summer.
It’s almost as if these public officials don’t believe their regulations actually work to stop the spread of the coronavirus, or they might take them more seriously.
Jeff Reynolds is the author of the book, “Behind the Curtain: Inside the Network of Progressive Billionaires and Their Campaign to Undermine Democracy,” available at www.WhoOwnsTheDems.com. Jeff hosts a podcast at anchor.fm/BehindTheCurtain. You can follow him on Twitter @ChargerJeff, and on Parler at @RealJeffReynolds.
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