Clackamas County Board of Commissioners suspends pay of Melissa Fireside amid criminal case

Published 12:45 pm Thursday, March 6, 2025

One day after Clackamas County Commissioner Melissa Fireside pleaded not guilty to eight felony counts related to her allegedly scamming an elderly man out of thousands of dollars, three commissioners voted to suspend her pay at a Board of County Commissioners meeting Thursday, March 6.

County Commissioners Ben West, Martha Schrader and Paul Savas voted to suspend Fireside’s pay going back to March 2, pending review by county lawyers. This followed multiple public comments calling for Fireside’s resignation and lamenting the deterioration of trust of the commission. Commission Chair Craig Roberts was not present at the meeting.

Commissioners also referenced a message Fireside shared with them the previous day stating that she was taking a leave of absence. According to Savas, the terms and duration of the absence were not clear in her message.

As a county commissioner, Fireside earns about $130,000 annually.

“The county exists because taxpayers fund this and they have a certain level of expectation that we operate in an ethical and professional manner, and that continues to garner trust that allows us to to do the important work of the people that we are called to serve,” West said before making the motion to suspend Fireside’s pay. “I believe that Commissioner Fireside is incapable of doing that and she has broken that trust and she has now put the trust of this board with the public in jeopardy.”

Additionally, West called for Fireside’s swift resignation.

Schrader said she did not know what the outcome of the criminal case would be, but that the allegations against Fireside are grave.

“I believe that Commissioner Fireside needs to come to work to earn her pay,” Schrader said.

Savas added that commissioners did not have many details or facts of the case prior to Wednesday, saying most of what he’d learned was through reporting in the media.

West also linked Fireside’s actions with Emerge Oregon, a program that prepares women Democrats to run for office. West noted that Fireside graduated from the program, as did former secretary of state Shemia Fagan, who resigned from that role in 2023 following a conflict of interest controversy involving her consultancy work for a cannabis company. Other prominent Oregon female leaders, including all four of Oregon’s current congresswomen, have also gone through the program.

West offered no reasoning for his mention of Emerge Oregon, besides Fireside and Fagan having participated in the program.