Opinion Piece of Samuel Strait – May 20, 2016 – Now that we have had the local print newspaper weigh in on one of our local princesses, it has become necessary to point out some of the more telling behaviors found when trying to talk to the veteran politician who has been caught doing something that doesn’t seem quite right.  Irregardless of whether Ms. McClure gets her wrist slapped or not, there is almost always something in the details that should tarnish her time in office and make reelection something she should reconsider.  But, that is most certainly not the case for MS. McClure.

Lengthy time spent in political office is not something the founders of the country were in favor, as it brought up fresh memories of kings , queens, princes, and princesses.  They felt that we did not need to manufacture a new “royalty” which would inevitably fall prey to corruption.  By corruption, it could mean a harmless campaign donation or a free night at a villa, but maybe that is merely what has found it’s way to the surface.  Being a veteran politician with years of political experience and political connections are rarely things that make government better.  It more often than not can hide great sins.

In Jessica Cejnar’s article of Ms. McClure’s difficulties, a tone was set that an overzealous and aggressive reporter caused Ms. McClure to react with the profanity laced diatribe in response to some “gotcha” questions trying to make her look bad.  Yet, asking about a villa stay and an alleged improper donation does not seem to rise to the level of Ms. McClure’s invective ladened response, unless there is more to the story.  It is almost as if not only was it none of the reporter’s business, but that of the wee people as well.

The question now becomes, has Ms. McClure become that royalty whose transgressions become “nothing to see here folks?” Everything that I do that is suspect should be overlooked because I am so important.   While the reporter may “respect her for standing her ground”, the bottom line is that she stayed in the villa and kept the donation in question.  That’s a “YES” to both. She may try to brush it off as inconsequential, language of the daughter of a logger, and somehow beneath the dignity of such an important personage as her, but what has really gone on here.

Mrs. McClure is a supervisor for the county, a member of several other commissions and boards, our representative on the Coastal Commission, and heavily involved in the Democratic Party.  She has been in office for twenty years, long enough to have established many cosy relationships with the power brokers Statewide.  She no longer operates entirely as a District 2’s representative, but has risen above that place.  She seems to have left Del Norte County behind and taken up one of those scepters.  Has she become a Princess or that Queen?