Press Talk: Could the end be near for Madore?

The case for resignation

• The losses are mounting. After winning election three years ago (he would be up for re-election in November), Madore has been hit by a number of embarrassing losses. He expended a lot of political capital trying to get the new form of county government defeated.

He lost.

He then expended a lot of cash trying to get elected county chair, a new position created with the passage of our new form of government.

He lost.

Then he tried to get his soulmate, state Rep. Liz Pike, elected to the chair seat he couldn’t manage to win.

He lost that battle, as well.

• That pesky new government. Madore adamantly opposed the new county government because it would weaken his ability to run roughshod over this county. And Madore — a successful businessman — is not only used to power but is used to his word being the only thing needed to get things accomplished.

Before voters approved the county charter, all Madore needed on the three-member county commission was his vote and Tom Mielke’s. And Mielke almost always went along with whatever Madore wanted.

Now there will be five county council members, and the M&M boys — more often than not — will be relegated to the vocal minority.

• Undoing the crazy. So expect Madore to get little accomplished in 2016. Worse, much of what he pushed through in his tenure will simply be undone.

That political posturing to reduce the county’s property tax levy by 2 percent? In deep trouble. The bullying of other agencies by withholding county money from them? Not so much anymore. The strained relationships he’s fostered with so many others? Restored.

The crazy hiring of state Sen. Don Benton as the county’s environmental services director? Bye-bye.

Heck, even the banning of The Columbian from the county councilors’ waiting room should end.

Put simply, Madore has spent a lot of time making enemies. This new council will get busy making friends.

• Other boards. Councilors sit on many other boards when they get elected. Take the C-Tran board, for example. As those assignments get doled out, look for Madore to not get the choice ones.

• Delusions of grandeur. Madore feels like a loner to me. I suspect he got one of those “Doesn’t play well with others” notes from his fifth-grade teacher. A convenient way out of what he sees as a county council mess is to run for higher office. Hey, it’s a free country.

The case for staying

Madore suffered his first political loss when the new form of government passed, weakening his power. I made a point of going to the next county council meeting to look into his eyes.

There wasn’t much there.

That first political defeat here crushed him. He couldn’t process it.

As additional political defeats happened, I attended the council meetings to look into his eyes. Madore adjusted. His eyes changed. He no longer looked dazed after a defeat. He’s a deeply religious man who appreciates that suffering is part of the journey. He sat up straight and went back to work.

Essentially, he learned how to live and adjust to losing.

Quitting would not be an easy thing for a guy like Madore to do. It would signal — in those eyes of his — that his opponents had beaten him into submission. So walking away with a year to go doesn’t seem like it’s in his wheelhouse.

Still, Madore has to decide the worst of two evils. Will he spend a year being an ineffective afterthought, bossed around by new county Chair Boldt — a guy he has little respect for and dislikes? Or will he write a resignation speech that essentially would say he was always — and only — guided by what he felt the people wanted and — after several elections — it looks like the people might want something other than him, so he will stay true to his vow and go away from this public office?

Yes, he’ll struggle with this decision. Political power, after all, is very seductive.