$9,200 desk comes up as county commissioner faces reelection campaign
Updated: Mar. 26, 2026, 9:53 a.m.|Published: Mar. 25, 2026, 12:14 p.m.
By Noelle Crombie | The Oregonian/OregonLiveAustin De Dios | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Clackamas County Commissioner Ben West, currently seeking reelection, had the county buy him a $9,200 custom desk after he took office in 2023 — a price tag far higher than any of his fellow commissioners’ office furniture expenditures.
The purchase of the oak Amish desk and matching hutch fell within the $5,000 to $10,000 budget for furnishing county commissioners’ offices, said Gary Schmidt, the county administrator.
Newly elected commissioners have the option of choosing office furniture paid for by the county and the furniture remains county property after the person leaves office, Schmidt said this week.
Commissioners can also bring in their own furniture or they can use desks and chairs already owned by the county, he said.
Commissioners Paul Savas and Martha Schrader use furniture left over from previous county commissioners and Chair Craig Roberts and Commissioner Diana Helm furnished their offices with modular cubicle furniture that had been stored in county surplus, Schmidt said.
A county employee raised questions about West’s desk purchase after The Oregonian/OregonLive’s recent reporting on the county’s hiring of West’s father, Tom West. The elder West got a job last month as a full-time temporary building maintenance specialist, a position that pays $33 an hour. He secured the position not long after Ben West told the county administrator that his father was looking for work.