Commissioner Candidate Trespassed for Disruption During County Meeting, County Officials Mooned (Again)

Today’s Washington County Commissioner meeting saw multiple disruptions, as County Commissioner candidate Curtis Reigh and local activist Shaun Porter both spoke during two public hearings. During one of the hearings, Commissioner Barr had to call a recess to stop the disruption, then trespassed Reigh when he refused to sit down or leave the meeting.

The first public hearing, scheduled for 9:30 AM, addressed requests from various organizations seeking to be added to the list of nonprofit organizations eligible for county contributions. Mr. Reigh was the first speaker called, and began to mistakenly call the hearing a “bill”. He then proceeded to state how he “hated the bill” and began comparing it to other actions which the County government has taken which he disagrees with, such as the removal of general public comment from meetings or when Reigh was trespassed from a previous meeting. The county corrected Reigh that it’s not a bill, and that his comments were not relevant to the public hearing. “If you don’t stop, I will call for disorder and clear this room until I get order, and you will deal with the deputies,” said Barr. Ultimately Commissioner President Barr cleared the room due to Reigh’s refusal to sit down after being called out-of-order. After coming back from recess, Reigh refused to sit down, resulting in Barr trespassing him due to disrupting the meeting, followed by some profane remarks from Reigh as he left the room. Shaun Porter was able to complete his public comment during the first public hearing without incident, which was mostly on-topic.

Reigh, who has filed to run in 2026 for County Commissioner, was previously arrested during a meeting for refusing to leave after instructed to do so by county officials. A trial is scheduled for September 10, 2025 for the previous incident.

Following this, a second public hearing will focused on a Zoning Text Amendment, RZ-25-005, concerning Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). This proposed amendment aims to permit the creation of ADUs by right in various zoning districts, with specific conditions to maintain neighborhood character. During the public hearing, Porter remained on-topic for the hearing and actually expressed sentiment in support of implementing some of the changes outlined in the amendment, then proceeded to moon the Commissioners while returning to his seat. Afterwards Porter walked through the public seating area while holding his middle finger in the air, and was then asked to leave and not come back.

The rest of the meeting continued uninterrupted. The full meeting is available on the County YouTube channel.

Article by Mel Anara, based upon the Washington County Commissioner Meeting from 8/26/2025

This article was updated to clarify that Porter was asked to leave after walking through the meeting displaying the middle finger.

---