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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 2015)
8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2015 Local New Council member Lewis sworn in—again Sumpter Christmas planning begins • SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD TO HOLD RE-VOTE PER CITY CHARTER BY GINA K. SWARTZ Gina@TheBakerCountyPress.com Monday evening at 6:00 p.m. a special meeting of the City Council was held. All councilors were present for this special meeting held because it was brought to Coun- cil’s attention in the City Charter that when voting to replace a City Councilor, such as was done at the October 13th meeting to replace the seat vacated by Ben Merrill, a majority vote must be made—not simply the person with the most votes. In last Tuesday’s vote and subsequent appoint- ment of Margaret “Sandy” Lewis to the council, Lewis received three votes with two being cast for Randy Daugherty and one for Michael Meyers. Although Lewis garnered the most votes, it was not the majority required. “I do want to apologize to everyone that is par- ticipating in this part of the process. There were a number of people in the room that could’ve caught that error on the night when we had our first vote. I could’ve caught it, Mr. Kee, staff—our City Attor- ney was also in the room and no one did so, here we are. But, I do believe doing it right is the right thing to do,” said Mayor Mosier. Upon discovering Lewis’ appointment was not official, it was advised that because Lewis made a second on Councilor Downing’s motion regard- ing purchase of an Admin- istration Vehicle, the issue needed to be readdressed and a revote made. New ballots for the Councilor position were handed put to the Council- ors but before they were tallied, City Manager Mike Kee told Council that Randy Daugherty had withdrawn his name as an applicant. Upon speaking with Daugherty, he said, “I know quite a bit about how City operations work. First of all, the reason I volunteered to serve was it was going to be a short term, only 15 months. Had it been a full two and a half years, I would not have done it. I thought with my experience, being on the planning commission for two years, City Council for four and Budget Board for six—I am the current Budget chair—the cur- rent Council might find that useful. Looking at the make-up of that Council, you don’t have a lot of experience. “There are some big things are on the horizon. They are going to hire a new City Manager. I’ve been though that process twice. There is nothing easy about it. “Labor negotiations that should start the first quarter of next year, you should get that out of your way before the budget process begins again. There is Meghan Andersch / The Baker County Press Gina K. Swartz / The Baker County Press New City Council member Sandy Lewis was sworn in by Luke Yeaton for the second time this Monday, making the appointment official. some uncertainty of wheth- er Tiedeman Consulting is going to renew their contract next year at the Golf Course. I thought the Council would probably want that experience on there to try to help them.” Daugherty continued, “But, after the vote on 13th, I got two votes. It was clear that my experi- ence wasn’t necessary. I didn’t see any reason why that would change at all in a revote, so I just accepted that and knew there was no reason to continue on. I knew clearly that I was not going to get appointed (even in a revote). I felt that if I withdrew, they (the Councilors) could have the opportunity to vote for either Sandy or Mike. “I ran to try to help. I’m not the type that is looking for accolades or to be on the front page of the paper. I like to be involved in things and try to get things accomplished, that other people can take credit for, and I think I’m pretty good at getting things done. Clearly the council did not feel that was the direc- tion that they wanted to go. I knew at best the vote was going to be the same. There’s no hard feelings. I’m not upset about it. I was born and raised in this town. I’ve lived here all my life. I’m a small busi- ness owner in this town and I like to pitch in and help if I can, try to make things successful.” City Councilor Candi- date Michael Meyer asked to address Council before that vote as well. He urged the Council to rethink the purchase of the administrative vehicle say- ing, “I would ask that you think of what a true luxury that is to be able to spend twenty-some-thousand dollars on a new vehicle. Look at all the possible options. I would guess that most of the citizens, many on fixed incomes in this town, would see that as a dream to be able to do that. Mr. Langrell has proposed a much less expensive vehicle, $4,000 less, but it seemed there was no fur- ther council discussion.” He also suggested use of the Citizens On Patrol vehicle that the Police Department has as an alternative for purchasing a new vehicle. Meyer said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen it move. It’s a newer looking, larger sedan and I believe that Baker City already owns that. I’m thinking $21,000 would go a long way toward gas, oil chang- es and any needed repairs. I’m thinking those dollars could be spent on more pressing needs that would benefit all of Baker.” As he wrapped up his statement he added, “This is hard for me, but I also would like to withdraw my name, my application, for the City Council just due to personal reasons.” Lewis then approached Council and said, “I just wanted to say that I was looking forward to serving on the Council. I think that what I would add would be to do some very thorough research and try to be well prepared for every item on the agenda and to truly try to represent all of the citizens of Baker City if I should be appointed.” The Council ballots were gathered and counted with all Councilors vot- ing unanimously, 6-0, for Lewis. She was again admin- istered the Oath of Office then invited by Mosier to join her fellow councilors. The councilors then turned their attention to the administration vehicle purchase. Kee addressed Council with some background information he felt the Council needed to consider before the vote. He advised that the City is currently using a 2002 Oldsmobile Bravada with approximately 165,000 miles. The budget board approved purchasing a vehicle with a budget of $23,500. Kee said the vehicle is used to transport drinking water samples to Pendleton to be flown to Portland twice weekly for testing. The water sample testing is time-sensitive. He also noted the vehicle would be used by city personnel to go to meetings and trainings and needed to be able to fit five comfortably. Kee explained that the budget board had been approached at budget time and the need for this as well as the type of vehicle that was being sought was explained at that time. Kee called attention to the price sheet that had been provided to Council indicating bids submitted for the vehicles that met the specifications required, there were five received that met those specifica- tions. The price sheet included a 2016 Chevy Malibu for $22,268, a 2016 Chrysler 200 Limited for $21,840, a 2015 Nissian Altima SV for $23,211, a 2015 Nis- sian Altima S for $21,863 and a 2016 Ford Fusion for $21,810. Kee indicated that while evaluating the choices staff included calculating the MPG, operation costs of the vehicles as well as complimentary oil changes and the cost to take the vehicle to an out of area dealer to utilize warranty services into the net cost of the vehicles. The choice of the 2016 Ford Fusion from Gentry Ford Lincoln in Baker City was presented as staff recommendation. Councilor Augenfeld asked about the trade-in of the Oldsmobile Bravada and was advised that it had been determined that the outright sale of the Bra- vada rather than using it as a trade-in would be in the best interest of the City. Councilor Langrell again mentioned the Dodge Dart that had been bid by Powder River Motors. He said that the Dart met all the specifications that were sent out in the bid but, “The Public Works Direc- tor didn’t ‘like’ it. That is too bad, it met all the specifications. The reason we send things out to bid is to try and get the best deal for the citizens. This bid was $4,000 less. If she (Michelle Owen, Public Works Director) didn’t want that kind of car, she should have done a better job (with the specifica- tions).” Langrell stated that after the last meeting he had received a call from the dealer that submitted the bid asking what govern- ment agency could be con- tacted to file a complaint against the City. “I assured him it would be a waste of his time,” said Langrell. He again motioned that City Council approve the purchase of the Dodge Dart. Without hearing a sec- ond, Mayor Mosier said, “That motion fails.” Councilor Downing then made a motion to accept the bid for the 2016 Ford Fusion and authorize the purchase with a second by Councilor Thomas. A 6-1 vote was cast with all Councilors except Langrell in favor. Mayor Mosier then closed the meeting. The first meeting of Sumpter Valley’s 2015 Christ- mas Celebration Committee was Tuesday at the Sumpter Community Center. L to R: Anna Stafford, Lynne Applegate, Nancy Myers, Barbara Malone, Dick Malone, and Mark Luker. More volunteers are- welcome. Activities include the Christmas bazaar, parade, and tree decorating. Please contact Barb Malone at barbmalone@msn.com, text to 208-890- 3266, or call 894-2458. The Christmas Celebration Committee is a part of the SVCV (Sumpter Valley Community Volunteers). Burnt River Home Extension Group gathers Photos courtesy of Joan Towell. The Burnt River Home Extension Group met this month in the home of Barbara Lewis at Bridgeport. She hosted a potluck salad luncheon. Several quilts were on display in her Calico Cottage. Beth Atkins brought one of her quilts, which she had just finished, with the center theme of an elk herd. In attendance were Sally Shumway, Bonnie Clugston, Cindy Kerr, Ferrell Anderson, Betty Duncan, Beth Atkins, Pat Ross, Joan Towell, Eleanor Sullivan, Barbara Lewis and guest Dawn Patterson from California, who took the picture, and daughter of Pat Ross. Above are photos of the group and Beth Atkins holding her quilt. Ash to run again Interim Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash, who was ap- pointed this year by Commissioners to finish out the term vacated by the former sheriff, says he'll be running for the position in 2016. Ash issued this statement: "I would like to announce that I will be running for Baker County Sheriff in 2016. I am proud to call Baker County home and to raise my family here. I am not a politician. I want to continue as Sheriff so that I can continue working to keep our com- munity a great place to live in and visit. The Sheriff’s Office performs many vital functions within our county including: emergency response and evacuations, main- taining our jail, investigations, law enforcement, parole and probation, and Search and Rescue. My goal for the Sheriff’s Office is to do our utmost to protect safety and security while building and maintaining relationships with citizens and partners and to do so with empathy, integrity, efficiency, and transparency. Since being unanimously appointed by Baker County Commissioners this spring, I have received overwhelming support from folks throughout the county and I take my responsibili- ties for the welfare of our citizens very seriously. I have the experience and integrity to do the job well and have been successful in meeting the varied challenges of the office. I am looking forward to the future as Sheriff and to continuing to serve Baker County."
