North Douglas Herald
April 2024
City Desk
Roseburg’s City Recorder
Amy Nytes Replaces Retiring Patty Hitt
By Scooter Brown
The City of Roseburg
welcomed new City Re-
corder Amy Nytes. Nytes
(pronounced “NYE tuhs”)
began working for the
City on Monday, March
4. She replaces Patty Hitt,
who retired Thursday,
Feb. 29.
“We are excited to
welcome Amy to the team,” said City Manager Nikki
Messenger. “She has hit the ground running. She is a
great addition to the team.”
Prior to joining the City of Roseburg, Nytes
served as the City Recorder/Administrative Aide for
the City of Springfield since 2018. Her first role for
that city was Administrative Specialist from 2013 to
2018.
Nytes also worked as a front office supervisor
for the Oregon Urology Institute from 2012 to 2013,
a billing specialist for Women’s Care in Eugene from
2009 to 2012, an escrow officer and escrow assistant
with Western Title & Escrow in Eugene from 2003
to 2008, an escrow assistant and escrow officer for
Evergreen Land Title Co. in Springfield from 2001 to
2003, and a staffing coordinator/human resources for
Flex Force Staff in Eugene from 2000 to 2001.
She graduated from Yoncalla High School. Her
parents live in Sutherlin. Nytes now lives on 2.5 acres
with her fiancé, Steve Wages; a Morgan/Bureau of
Land Management mustang cross named Bailey;
two dogs and two cats.
Page 5
Todd Vaughn Senate District #1 Candidate Drain Time Capsule
From 1954
Public “Meet & Greet”
Saturday, April 20th 2-3:30 pm Abby’s Pizza, Sutherlin
Saturday, April 27th 1-3pm at Drain Civic Center
Senate District #1 GOP candidate Todd
Vaughn will be meeting the public for a
series of “Meet & Greet” events in April.
Todd Vaugn is a resident of Tiller Oregon
and is running for senate seat in Oregon
senate District #1, against incumbent
David Brock-Smith. In a field of 4 Re-
publicans running in the Primary election
on May 21st, Todd Vaughn has planned a
number of events to interact with potential
constituents and to get his message out to
voters.
The Oregon Primary election GOP
winner will then vie against any Demo-
cratic, Libertarian, Independant or other
challengers for that seat in the November
General Election.
The Sutherlin Meet & Greet, on April
20th, is open to the public and is from 2:
00pm to 3:30pm at the Sutherlin Abby’s
Pizza at 1011 West Central Ave. Then
Todd will be in Drain on Saturday, April
27th from 1:00 to 3:00 at the Drain Civic
Center, 205 West “A” Avenue. There will
be light refreshments served. For more
information please call Paula Estill, 541
836-7612
Paid for by Friends of Todd Vaughn PAC 2331
Yoncalla Prepares to
Enhance Town with
Flower Baskets
by Carol Mogensen
Members of the Yoncalla Beautification Com-
mittee have dirty hands from planting flowers
in the hanging baskets that will line city streets
this spring and summer. By Mother’s Day,
16-inch baskets will line Eagle Valley Road and
Main Street along with 12-inch baskets located
throughout town. The Beautification Com-
mittee welcomes sponsorship of the 16-inch
flower baskets at a cost of $80.00 per basket.
Smaller 12-inch baskets for personal use may
be purchased for $40.00. Anyone wishing to
buy baskets or donate to sponsor baskets should
contact the committee treasurer Doris Bartlett at
(541) 315-0608 or P.O. Box 936, Yoncalla, OR
97499. The Beautification Committee appreci-
ates donations received from the following:
Mike and Linda Dickey (Dickey Living Trust),
Tammy Eveland (Yoncalla Deli), Benton and
Sasha Cameron (Northwest Community Build-
ers), Gary and Liz Gilbert, Theresa Jones, Terry
and Bonnie Duncan, and MaryEllen Laswell.
During the demolition of the Drain City Hall
last month, it was discovered that there was a
time capsule encased in the walls. It was dam-
aged but the contents were preserved. The Her-
ald will feature an in depth pictorial next issue.
Ethics Commission
Investigating Cottage
Grove City Council
Story by Scooter Brown
The state’s Ethics Commission is
investigating Cottage Grove City Council
for alleged violation of the Public Meeting
Law when hiring its new city manager in
December 2023.
The complaints were lodged by
Cottage Grove resident Johanna Zee,
alleging that the decision to hire the new city
manager was made without public input and
behind closed doors. The complaints were
filed with the Oregon Government Ethics
Commission (OGEC) in January. OGEC is
a citizen commission which enforces state
laws including Public Meeting Laws.
In the complaint, Zee alleges
that the hiring of the new city manager,
Michael Sauerwein, was conducted during
an executive session on Dec. 15, 2023.
Under Public Meeting Law, decision-
making is prohibited behind closed doors,
and executive sessions are not open to the
public, though the sessions are recorded,
those recordings are not accessible to the
public.
On March 22, the Commission’s
preliminary review findings were made
public via a video posted on YouTube.
The findings stated that there appears
to be a “substantial objective basis” of
violations, “by discussing compensation in
executive session and in fact making a final
decision” in executive session, according
to investigator Andrew McIntyre. Some of
the materials in the findings are confidential
and it is still an ongoing investigation.