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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (April 9, 2021)
PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 9, 2021 Finance dir. appointed city manager By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes Tim Wood, Keizer’s fi nance director, will serve as Keizer’s city manager for the next 60 to 90 days while the city council searches for an interim city manager. The announcement was made at a Keizer City Council meeting Monday, April 5. Wood has been the city’s fi nance director for nearly fi ve years. “It was an easy decision to temporar- ily take on some additional responsibili- ties. That is because of the commitment of our staff , the city council and resi- dents,” Wood said. “We’re determined to keep Keizer moving forward and doing the things that we do best.” Former city manager Chris Eppley resigned April 5 after discharging a gun in his offi ce in early March. The city coun- cil allowed Eppley to continue working in the wake of the incident while an internal investigation was conducted, but off ered is necessary and he is a good fi t for that his resignation on Thursday, April 1. The job,” Reid said. council accepted the resig- Mayor Cathy Clark said nation at a special meeting she would be contacting later that day the Mid-Willamette Valley While Wood is serving as Council of Governments pro temp city manager, the to see what that organiza- council will begin a search tion could off er as far as for an interim city manager. guidance given that it also Once hired, the interim city has recently selected a new manager will serve until the director. council hires a permanent “We want a professional replacement. and someone with experi- The council unanimously ence who already knows the passed a resolution estab- job,” Clark said. lishing Wood as city man- She also off ered encour- ager. Wood received verbal agement for the city’s T. Wood encouragement from coun- administrative team. cilors Roland Herrera and “You are an amazing Laura Reid as he stepped into the new team for the quality work that you con- role. tinue to bring to everybody in Keizer,” “I am confi dent that Tim will do what she said. Council delays adoption of new goals, work plan By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes Members of the Keizer City Council delayed adoption of its bi-yearly short and long-term goals at a meeting Monday, April 5. Between adding an additional short- term goal of recruiting and hiring a new city manager, there was some consterna- tion as to whether the council should only adopt the new goals or the goals and a work plan explaining how the council plans to move forward and achieve the goals. “While I understand the value of the work plan, I am hesitant to adopt some- thing that legally binds us to a course of action," said Councilor Ross Day. “Things may change.” Councilor Laura Reid off ered a counterpoint. “I think the work plan needs to be more sudoku formalized because it is no less of a com- mitment. As with any goals, you don’t com- mit to achieving the goals, but you commit to working on the goals and that needs to be part of what we are doing here,” Reid said. The council agreed to revisit the matter at its April 19 meeting and decide whether both the goals and the work plan would be adopted. Short term goals on the docket for the council include: • Recruitment and hiring of a new city manager. Parks master plan update. • Community outreach. • A water rate structure study. • UGB studies and next steps. 1) Housing needs and disparity to home ownership. 2) Employment. 3) Transportation 4) Considerations in decision making. • Emergency preparedness update. • City ordinance codifi cation. • Community diversity engagement. • Council rules and procedures update. • Volunteer committee training. Short-term goals are those the council hopes to complete within two years. Long- term goals are those expected to take more than 24 months. Long-term goals to be adopted by the council include: • Implementing a sidewalk gap repair program. • An update of the Water Master Plan. • Updating the Transportation System Plan. • Continued UGB studies. • Investigating funding for the River Cherry Overlay District. brainfood of the Week presented by LARRY JACKSON Where and how do you volunteer? "My volunteering has changed over the years. It's gone from being a volunteer fi refi ghter in Keizer to coaching Little League teams to serving on the Keizer Chamber board. I have served with the city's Volunteer Coordinating Committee, Men of Action in Keizer (MAK). Helped KNOW serve the community with the Christmas Giving Basket program. I've gone into state correctional facilities and recovery facilities carrying the message of recovery." Why do you volunteer? "I do it because there was always someone that had done these things for me." What does volunteering do for you? "Has given me a wealth of new friends. A sense of belonging to the sudoku answers pg A6 community where I have lived my entire life." How would you get others to volunteer in their community? "I have always tried to get others involved in the things I was volunteering for. Showing others how you can aff ect another person’s life with a simple and easy task of Enter digits 1-9 into blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, & every 3x3 square. maze by Jonathan Graf of Keizer showing up and giving back."
