PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, JANUARY 14, 2022
KRA: ‘It gives me great pause
on voting on this right now’
Continued from page A1
reviewing the Chamber’s proposal and,
in part, responding to it.”
The process was further complicated
at the Jan. 18 meeting when councilor
Elizabeth Smith brought to light that
KRA LLC hasn’t been a registered
company in the State of Oregon since
2020. According to Oregon’s business
registry, the company was dissolved in
September of 2020, almost a year before
its contract with the city expired.
This is the second time in the
past five months that the council has
approved a contract with a company
prior to them getting registered in the
state of Oregon. The council approved
a contract in August with the Prothman
Company, a Washington based firm
hired to recruit a city manager for the
city, prior to them being registered in
the state.
While city attorney Shannon
Johnson and interim city manager Wes
Hare downplayed the issue, saying that
Prothman registered in less than 30
minutes, Smith wasn’t convinced. .
“A dissolution of an LLC is a little bit
more than just a registration with the
state of Oregon. There could be addi-
tional members involved in that LLC
that could have a court claim. That’s not
just something we go ‘Not a big deal,’”
Smith said. “It gives me great pause on
voting on this right now.”
The council appeared satisfied after
Johnson said the city would ensure
KRA is registered prior to signing the
contract.
Additional concern was brought
up by Keizer Mayor Cathy Clark that
Holland, who runs KRA, had listed city
employees as references on his appli-
cation without their approval. At one
point, Clark asked city recorder Tracy
Davis if she knew that Holland had
listed her as a reference, which Davis
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said she did not.
Matt Lawyer, a Parks Advisory Board
member who was an initial proposal
grader, submitted a written public com-
ment that also criticized the process
from start to finish. Lawyer, who said
that he’s participated in many proposal
evaluations before, said that he initially
expressed concerns to Johnson about
even being on the grading committee.
“My concerns were that I have
actively volunteered with both organi-
zations, have been paid by one of them,
was named as a reference for another,”
Lawyer wrote.
His criticism grew stronger later in
the letter to councilors.
“In the case of the first (request for
proposal) for the concert series, I feel
like Keizer really missed the bar of
excellence that I have grown to appre-
ciate and expect. The process was dis-
ingenuous to the applicants and the
participants of the evaluation commit-
tee. It caused unnecessary strife in the
community, caused extra work for the
staff, and probably set a very negative
tone for any future applicants to partic-
ipate in the Keizer community,” Lawyer
wrote.
The council eventually approved the
contract by a vote of six to one, with
councilor Kyle Juran being the one
vote against.
I have lots of
questions that still
remained unanswered
about the process and
I don't know if I will
ever get them fully
answered.
— SHANEY STARR
Keizer City Councilor