LOCAL
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
A3
Buswell resigns as Joseph mayor; Collier steps in
Outgoing mayor
moved to Elgin
By RONALD BOND
and BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — Joseph has a
new mayor.
The City Council — in a
virtual meeting held Thurs-
day, Sept. 2 — was read a
letter from former Mayor
Belinda Buswell that was
eff ective the previous day
resigning her position. She
said in the letter that she
had moved outside the city
limits of Joseph. Section 27
of the Joseph City Char-
ter, she wrote, notes actions
that can create a vacancy in
the mayoral position auto-
matically, and one of them
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain, File
is “removal of residency
Joseph City Councilor Lisa Collier, center, who then served as mayor pro-tem, listens as a resident addresses the council. She was sworn in as mayor Thursday,
from the city.”
Buswell told the Chief- Sept. 2, 2021, after former Mayor Belinda Buswell resigned. At left is Pro-Tem Administrator Brock Eckstein, and at right is Administrative Assistant Jamie Collier.
tain Thursday, Sept. 2, that
she has moved to Elgin, gations also swirled around city, the city staff , the busi-
She also believes good the public. … We’ve got a ing the reins of the City
and “that was because I am the council.
ness owners, the public. I days are ahead for the cur- lot of rebuilding to do and Council.
“I think she’ll do a fan-
“It’s been diffi cult the want to run the city with the rent council.
forwarding my life rela-
I want it seen as a positive
tionship I have with my entire time, if we’re hon- citizens’ wishes and liveli-
“I think it’s in good change. … I think there are tastic job. She doesn’t
est,” she said.
boyfriend.”
hood in mind. I don’t have shape, and I think things good things happening and come in with any agenda,”
Buswell took over as
he said. “She just wants to
Lisa Collier, the cur- a personal agenda.”
are going to keep going I want to continue that.”
mayor in January
rent mayor pro-
She’ll get to work at smooth,” she said. “I wish
Eckstein was enthusi- help city get back on its
after defeating then-
tem, accepted the her new post with the next the council the best.”
astic about Collier’s tak- feet.”
Mayor Teresa Sajo-
position of mayor council meeting.
Collier, who grew up in
nia in the November
during
Thursday
“At our next council Joseph, was appointed to
Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness is hiring for
2020 election.
night’s City Coun- meeting in October she will the council about two years
“I didn’t want
cil meeting, Pro- reassign committees,” Eck- ago under then-Mayor
MEDICATION AIDS!
to give up being
Tem Administrator stein said.
Sajonia. She currently
mayor. We had so
Brock Eckstein said
Collier will serve out serves on the Main Street
Benefits including medical, dental, vision, paid vacation,
Belinda
much left to do,
Friday.
the remainder of Buswell’s Motiff Committee and
retirement matching, life ins and more!
Buswell
we’ve come so far,
Collier had but four-year term, and will the Parks and Recreation
Hiring for Wallowa River House in Wallowa, OR and
(and it’s) been awe-
one proviso, Eck- take the reins as the coun- Committee. She works for
Pioneer Guest Home in Enterprise, OR
some to watch the council stein said.
cil has two vacancies to fi ll: the Intermountain Educa-
fi nd their voice,” she said.
“She said she would her own and Bingham’s.
tion Services District as a
Apply by September 1 and receive a $500 bonus if you are
“I think I’m leaving the city only take it if the full coun-
Eckstein said the city teacher of special educa-
selected!
To apply visit our website WVCenterforwellness.org
in good hands.”
cil supported the decision,” already has three applica- tion and traumatized kids
and
choose “Current Jobs” Or call 541-426-4524
She held the seat for he said.
tions for the vacant seats. and preschool at Enterprise
just eight months, and also
They did and she did.
The city will continue tak- Elementary School. She
oversaw the city during a
“I will do whatever the ing applications until Oct. and husband J.R. Collier
This week’s featured book
time of turmoil within the council would like me to 4 and consider them at the have seven children, four
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the resignation of former there’s support,” Collier
Buswell said she worked three attend Joseph Charter
city Administrator Larry said earlier Thursday.
closely with Collier during School.
Braden in April and, in July,
She said her only agenda the time she was the
“I want people to know
by Louise Penny
the resignation of Council- is simple.
pro-tem.
about me and our lives. …
woman Kathy Bingham,
“I feel like we’ve been
“She was a great sound- I want people to feel com-
who had previously been through a lot,” she said. “I ing board for me,” Buswell fortable,” she said. “I feel
censured. Harassment alle- want to build trust with the said.
I’m on good terms with
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The Madness
of Crowds
City of Joseph fully staff ed, council told
Top-level
vacancies remain
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — The city of
Joseph is fully staff ed —
except for a couple vacant
council seats — the City
Council was told during a
virtual meeting Thursday,
Sept. 2.
Pro-Tem City Adminis-
trator Brock Eckstein said
two utility workers, a util-
ity biller and an ordinance
offi cer had been hired.
Michael Harshfi eld and
Damion Salerno were hired
as utility workers, Michelle
Brock was hired as a utility
biller and Douglas McKin-
nis was hired as the city’s
ordinance offi cer.
“We’re still working on
getting an administrator in
here,” he said of the need to
fi ll his position on a perma-
nent basis.
The city has engaged a
professional service that
regularly fi nds manage-
ment people in the North-
west, he said.
As for the vacant coun-
cil seats, several applica-
tions have been received
and the city will continue
to take them until Oct. 4.
The council will consider
the applications at its next
meeting Oct. 7, at which
time the council will elect
a new mayor pro-tem to
replace Lisa Collier, who
was sworn in as mayor
last week to replace the
resigned Belinda Buswell.
Eckstein said he doesn’t
yet know if the October
council meeting will be vir-
tual or in person.
“It just depends on how
the COVID stuff shakes
out,” he said.
In another matter, the
council held the second of
two public hearings on the
method the city uses to cal-
culate Systems Develop-
ment Charges for the city’s
water and sewer systems.
As Eckstein explained,
when a new house or busi-
ness is built, the owner
pays charges to connect to
the water and sewer sys-
tems. The fees can range
from several hundred to
several thousand dollars,
he said. The range is based
on recommendations by the
city engineer.
The hearings are to give
the public the chance to
comment on the fees. One
person spoke at the August
meeting, but no one spoke
at this month’s meeting.
The public will get another
chance to speak at the Octo-
ber meeting, after which the
council is expected to vote
to approve the methods for
calculating the SDCs — or
not, Eckstein said.
“People get confused,”
he said. “They think we’re
trying to assess SDCs right
now. But it’s the method we
could go down if we chose
to establish the range of the
fees we would implement
and give the public the
chance to speak.”
Also Thursday, the
council heard a presenta-
tion by Howard Postovit,
of the Oregon Department
of Transportation, on the
ongoing plans for handi-
capped-accessible curbs to
be installed. Eckstein said
the council was pleased
with the presentation.
“It gave kind of a good,
‘warm-and-fuzzy’ on the
whole project,” he said.
The city’s Main Street
Motif Committee will now
meet with ODOT to fi nalize
the plans.
In other matters, the
council:
• Approved a resolution
authorizing the city’s par-
ticipation in the League
of Oregon Cities’ Legal
Advice Program. Eck-
stein said the program pro-
vides 20 free hours of legal
advice each year.
• Approved a $14,000
bid by Brian Walker’s
Executive Tree Care to
prune or eliminate 86 trees
on Main Street and at the
city park.
• Approved Eckstein’s
request to sell as surplus the
city’s 1998 Toyota Tacoma
pickup. The city plans to
replace it and others with
some of the American Res-
cue Plan Act funds the city
is receiving.
• Heard a brief presenta-
tion on the city’s ongoing
public works projects from
Lucas Stangel of Anderson
Perry Engineers.
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