Cottage Grove sentinel., July 15, 2015, Page 3A, Image 3

COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL July 15, 2015
No time
3A
City Council seat to
remain open until
after Labor Day
Ward IV seat open after Price's resignation
BY MATT HOLLANDER
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
T
photo by Matt Hollander
Del Foley of Roseburg competes in the Calf Roping competition Saturday at the 67th annual Cottage Grove Ro-
deo. Unfortunately for Foley, he missed the calf and recorded a 'no time' in the event. The two-day rodeo drew
more than 3,000 people. Complete rodeo coverage starts on page 1B.
he Cottage Grove City
Council decided on Mon-
day night to wait until after La-
bor Day to fi ll the vacancy left
by former Ward 4 Councilor
Kate Price, who resigned earlier
this month. By extending an ap-
plication window through the
end of August, councilors are
hoping to attract as many quali-
fi ed applicants as possible.
“The City’s suggestion to
the Council is, ‘Don’t rush into
anything,’” said City Manager
Richard Meyers. “The summer
is a slow time; many people are
away on vacation, including
current councilors. Our recom-
mendation is to set aside a wide
window for potential applicants,
and to make sure that all current
councilors can be involved in
that process.”
At the suggestion of Council-
Petitioner says Prozanski recall effort will continue
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
C
ottage Grove’s Pam Duffy said
that she had different plans for
retirement, plans that didn’t include
spearheading an effort to recall Demo-
cratic state senator Floyd Prozanski.
Still, Duffy’s efforts continue about a
month after she fi led paperwork to at-
tempt the recall, which she said is “go-
ing very well.”
“Things are moving along as we
thought they would,” Duffy said,
though she added that she has not yet
attempted to count the signatures the
effort has garnered so far. “We’ve had
a lot of positive feedback and mostly
gotten electronic petitions.”
Duffy, the recall effort’s chief pe-
titioner, has been involved with Cot-
tage Grove’s 912 Project for some time
but said she has not undertaken such a
momentous political effort such as the
recall before. Petitioners will need the
valid signatures of 8415 voters — a
number equal to 15 percent of the votes
cast in the last election for governor in
Prozanski’s district — to force a recall
election, and Duffy and others will
have until Sept. 4 to gather them.
In a recent statement to the Sentinel,
Duffy cited several issues with Pro-
zanski’s time in offi ce as reasons for
the petition effort, but she later called
the senator’s authorship of Senate Bill
941 the “straw that broke the camels’
back.” The bill was signed into law by
Governor Kate Brown in May and will
require those who wish to transfer fi re-
arms to appear before a gun dealer and
undergo a background check in certain
circumstances. Duffy wrote that the
bill would turn “law-abiding citizens
into criminals for storing a fi rearm in a
friend’s safe or safeguarding one for a
person who has no safe place for their
fi rearm,” adding that the bill “infringes
on the Second Amendment rights of
Oregonians to bear arms.”
“He has shown such utter disregard
and disrespect for the people in his dis-
trict that I felt I had to do something,”
Duffy said, continuing that she will not
be suspending her efforts as the spon-
sor of a similar recall effort against
House Majority Leader Val Hoyle did
last week.
While Hoyle said she wasn’t pay-
ing much attention to the recall efforts
against her, Prozanski has said that he’s
taking the similar effort against him
very seriously while standing behind
the bill he authored. Duffy said she also
sought the recall because of how Pro-
zanski treated those assembled to com-
ment on the bill for a public hearing.
“He had three rooms of people for
a public hearing, and because of the
size of the crowd he said there would
only be time for the testimony of 60
people,” she said. “But then he called
a halt, probably because the majority
of people there to talk were against the
bill.”
Duffy said she also took issue with
Prozanski attaching an emergency
clause to the bill, making it effective as
soon as it has passed.
or Jeff Gowing, the City Coun-
cil decided to set an application
deadline of Aug. 28, with the
timeline for interviews and an
appointment to be determined
after the application window has
closed. However, that process is
expected to be completed within
the fi rst three weeks of Septem-
ber.
A vacancy on the City Coun-
cil (or mayor), as outlined in the
Cottage Grove Charter, is fi lled
by appointment by a majority
of the remaining council mem-
bers. The appointee must be a
resident of the same ward as the
predecessor in offi ce, unless the
predecessor was a Councilor-
At-Large. The appointee’s term
of offi ce runs from appointment
until the next general election,
at which time a candidate will
be elected to serve the remain-
ing term. The next general elec-
tion is in November, 2016.
Please see COUNCIL, Page 10A
I T ' S OFFICIAL !
photo by Jon Stinnett
The Bohemia Foundation's Faye Stewart joins Mayor Tom Mun-
roe, members of the National Guard and area youth to dedicate
the playground equipment at Bohemia Park on Wednesday, July
8. A dedication of the park's chess tables will take place Sunday,
July 19 at 5 p.m.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BOHEMIA MINING DAYS
You Can Help
Cottage
Grove
Kids!
RUN&WALK
JULY 17 TH 9 PM $ 20/ $ 30
•
FRIDAY
•
TWILIGHT RUN
W/ T-SHIRT
A twilight run or walk through lovely Cottage Grove.
START & FINISH WASHINGTON & 6TH, COTTAGE GROVE, OR.
Close to awesome places for food and drinks!
REGISTRATION INCLUDES DRINK TICKET FOR BREWSTATION AND GLOW STICK FUN!
GOLD DASH
500 M • SAT, JULY 18 TH • 9:30 AM
Start on 14th & Main
•
FREE!
•
PRIZES!
Volunteer as a
Court Appointed
Special Advocate
A rewarding, professional volunteer opportunity
in 10-15 hours a month helping Cottage Grove
foster children to stay safe and healthy.
Cottage Grove training begins this fall,
with applications due by August 11th.
Visit www.casa-lane.org.
REGISTER AND MORE INFORMATION
www.goldrushcg.com
A powerful voice
for abused kids