COMMUNITY
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2020
FINALISTS
BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
State.
Cannon holds a bachelor’s degree
Continued from Page 1A
in landscape architecture from West
Councilors Lynette Perry, Doni
Virginia University at Morgantown,
Bruland and Larry Morrison voted
West Virginia, with a minor in urban
against picking McClure as a fi nal-
planning.
Information from their
ist.
He has served as city manager
resumes:
Prior to voting on McClure as
of Saluda, North Carolina, a city
McClure most recently served
a fi nalist, Perry had this to say: “I
of about 700, since August 2015.
would just like to go on record that I as Canby city administrator. He
He also serves as the city’s zoning
did not feel that he would be a good was employed in the community of
administrator, public works director,
fi t for Baker City.”
16,950 people from October 2019 to deputy fi nance offi cer and human
The three men will be brought
February 2020.
resources director.
to Baker City in November for
Prior to that he worked as city
From May 2014 to August 2015
in-person interviews and will meet
manager for the city of Monmouth, he was the Saluda zoning adminis-
with various community leaders and population 9,890, from January 2007 trator and prior to that he was the
to October 2019. He also has worked owner of Cannon Works LLC, a gut-
others interested in the selection
as the city manager at Coos Bay in ter construction company, beginning
process during that time.
Oregon and for the city of Brush in
They were chosen from 14
in August 2011.
Colorado.
applicants, and were among six
He worked as a gardener for the
He began his career in city
pared from that group. One of the
Corporation of the President in
government as an intern at Glad-
six withdrew prior to the online
Bountiful, Utah, from January 2010
stone where he served for 6 months to July 2011, and in landscape archi-
interviews. Councilors interviewed
the remaining fi ve via Zoom Oct. 5-6. beginning in January of 1989. From tecture from March 2008 to January
there he spent nearly 7 years with
On Tuesday councilors met fi rst in
2010. He was project manager for
executive session (closed to the pub- the City of Gresham, beginning in
Luther Smith and Associates P.A.
lic) to discuss the candidates before July 1989.
of Hendersonville, North Carolina,
McClure earned a master’s degree from July 2003 to February 2008.
convening in open session to choose
in public administration from Port-
the fi nalists.
Steve Ashworth also holds a bach-
The two candidates who were not land State University in 1989. He
elor’s degree in landscape architec-
earned a bachelor’s degree in politi- ture. He earned his degree at Iowa
picked as fi nalists asked that their
cal science in 1986 from Portland
names not be released unless they
State University.
POLICE
Continued from Page 1A
If the council does not ap-
prove the policy, which Warner
said dates to 1990 with chang-
es made in 1996, the grant for
the New Directions Wellness
Center could not move forward.
The two-paragraph, 64-word
policy is aimed at ensuring
that the city’s police offi cers
do not use excessive force
against people participat-
ing in nonviolent civil rights
demonstrations. The policy left
the councilors divided, and led
them to postpone a decision
Tuesday.
The policy states:
“It is the policy of the City of
Baker City that
1. Its law enforcement per-
sonnel shall not use excessive
force against any individuals
engaged in nonviolent civil
rights demonstrations, and
2. Applicable state and local
laws that prohibit physically
barring entrance to or exit from
a facility or location which is
the subject of such nonviolent
civil rights demonstrations
within its jurisdiction shall be
enforced.”
Councilor Doni Bruland
was the fi rst to speak against
accepting the policy.
“I am adamantly opposed to
this policy,” Bruland said. “I do
not believe a state bureaucratic
agency should dictate to a com-
munity what laws or policies
we need to do.”
She said that all of the two
dozen people she had talked
to about the policy earlier Tues-
day were opposed to it.
Bruland called the require-
ment to place the proposed
wording in Baker City’s policies
were chosen to continue the process,
said Robin Nudd, the city’s human
resources manager. She did say that
one was from Virginia and the other
from Missouri.
regarding conduct of its police
department as being “close to
extortion — if you don’t do this
you do not get your money.”
Bruland cited ongoing dem-
onstrations in Portland over
the past fi ve months to make
her point.
“We have honestly seen
what they consider nonviolent
protest in Portland and I do
not want Portland in Baker
City,” she said. “This is huge
and needs to either be taken up
with the full community that
knows that it’s coming on the
agenda ... or we need to turn
it down now. And I’d prefer we
turn it down now.”
Councilor Lynette Perry
agreed with Bruland.
“This terrifies me,” Perry
said. “Our state laws are chang-
ing on a dime and I’m really
in fear that if we pass this we
would really be putting our
populace in danger.”
Police Chief Ray Duman told
the council, however, that in
his view the policy would not
affect the way his
officers do their
jobs.
“We are there
to enforce the
laws uniformly,”
Duman
Duman said. “We
took an oath to
uphold the laws of the State
of Oregon and so that’s what
we’re governed by.
“To me this is more of a
language — and granted it
might be forced upon us — but
it doesn’t change the way the
police in this community would
handle any event,” he said.
Perry said she supports the
police department, but she is
concerned about the state being
involved in setting city policies.
“I want to support the po-
lice department,” she said. “I
want you to have the ability
to do what you need to do and
I want the citizens of our com-
munity to be safe and I just
think that when we tie into
some of the mentality of the
state, we’re opening ourselves
up to danger.”
Bruland’s motion to post-
pone a decision on the policy
was approved by a 4-3 vote.
Bruland, Perry and councilors
Arvid Andersen and Larry
Morrison voted in favor of the
postponement. Mayor Loran
Joseph and councilors Randy
Schiewe and Jason Spriet
were opposed.
“I think we have time to
allow the public to weigh in
on this,” Warner said. “We’ll
put together a much better
packet and talk, hopefully at
the next meeting.
“If this is the only thing
that holds up that million-
dollar grant to help our most
vulnerable population that
would be unfortunate,” he
said.
In other business Tues-
day, the Council agreed
to seek more community
involvement in its continuing
discussion of the best way
to enforce the city’s property
maintenance ordinance, and
in particular properties that
have been identifi ed as violat-
ing the ordinance.
Of the six possible solutions
presented for their consider-
ation, councilors found that
the most palatable would be
to form a committee to look
at the underlying issues that
result in nuisance complaints.
“There are just not a lot of
easy answers in this realm,”
He has been employed as the
executive director of Parks and
Recreation at Jackson, Wyoming,
since November 2009. Other job
experience includes planner and as-
sistant director of the Teton County/
Jackson Parks and Recreation from
April 2002 to November 2009; and
Boise Parks and Recreation planner
and project manager from February
1998 to March 2002.
From October 1993 to Janu-
ary 1998 he worked as landscape
architect/department manager for
Hillside Nursery in Boise. And from
October 1990 to September 1993 he
was employed as landscape archi-
tect for Rosehill Gardens in Kansas
City, Missouri.
Plans for in-person visits
Nudd stated in an email to the
Herald Wednesday that the three
fi nalists will be invited to spend 2
days in Baker City.
The visits will happen after the
Nov. 3 election. Joseph, the city’s
mayor, has said that he wants to
ensure that newly elected coun-
cilors, who won’t take offi ce until
January 2021, have a chance to
meet the fi nalists. From three to six
Duman told the council. “It’s
going to take more than a
code enforcement offi cer and
the abatement process.”
Duman said there are
many reasons for accumula-
tion of garbage and lack of
care for problem properties.
They range from drug and
alcohol addiction and mental
illness to the belief by some
residents that they can do
whatever they want with
their private property.
The city has worked with
some people to provide a
Dumpster for their use if they
agree to do the necessary
cleanup, he said.
Other property owners
have been offered help mul-
tiple times and continue to be
a problem, he said.
In some cases the resi-
dents cannot afford to do the
cleanup on their own or in the
case of others, their health
doesn’t allow them to do the
work needed to bring their
property into compliance with
city ordinances.
“This is a community is-
sue and it’s going to take a
community solution,” Duman
said.
Members of the committee
will include representatives
of City Council, the police
department, justice court,
the district attorney’s offi ce,
community residents, mental
health and alcohol and drug
services, the school district,
the Department of Human
Services and other groups
and organizations.
“I think it would be a good
conversation for the com-
new councilors will be elected, the
number depending on whether any
of the three incumbents on the bal-
lot are re-elected.
“During those 2 days, I would like
the candidates to have the opportu-
nity to tour our city facilities/depart-
ments and to schedule a ‘meet and
greet’ on one of the nights,” Nudd
stated.
Because of the COVID-19 pan-
demic, there will not be an open
forum in the selection process as
there has been in the past.
Instead, Nudd said she hopes to
advertise three meeting locations
(City Hall and two other locations to
be determined). Each location would
allow 10 people to come in and meet
the candidates and have candid
discussions with them.
After 30 minutes, candidates
would move to the next location
until they’ve had a chance to visit
all three locations, she said.
Nudd said she hopes to have the
dates determined by the end of this
week. She added, however, that she
would remain fl exible and make
adjustments or hold multiple meet
and greets if not all of the candidates
are able to attend at the same time.
munity to have,” Duman said
Wednesday.
In other business, the
Council:
• Approved a 5-year lease
agreement for management
of the city-owned Quail Ridge
Golf Course at 2801 Indiana
Ave. with Quail Ridge Golf
Management.
The agreement calls for
the managers to pay the city
$5,500 per year for the fi rst
5 years of the lease, with the
amount to increase every 5
years, beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
at 10 am PDT
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Gratefully sponsored by Christian Science churches in Boise, Caldwell,
Moscow, Payette, Ketchum, Cody, Jackson Hole, Sheridan,
Baker City 2210 Washington Ave, 523-5911
VOTE
Beth Spell
for State Representative
Nominated by
Endorsed by
www.facebook.com/BethSpellForEasternOregon
www.bethspellforeasternoregon.com
Paid by Beth Spell for Oregon House of Representatives District 60