The INDEPENDENT, February 1, 2012
Page 11
City of Banks announces Jim Hough’s intent to retire this year
The Banks City Council has
announced that City Manager
Jim Hough [“huff”] will be retir-
ing from public service in the
near future. After a great deal
of discussion between the
Council and the City Manager
as to the best time to effect the
retirement so the City will be
able to continue to operate at
its high efficiency rate, and si-
multaneously begin the search
for his replacement, the Coun-
cil is looking at a retirement
date in the September, 2012
time frame.
“We hate to see Jim leave
the City Manager position,”
said Mayor John Kinsky, “he
has been such a strong man-
ager in our city, but we know,
too, that Jim has served the
Council well and that retire-
ment beckons.”
The Banks City Council
made a determination in 2006
that it was important to change
the form of government to what
is referred to as the Council-
Manager form, and did so in
September 2007. Jim was
hired as the first City Manager
under the new form and has
had a strong influence in mak-
ing both the organizational shift
and the change in the way that
the Council functions. A well
run city staff is now the hall-
mark of Banks’ reputation for
government, and the Council is
a key part of that well-deserved
reputation, by being the policy
maker guiding the professional
manager in the execution of
those policies.
“We thought long and hard
about what was best for the
City of Banks,” said Council
WIC earns award, including funds
From page 10
on staff and offers breastfeed-
ing
classes,
post-partum
breastfeeding support groups,
as well as breastfeeding equip-
ment for working moms.
According
to
Jeanette
Howard, Public Health Lacta-
tion Consultant and Breast-
feeding Peer Counselor Coor-
dinator for Washington County,
“We focus on prevention by
providing frequent contact with
participants early on in preg-
nancy. Beginning at four
months of pregnancy and con-
tinuing through four months
post-partum, groups of women
participate in a series of prena-
tal education classes together.
The groups are designed to be
fun, engaging, and promote
peer-to-peer
breastfeeding
support.”
“I like the (peer counseling
breastfeeding) group,” says
Jessica Bridgett of Beaverton.
“It answered a lot of my ques-
tions as I had a hard time
breastfeeding my first child. It
helped me have the confidence
to get this far.”
Washington County’s WIC
program focuses on nutritional
support to low-income preg-
nant women and families with
young children. It includes
breastfeeding support groups,
nutrition education, and vouch-
ers for healthful foods available
locally. For more information
about WIC services or eligibili-
ty, call Washington County WIC
at 503-846-3555.
President Pete Edison, “and I
think that the shift to the Coun-
cil-Manager form, coupled with
the hiring of the professional
that Jim is, has worked out su-
perbly.” Hough came onboard
in August 2007 and will proba-
bly complete five years as City
Manager before he retires.
The City was founded in
1902 with the creation of the
Banks Post Office, and was in-
corporated by the State of Ore-
gon in 1921. The current popu-
lation of Banks is 1,775 and,
though small, it has most of the
services and amenities that a
regular city must have for the
high quality of life that most cit-
izens seek. City Manager
Hough has more than 17 years
of experience in public admin-
istration and holds a Master of
Public Administration degree
from Wichita State University.
“I know it is a cliché, but I re-
ally do work for a dream team
of a City Council,” said Hough.
“Each council member is com-
mitted to the City and to its
functioning. It will be hard to
leave, but I know that the next
City Manager selected by the
Council will be a strong profes-
sional who will quickly join with
the Council in operating as effi-
ciently and effectively as possi-
ble with the funds provided.”
The Mayor expressed the in-
tent of the Council to immedi-
ately begin the important
process of identifying and hir-
ing the next City Manager.
Said Kinsky, “We hope to have
the announcement of the posi-
tion opening ready in the next
month or two, with a closing
date in the Spring, and an offer
in the July time frame. In the in-
terim, Jim Hough will continue
to be our City Manager, and we
appreciate him offering to con-
tinue in that capacity”, Kinsky
added.
The Mayor allowed that, “It
will be hard to see Jim retire,
but we wish him all the best in
his future endeavors.” Hough
added that, “I appreciate all
that the Council has done for
our fair city and also appreciate
all of the strong support of the
members of the Council.”
The Sheriff’s take on gun information
by Washington County Sheriff
Pat Garrett
In 2008, the media and oth-
er groups requested lists of in-
formation about Concealed
Handgun Licenses (CHL) in a
Jackson County court case.
The Sheriff, at the time, de-
clined to produce them based
on privacy issues. The court
ruled that unless the Sheriff
had proof that each CHL holder
wanted their information kept
confidential, the information
would need to be released.
While that case was pending
appeal, Washington County
took preemptive steps to obtain
additional information from
over 10,000 CHL holders. The
information gave us proof in
writing of the CHL holders who
wanted their information kept
confidential, and those who did
not care. It appears this was
the right action to take.
On June 23, 2010, the ap-
pellate court declared that ab-
sent information from each li-
cense holder, the records were
releasable public records.
While a legislative solution
was not accomplished last ses-
sion, I believe that if such a re-
quest were made here, I will be
able to protect the information
on Washington County CHL
holders according to their dec-
larations on file. If you submit-
ted a CHL application or re-
newal since 2008, the informa-
tion we needed was included in
the forms. There is nothing fur-
ther for permit holders to do at
this time.
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