From Chaos to Cohesion? New Baker City council ready to get to work together
By Joe Hathaway on Thursday, October 19th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
BAKER CITY – Nearly a month with no working government and after a year of almost comical, head-shaking drama worthy of a soap opera, Baker City is primed for a reset.
Baker County commissioners unanimously appointed Doni Bruland, Roger Coles, Randy Daugherty and Larry Pearson to the Baker City Council on Thursday, October 18.
All four are previous city councilors, but none have served the past two years.
During Thursday’s meeting at the courthouse, eight finalists for the council had three minutes to speak to the commissioners on why they should serve. After each applicant spoke, commissioners agreed to appoint the four who scored the highest in the evaluations that each commissioner made when evaluating the 17 total applicants.
All three commissioners, Shane Alderson, Bruce Nichols and Christina Witham, thanked all those who applied.
“The process was difficult, to say the least,” said Nichols. “Thank you all for having the guts to apply. We know you all love Baker and we appreciate it.”
“After a tumultuous year, there has been some bravery shown by applying. We thank you for that.” said Alderson.
The incoming city council now steps into a storm of challenges, confronting an arduous agenda right from the get-go.
The council must now choose three other members to fill the seven member council. It must also hire a new city manager, as interim city manager Jon France’s contract is up in December.
The city council must also deal with budget issues that have crippled aspects of the city.
The new councilors say they’re up to the task.
“We have a great group, nobody with special agendas and we’re ready to get real, hard work done,” said Randy Daughtery. “We have to get rid of the chaos, if we stick to the chaos business then we’re in trouble.”
The new council will meet for its meeting Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. at City Hall. The new council plans to fill the three vacancies during its second meeting in November, on Nov. 28.
The council is poised to surge ahead, leaving behind a tumultuous year in the rearview mirror.
The last three councilors resigned on September 21, triggering a state law which states that when a city council has no members, and its charter has no method for dealing with such a situation, the county commissioners “immediately shall appoint” enough councilors to constitute a quorum, which is four in Baker City’s case.
“I wasn’t planning on running but given what has transpired for the last year plus, I decided I need to come back and do it again.” said Roger Coles.
“We’re going to leave all the chaos and noise behind us,” said Doni Bruland. “We’re not going that way.”
