Hermiston city council advances charter changes to November ballot
By Griffin Beach on Wednesday, May 27th, 2026 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
HERMISTON – Voters in Hermiston will get the chance to approve changes to the city charter after the city council approved sending several items to the November ballot.
The following items, listed as they appeared on an earlier news release from the city, were approved Tuesday night to go forward to the general election.
• Move specific ward boundaries out of the Charter and instead require the City Council to adopt boundaries by ordinance to keep populations balanced.
• Change how ward councilors are elected so they are chosen only by voters within their respective wards.
• Transition the municipal court judge position from elected by the public to appointed by the City Council.
• Select the City Council president annually instead of every other year.
• Allow newly hired city managers up to 12 months to establish residency within the city.
• Clarify that the city manager oversees the day-to-day supervision of the city attorney.
• Require a formal Charter review at least once every 10 years.
• Update language to better align with the League of Oregon Cities Model Charter.
The council had also asked staff to look into term limits for elected officials, which Hermiston does not currently implement; the issue had not been explored by the charter review committee. Staff research showed that most cities in the state, both smaller and of similar size to Hermiston, do not use term limits.
“What I see at the local level is that we’ve often had trouble finding two candidates to oppose each other,” said at-large Councilmember Jeff Kelso. “I don’t see a compelling need to limit terms for the city councilors or the mayor.”
Several councilmembers echoed Kelso’s comments, and they voted to advance all changes except term limits to the ballot. Ward 1 Councilmember Jackie Linton was the sole dissenting vote, expressing her desire to include term limits in the potential changes.
“Put it before the voters, let them decide,” said Linton.
The charter amendments will be presented to voters as a single yes-or-no vote for all the proposed changes.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the council officially objected to renaming East Airport Road following a robust public hearing on the subject earlier this month.
