New Baker City council selects new mayor, outlines path forward
By Joe Hathaway on Thursday, October 26th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
BAKER CITY — The new Baker City council got to work right away at its first meeting on Tuesday, October 24.
Councilors, appointed by Baker County commissioners last week, unanimously appointed Randy Daugherty as new mayor.
They also filled one of the three remaining vacancies on the council, which normally has seven members.
The council unanimously appointed Loran Joseph as the 5th councilor. Joseph is also a former councilor as the others are and served as mayor from 2019 to 2020. Joseph will be sworn in on Friday, October 27.
By appointing Joseph, the council will still have a quorum of four, which is required to conduct business, even if one councilor is absent. The council is expected to fill the two remaining seats in November and interested residents can apply via the city’s website.
Also, by appointing a fifth member, the council can now fill vacancies within the city. The city charter requires the approval of at least five councilors when an interim city manager intends to hire or fire a city employee. This requirement doesn’t apply to city managers who aren’t in an interim position. Jon France has been interim city manager since June. His six-month contract expires Dec. 28.
“What this does is get a critical piece of city business moving forward – fill vacancies in Public Works, Fire, Finance and Police departments,” France told Elkhorn Media Group.
Also during the meeting, the council discussed the possibility of temporarily suspending the public safety fee that took effect Oct. 1 to that would help fund the police and fire departments.
The councilors also discussed a couple of alternative ways to raise revenue to fill a projected $1 million shortfall in the city’s general fund — which includes the police and fire departments — for the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2024. The public safety fee is expected to generate an estimated $1 million per year.
Councilor Doni Bruland recommended the city schedule public town hall meetings to hear from residents about the fee. Town hall meetings on the fee were scheduled for September before the previous council all resigned.
Councilors didn’t take action on either the public safety fee or revenue ideas Tuesday.
Several law enforcement officials, including District Attorney Greg Baxter spoke to the council in favor of retaining the public safety fee.
Interim City manager France says this council will work hard to bring civility and discipline to council proceedings.
“It feels good to be out of the Twilight Zone,” said France, referring to the chaos of the previous council.
