HomeCounty Wide News Marion council leaves city administrator reappointment in limbo
Marion council leaves city administrator reappointment in limbo
Written by Jerry Engler
Wednesday, 25 April 2007
After an unusually long four-hour meeting that ended with more than an hour of executive session for personnel, the Marion City Council Monday voted on two 5-0 votes to delay action on reappointing City Administrator David Mayfield to office, and to accept the resignation in two weeks of Police Chief Michel Soyez.
In unusual procedural moves, Mayor Mary Olson, presiding over the council for only the second time, changed annual appointments to the last item on the agenda, then made the motions for what to do after the executive session followed by seconds from the council.
City Attorney Dan Baldwin was appointed to another one-year term by 4-1 vote, with Councilor Stacey Collett voting against. Collett abstained when Fire Chief Mike Regnier was appointed because he is a fireman, too.
Appointments of Angela Lange and Rebecca Makovec as city treasurer and city clerk received unanimous votes.
The vote for Mayfield was posted last by Olson on purpose, she said, even though he was printed as first on the agenda.
An unusually large group for council meetings filled the room, perhaps 30 of them, and there was considerable speculation about what was going on during the executive session.
Bob Brookens, chair of the Marion Auditorium Board, recommended that council members and other city residents think about what they want the building to become over the next 50 years. He said the use of the building is always in flux because the city owns it, but the school district is its biggest user.
Brookens said Unified School District 408 put $20,000 worth of air-conditioning and improvements in the auditorium in exchange for 10 years of use of the building.
Olson said she was signing a city letter of support for Marion County in seeking a grant to purchase recycling trailers.
Collett questioned if it is a right way to use taxpayers’ money for the council to continue looking for a parking area for resident semi-truck drivers.
Economic Director Jami Williams confirmed for Councilor Jerry Kline that she has a person willing to buy three lots in the light industrial park, a 300-foot-by-163.5-foot space, to provide a fenced area for truck parking.
Williams said Marion will not get a call center in its spec building because a rival company to the one considering coming here has won a competitive bid.
Mayfield said he and Williams will attend a Community Development Block Grant meeting in Junction City to learn how to obtain up to $400,000 for city streets.
