Council hires Steve Bogart

Tim Johnson, whom the Council offered the job to on Dec. 18, turned down the offer last week because a family member is seriously ill.

The Council scheduled a meeting for noon Friday at City Hall, 1655 First St., for councilors, city staff and the public to meet with Bogart, and to consummate a hiring agreement in time for him to start work Monday.

Collins, a former longtime city attorney who has been working as interim city manager since June, when the City Council voted 4-3 to fire Steve Brocato.

Bogart, a former head of the Baker County Board of Commissioners, also has worked as Baker City manager.

Bogart, who lives in Baker City, worked as the city’s interim manager from October 2004 through November 2005, when city manager Jerry Gillham was on active duty with the National Guard, serving in Iraq.

“It is now clear that the process will take substantially longer than anticipated and I feel the city will be better served by someone who is not constrained as I am in the length of time I can serve,” Collins said.

“I therefore request that the City Council accept my resignation from the position of city manager pro-tem effective as of Jan. 31, 2010,” Collins said.

The Public Employees Retirement System, of which Collins is a member, allows retirees to work up to six months per year and still receive PERS benefits.

Those benefits are suspended when a PERS retiree exceeds the six-month-limit.

“I have enjoyed serving in this capacity for the past seven months and regret that I must leave prior to fulfilling my original goal of assisting the Council in appointing a career service city manager,” Collins said.

In making the motion to hire Bogart, Councilor Andrew Bryan made the point that Bogart would serve until such time as the city hires another manager.

However, Bryan and some other councilors indicated they’re hoping Bogart and the Council will wind up working so well together that they won’t need to initiate another search soon.

Councilor Clair Button said if the Council initiates a new city manager selection process it could take a year or longer — nearly twice as long as it took the Council to sort through 75 applicants and offer the job to Johnson in a 4-2 vote on Dec. 18.

In other action Tuesday, the City Council deadlocked with a 3-3 vote, with Bryan recusing himself from voting, on a motion by Button to appoint Councilor Beverly Calder to replace Jennifer Watkins, assistant city manager, as the city’s representative on the Baker County Transient Lodging Tax Committee.

As a result of the tie vote, the motion failed.

Dorrah said the reason the issue of replacing Watkins was on Tuesday’s agenda is because “as far back as I can remember there has always been a city councilor in that position.”

Dorrah also cited a potential conflict of interest with Watkins serving the committee which oversees Bryan, who is the county marketing director.

Councilor Aletha Bonebrake said she believe the city’s representative on the TLTC should be a councilor if one is qualified, as she believes Calder is.

Opposing the motion, Councilor Sam Bass said, “I see no reason to change.”

Councilor Milo Pope said he thinks the proposal to replace Watkins is “feeble” and that the conflict of interest issue is a red herring.

“If there is some other reason you ought to say it out loud,” Pope said. “This is simply an excuse.”

 When Dorrah called for comments from the public, Carrie Folkman, a member of the TLTC who is serving as temporary chair, said Watkins is a valuable member of the committee. Folkman said she would be more concerned, in terms of a conflict, about having Calder supervise her fellow councilor Bryan.

“If you were to appoint a city councilor to the committee, you are having a councilor supervise another councilor, and that concerns me greatly,” Folkman said.

Dorrah, Bonebrake and Calder voted for the motion to replace Watkins with Calder, and Pope, Bass and Button voted against it.

Also on Tuesday, the Council:

• Proclaimed Wednesday as Firefighter Appreciation Day to honor Baker City firefighters.

• Appointed Roger Coles, Nelson Clarke, Randy Daugherty and Peter Ellingson to fill four vacancies on the city budget committee.

• Appointed Linda Tester to the Tree Board; reappointed Cass Vanderwiele to the Public Works Advisory Committee; and re-appointed incumbents Ann Mehaffy and Jo Marlette to the Historic District Design Review Commission.