Lincoln County commissioners on Wednesday appeared to be at a stalemate how to appoint the replacement for commissioner Claire Hall, who died Jan. 4. (Livestream photo)By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle
Lincoln County commissioners are in a stalemate over how to go about filling Claire Hall’s empty seat.
Twenty-three applicants are vying for the $98,000-a-year job, but commissioners Casey Miller and Walter Chuck on Wednesday again disagreed on the process of how to fill the position.
A restaurateur, a veteran, scientist, city councilors, the county’s public works director and more than a dozen others are seeking an appointment to the commission.
Hall, who was facing a Jan. 9 recall election, died unexpectedly Jan. 4 voiding the election and setting off an appointment process for the second time in 11 months.
County Counsel Kristin Yuille suggested on Jan. 14 that Chuck and Miller score applications by Wednesday, interview finalists Monday, Feb. 9 and hold a special meeting Thursday, Feb. 12 to select the new commissioner.
Casey Miller maintained Wednesday that commissioners had not agreed on an appointment process but only to accept applications. (Shayla Escudero/Lincoln Chronicle)Commissioners appeared to agree then on the timeline, but Miller on Wednesday said there was no such agreement but that only the commission would begin accepting applications. He has repeatedly and unsuccessfully asked to include a broader discussion of the selection process and has continued to voice his frustrations about the selection process.
With just two commissioners, both must agree on a process and person before it can take place. But that is proving to be a challenge.
On Wednesday, Yuille instructed both commissioners to send a list of 10 or fewer applicants they approved of by 5 p.m. and the next step of the process would be to see what applicants overlapped between the two.
“I just want you to be aware that I will not be providing 10 applications at the end of the day today,” Miller said Wednesday.
Miller felt each application was inconsistent and that some applicants included resumes while others did not. He advocated for setting aside a time to look through and decide applications together with Chuck.
Yuille insisted that an Oregon State law dictates that the board must fulfill the vacancy in 30 days. On Thursday, Miller sent out a news release to the media disputing that interpretation and saying “Oregon law does not require the board to rush the process at the expense of transparency, public participation, or compliance with public meetings law.”
In an email Thursday to Chuck and Yuille, Miller also requested that the board schedule a meeting at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, to further discuss the appointment procedure and applications. Miller also posted the 23 applications — but without the first page cover sheet — on his commissioner Facebook page.
The county had declined earlier to release the applications to the media without a public records request, which often takes the county counsel’s office weeks or months to fulfill.
One candidate, Jennifer King of Seal Rock, notified the county Thursday she was withdrawing her application because it had been made public by Miller.
Walter Chuck said he would submit his top 10 applicants by county Counsel Kristin Yuille’s 5 p.m. Wednesday deadline. (Shayla Escudero/Lincoln Chronicle)On Wednesday, Chuck repeatedly but without deeper explanation said he felt they had to go along with the timeline that was agreed upon at the Jan. 14 meeting. Again, Miller disagreed.
It is unclear what will happen if Miller does not submit a list of his top applicants.
All three commissions positions will be up for election in the May primary and potential runoffs in November.
So far, only former sheriff Curtis Landers has filed for Hall’s position in the May 19 primary and would take office immediately after if he received more than 50 percent of the vote. The last day to file for the office is either March 3 or March 10, depending if the person is anincumbent.
23 apply for vacancy
On Monday, the county released the 23 applicant names on social media but declined to release their full applications. Five of the 23 applied last year when Kaety Jacobson quit and Hall and Miller agreed to appoint Chuck.
In alphabetical order the applicants are:
- Marci Baker, a Lincoln City council member and restaurateur;
- Robert Barnhill of Seal Rock, a retired veteran and colonel;
- Marae Bickford, a Depoe Bay office manager;
- Chris Chandler of Newport, a former Economic Development Association of Lincoln County executive director, former community relations officer for Central Lincoln People’s Utility District and currently a member of the Oregon Coast Community College board;
- Cristen Don of South Beach, a former Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employee;
- Mikel Diwan of Gleneden Beach, the county’s public works director;
- Dru Earls of Lincoln City, a casino employee;
- Sheahan Griffitts of Lincoln City, a human resources consultant who was the county’s human resources director from 2010-15;
- Dave Hansen of Alsea, the retired director of Oregon Sea Grant;
- Matthew Harwell of Newport, a retired Environmental Protection Agency employee and scientist;
- Sukki Herman of Toledo, a retired professor;
- Andrew Keating, a Toledo City councilor;
- Jennifer King of Seal Rock, a real estate agent;
- Carter McEntee a general manager at Mo’s in Newport who ran against Miller in 2022;
- Nicholle Moody of Depoe Bay, a small business owner;
- Lawrence Nelson, a Lincoln City chef;
- John Perez of Newport, a marketing and communications consultant;
- Ronald Remund, former owner of Newport-Waldport KOA;
- Catherine Rigby of Newport, a grant manager for the city of Newport;
- Joe Steere of Siletz, a director of Lincoln County Soil and Water Conservation District;
- Valerie Stephan of Depoe Bay, a paralegal;
- Eddie Townsend of Newport, a real estate agent; and
- April Van Wagoner of Lincoln City, a real estate agent.
Chandler, Griffits, Hansen, Townsend and Rigby applied for the commission vacancy last year; Rigby was one of three finalists.
- Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, Newport, education, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at [email protected]
Casey Miller may be well intentioned in his desire for government transparency, but his obsession with process over getting a damn thing done is unacceptable.
Absolutely – at this point, he’s just being an obstructionist. In order to get the county moving in the right direction again, we need to get it moving!
Chuck and Miller once again showing they aren’t qualified for these positions either.
Just brutal incompetence at every level to be so ineffective at accomplishing the simplest of tasks.
The two commissioners should be the last persons to appoint the open seat. They can’t even talk to each other. This open spot on the commissioners seat should be an election made by any one but them.
https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_236.215 is not applicable as that is for partisan positions. Lincoln County voters may our commissioner positions non-partisan in 2013, an effort Claire Hall spearheaded.
As a result, https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_236.210 is the applicable statute. That statute does not have a deadline.
For a small stipend I will volunteer to deploy my 3 special spinners with 3 custom overlays and guarantee a result in 12 hours or less. Further, I propose, for a nominal lease fee, to allow the commission the use of the three spinners with three new custom overlays to aid them in coming up with timely decisions in future. It can’t be worse than the apparent intransigence we have now.
There are a lot of comments relating to county Commissioner Casey Miller’s objections on the process. I believe commissioners are in the mess that they are in “because of the lack of transparency and process” and that the county counsel has played a big part in the troubles that exist because of the counsel’s attempt to assume more and more control of the county and bullying Commissioner Miller, including unlawfully locking him out of this dully elected office. I believe the county counsel and Commissioner Walter Chuck are presently violating Oregon Law regulating how a chair of the board is selected in the absence of three commissioners and inability of the remaining commissioners to come to a consensus on who should be chair. ORS 203-240 specifically says in that instance, the senior elected commissioner will be the chair until the next provided rotation. The counsel and Chuck refuse to allow that legal action to happen. Additionally the county counsel has asserted that she alone has the responsibility to set agendas for the commissioners. Again she is incorrect and in conflict with OAR 345-011-0020. Which states that the commission chair and County Secretary (Commissioners Executive Assistant) are responsible for setting and building the agenda. Nowhere do the rules suggest that the county counsel/administrator has that directive. Finally the process for filling Hall’s position needs to be open to all of the public. The commission is in the position it’s in because the replacement of Commissioner Jacobson was not open to the public. I had discussion with commissioner Hall about the issue at the time and was rebuffed. Regardless of beliefs, ideals or support, the commission must first deal with operating under the laws of the state before the selection of a new “interim” commissioner is appointed to fill the position. For my 2 cents on the 23 candidates I would not choose retired or active government employees. I would only choose people with backgrounds of running businesses and finical operations. Why? Because the county budget is in a deficit and we need only commissioners that know how and can first fix the financial issues and the needs of restoring support for law and order in the county.
Write their names on slips of paper and put them in a hat. Let a cute little kid draw out the winners because cute little kids are not as political~ although they are as childish~ as those in charge now.
I’ll do it. I’m retired and will work on a volunteer basis. The one thing I think makes me perfect for the job is that I will not embarrass Lincoln County. Commissioners meetings can only go up from here and I’ll lead the way.
Why don’t they pick a committee and let the committee choose?
So, these two are each sucking up 100k a year for doing nothing at all.
And so it goes….