Once again, two Lincoln County commissioners disagree on how and who to appoint to fill six-month vacancy

By QUINTON SMITH/Lincoln Chronicle

The two remaining Lincoln County commissioners once again Wednesday could not agree how or who to fill a five-month-old commission vacancy and led to the first sharp words between them over the stalemate.

As he forecast on social media and news releases this week, Commissioner Casey Miller once again Wednesday brought up the vacant position left by the January death of Claire Hall and once again suggested that former sheriff Curtis Landers deserved to be appointed. Hall had held Position 2 on the three-member commission.

Commissioner Walter Chuck quickly and strongly disagreed, saying once again that they had settled on a process, nominated and interviewed two finalists and that appointing Landers would dishonor those finalists and that process.

Landers, who was twice elected Lincoln County sheriff and retired in 2025, defeated Chuck in a two-man race for Position 3 in the May primary with 51 percent of the vote and will take that seat in January. Chuck was appointed to the position in 2025.

Miller, a first-term incumbent, finished second in a six-way race for Position 1 and will face Cathie Rigby of Newport in November.

Landers emailed both commissioners this week to say he was ready and willing to be appointed to Position 2 and then slide over to Position 3 in January.

“As of today, I am the only person who is guaranteed to be serving as a Lincoln County commissioner in January,” Landers wrote. “Commissioner Chuck’s appointment will end in January, and Commissioner Miller’s seat will be decided by voters in November. I believe there is value in having at least one confirmed incoming commissioner begin the work now, learn the current issues from the inside from both of you, and help support a smooth transition.”

The appointment finalist being pushed by Chuck is Cristen Don of South Beach, who finished first in the May primary’s four-candidate race for Position 2 with 43.8 percent of the vote, but did not get the necessary majority to win outright. She will face Joe Steere of Siletz in the November general election.

Miller originally nominated Marci Baker of Lincoln City for the Position 2 appointment, then in April said he wanted to wait until the outcomes of the May primary to see if the election would help clarify candidates. Baker finished a distant third in the Position 2 primary.

To appoint a third commissioner, both Miller and Chuck need to agree – and they have not been able to agree on either Don or Baker.

In their first meeting June 3 after the May primary, Miller switched tactics, nominated Landers and received no support and then some pushback from Chuck. He tried again Wednesday and for the first time Chuck publicly showed impatience with Miller’s attempt to appoint the former sheriff.

“We owe it to these two people why you don’t feel they are capable of filling the vacancy,” Chuck said.

Miller responded that the results of the Position 1 and 2 races in the May primary were “muddied” and the only clear message was that Landers was elected.

“It just seems to be so sensible to me to choose the winner of the election,” he told Chuck. “We need a third person to come in and create clarity for us.”

Chuck said results from the May primary were not a part of the original appointment process and only became a factor when the process stalled for months over their disagreements.

After more testy back-and-forth exchanges, Miller referenced Landers’ email and said “he’s ready to go.”

Chuck replied that Don and Baker were also ready. “I firmly believe we need to finish the process we started on,” he said.

Miller: “Let’s move on.”

Chuck: “We can move on.”

Miller: “I’m disappointed.”

Chuck: “So am I.”

In other business Wednesday, the commission:

• After Miller’s attempt to delay its approval until late June, voted 2-0 to approve a $196 million budget for 2026-27, including budgets for five service districts which levy their own property taxes. The four-member budget committee – two commissioners and two citizens – met three times before Wednesday commission vote to approve the recommendations of finance director Lennon Pierce;
• Approved new fees for a handful of county services, as it does every six months to reflect increase costs or other changes; and
• Approved moving forward with selling $23 million in bonds to pay for the redevelopment of the county commons property in Newport. The bonds will be paid off over 20 years solely from portions of transient lodging taxes the county collects from motels and vacation rentals in unincorporated areas.
• Quinton Smith is the editor of Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at [email protected]