By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
The Yachats City Council will have a new look and likely a lot of new issues starting January, according to returns Tuesday night from the Lincoln County elections department.
With 99 percent of the votes counted countywide in Tuesday’s general election, Councilor Leslie Vaaler easily defeated incumbent John Moore 434 to 232 to become the city’s mayor in two months.
Two new council members were also elected, knocking out two incumbents elected without opposition four years ago.
In a five-way race for two council positions Ann Stott was first with 337 votes and Greg Scott was second with 334. Incumbent Max Glenn came in third with 252 votes, incumbent Jim Tooke was fourth with 167 votes, and Dawn Keller was fifth with 166 votes. That result moves Glenn and Tooke off the council in January.
All three of the newly elected have often been critical of the city’s processes, procedures and decisions and also focusing on City Manager Shannon Beaucaire’s management.
Vaaler, who was elected to a four-year council term two years ago, will give up her council seat when she becomes mayor in January. That will result in the new mayor and the new council appointing someone to fill the remaining two years of her term.
After running unsuccessfully for mayor in 2016, Moore was elected in 2018, beating Stott by 82 votes. He was running again on a platform of finishing important city projects and helping the city and businesses recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
But many major decisions this past year resulted in 3-2 council votes, with Moore, Glenn and Tooke in the majority and Vaaler and newly-appointed Councilor Mary Ellen O’Shaughnessey in opposition.
That led to Vaaler’s decision to run, saying that split votes meant that the council should take more time to deliberate and discuss issues, possibly coming to a different decision.
Scott returns to the council after resigning in July 2018 after disagreeing with council decisions and Beaucaire’s management. He had been on the council for 11 years.
Stott, who moved to Yachats in 2017, is a former high school teacher in Utah. She has been critical of city communication, discussion of major projects and spending of budget reserves.
