Waldport council does its business after monthly meeting draws parade of critics — and some responses

By GARRET JAROS/Lincoln Chronicle

WALDPORT – With the weekly stream of controversy in Waldport – restraining orders, calls for criminal investigations, a city council recall effort, and constant mudslinging on social media – there was no telling how Thursday’s city council meeting would unfold.

Seats at the community center, where meetings are now held to accommodate larger crowds filled quickly, as did the sign-up sheet for public comment.

First to address the council — Mayor Heide Lambert was ill and did not attend — was Todd Swift who has been beseeching the council for nearly a year to meet with his Township 13 homeowner’s association to discuss right-of-way issues. The council agreed two months ago to sit down with the group.

Swift then yielded the remainder of his time for comment to city manager Dann Cutter – “if he wants to say anything else about my law enforcement or military career.” Cutter did not. The reference was to a dustup between the two on social media.

Then came a videographer who goes by the name AJ, who covers council meetings for Oregon Coast Breaking News and posts videos under the name Rebel With a Cause. He asked why the council had not responded to Lambert’s requests for an executive session to discuss Cutter’s social media posts and email exchanges with the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians.

“I think it will be discussed today so, listen up,” replied councilor Susan Woodruff.

Todd Holt, who was recalled from the Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue board in 2022 and has since actively opposed two operating levies for the district, urged the city council to foreclose on the fire district because it has not made two yearly payments on the downtown station that the city is selling to the district.

Next to comment was Signe Miller, a regular social media critic of Cutter and the council. She began by saying citizens who voted for Lambert as mayor want to know whether the city council had voted to pay for Cutter’s legal fees in response to the restraining order filed by Waldport Beachcomber Days secretary TiAnne Rios.

Again, it was left to Woodruff to reply that there was no vote because the manager’s contract stipulates that when a lawsuit has to do with city business — “which it does” — then legal expenses are paid by the city.

Karun Olson, who was on the council for two years and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2020, read a prepared statement again urging the “city hire a mediator to repair broken relationships and rebuild collaboration with individuals and organizations alienated by Cutter” and to better supervise him.

She also called for the city to release all email communication from the auditing firms the city has employed going back to 2019 and to delve into back-and-forth Facebook posts between council president Greg Dunn and a person who had shouted profanities and threats of recall at one of his employees.

Also at the meeting was a contingency of council supporters wearing T-shirts that read “Save Waldport” on the front and “Vote No on the City Council Recall” on the back. They did not make any public comments.

Council members did not respond to most of the public comments when it came time for their “comments and concerns” at the end of the meeting.

Woodruff did address Lambert’s request for an executive session to discuss the letter from Siletz Tribe chief executive officer Kurtis Barker, which said he would no longer communicate with Cutter because of a series of emails the city manager sent the tribe urging it pursue to prosecution of Rios.

“Our mayor had asked that … council get together to discuss the various complaints or complaint from the Tribe, just to talk about what if anything we wanted to do about it,” she said. “Obviously she’s not here today so I would assume that would happen at our next meeting in October.”

City audit information

One of the arguments by council recall organizers is a years-long problem with completing city audits.

The city had hired Emerald CPA Group of Eugene to complete its 2021 audit, which was not completed until 2023. After more issues, the city dismissed Emerald and hired Umpqua Valley Financial in early 2024 to catch up on the remaining audits.

On Thursday, Cutter told the council that, at Lambert’s request, he asked for and received a letter from Umpqua detailing the challenges and timeline for completing the audits.

During a recent review, Umpqua requested more documentation and the city is getting that to them, Cutter said. The city will also be releasing the letter, audit timelines and documentation.

But, Cutter said, the auditor’s letter says it found “no evidence of misappropriation, malfeasance or any other failures on the part of the city.”

The city also plans to provide weekly updates and a monthly one-page summary from the auditor about its progress, Cutter said, along with other records and documentation so people can view them.

Dunn told the audience that councilors are also frustrated with audits.

“We want them out and readily available so everyone can see them,” he said. “And we are working as fast as we can. But there’s only so much we can do when we don’t have control over those. The auditor is the controlling factor and we gotta go on their timeline.”

The council’s business meeting

After all of the public comments, the council did get down to the business of its regular meeting.

Cutter went through the budget for the Louis Southworth Park, what money has been spent and what projects are left to complete. So far, the park is under budget and work is expected to be finished in late June 2027.

The next project is a 10-foot-wide track around the soccer/football field using the same footprint as the old high school track, he said.

The park is being funded by a $750,000 Oregon State Parks grant; $100,000 from Travel Oregon; $50,000 from the Oregon Coast Visitor’s Association; $130,000 from the Noble Carlton Fund; and $500,000 from the city.

“Again, this park and playground is a work in progress so we are moving forward on it as quickly as we can,” Cutter said. “It really comes down to availability and weather.”

The council also passed several resolutions, including updating public works’ design standards; changes to the style of meeting minutes; a change order extending the sidewalk project on Crestline Drive; providing clarity and eliminating inconsistencies in city’s codes regarding business licenses and ordinances around nonprofits and special events on city property — while also making documents friendlier in tone and easier to understand.

The council created a trails committee comprised of at least two council members, two community members and one at-large position, was created. People interested in joining should contact the city.

The council also heard that:

• There is a vacancy on the planning commission and applications are available;
• Curb work for the new walkway along Crestline Drive is expected to begin this week and once it is finished, city crews will build fence along areas where there are steep drops;
• Work has started on a new city website. The current site is experiencing errors that cause meeting notices and other posts to randomly disappear, Cutter said. The new site will offer instant notifications of city announcements for people who sign up for them; and
• Repairs on the leaking Alsea Bay Historic Interpretive Center roof is expected to begin Monday.

• Garret Jaros covers the communities of Yachats, Waldport, south Lincoln County and natural resources issues for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com