City Council - Special Meeting

Let me privilege.

I don't know if anyone Let's call this meeting to order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you so much everyone. City clerk, please call the role. Council member Bergie Rooster Johnson I here. I Miller here. Otto here. Reed here, Sean Srano here, Worthman

here, and we have a quorum. Uh, welcome everyone to this special meeting uh Monday, April 20 20th of 2026. This meeting this evening is dedicated to filling the city council vacancy for Alderman District 2. Um so we have two agenda items. The first one is going to be a chance for public discussion if folks are here uh this evening to speak on behalf of or support for a candidate. And then uh the second agenda item we will move to is the business session where we will uh discuss and then vote on uh who we believe as a council should should fill Alderman district 2 vacancy. Um this evening uh the public is going to have uh three minutes to share on behalf of a candidate or candidates depending. Um if you could keep your remarks kind of focused in that direction because that is the primary uh role of the agenda that would be great. Um, and I suppose we potentially could ask you questions, but more than likely, uh, we're just here to listen and receive your input. Um, candidates, for those that don't know, um, and especially folks at home, did already submit a presentation of their candidacy and they answered a series of questions that we provided ahead of time. Um, and those can be found on the city's uh YouTube uh link, YouTube website. So, if you haven't had a chance to check those out, please do. Thank you to all of the candidates first and foremost who applied and put yourself out there and said that you have an interest in serving in this role. Um, regardless of whether you get uh the nomination

tonight, I just want to say that we're blessed to have incredibly strong candidates this evening. And I would encourage um for those that do not fill the role to actually go ahead and think about other ways to serve on boards, committees, and commissions as well. Um we have a difficult choice ahead because all of you care deeply about your community and and showed that um not only in your materials but on your videos that you uh recorded that we all got to see. So thank you for applying and and being a part of this process. Um, with that, uh, we will move, um, on a motion by council member Otto and Serrano. We're going to move into, um, item number one, the public discussion, uh, of the council vacancy. If anyone would like to come to the mic uh, and share, um, please do. Oh, sorry. We have a signup sheet. if we could uh if we could mark uh Council Member Rooster present too. Thank you. So, looking over the sheet, the way this will work is we're first going to work off of the signup sheet this evening, but then if anyone didn't sign up, but still would like to share a comment on behalf of a candidate, you're more than welcome to to approach the podium. Um so, first up is Julian Emerson. Thank you, Andrew. And good evening. Is this on? Am I in the right spot?

Yeah, you're doing perfect. Just if you could uh introduce and then share your address as well.

You betcha. Good evening, Oakclair City Council members. It's a pleasure to be here tonight. Um my name is Julian Emerson. I live at 519 Chanty Street here in Oaklair. Um, and I second uh uh Council Vice President Worthman's um words about the importance of people running for elected office. Uh it's u it's really important um way for all of us to get involved. I've watched many many people do it including my wife. Um so and and I too uh looked through the resumes of the folks um looking to be appointed and yeah there's it's you guys will have our choice. There's a lot of good candidates here. Um, and so I'm here to speak tonight. Um, related to filling the District 2 council seat, uh, Emily Anderson, who I'm fortunate to call a friend. Um, and like I said, I I looked through the the backgrounds of the other folks and and the candidates are all good. Um, but I'm here to speak on behalf of Joyce Orth um, and to recommend that she be appointed to this important decision uh, position. I've known Joyce for nearly three decades. Uh I first got to know her back when I was a reporter at the Leader Telegram newspaper and Joyce worked um as the executive assistant um secretary for the Oaklair school district, excuse me, Altuna School District. Excuse me. Sorry for that, Joyce. Um, and we worked we worked closely sometimes and um, Joyce had to answer all of my questions which weren't always about easy topics. And I was always struck immediately by her thoughtfulness, her professionalism, her kindness, no matter the situation, no matter the sometimes really difficult questions that I was asking um of her and of others in the district. Um I saw her always maintain that

professionalism, her integrity even when times were difficult. I also got to know Joyce through her work with Fierce Freedom, a small local nonprofit organization that makes a big difference here in the Chipua Valley and beyond in the fight against human trafficking. Joyce exhibits her strong sense of caring for her community in her work with Fierce Freedom. She advocates for those who all too often lack a voice of their own. Um, and I've really admired the way she's done that work. In everything she does, Joyce is detail- oriented, thoughtful, and communicates extremely well with others. She effectively forms a partnership with the aim of accomplishing worthy endeavors. She's a diligent worker who seeks highquality outcomes. She exhibits her deep sense of caring for her community and beyond through her numerous volunteer efforts at the local and at the state level. She cares deeply about helping those in the community around her, especially those who are most in need of assistance. For all of those reasons, for all of those qualities, and because I've witnessed her sincere enthusiasm for the city of Oaklair, I'm happy to support Joyce's appointment to represent District 2 on the Oaklair City Council.

Thank you so much, Mr. Next up, we have Jennifer Sorry, Jennifer. Welcome.

Good evening. My name is Jennifer Bane and I am a resident of Oaklair's Westside. I am also a proud public school teacher. A few decades ago, when I began my teaching career serving the Altuna School District, I was lucky to meet Joyce Orth. I remember Joyce being a very welcoming presence. It did not surprise me when over time she moved into a position in our district office. Over the years, I have witnessed that businesses are often very thoughtful and strategic about who they place in positions that have the highest interaction with the public. These people must have the ability to interact with anyone who calls or walks through the door. They must be able to remain calm while also having natural problem solving skills. add in organizational savvy. And this was Joyce. Joyce's loyalty was demonstrated in her decades of service to the Altuna community. She ended her time with our district serving as our public relations and social media coordinator. In true Joyce fashion, she used her talents to highlight what the rest of us were doing, allowing us to shine. Recently, I reconnected with Joyce at Sherman Creek Park near Sherman Elementary. We spent time together with some former colleagues who are doing research, which will support a memorial trail marker project for my daughter. Joyce spoke with great pride about her roots growing up near the park and walking to school as a student at Sherman Elementary. She shared her excitement about another generation benefiting from learning about the history of this community and enjoying some natural spaces that she grew up enjoying. I share this with you this evening because I feel that it is important that in addition to her recent community work, you should know about Joyce's commitment to education. I was

very pleased to hear that Joyce is being considered for a position on our city council. We would be lucky to have her serve. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next up, we have um Aaron. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you for for coming down. Yeah, everybody hear me? Okay. Yep.

All right. Thank you, council members, uh city council, um staff, residents, and candidates and supporters. Uh I am uh here to write an letter of recommendation and uh for support for Joyce Orth and her candidacy for Oaklair City Council District 2. As a fier president of Fierce Freedom and president of Kulie Tech uh Fierce Freedom, we're a nonprofit organization as you heard of uh combating human trafficking uh through education prevention and survivor support. I've had the privilege of working closely with Joyce, witnessing firsthand her exceptional leadership, integrity, and commitment into serving our community. Joyce has been an invaluable member to our organization, her passion for advocating on behalf of vulnerable populations, is matched by her ability to translate compassion into meaningful action. She consistently demonstrates sound judgment, collaborative leadership, and deep understanding in social issues impacting our region. Through her work at Fierce Freedom, Joyce has helped build strong partnerships and community stakeholders coordinated impactful initiatives uh and contributed to strategic efforts that have expanded our reach and effectiveness. What sets Joyce apart is her genuine dedication to the well-being of others. She approaches every challenge with empathy, professionalism, and solutionsoriented mindset. Her ability to listen, thoughtfully, engage diverse perspectives and foster cons uh consensus makes her uniquely qualified for public service. Joyce is not only a passionate advocate for, but also a strategic thinker who understands how to navigate complex community needs while maintaining transparency and accountability.

Joyce's experiences addressing issues such as public safety, community education, and support for vulnerable individual provides her valuable insight that will greatly benefit the city of Oaklair. She possesses the integrity, work ethic, and vision necessary to serve the residents effectively to help guide the city toward a safe, inclusive, and thriving future. I wholeheartedly, without reservation, recommend Joyce Orth for the position of District 2 city council sought. I'm confident in her leadership, compassion, and dedication to the community service will make an outstanding asset to the city. Should you have any questions or wish to talk more, please reach out.

Thank Thank you so much. Does anyone have any questions? I can see any. Uh, next we go to Jane. Hey, good evening.

Good evening. I'm Jane Jeff. I live at 1022 East Lexington Boulevard in Oaklair. Um, I'm also here to recommend Joyce Orth for the open council seat for district two. And as someone who lives in her district, I'd really like to see her as one of my representatives. I've known her for over 10 years. Um, Joyce has many leadership qualities. She listens well. She makes decisions after she's heard a variety of opinions. And she's adaptable, but she's also strategic, and she brings a lot of wisdom to whatever she's involved in. I observed these qualities firsthand when she served on the elder board for our church. I also served on it with her. She served for about eight years and during some of the key transitional years she was the lead elder. Her consistency and her wisdom helped our church weather some pretty difficult years and we were all really grateful for her leadership in that time. She also worked many years in the Altuna school district and anyone who knows about working in schools or school systems, you'll know that she has a broad perspective and she has a good understanding about the needs of the community. After she retired, she became a community engagement specialist for Fierce Freedom, which is the nonprofit that fights human trafficking and exploitation. And this is an issue that affects our community as much as any other. And so I'm really grateful for the work that she's doing with this organization. And I'd also note that Joyce serves as an election official. So, you know, having worked the polls myself, it's very important for people like Joyce who understand the process and how to help everything run smoothly. So, I love that she's in that position. So, as you can see, Joyce has a heart for the community and she wants to see it thrive. I think she'd be a good fit for this open seat and I highly recommend her because I think she has a really good skill set. She's very wellconed in the community. She welcomes diverse perspectives. She

recognizes the potential in others and she has ideas to develop our community. So, I really think she'd be a great asset for this city council and hope you'll consider her. Thank you so much, Jane. Next, we have uh Shelly. Shel here.

Good evening. Thanks for coming down. Yeah, thank you.

Um I didn't know I was going to speak tonight, so I didn't prepare anything ahead of time, but I'll do the best I can. Um, I'm Shelley Shupel and I am the owner of Mr. Kitty's Cat Cafe and so that is how I know Shellyley. Um, Jenke, she is the director at the Humane Society as you well know. Um, so I work directly with her in a lot of aspects of my job. Um, when my husband's known her for many, many, many years. I've known her about three years since I came up with the idea of having the Cat Cafe. And from day one when I met her, she's been such an tremendous resource for us in getting our cafe up and running. Um she's just so resourceful. Like she has connections with so many people. She was able to just give us unlimited resources of who to talk to and where to go. And she's kind, she's funny. um she's going to be a blessing to you guys if she's on your committee here. Um she just um always has the highest integrity. I get to work really closely with a lot of the employees at the Humane Society as well because we get cats from them. We have medical issues to deal with all different things. And everybody I talk to there just has such respect for her as well. and that speaks a really great in in my opinion as a business owner when your employees speak well about you and she's just a very organized person. Um she's just so well-rounded in my opinion. Um, I I she's my go-to when I do have questions because she's a really good listener and she just comes up with some really creative ideas to work around problems and I appreciate that because sometimes I run into issues as a business owner and her wealth of

knowledge is just really a help to me as well. So, I think she'd be a great asset to you and I would highly endorse her. Awesome. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you for sharing. Next up on our list, we have Hannah Nash. Welcome.

Hi, city council. I'm here in support of Brian Trobridge. I had worked with Brian and was a and well and continue to be a friend of Brian for many years. Um I worked directly with Brian Trobridge for six years serving some of the community's most most vulnerable populations. In my firsthand experience working with Brian, Brian was caring. He was understanding and he was thorough in the work that he did. He treated everybody with respect. He generally genuinely cared for the people that he was working with. He was always fair. He always took time to listen to both sides. He was always um compassionate and even when people were engaging in questionable behavior, he treated them with respect and was always a listening ear. I had the opportunity, of course, to work with Brian firsthand, but then I got to see Brian in a supervisory role. And when he moved up into a supervisory role, he continued to treat all of us, all of his employees, all of the people in his community with great respect. He never talked down on anybody. He was very dependable, reliable. He was somebody that we always could go to and you would always trust the answer that you were given. Um he was somebody that you could go to with tough questions. You knew that you could feel comfortable and that you would get um get a good response from him. When Brian moved on to bigger and better things, it felt like a true loss to our to our employer and our job because he truly like filled so many roles and helped so many people. I've witnessed Brian be I've witnessed Brian with his family. I've witnessed Brian with his friends and he's truly a one-of-a-kind person. He's somebody that I truly would love to see serve on the city council and would be thrilled to see him continue to support the community in this role.

Thank you. And thank you. Hannah, would you be able to uh share your street address, please? Yeah. 4233 Meadowwood Drive in Oaklair. Thank you. Thank you. And last on our list um is Mike Feldman.

Hey Mike. Hello there, council members. Uh Mike Felton, uh 1316 White Pine Drive North, Oakclair, 5471. Um glad to be here tonight. Just want to speak on behalf of Shelley Jankee. Um let me start general, then I'll get specific. Uh people know Shelley as a great leader with the Oaklair County Humane Society,

where she literally herds cats, where she has uh animals and people love her. And uh she's a thoughtful leader. She is uh great at what she does. She's a great involved person in the community. You've just heard everything that she does uh with Mr. Kitty's Cat Cafe and others. Uh she's great at building uh coalitions, meeting people. She's uh gone through the Oaklair leadership program before and learned a lot to see how uh uh this community really works. Um let me speak personally though. I our family has known Shell and she's been a close family friend for the past eight or nine years. Our daughters are growing up together and when I talk about her hurting cats, I've seen her do it uh I guess figuratively when we've planned two world uh trotting trips together as families. Uh her her thoughtful consideration when it comes to detail work to making sure things are on schedule to look at things from multiple angles um and just planning. She is uh she's amazing. I I couldn't of all the people I know as close family, friends or otherwise, I couldn't think of someone better to uh serve on city council. Um again, the thoughtfulness, the care, the consideration, the ability to look at each issue um from multiple angles. Um, when I mention our families have grown up together, that also includes just discussions about the future that we want for our families, what that looks like. Um, the investment that someone has in this community, um, because we care for our families. Hers comes from a place of big-heartedness and wanting the best for her kiddo growing up. Um, and I really appreciate that. The idea that what is best for the community is being involved and and being that role model, I think, is huge. Um, her daughter sees that, we've seen that. Um, Shel's been a

pole worker and someone that that does want to make Oaklair a better community. Um, it's a great community and she wants to be part of that. So, I I think we would all be lucky for her to be part of city council. Thank you, Mike. Thank you. So that comes the end of our uh speakers list at least for folks who signed up here. But are there any is there anyone else in chambers who would like to come forward? Yeah, certainly. And share anything else. No, no worries. Welcome. I've known Chel forever and I live at 933rd Avenue. Okay. Just just make sure you're speaking the mic. Sorry. No worries. Anyway, I've known Shel for Oh, point. a long time.

Excuse me. I'm gonna get your name first, too. Jim Shupel, thank you. James, anyway, um I've known Shel for a long time. I knew her dad before I knew her. And the family is just wonderful.

Anyway, we were in Monomony together. She was part of Main Street Monomony. Awesome. Did great. Went different directions, lost connection, hooked up a few years ago again, and it's like we never left each other. It's been awesome. Her family is awesome. Um, her organization. I'm also on the board of directors with the Humane Society, our main association. And again, we I see her from as a friend. I see her as a professional. I see her as a caring person. I see her as a parent.

We'd be blessed to have her. I don't know how else to say it. She's very capable. I'm a emotional person. Sorry. But anyway, um, you'd be blessed to have her. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. I don't see any, but thank you for sharing. Thank you.

Is anyone else here by chance who wants to to share? Um, it seems like we have uh gone through our list and we've offered a chance for anyone who wanted to share. Thank you all for being here this evening. Uh we're now going to close this uh agenda item number one and we are going to move um to agenda item number two which is our discussion um and then a vote on who we would like to see uh fill this vacancy. And I'm just going to run over a few of the ground rules for this um for this item this evening. Um, first to share that um that we're going to need because there's 11 of us on the council, we still will need six affirmative votes in order to um elect uh someone or nominate the next person for this seat. So, the way this is going to work is that if no one receives a majority of six votes on a first ballot, um then uh we'll continue to ballot until someone gets there. So, the way that'll happen is the lowest vote getter or tied for lowest will be dropped um on the first ballot and we'll keep balloting until someone reaches six votes. Um, we will be balloting. It is a public ballot. So, we're going to be using this form, which essentially you'll put your name at the top and then signal who you would like to see uh in this vacancy. um this this way of doing it, it will be read and it will say council member whomever votes for but it it's a way of doing it that we don't necessarily influence each other as we're voting or doing a raise of hands and just calling one candidate at a time. So that's kind of the idea but do behind doing it this

way. Um but but just to clarify, all ballots will be public um and will be read off with your name um and how you vote. Um with all of that background, let's open it up to uh discussion from council members how you're feeling, who you're thinking. Um and um yeah, we'll take it from there. Does anyone want to go first? Oh, okay.

Yeah. Council member Brewster. Uh, thank you, Acting Council President Worthman. Um, yeah, so after we had our vote and decided to do the the video thing, I actually reached out to all the candidates and had coffee with all of them because um, I just wanted to have a chance to talk to them and find out. And I was pleasantly surprised that none of them had any glaring red flags as far as as far as I'm concerned. So in some ways that makes this more difficult because then you know it's trying to pick the best of a a good group of people instead of um instead of uh you know having a smaller group that anyway get what I'm trying to say. Um but yeah I I think um that uh at least for me the in in my head the the the um decision is between uh Shelley and Joyce and I'm still still working on that. I think the administrative um skill that they would bring to this would be really useful and both of them are have been uh involved in you know very public organizations and had to have that sort of leadership role with the um you know dealing with uh outside um outside organizations and uh relationships. Shelley with the Humane Society and Joyce with the Altuna School District. Um, so I think uh that's that's where I'm at and I'm uh looking for for more input from other council members.

Sounds good. Um, council member,

thank you council with me. For me, I would say thank you so much for putting your name out there. All of you guys, you are I think more than qualified. I you you have served this seat in several all of this area no choice you have served in Aruna school district so the committee you have served very well I I feel like you guys you are putting us between the hardlock and that place I don't know which way we're going to go uh but I want to look things from the population point of view in Oaklair we have more women population than men. We have a so that with that now there are two women going out. Emily Anderson is out. Emily Bag is out. So if you look here we are men and I feel uncomfortable to have another man. Don't don't feel bad that I'm using women cardia. So I'm I feel comfortable to have a woman in our city council than a man. I'm I'm not against Brian. BL is a good man, but that's where I look at it from. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Council Member Miller.

Thank you, Council Member Worthman. Um full disclosure, my my family volunteers occasionally at the Human Association, but that's uh I never seen Sally there because we're there on the weekend. So uh that out of the way. Um, once again echoing the fact that all the people here, um, if any one of them had applied solo, I would have, you know, no reservation about appointing any of them to the city council. Um, they all have a desire to serve the community, have served the community. Um, so I I echo the sentiments that it's hard to pick. There is one thing that's tipping my hand towards one of the candidates is that um, currently the city, we find ourselves in one of the worst financial situations that we've had for budget seasons. Um, tomorrow we're going to appoint up to five people to serve on our fiscal stability commission. That's like almost half the council devoted just to helping us close the budgetary gap we have coming forward. And to that end, um the candidate with experience of leading an organization where they are the buck stops there like it does with council and they are in charge of the finances and they oversee an organization of people um would be um Shelley Jenkei with the humane association. She runs that organization. They have to fund raise. They have to find money. They're never guaranteed where the money is going to come from. They have to make ends meet. and I see parallels with where the city is right now. And I think her financial expertise and making executive decisions where where we are right now um u probably comes in very well. If our situation were different, I'd have the whole new metric for picking someone. But I think her experience with finances and leading organizations would fit as well as we go into this very difficult budget season.

Thank you, council member. Council member,

sorry, council member Sado. Thank you very much, Council President. What did I call you? Um, Vice President Worman. Thank you. Um, I just first of all want to thank the candidates for stepping forward because uh, like everyone else has said, I've been just very very impressed with the three candidates. Uh, I know Mr. Trobridge was not able to be here tonight, but um, I want him to know that, you know, he he made notable uh, impression on me. I also really want to thank all the people that spoke on behalf of all three of the candidates uh both tonight and we received quite a lot of correspondence also about uh each of the candidates uh in favor and and those are valuable, you know, little personal anecdotes. I know this person and here's an adjective I would use to describe them or here's an example of I've seen them in action here and there. Uh so so I I want to thank everybody who who used their voice uh to to talk to us about uh about this important important decision and it is really a tough decision. I have to say I I would be perfectly fine and happy with any of the three candidates uh as a colleague. Um, for me there was one particular uh characteristic that stood out and that was uh both in Joyce's uh self presentation and uh and in the remarks that people made about her um really showing her very um um I want to say deep understanding of and caring about our most vulnerable population and um and that matters a lot to me. Um not so much with what's coming before us in the next number of months, but somebody with that mindset that will not forget about our

most vulnerable community. I feel like as a council of 11 people, we can, you know, we get a lot of people who talk to us and a lot of get pulled in a lot of different directions with a lot of different interests. uh the most vulnerable often um you know they they they need a seat at our table and um and their voice and their and and thinking about their uh lot in life is important. So so for me I I just really want to make sure that we keep that um that perspective and and that stood out to me in in Joyce's materials and presentation.

Thank you, Council Member Serrano. Um Council Member Otto. Thank you, Council Vice President. It it really speaks to our town that um three high quality candidates like this could come forward and watching the videos and listening to uh friend testimonials and um talking to to the candidates directly. It's humbling that that's the level of quality that's expected to sit on this board right here. Difficult decision. Um Joyce Orth has a slight edge in my opinion. Uh what put me over the top in favoring Orth is um the education connection. I think um we we could use people who who have a involvement in education bodies and um the the local school districts are potential partners. um with our city government I see and I think that is a a an asset. Um so for reasons already mentioned and for that connection with education in particular I'm going to go with Joyce but all of the candidates are high quality.

I can jump in. Sure. Council thank you Vice President Worthman. I would just like to echo um what a few previous speakers said about Joyce Orth and her commitment to uh education here. Um we have a lot of great and qualified candidates, but uh as a previous speaker alluded to, you could really see that her values uh shown through. So, thank you for that. Well, I think um unless anyone wants to say anything else or offer any other ideas, I think we're going to take our first ballot. Um, so just if I could stress everyone put your name at the top of your ballot. That's you too because

uh cuz if you wanted to count, you got to have your name.

Thank you. Yeah, thankfully. Thank you. or something.

Yeah. Sounds good. Council member Otto, Joyce, Clara Serrano, Joyce Worth, Charlie Johnson, Shelley Jenke, Brewster, Joyce Worth, Joshua Miller, Shelley Jenkee, Ethan Reed, Joyce Worth, Andrew Worthman, Joyce Worth, Larry Himoga, Shelley Jen. That's five to three. So then Brian would be knocked off and then there'll be another round of voting.

Okay. Thank you. Uh city clerk. Um so I think next we'll um if folks have any council members have any additional items they would like to share before we vote in a second round. Um the floor is all yours. Uh, we do need to get to six votes for someone to get this nomination. So, yeah. Does anyone want to go first?

Thanks, Council Member Johnson.

Um, yeah. When when Dr. Anderson announced she was resigning, it's sad, but it also made me sad because I don't like doing stuff like this. Um but just explaining my again as everyone has said I think very qualified candidates. Um just explaining my vote for Shelly. Uh I think the experience with leading an organization um that she leads is kind of invaluable um when looking at what council is going to be dealing with over the next year or so and uh potentially into a future term. And uh that is actually kind of a facet that is missing on the council uh right now. And that could I think be a valuable insight um a valuable voice at the table as we uh begin some of these discussions. And I think that's kind of what the community could be looking for as well. Um so I'll be I'll be voting for um Shelley again.

Okay. Council member Miller. Thank you. Council um Council Vice President Worthman. Um, so to kind of elaborate again why I supported um, Shelley Jenkee, uh, this is for a one-year term as well. So, you know, this person have to run for re-election or or not. We're going to have a new district two coming up when the district elections coming next fall. And once again, I can't

Thank you. Thank you for the correction um, in a year. So, um, and when I was saying that what took my hand slightly towards Shelley Jenke was the the financial situation we're in. Um, honestly, I think if we were in a good financial situation, um, everything that has said about George Orth, I would probably be supporting her, but crisis is a big strong word, but I think that's where we are right now financially. So, um, just having somebody that really knows finances and running every bit organization because when I'm there, I see, you know, I guess I'll share my experience that, you know, uh, volunteering the human association, you know, they have to keep track of their supplies and, you know, the dog food and and the staff and, you know, the staff probably, you know, it's not one of the higher paying jobs. They have turnover, they have new people, they have to deal with, you know, staffing like that and um, because it's a tight run organization and I think, you know, things come down to the wire there. So, I think for this one year, finance is where I'm really hanging my my hat on. Um, if if we were, like I said, in a better situation, I think, um, just as a big picture, um, I I think, um, Mor would have my vote, but for me, it's a strategic one-year appointment to get us through the worst budget that I've seen since I've been on council and probably been for a number of years. So, that's why on this other round, I'll still be voting for Shelley Jenke.

Okay, Council Member Srano.

Thank you, C. Vice President Worthman. Um, I appreciate the comments made um in favor of Shelley Jenkee. Again, I think she would be a formidable uh colleague and I I I would love to serve with her. Um I um just speaking from my own personal experience, I feel like it took me kind of a good year to really come up to speed on kind of a lot of the ins and outs. Uh, I don't think that's a unique situation and I think it, you know, when we bring somebody on for a year, yes, they're going to be part of making decisions, but they're going to really need to be um coming up to speed very quickly and also um getting to know the lay of the land um on so many city topics. Um, so I'm I'm looking at somebody with the broadest um amount of, you know, bringing the broadest experience to to the role. And uh and again, I want to just emphasize again, I mean, our financial wos are not unique to this year. We're going to have them for the foreseeable future uh until there are bigger structural changes in in our state government. So, um, so for me, uh, again, I I I feel like I still want to, um, advocate really strongly for, um, for Joyce as our choice, even though we have three good candidates. Um, because I I think at the end of the day, um, we're going to we don't know what's going to come at us. We don't know. There could be another pandemic. There could be another surprise. and and I really um I have a a sense of just the the strongest um sort of foundational uh principles that I think are going to be the most important as we as we move forward.

Thank you, Council Member Council Member Otto. Thank you, Council Vice President. And I too am going to vote vote for Orth a second time on the basis of I I believe she would be the better to have on to have with us as we face the unknown as uh council member Serrano stated well. Thank you. Before we vote a second time, does anyone want to add anything else? Council member can ask Oh, I'm sorry. Do you are you asking a question of our city manager or Nick? Is Steve attorney is it is it a it's a legal question? Yeah.

Okay. City attorney. What about do we f we are it's tied. Oh, the f goes the way we fought the previous. What would happen? Or if we keep folding the same way, what will happen? continue to vote until there's either a candidate that receives six or you elect to adjourn without a decision being made. Okay,

let's uh let's do another ballot. So, this ballot now has two blanks on it. So, still name on top, your name on top, and then candidate. Uh but because we of course didn't know which candidate might drop off, uh it's not a checkbox. So you need to write a name in. Uh the R2 that is listed in the upper left of all of them just means round two of balloting. So we can keep track for records.

Thank you. Thank you. Ethan Reed, Joyce for Miller, Jenkeman, Joyce for Boga. Jankee Brewster or Charlie Jeny Srano or Auto

U. Yeah, Council Marada. Oh, thank you. Um, if I had to leave briefly, maybe 10 minutes, um, would we not have quorum? Huh? I believe we would have quorum at seven. Okay. And then you would come back. I would come back. I just have to run my kids to scouts. Okay. So, we could we could adjourn for that period of time. And yeah.

Um, do Yeah. Council member Brewster. Thank you, council, acting council president. Um, another alternative would be to um vote tomorrow after um you know, president-elect uh Gregor is seated and perhaps um Jessica would be here as well. Thank that would make it

Yeah, thank you council member Brewster for that idea. I'm not sure because of our public notice and whether we have enough time to do something like that. So, I would defer to our city attorney um to check is is that even a viable option potentially some questions you don't want to be asked. So, um, you certainly have the p ability to postpone. Um, if what you're looking to do is postpone to tomorrow, we're in a tough spot because we don't have 24 hours notice. Um, and it does not meet the emergency status. So, I think you'd be looking at postponing either to your next regul regularly scheduled meeting uh a a week from tomorrow or um another special meeting.

Okay. Um, as chair, I'm going to recommend that we try one more round of voting and then if someone wants to make a motion to postpone for to our um regular meeting when we have a more full body, which would be uh two more people. Um, we might have a different decision and it might help us make a decision. Um, so let's do that. Let's open up the floor. If anyone wants to offer one more round of support for a preferred candidate, please do. And then uh we'll go to a third round of voting or we'll just go for a third round of voting. Maybe someone has a change of change of heart.

Ballots look exactly the same except Otto or Serrano or Johnson Jenke Rooster or Boa Jenke Worthman or Miller

5 to three again. Thank Thank you. City clerk. Um uh council member Johnson, do you want to make a motion? Yeah, given the cir, uh not a question, but given the circumstances, I would make a motion to postpone this until our regularly scheduled meeting next week. Um I do think it is important to have as full of a body as we can. Um, and I don't expect anyone to change their votes, and I don't think it's a good idea for someone to change their votes for the purpose of ending voting. Sure. So, I would make a motion to push it out. I would second that motion. Yeah, we have a second. Motion from Johnson, second from Miller. Um, is there discussion on this motion?

Council member Srano, I just want to thank the candidates for their patience with us

through this process. Uh, welcome to group deliberations. Um, and uh, yeah, I mean, I know we did, you went through a lot of trouble to record the videos because we really wanted to try to do this this evening and one of the members, one of the candidates was unable to be here this evening. So again, really appreciate the the effort that everybody went through and um and and the other thing just to remind everybody, the reason we really wanted to do this this evening is to give the candidates uh or whoever we we nominate uh maximum opportunity to be uh able to select the committees and commissions and boards that they may want to serve on. Um, sometimes, you know, when you have a council member resignation and we have an appointment process, it it probably rarely works out that we can time it all so that it works out just, you know, just ideally we we did our best. Um, so thank you for your patience. We we will we will manage.

Thank you, Council Member. Council member Otto. Yeah, this is a question. How many candidates will be on the ballot next time? Does the existent existing vote stand or do we reset? city attorney. In this case, in every case, when you postpone, it comes out of postponement exactly where you've left it. So, this just is literally just set right there and you'll take up the fourth ballot with the same two candidates remaining. Yes, city manager,

if I can just ask the attorney, too. So basically it's the next Tuesday meeting and and there will not be a public comment section on Monday. So it would show up on Tuesday. They would vote and then the person would be sworn in the subsequent meeting or or in before the next meeting. Correct. They they could be sworn in at a time that they coordinate with the city clerk. But this will appear on the business agenda of the April 28th meeting with no further public comment.

Correct. That that's when it'll it will reappear. So again, you're just setting it aside. You've already had public comment. It will come back to your business agenda on the 28th. Okay. Okay. Uh anyone else with a comment on this motion? If not, um, city clerk, please call the role on a motion to postpone to the meeting of the 28th.

Council member Brewster I Johnson I Miller I Otto I Reed I Serrano I Worth

I and that motion passes. Um hang on a second. Uh we do not have any other further business. So with that uh we'll adjourn this meeting. Thank you everyone. Wilder I think or something. Bring my coin. I I know.