City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone. This Thursday, May 28th, 2026 meeting of the Lake Oswego City Council is now called to order. Ms. Hawkins, will you please call the roll?

Yes. Mayor Buck?

Here.

Councilors Wendland? Here. Burdick? Here. Corrigan? Here. Afkin?

Here.

Emma Boo?

Here.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Now, everyone, will you please stand, remove your hats, and join us in the pledge. I pledge 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. All right. Thanks, everyone. Well, this is a special meeting today. We are here to interview the four final candidates we have for the vacant city council position. We'll ask the deputy city manager, Madison Thiessen, to come forward and give us an overview of the process we are going to conduct today. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council. Thank you for having me. I am just going to intro this, and then that way we can dive right into interviews. As a reminder, we are here today to conduct the interviews for this council vacancy seat. We had initially received 12 eligible applications, which were then narrowed down to the top four candidates who are being joined with us today for interviews. The candidate ultimately selected today will serve a term lasting until January 1, so they will be with us for the next six months. give or take, for the rest of the year. What to expect. So in front of you, you will find an interview packet. In that packet, there is an interview schedule. So with the time stamps that we're trying to keep on track, along with a interview sheet. So interview questions, you are free to take notes. We'll be following along with those four pre-approved questions. One thing to note, you're welcome to ask any follow-up questions of the candidates, and then we also are going to offer them the opportunity to ask any questions of you all during that time. We have 15 minutes between each interview to allow time for transitions. We are going to keep track of time to make sure that we're respecting not only the council times, but the candidates' time, and making sure that everyone has the fair amount of time for their interviews. An additional two housekeeping items, please hold all discussions and deliberations about the candidates until the end once all four interviews have taken place. And then lastly, please remember that all written notes on your papers is a part of the public record. And so please just we'll collect those at the end, but just a reminder that anything that happens at the dais is a part of the public record. If anyone has questions, this would be a great time before we bring in our first candidate.

Everyone's set? Okay. Thank you very much for the overview. Of course.

I will be your showrunner, so I'm going to go grab the first one, be on time, and then we'll keep it flowing as much as possible. And then if you need any breaks, we've also scheduled in that 15-minute buffer as well.

Okay, that's great. So we have Mr. Goodman first. Yes.

All right.

Let's bring him on in. Thank you. Thanks, Madison. And Councillor Corrigan is going to be our question reader today. Thank you, Councillor Corrigan. each question kind of differently. Begin by introducing yourself. And I guess we're asking at the end an additional question. Do you have any questions for us? I guess so. That's what she said. They can ask questions. Fifth question. Oh, OK. OK, I'll get him going. We'll let him know that there's time at the end for questions if they don't go over. I have to stopwatch. I'm stopwatching this thing. I should actually get my stopwatch. Hi, Jeff.

Good afternoon.

Great to see you. We appreciate you being here. Thanks for taking part in this process. Thank you for applying. Thank you. Taking the time to go through everything. It's good to see you. So we are, Councillor, the format here is, Councillor Corrigan, we have four questions, which you're aware of. And Councillor Corrigan is going to read the questions. After Councillor Corrigan reads the first question, I'm going to start my timer here. We have up to 30 minutes for your interview, but we don't have to use the whole time. But we can. After the fourth question, if you have questions for us and if there is still time, then you may ask us questions as well. Sound good? Thank you. Okay. All right, Councillor Corrigan.

Please begin by introducing yourself. Tell us about yourself and your background.

My name is Jeff Goodman. Thank you for this opportunity to be interviewed. I'll start with philosophy and then a little bit of my background. First and foremost, as all of you have done, you lead with integrity. That's the first responsibility of any elected official and foremost to acknowledge facts, however uncomfortable those facts might be. I believe in public order as a prerequisite for politics. I believe in fiscal rectitude, and I believe in transparency that goes with that. I have a lack of interest in telling people what life or lifestyle is or is not acceptable. I respect tradition as well as innovation. I am prudent in acquiescing to change too precipitously, but am keenly aware of the necessity of the evolution of our institutions to continue to provide service to all the residents of our city. I have a fondness for government service. I believe in energetic local government to enhance the lives of the residents of our city. I also very much believe, and we'll talk about this as we go through the questions today, to advocate for what you believe in without pitting resident against resident. That it is possible to do that without requiring leaving behind the kind of rhetoric that portrays a past that wasn't, a present that isn't, and a future that probably won't be. But to my background, I'm a lifelong resident of Oregon, and this year, astonishingly enough, I am a 50-year resident of Lake Oswego. I remember when Mountain Park was being built. My education and work, a BA in economics, an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, worked at Hyster for several years, startup electronics company, subsidiaries of Northwest Natural Gas, and a private investor for the last 30 plus years. My volunteer past includes, but is not limited to, 12 years on the board of USA Swimming. Excuse me. This will come as a surprise to all of you, service on the Lake Oswego Budget Committee, past service on the Lake Oswego City Council, A task force looking at jitney service around the lake several years ago. Chair of Northwest Pilot Project in the past, which is housing for the poor and elderly in downtown Portland. President of the Portland Chapter of the Financial Executives International. A member of the recently completed South Shore Fire Station Task Force. Thank you all for your support. Member of the Legacy Hospitals Foundations. members of the participant in the Clackamas County Economic Development Commission, and just recently completed 18 months of service on the Subcommittee for Finance and Revenue on Single-Payer Universal Healthcare in Oregon. My current present activities on a volunteer basis include serving on the Clackamas Free Clinic, where I serve as their treasurer and have for a number of years, the Board of Mary's Woods, the Board of Seniors about Generational Equity, the Board of Oregon Swimming, the Oswego Heritage Council, and the Willamette Falls Landings Heritage Council. City engagement has included, as you know, since I've texted you oftentimes about various issues or spoken with you, continued engagement with the City since I last served on the City Council. I also have continued to watch and talk with people at the C-4, C-4 Metro subcommittee, J-PACT, Metro, council meetings here, the Oregon Investment Council, which we met yesterday, and the PERS Board. And currently, thank you again for the opportunity to serve on the Foothills Task Force. So the question might be asked, do I have time to serve on the City Council with what I'm doing? The answer is, most assuredly, yes. I am retired. My time is my own. I have actually more free time now than I did when I was serving on City Council before. So I have the time to provide the service for the six months that I hope to be serving. Having said that, I will close the opening comment with the first question to say, whichever one of the four of us that is selected will do a good job for the city. That is not an issue.

Given that this is a six-month appointment, what do you see as your primary role during this time?

Number one, joining a well-functioning team. Number two, continued engagement in the community, whether it is the farmers' market, summer concerts, calling Public Works when I see a light out at night if I am driving around or seeing a pothole. Number three, bringing ideas for consideration by the council and the community. These would include, but would not be limited to, example number one, with the fire station. We have a budget of 20.6 million. A budget is a public trust document. I would hope that beginning in the month of July, the beginning of the next fiscal year, that on a monthly basis, the Council will receive five numbers with respect to the South Shore Fire Station. Number one, the budget, which is $20.6 million. Number two, the dollars that have been spent to date. Number three, that percentage of dollars spent to date divided by the total budget. Number four, the estimated dollars to complete the project. And number five, the percentage of project that is done on a design, engineering and construction basis. The community trusts us, but we need to do everything we can to build on that trust and providing those five numbers once a month will do that. We don't need to have what has happened with the Abernathy Bridge. We don't need to have what is happening with the Interstate Bridge. Number two, I'd suggest modifying the agenda for each of the council meetings where after public comment, there is a new line entry that says, public comment follow-up. A number of the questions that are addressed or brought up during public comment sometimes need to have some answers. They can be brought up at the following council meeting where the city manager can respond and say, here are the answers to those questions that have been brought up. That lets the public know that you're listening and you're responding as opposed to just listening to comments. Number three, education to the public about the upcoming costs of the Tryon Creek sewer plant. It is the biggest project the city's undertaken on its own. It will double, more than double the amount of debt that the city has in total. We want to start educating the public, building on what has already been done about that to explain what that's going to mean with respect to sewer rates and the total utility bill that we have. Number four, I'm concerned that with climate change and late summer into September, when water flows may be restricted on the Clackamas River for any number of reasons, that we might have to draw on the yellow Tigard water storage field that we have, that we came with that partnership. There was a discussion several years ago about adding on an additional injection with Charlewell to be able to meet the needs in case we don't have enough water coming in from the Clackamas River. I can very easily envision a situation where because of low water flow, that restrictions of pulling on water could happen. The cost of an additional injection withdrawal well to make sure that we can meet the needs combined for Lake Oswego and Tigard, I think is an important small insurance step. The estimated cost of one of those injection withdrawal wells is about a million dollars to be shared between the two cities. Number five, we have the housing requirements in our city that have been, for lack of a better word, imposed on us by the state. That's true of every city around the state. I think there are opportunities within the metro area to do trades. Say for example, my numbers are wrong, please go with this concept. If Lake Oswego is required over the next 20 years to do 250 units of housing each year, and let's say Sherwood is also required to also do 250 units of housing per year, and the city council and the residents of Sherwood say, no, we'd rather take 350 units. Sherwood and Lake Oswego come to an agreement. We give up 100, Sherwood takes 100, the net stays the same, so the statewide requirements are met, and particularly in the metro area. This will require some changes in state law, but I think it's an idea that is worth pursuing. Next on the list would be the Ashwood Borer. It's been discovered next door in our neighboring city. That more than likely than not means it's been here already for a couple of years. It's going to be better to address it now than to wait 10 or 15 years when it's taken down more trees. Address the question now. Library funding. I think the financial question is pretty straightforward. There's going to be four elements of it. bond issue, urban renewal district, the sale of the existing library, and put partially drawing on one of the two endowment funds that the city has to help pay for the capital cost. With respect to the Kincaid intern, it would be wonderful if they could once again produce the quality of life indicators and or the total cost of living in Lake Oswego as it compares to other cities. Elements of that information are already available. It's nice to know how we're doing relative to other cities. I'm a firm believer that residents of any city will accept high taxes and fees for high service. They'll accept low taxes and fees for low service. What they don't like is high taxes and fees for low service. And sadly, that is what you have now in Portland. We don't have that here. We have high service, and our fees are on the high end, but you get high service here. I think I'll give one more item and then I'll stop with other questions. As you look at the capital improvement program with respect on the utility side, we're doing pretty well over the last several years in maintaining the amount of dollars that we're spending on surface water funded versus unfunded. On the water and the wastewater, we're losing ground as a percent of funded versus unfunded. Try to see that area. Again, you have to find the right balance between increasing fees and providing service, but it's nice to know, at least on surface water, we've been holding the line on our ratio between funded and unfunded over the last 10, 15 years. We're losing ground in water and wastewater. Well, I have other ideas, but I think I've probably overwhelmed you with those so far.

After reviewing the City Council goals, what is one initiative that resonates most with you? What active role will you play to advance that initiative?

The question reminds me of who is your favorite child, because you have eight goals and subsets in each of them. The Council has already dropped some of them, as you did in your annual goal setting session. But within that framework, my favorite goal was number five. the initiative with strengthening public trust in the city through continuous improvement, outstanding customer service, infrastructure investments, and fiscal stewardship. I've said this on many occasions, you cannot have a first-rate quality of life without a first-rate infrastructure. It's just a given. So number five would be the one I would want to focus on, but again, it's eight goals, and you're working on all those at various times during the course of the year.

How have you prepared to take on the role of a city councillor?

I believe I bring a well-rounded experience in business, government and nonprofit worlds, a temperament that in difficult situations can ease tensions, even though some of my jokes are very considered, you know, not very good, but I find them funny. But as we work towards solutions while acknowledging that there are no such things as solutions, there are only trade-offs. I'm a problem solver, consensus builder. I try and be a good listener, compassionate, and understand complex financial models and how to effectively work within a council style of government. And I'm very passionate about helping my community be a better place for everyone. But let me give some examples of how I've put those words into action. We're all familiar with the five-party agreement with respect to the future of Stafford, the Metro government, the Clackamas County, Tualatin, Lake Oswego and West Linn. I was one of the leads on putting that agreement together. When it was approved, and it took a lot of work, and a lot of it was subject to just the timing, it was approved 31-0. Think about that for a moment. 31-0 on all the electeds from the five governments approving something unanimously with something as difficult as Stafford is. And I was pleased to have been a lead in helping make that happen. And as a part of that, after it was approved by each of the government bodies, I went back to each of the other four government bodies and thanked them for their support. To me, that's completing the circle, acknowledging the work that was done. Two other examples, when we built the operations, replaced the operations maintenance center, approved again unanimously at the budget committee and unanimously at the council level for something that was expensive, but also came in virtually on budget. The other one is respect to the rebuilding of the police and city hall. There were legitimate issues and differences of opinion with respect to using urban renewal financing to help pay for this building. You had to acknowledge those concerns. There were tradeoffs, and by adding in Boutique and the Arts Council on the first floor to help activate the street, and they've been very successful in helping get people down, it resulted in 7-0 vote to approve the funding for this building. It acknowledged that each side had to give something. As myself, I mean, I would have been happy to have the entire building devoted to the team here in the city. But I said, if this is what I said, 4-3 is a win, 7-0 sends a statement to the city that we're all behind it and everybody gave up something. To me, the 4-3 vote is a starting point. The goal is to get to 7-0. I think I bring a depth and breadth of service that has rarely been matched. I also have a minimal need, I think I've demonstrated, to bring me up to speed on the number of the issues that you'll be facing so I can be a positive contributing member from day one of service on the council.

Thank you very much.

Do you have any questions? One question. I could ask to all of you, what is your favorite child among the council goals?

Their favorite child.

I want to know if we get the tie and the suit, or do we go back to the sweaters?

My answer to that is let's have a conversation, and if the council collectively says Jeff go sweaters or Jeff go suit, I'm willing to go with that. Although sweaters in the summer might be a stretch, but if that's the way you want to go, I'll support it. Okay.

Well, thank you very much for, again, for taking the time, for providing us with such thoughtful and thorough answers. We will conduct the other, you're the first interviewer, as you know, the other three, and then we will deliberate.

Thank you.

Good seeing you. Thank you. I guess they can ask questions.

That's how we're going to eat up all the time if every single one of us has to go through and answer a question.

Is the next, is Jackie Manns here yet? Oh, OK. Well, then why don't we take a recess? Oh. Fine by me? Everyone good with that? OK. Let's do it. We're back in order. Are we, we are going to, we're going to switch up the order. We ended with Jeff early, so, and Jackie was next on the schedule, but she is not here yet. Suzanne is here, so we're going to interview Suzanne now.

But Mr. Mayor, it's 4 o'clock for her. That's why she didn't come.

No, we're early. Yeah, she's not late. Yeah, we are early. We're finished early. Okay, yeah. We're ahead of schedule. Way ahead of schedule. Yeah, tell Larry that our That's, yeah. Seriously, someone should call Larry. OK. It's two hours. Yeah. Are we going to call Larry? Hi, Suzanne. It's good to see you.

Good to see you too.

Thanks for being here.

Of course.

We appreciate you participating in this process. Thank you for applying. And thank you for making the time to be here today. We'll quickly, we'll have 30 minutes for the four questions that we're going to ask. Council Corrigan is going to ask the questions. And then if there's time left at the end, if you have any questions for us. And we do not need to use the entire 30 minutes. As you see, we are ahead of schedule and we appreciate you being here early.

Absolutely. Oh, it seems like it's on. Yes. Okay, good.

Okay.

Thank you.

Please begin by introducing yourself. Tell us about yourself and your background.

So my name is Suzanne Miles. I am obviously a resident here in Lake Oswego. My family and I moved here. We've been longtime Portland residents, but we moved over to Lake Oswego just about three years ago. I've got two fifth graders who are in Forest Hills Elementary. I spent all of today and much of this last week over there teaching the fifth graders about government. So I feel like I I've been on my feet a bit today. I think you, thankfully, are a much more polite audience than what I have had this week. But they're lovely, and they did a great job. And it was such a nice opportunity to really be in the school a little bit and see how the girls' day to day goes. So I was grateful for that. I am a career federal prosecutor. So up until just recently, I left my position. I was the chief of the criminal appellate division at the US Attorney's Office here. I started my career and moved up to Portland because I worked for Judge Graber on the Ninth Circuit right after law school, and then immediately got a job at the US Attorney's Office. And I was with Judge Graber for two years. I fell in love with the city. I had always intended to move back to the East Coast. That's what I was planning on doing and just couldn't leave. And so I was very grateful for the chance to get into the US Attorney's Office. I had aspirations of being a criminal attorney, but I ended up being lucky enough to get hired into the civil division first, which gave me, I think, a lot of skills that I hope will be useful here. Specifically, I did a lot of work with the Administrative Procedures Act, and I was a regulation writer with the EPA before I went to law school. It fit in very well. I spent a lot of time reviewing regulations both for the Bureau of Prisons but also for the Forest Service and BLM and a number of other agencies and doing pretty high-level litigation at the federal, both at the district court level, but also at the appellate level doing that. I took one break from the department to have both of my girls. Luckily, they came all at once, and it was very efficient. And when I say I took a break, I left the department, and I went over and I taught at Berkeley Law School for four years, which It was just an amazing experience. And teaching the law that I had been practicing gave me such a great opportunity to learn the law so much more deeply. I think you really don't learn anything well until you have to teach it. So then when the girls were about two, I really wanted to raise them here. California has a lot going for it, but we moved down for my husband's work, and I really just wanted to move back home. So we came back up here, and I rejoined the department, criminal law at that point back up here. And that's where I have been until about February. And I decided that it was time for me to take a break from the federal government as well. So I'm on a forced sabbatical that I promised my girls that I would take until at least the fall. But I've been starting up a couple of other projects. Really, my devotion right now is turning my attention from the federal system to the local system. And I just think that it's really, at this point in time, I think, and this is a really long-winded explanation for who I am, so I'm sorry about that. I think that the flexibility, the resilience of our government is being tested very seriously right now in the federal system. But one of the benchmarks of what makes our government so good is federalism in general. And I think that the answer to what is going to make our future work is right here. It's here. It's our state. It's our local governments. This is how my children are going to learn how to be good citizens, is by being citizens of this city and being good neighbors, and that I would really like to contribute to.

So that's me in a nutshell, a large nutshell.

Given that this is a six-month appointment, what do you see as your primary goal during this time?

So I think my primary goal is to just help this council work through the initiatives and the goals that it has for the year of 2026. I think with an empty seat here, obviously that's not ideal. And my goal is to roll up my sleeves to learn from you and to be here to support the work that you're doing. I know you have a lot of important things coming up through this summer. Hiring for the city manager hiring for the city attorney the new library Some the tree removal and regulation issues all of those things have timelines That really I think need a lot of hard work over the next six months And I would like to be able to use my skills to contribute to that I Don't have a political agenda. I really just want to contribute to the operation of our local government I

After reviewing the City Council goals, what is one initiative that resonates most with you? What active role will you play to advance that initiative?

Can I cheat and say that there are a couple? I think two that really stand out to me are the work that's being done in terms of getting the library planning up and off the ground. I watched the city council meeting that you had, I guess it was a few weeks ago now, and I took a look at the library plan and just that's still in its kind of nascent stage and obviously so much work has already been put into it, but there's so much work still left to be done. And it seems like that is an issue that you're really going to have to address in these next couple of months. It's something, obviously, that my kids, I know there were some comments during that meeting that some people don't know why we have a library. I know why we have a library. I mean, my kids, I have one kid who begs me every weekend to get on our bikes and ride down to the library. And I resist because it's uphill. I swear it's uphill both ways. Nonetheless, one of the things that made us so happy about being in Lake Oswego is that it's a community where I let my girls in fourth grade walk from Forest Hills Elementary down to the library and stay and read until I could come and pick them up after work. And I think it's such an amazing element of our community. And it's an exciting time to try to reimagine what that's going to look like. So I would love to be involved in that. I think more nuts and bolts. I think I can contribute to the tree regulation rewriting. I mean, my background in an administrative law My background in appellate law, in particular, is really well suited for the challenges that are coming there. I looked into it a little bit. Again, I watched your meeting, the most recent one on it. I read the draft report. I looked at the state housing regulations. I took a look at the current municipal code. One of the things that makes appellate lawyers different from other lawyers is that our job is really to take a problem when it's already pretty well formed and then learn about it really quickly, lean on experts, whether that's the trial lawyer, whether it's our expert witnesses, whether it's the victims, whether it's the officers, whoever it is is going to know more than me about any given case. But my job is to integrate all of that information, process through it, and try to come up with a workable solution to it, and then be able to communicate that to a court. to decision makers who also end up knowing a lot more about things than me in terms of just the law. So I think I bring a couple of things to that particular problem. One of them is being able to look forward. One of the skills that I really brought in with appellate law is instead of being after the fact, I embedded myself in every single trial that was happening at the federal court. And I did that because I was able to take a look at the evidence and figure out what the problems were going to be. So looking ahead and taking a look at regulatory law and figuring out what the potential litigation is going to be, I think that's something I can offer. And hopefully, that will be helpful. So I think these two areas are probably ones that I would love to do my best to dig in and hopefully bring some value add.

How have you prepared to take on the role of a city councillor?

Well, I've been really studying. I know I'm the underdog. I know that there's folks that are coming in that have been on the council before. My background is not in local government. My background is not in the legislative branch. My background is in the judicial branch and the executive branch. I understand that. I've been studying really hard. And so, like I said, I've been watching city council meetings to get a good understanding of what you do and how you do it. I read some of the first, I don't mean to oversell, I certainly have not read or studied nearly as much as I need to. But I have gone back to some of the draft reports on issues that seem like they're really bubbling up for this summer. I've gone to the initial and the primary resources, looking at regulations, looking at statutes. With regard to the, for example, the Foothill Plan, I went through and read the Foothill Development Plan, looked at the story map, which was amazing, by the way. I don't think I've ever really seen that kind of programming before. I read summaries for some of the interest groups meetings, like the Oswego Point residents, to get a sense of what the issues were and where people are coming from. I've met with a couple of folks that I know. For example, Linda O'Neill was our real estate agent. And she is an amazing font of knowledge with regard to Lake Oswego. We knew that when we moved here. And so she was kind enough to have coffee and just give me a sense, especially from the housing issues that are coming up, of just what the history has been, how some of the middle-priced housing has sold, what the developments are that are in play. And that was a really helpful conversation. I reached out to my neighbor, Neela Gupta, who's on the school board, to get a sense of what the issues are from the school board's perspective. So I am doing my best to educate myself, and I hope that I can bring that to you.

Suzanne, thank you so much. In the time remaining, do you have any questions for us?

I would love to know what you think would be the most useful skills that can come with somebody who's going to be sitting here just for the next six months. Has this happened before, and how does it work to have somebody who's coming in for a short time?

Actually, I don't know if it's happened for such a short period of time, not that I can remember. The last person we appointed was here for a couple years, I feel like.

Right.

So we're in kind of a unique situation here, with it being an abbreviated period of time. And then, of course, then with the seat being filled, the last appointment was in the final two years of that seat's term. So they just filled out the rest of the term. We haven't had this situation where then the seat will be up for election. So we're kind of cognizant of that as well. the seat. And then we have so much going on as a city with large projects and recruitment for the city manager as well, all taking place. So I think we're all looking for a good partner with us on that Council of Africa.

You asked a very good question. Do you have time to stay and hear the deliberation? Yes. I think you will get your answer then.

Okay.

No, I just wanted to ask, you interested in the seat. I don't know the outcome, but if it's positive, it would be great. If it's not, would you consider some time running for office?

I have not given a lot of thought to the idea of running for office. I mean, it's certainly something, like I said, I'm looking for the best way to give back to the local community. And running for office is one option. The more natural fit for me obviously would be running for a judicial bench But I don't see that in the next few years either My my biggest Project that I have coming up as I'm working to start and I don't know did I say this I'm working to start a prosecution clinic in conjunction with Clackamas County DA's office and Lewis and Clark that's not going to get up and running at least until I maybe the spring semester of 2027, but much more likely it would be the fall of 2027. And so that's kind of the push that I'm looking for in terms of this next phase of my career is getting back a little bit more into academia, but in conjunction with more of a practical skills development. And we have a lot of fantastic defense clinics in our legal community here in the Portland area. We haven't really had any prosecution clinics. And I think that I believe that there's nothing more dangerous for a criminal defendant than a bad prosecutor. So I think teaching prosecutors early on how to do their jobs well, how to be good learners instead of just knowers, because I just don't think lawyers are knowers. I think we're learners. How to have the ability to say I don't know in very critical situations, but then also to be starting the ethical conversations that you need to have as a prosecutor from day one. I think that's really where I want to dedicate my efforts in the next few years. Maybe not politics, but certainly if there's a way. I mean, I don't think that those two things are exclusive. And serving on the city council is something that I could balance in both instances. Yeah.

Great. Interesting. Any other questions?

I don't think I have any other questions. Thank you for your time. I don't want to take up more. Thank you.

No, we really appreciate your thoughtful response to the questions and, again, your participation in this process and wanting to be involved with the city in this way. It means a lot to all of us.

Thank you. Thank you, Suzanne. I appreciate it.

Thank you. Madison? Is she here? Oh, you're gonna fine, okay. We'll take it, we'll recess while we wait. OKAY, WE ARE BACK IN ORDER, AND WE'RE HERE WITH OUR NEXT CANDIDATE, JACKIE MANS. JACKIE, IT'S GREAT TO SEE YOU.

VERY GOOD TO SEE YOU, MAYOR, COUNCILORS, AS ALWAYS.

THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TODAY.

WELL, IT'S AN HONOR TO BE HERE IN FRONT OF YOU TODAY. IT'S ALSO A LITTLE WEIRD, BUT I WILL I'LL GET OVER IT, OKAY?

WE'LL GIVE A LITTLE RUNDOWN OF WHAT THE PROGRAM HERE for the interview. That would be great. Councillor Corrigan is going to ask the four questions.

All right.

One at a time. And we have a total of 30 minutes, but we don't have to use the whole 30 minutes. That's just, you know, what we have. And then at the end of the four questions, if you have questions for us, that's great.

Excellent.

Okay. Okay. So we're going to, are you ready to get going? Yep. Okay. Councillor Corrigan.

Please begin by introducing yourself. Tell us about yourself and your background.

My name is Jackie Edmonds Manns. I started using my maiden name, which is part of my legal name again. So that's one little change that I've been through. You all know me as Jackie Manns. I've lived in Lake Oswego now 32 years. and pretty much in the same house for 30 plus years. Just put gutters in. Yay. As far as my volunteerism in Lake Oswego, I really started my journey in the school district Many folks did, especially during that time. It was the logical place. I had children in school. I was on the school advisory council. I did numerous things. My favorite thing in that role was art literacy in middle school. I loved that. I know that's not everybody's favorite thing, but I found it fascinating. And I loved the combination of people turning from children into young adults and just the way their minds work. So that was super great. As my kids got older, I moved to more neighborhood-related things and joined the Hallinan Neighborhood Association, which was kind of rebooted at the time and was a part of that. It had been dormant for a number of years. Debbie Freeponce Craig and other folks in the neighborhood brought it back to life and I said, sure, I'll help out. I was president and if any of you have been a neighborhood association, sure, you know, you can become president for life and no one will argue with you. But fortunately, people stepped up and continued the work along the way. I then joined the budget committee And that was fascinating. I had never done a deep dive into city budgeting, which is slightly different, but the same as corporate budgeting or my own budgeting. So I thoroughly enjoyed that. And as I go through these answers, I'll talk a little bit more about my interest in that. I WAS ON THE OREGON TOURISM COMMISSION AS A COMMISSIONER FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, AND THAT WAS PROBABLY THE BEST VOLUNTEER GIG APART FROM SERVING ON COUNCIL, WHICH IS QUASI-VOLUNTEER THAT I'VE HAD. TOURISM HAS CHANGED RADICALLY. THOUGHTS AROUND TOURISM HAVE CHANGED RADICALLY. But it was a fabulous, fabulous group of people to work with at a time when Oregon was blossoming. Maybe some areas felt they were blossoming a little bit too much. Keep the fishing hole quiet sort of thing. After that, somebody said, Jackie, why don't you just run for council? you've done everything else, why don't you do that? So I did. And it was joyous. I was part of that slate, along with Mayor Buck, who was then a counselor. And we got a lot done. It was a good time to join this city. A lot was going on. A lot was changing. I look back at some of the things that we did and go, boy, how did we get that done in four years? That just seems impossible by today's standards. Ran again. Won by... What was it, Councillor Bupa, 14 or 17 votes? It was a tight race. It was a very, very tight race. And you would have been equally as qualified to step into that at that point in time. I'm glad you're up here today. And that brings me up to today. I left council in December of 2023, and so my experience is new. And going through the list, and again, I'll get into this, going into the list of things that are on the goals, I see many things, or at least a number of things, that have purpled up over the years. So I will close with that because I Don't have much more to say on it.

Given that this is a six-month appointment, what do you see as your primary role during this time?

Number one and number two are to be present and engaged. This is very, very important to me to show up, to be in touch with the citizens, If someone has a question, I have always given out my number for better or worse. I've had many, many interesting conversations over the years. But I feel that's my job. My job is to serve the citizens, not only from a policy and, what would you say, a business standpoint, but also to make sure that I'm listening and hearing what they have to say. Six-month appointment is so short. I would use my collaborative skills to move business along. I am a firm believer in, if we can, moving business forward in order to serve our citizens. And I think this council has always, up to this very moment, done an excellent job of that. Beautiful, beautiful counsel in that regard. This is kind of a twofer. I've always had this thing of being, at least for myself, being civil on the dais. Even if, even if someone is saying something that is just making me uncomfortable, Red in the face. I try my very best to be civil. It just seems so important for me. And it's a twofer, because that shows the public that we're professionals. We're adults. We are growing up. We are here to do the people's business. So that part, again, in that six-month period that we're talking about, which is like a drop of water in the bucket, as you all well know, is fine. Again, I already brought it up, meet with members of the public and encourage people to run for office. I find that super important. If somebody shows any interest whatsoever, I will have coffee with them and try to convince them of the joy. And it is a joy of this service. Most of the time, it's a joy. I know. Some of the late night meetings and so on. And that will wrap up that answer.

After reviewing the City Council goals, what is one initiative that resonates most with you? What active role will you play to advance that initiative?

I felt like a kid in a candy store because there was a selection of many things that I found interesting over the year. The wastewater treatment plant, ever since the Lake Oswego Tigard Water Partnership, I've had an interest in our water, how we receive our water, what we do with our water. saddened a bit that the go-round when I was on council didn't happen. But be that as it may, that's something that I find very, very interesting. And it also dovetails with the Foothills Plan, which is important and I know is moving forward. I also was very interested in the ensuring long-term financial sustainability with budget review, a deep dive into the budget, which opened up questions for me as far as I always felt we did a very, very good job of whatever budgeting we were doing. OUR AUDITS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN STELLAR. I WAS ON THE AUDIT COMMITTEE FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. I THINK WITH COUNSELOR WENDLIN, WE SERVED ON AUDIT COMMITTEE. BUT I FOUND THAT INTERESTING. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, AND I REALLY WANT TO MAKE A POINT OF THIS, AGAIN, SIX MONTHS IS NOT A LONG TIME. AND I WOULD WORK with the counselors, if selected, on projects that they think that they could get through the door. In other words, either move it forward or decide, you know what? This is going to be a long-term goal. This is not something that we can achieve during our term or at the end of our term or something that I would like to see happen as a legacy thing. IT'S SUPER HARD TO GET ANYTHING DONE. AS I'VE SAID, AND I REPEAT MYSELF HERE AGAIN, FOR EVEN FOUR YEARS, EIGHT YEARS, TRYING TO GET THINGS DONE IS OFTEN NOT ENOUGH TIME TO PHYSICALLY MANIFEST THE POLICY OR THE THING THAT YOU WANT TO DO. SO I WILL LEAVE THAT AT THAT.

How have you prepared to take on the role of a city councillor?

Well, first and foremost, by being a city councillor and truly understanding the time commitment that's involved, the hours sitting behind the die as the requirements of the job. And I do look at it as a job. Yes, it's a volunteer job, but it is a job. So that is number one. I've watched a lot of videos over the past month, many, many YouTube videos of the council. Read the budget. I said that to a friend the other day. Boy, I just read the Lake Oswego budget. They looked at me like, that bad, huh? I'm like, yeah. But I do have an interest in that financial aspect. So I feel fully prepared to step in, which I think is important. I don't want to put myself out there as someone who is 100% up to speed and ready to go because you cannot be in this job, which is why it is so important to be collaborative with your colleagues because they will have read things, heard things, talked to someone about things, that maybe you haven't caught wind of in whatever it is that you've read from staff. So I think that part of the job is extraordinarily important. And that goes along with the preparation. And there you have it. Anybody have questions for me?

Well, do you have questions for us?

I'm sorry. I'm used to being on that note.

Those were our questions.

Now, we're talking about this coming out of the gate and starting June 2nd, correct? I think it is, or June 3rd?

Yes, June 3rd. Second, no, June 2nd.

June 2nd. You have a lot on that agenda. I'm ready, okay? I truly am. Again, it would be an honor and a privilege. I do not intend to run for the remainder of this seat. I will say that. So if that is a consideration of this council, I totally respect that of the council and the decisions that you make. But this six months, I think, would be critical. And I honestly feel like I would be sort of a turnkey person to step in and get the job done.

Thank you, Jackie. We really appreciate you stepping forward in this way for your thoughtful answers today, for taking the time to be here.

Well, thank you. As I say, it's an honor to be on this side talking to all of you. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much. Madison is checking it for our final candidate this year. We'll take a recess.

Okay, we are back in order.

Larry, welcome. Larry Lindstrom is the final candidate. Larry, we appreciate you coming down early. We are ahead of schedule. Thank you for being flexible, and we are glad that you are here. We have up to a half an hour together. We don't need to use all the time. As you see, that's why we're ahead of schedule. Councillor Corrigan is going to be asking the four questions today. And then if there's time at the end, if you have any questions for us, that is great. Absolutely. Okay. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, sir. Councillor Corrigan.

Please begin by introducing yourself. Tell us about yourself and your background.

Well, Good afternoon, Mayor and Councillors. Thanks for having me. Happy to be here. My name is Larry Lindstrom. I currently reside in Mountain Park Community, and I am a six-year resident of Lake Oswego. I was born in the best Kaiser building, most commonly known as the Adidas headquarters in North Portland. And for most of my life, the Pacific Northwest has been my home. My partner and I have been together for nearly 20 years, and we are blessed to have a child who is thriving at Lake Oswego High School. After high school, I served within U.S. Army Special Operations during peacetime. Upon returning home, I began my career in the building trades, completed an apprenticeship and quickly advanced into leadership roles. Today, I bring 20 years of building industry experience, including 10 years of executive operations. My work focuses on strategic planning, budgeting, execution across diverse teams, along with cultivating new and maintaining existing relationships. I also bring hands-on experience navigating through expected and unexpected challenges, along with a solid background in project management, contract negotiations, comprehension of ordinances, codes, laws, bylaws, and legal terminology. In addition to my professional background, I'm actively engaged in public and community service. As this council is aware, I currently serve as a chair of the Development Review Commission here in Lake Oswego. I'm also serving on the Clackamas County Water Environmental Services Advisory Council representing the development community. While I was still active with a local union, I was previously serving as a delegate representing active and retired members for the state of Oregon in six counties in Southwest Washington. I HAVE AND CONTINUE TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY WITHIN THE PORTLAND METRO, VOLUNTEERING IN FUNDRAISING EVENTS, PARTICIPATING IN FOOD PACKAGING AND CLOTHING DRIVES, ASSISTING NEIGHBORS WITH TASKS THEY ARE NO LONGER ABLE TO SELF-PERFORM, AND FORMALLY COACHING MANY, MANY SEASONS OF SOCCER WITH VANCOUVER PARKS AND REC. AND TODAY, ONCE AGAIN, I AM RAISING MY HAND, VOLUNTEERING TO HELP OUR CITY AND THIS COUNCIL FILL THIS VACANCY.

Given that this is a six-month appointment, what do you see as your primary role during this time?

My primary role would be to assist in advancing 2026 goals and initiatives with a focus on maintaining momentum and executing ongoing work. I would focus on quickly learning what has been established and how responsibilities are currently distributed, then integrating them into that structure to provide support where it is needed most. I WOULD ALSO PRIORITIZE COLLABORATION WITH THE COUNCIL MEMBERS AND STAFF TO HELP EASE THE WORKLOAD, ENSURE CONTINUITY, AND CONTRIBUTE WITH PURPOSE DURING THIS LIMITED TERM.

AFTER REVIEWING THE CITY COUNCIL GOALS, WHAT IS ONE INITIATIVE THAT RESONATES MOST WITH YOU? WHAT ACTIVE ROLE WILL YOU PLAY TO ADVANCE THAT INITIATIVE?

After reviewing the council goals, the initiative that resonates the most with me is strengthening public trust through continuous improvement, outstanding customer service, infrastructure investment, and fiscal stewardship. I believe that public trust is built when residents see consistent delivery, when services function reliably, communication is clear, and growth is managed responsibly. A key part of that is ensuring infrastructure is planned and scaled to match long-term growth. Investments such as water treatment capacity and other core systems need to be aligned with projected demand to avoid costly and reactive solutions later on. The active role I would take is to support thoughtful, forward-looking decision-making that prioritizes both service delivery and financial responsibility. I would focus on asking the right questions around long-term impacts, ensuring projects are aligned with community needs and supporting continuous improvement in how the city interacts with residents. This includes advocating for clear communication, efficient processes and transparent use of resources. I would also work collaboratively with council and staff to ensure infrastructure investments are timed and scaled appropriately while maintaining fiscal discipline. MY GOAL WOULD BE TO HELP DELIVER CONSISTENT, RELIABLE OUTCOMES THAT REINFORCE TRUST AND CONFIDENCE IN HOW THE CITY PLANS, INVEST, AND SERVES THIS COMMUNITY.

HOW HAVE YOU PREPARED TO TAKE ON THE ROLE OF A CITY COUNCILOR?

I LIKE THIS QUESTION. THANK YOU, COUNCILOR. Well, first and foremost, I've been transparent with my family, the executive team, and mentors discussing the commitment and responsibilities this position requires and ensuring my professional life can remain flexible to accommodate the workload as a sitting counselor without sacrificing quality. Also, I've consulted with elected officials from other jurisdictions to better understand their experiences, as well as spoken with current and past commissioners and residents in Lake Oswego to gain local perspective. I continue to educate myself on demographic information, analytics, neighborhood designations, and history of Lake Oswego. I've also taken the time to reflect on the level of commitment this role requires, and I'm confident that I'm prepared to serve. I'm accustomed to managing competing priorities and practicing strong time management, which allows me to be intentional with my time and ensure council responsibilities are prioritized appropriately. PACKETS WILL BE READ. I WILL STAY INFORMED AND COLLABORATE WITH COUNCIL AND STAFF AND REMAIN ENGAGED WITH OUR COMMUNITY. IN CLOSING, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU, MAYOR AND COUNCILORS, FOR YOUR TIME AND CONSIDERATION TO FILL THIS VACANCY. NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU, LARRY. DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR US?

I don't have any questions at this time, Mayor. Okay. Well, we really appreciate you taking the time for your willingness to step forward and fill this role and for your time in this process. Thank you very much. It means a lot to us. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for your service on the DRC as well. Thank you. We're going to go ahead and take a recess, allow ourselves to collect our thoughts and review our notes, and then we'll come back for discussion. OK, we're back in order. Thanks, everyone, for your patience. OK, so we are now going to move to council deliberation and decision. Just want to, again, thank all four of these candidates for the time they put into this process. All the folks who really applied for this vacancy are tremendous people, great members of our community. And it means a lot, I know, to all of us that they would step forward and want to be a part of our exceptional council team here at the city. And it's something putting yourself out there. As we all know, seeking this appointment, running for election is a big deal, and it takes a lot of sacrifice. And so we just appreciate that all these folks are willing to do that. So what I'd like to do is just kind of go around, if you everyone kind of share your thoughts, and then we'll take a vote. Why don't we start with Council Verdict?

So first I want to thank everyone who applied for this position because it was really actually kind of fun to read through the applications and learn more about some of our community members who are interested in getting involved and, as the mayor said, putting themselves out there to help with the city. And especially the four of you who rose to the top. And this is... Four amazing people. And this is not an easy decision. And I just want to thank all of you for coming forward, for everything that you've already done for our community and I know will continue to do for our community. So this is, you know, I really want to say this is not an easy decision. Some of you have been doing more in Lake Oswego than others. So I definitely like, Suzanne, I want to see you more. So I just can't thank you all enough. But I have a, you know, just kind of going over like, okay, of this, we couldn't go wrong with any of you first. I'd really like to say that. But there's a few things. It's like, I know, I think having someone come in who really knows this role and has been there, done that is really important. It's such it took me and I think a lot of my colleagues six to nine months just to get your feet under you in this role. No matter how much homework we have done, it takes a while. And I've heard other counselors say that it's. it actually took them almost two years to fully get comfortable in this position. So that understanding, I think, because of what's on our plate, has really become a big factor for me. So having the experience of Jeff and Jackie, that kind of gives both of you a little bit of an edge. Then it's like, where do you go from there? Because again, it was already like, how do you make those cuts? And, you know, and I would just say, Jeff, we can't lose you from foothills. We need you. That project to me is so important. It's like you're rolling a fire station. It's like, I'm like, I just, I can't. That would, I just think that project needs you so much. And so that just kind of, that's where I'd say for me, I'm leaning towards Jackie because, again, she brings all the experience. She has helped. In some ways, some of these goals are carryover from when she was on council, as actually Jeff as well. But she's... up on what we're doing. I don't think there's a learning curve going on there. She's going to be able to jump right in and move forward and just take it. And I also really appreciated her bringing up the importance of civility, of support of collaboration, of really being out there in the community, being available for the community to come, you know, citizens to come to her and share their thoughts. And then also knowing that each one of us on council, we have different sources of information. So the importance of really listening to not only our citizens, but each other of what are we all hearing on the streets? What are we hearing? And being able to bring that back. So VERY DIFFICULT DECISION, BUT I LEAN TOWARDS JACKIE.

THANK YOU, COUNCIL VERDICT.

Well, my logic follows much the same lines as Councillor Burdick's. It's just such a short time. It's only in the month of August, we don't really have a full month. It's really maybe five months. Given that, I too also delighted in meeting meeting our new people. You're fantastic and I hope to see a whole lot more of you. But I think that given this short timeframe, we would be wise to default to someone who sat in the chair. And then you're with a very difficult decision of two very capable, competent people who have contributed years to our community. So I guess the way I'm going to say this is I hope we never dislodge Jeff Goodman. He has been such a benefit to our community. I think I too am leaning to Jackie because of the, I'm going to call it soft skills, the collaboration, That that that it's sort of those those sort of skills right now. We're in this time of transition We're going to be hiring a new city manager. So if I had to flip coin I flipped to Jackie And it's a really difficult decision, but I have a lot of hope for the future meeting these People you get you guys are fabulous. So anyway, I think I guess that's where I'm going.

Okay Thank You councillor Corrigan No, we changed the process, no problem.

I'm ready to go. It made it easier actually. I don't know if we're deliberating here or we're doing it there, but I'm going to look both ways. DIDO WHAT COUNSELOR VERDICK AND COUNSELOR KORGAN SAID ABOUT STEPPING OUT THERE, THANK EVERYONE, ALL QUALIFIED PEOPLE, SO I WILL REPEAT ALL OF THAT. MY PROCESS WAS VERY BLACK AND WHITE. I WENT BASED ON THE APPLICATIONS AND BASED ON WHAT I HEARD ON THE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Jackie, we're going by first names. Jackie and Jeff and Larry, you guys didn't get any points because I know you guys and I know how you operate. It was basically your applications and your answers. Ms. Miles. I don't know if we know each other enough to call you by your first name, but I'm going to do that anyways. You have come highly recommended by public, so many emails recommending you, and you may not, You may be an underdog, as you said, but you know how to sell yourself and you know what areas to talk to us about your capabilities. And that was impressive. You are the underdog. And the way I had my process thinking, I scored everyone based on their questions from one to five. you were very close to the rest of the team. So it wasn't that you couldn't get the job, but because of the reasons that the other two counselors said, you will be coming in and you're going to read everything and know everything about it. But I don't know if you know how the rest of the city works and how it ties into the decisions we make. So because of that reason, you We're the underdog. Having said that, as Councillor Verdict says, I want to see you. I want to see you in the community, in the commissions, in the boards, in areas that you are interested in, especially the library planning. If that's your passion, you will be an asset. So thank you. Because of this duration is so short, again, I'm repeating what you already heard because that makes sense to me. Larry, you're an awesome candidate, but the other two candidates know how it works. and they can step in and pick it up and run with what we're doing. It's not that you're not a qualified candidate, and I'm being very direct and open with all of you. I love working with you, especially at the DRC, but I had to go with somebody who steps in and does the job because it's a short duration. As Counselor Verdick said, she's a fast learner six to nine months. It took me a little longer to get this job figured out. So that came to Jeff and Jackie. You two got the highest score. Jeff, When a number two question, you came up with so many items that was very lofty for the next six months, especially if we have one month without the city council meeting. So that was a little surprising to me that you have so much you're going to put on the table while we only have six more sessions. Jackie, you nailed it on every question as I was looking at what would I want to hear. Again, these are based on the questions that you answered and your application. I tried to remove myself from what I know about you. I especially love the The last question you answer, how have you prepared yourself for the city council? You said, I was a councillor for eight years, but I sat down and watched so many videos and read so much stuff to catch up. So if you're the successful candidate, you're ready to step in. And again, I didn't consider all this stuff that I know about you being IN THE COMMUNITY AND SO ON AND SO FORTH. BUT I'M LEANING TOWARD JACKIE. OKAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, COUNCILOR AFGHAN. COUNCILOR BOOP.

SO LIKE THE PRINCIPLE, WHAT IF I ELIMINATED JACKIE AND JEFF BECAUSE FIRST JACKIE IS MY FRIEND. IT'S UNFAIR FOR ME TO VOTE FOR HER. I would take a close thing. I think there is no one among us who is more competent than Jackie, even now or ever. But what I was very impressed today is Susan Miles. I received people telling us to talk about to recruit her. And I was saying, oh, they're in for bad. I saw an attorney like someone who is very respected in the legal community in Clackamas and in Oregon, they want recommend someone if they know he wasn't good. So that was the first one I say, wow. Because the community, they can write because it's their friend. But when it comes to some people on the bench writing about someone, it means that's. And I was saying, whoa, this is serious. But when I heard her, and I write a lot. I will cite you. You said, because I'm also in academia, I've been not in academia in the last two, three years I have been not teaching, but I still write. When you say you learn only something well until you teach it, I don't know where you get it from, but I will write it somewhere and cite Susan Miles. And I will say the date, it's like, May 28. It's amazing what you said. And that only sold me on you, honestly. I know Jackie is going to be the one sitting here in June. I know that. It's already clear. Like, we are six. Three are voting for Jackie. If I vote for you, there's only two left for someone. That's it. No. No, we are realistic here. Like, let's be realistic. That's the thing. That's a fact. But Susan, you are amazing. I mean, if you don't, and that was the question I asked you. I think you should run for next November, and I will be endorsing you. I would campaign for you if you run. Yep. Now, honestly, 100%. The other reason for Larry, I said, DRC, we cannot, you cannot lose. Jeff, we cannot lose a DRC chair, I mean, right? We are going to have to go again on the things. And the city has many job positions to fill, like city manager, city attorney. you know, like city council and DRC chair, I mean, because we are going to have, I'm pretty sure there's someone who will come, but you're doing a wonderful job there. In view of your background, you are an amazing person. This is exactly what we need in, like, you said it, I have here, I took great note on your, Yeah, when you say like building in public service, the U.S. Army, and you live in Mountain Park, which is the best place in Lake Oswego.

Yeah, it is.

That's where I live. That's four months ago. Yeah, okay. So, yeah, I... Yeah, but no, it's... Yeah, so, yeah, I, you know, I, that's my thought on this thing, you know. Thank you, all four of you, and the other folks, but also, I cannot finish, that's why I wanted to, I came like this because I miss my brother, Aaron, that we, yeah, that's, yeah, I think for the rest of the legislation i'm gonna be like this in support of my brother you know every single day but yeah thank you aaron for everything you yeah yeah no call and i yeah i will come with gene and you know yeah and get some tattoos yes okay thank you thank you counselor uh

I think one of the great things about this council is that we somehow come up aligned in different ways. And even how we get to different ways, sometimes it's by different methods. I agree with my colleagues. I think I have to tell you that there's advantages of selecting each one of you. And I think they've explained. SOME OF MY THOUGHTS AS WELL. THERE'S TWO THINGS THAT I HAVE LEARNED IN BEING ON COUNCIL, AND THAT'S THIS SESSION IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS WE'RE PUTTING IN A FAIRLY IMPORTANT POSITION OF SELECTING THE CITY MANAGER AND THEN A POSSIBILITY OF THE CITY ATTORNEY. And I think while anyone can be on a hiring committee, these two positions are such that you need to know the inner workings of the whole city in order to know how to make the right choice. And so from that standpoint, I think it's important to go with depth of experience between Jeff and Jackie. Suzanne, I'm very impressed with you. I'm so glad we met you. I encourage you to step forward on serving other ways as well. I think in many ways, if it wasn't for the six month time frame, you would be a similar person to replace Aaron that brings a, which I think is important, and Laurie would do the same thing, but you have younger kids in the community which gives us a different perspective. And I think that voice needs to be heard and I think one of your strengths too in hiring a city attorney would be that interviewees couldn't blow us over with BS like attorneys do usually, you could cut through the... Sorry. Sorry, Erica. No. No, I'm just kidding. I'm just... Not all of you. No. I think through the interviewing process, you could disseminate skill sets, but... And Larry, I've worked with you on the DRC, and you're a valuable person. I think you need to be still thinking about running for city council, because I think you'd be fabulous on it. So it's really picking between. Jeff and Jackie in it, obviously, I can go either way. Jeff's a friend. Jackie's a friend. It's like it is choosing which child. Love you both. You've done wonderful things. Jeff tends to be a little bit probably more aligned with Aaron, I would say, from decision making. And so from that standpoint, it would be nice to have that voice. Jackie is middle of the road and pretty close. And so I'm kind of tossed up, but sounds like the general consensus is we're moving towards Jackie. And so I'm a consensus builder, as you know. So Jeff, I'll campaign for you. You know that. when and if you decide to run in the future. So anyway, but I want to say that we just went through the recruiting process for the commissions, boards and commissions, and talent, continues to come in as a group of dedicated volunteers that are citizens of this community. And as the four of you that are applying, you're all engaged. And I will say it's the secret sauce of Lake Oswego that makes us the best community in the world is because we have people that care, and they step forward, and they give their time and treasure and their talent. And what's really fun about Lake Oswego and being in a community that is high performing and high expectation is that we're getting really high talent level of volunteerism and dedication and that's something that I don't know how that really worked, but it's been that way and like us we go forever and ever and It's just our secret sauce, and I just want to thank you all for stepping forward like Council verdict said reading through all the applications I have confidence that that the next council and the future councils are going to be wonderful as we move forward, because we've got talent in the city to keep us on the right track. So anyway, thank you for all applying. And thank you for sticking around. And thanks for listening to our gibberish. But we really appreciate you guys a lot.

Thanks, Councillor Winland. Yes. As Councillor Wynne said, all of you are the kind of folks that we want involved in our community, and you all are. On task force, on advisory boards, in schools, as neighborhood leaders, you really are the kind of folks that make Lake Oswego an exceptional community, exceptional place to live, exceptional place to be. And you give your time, your energy, and your talents not just to maintaining, but improving life for every resident. And that really is the dilemma here, is that we have such a short appointment, and many of you this is the nature of things, are already so involved. And that's why, of course, you're here, always willing to step forward, always willing to go above and beyond to give extra, to sacrifice your time for others. And we really, really appreciate your willingness to do that. And it does mean a lot that all four of you would be willing to sit with us up here. But no matter the outcome of today, it seems like we are or are going to be working with all of you in the years to come. And that is a great thing. We need more of all of you in the community. And we are fortunate in LO. I think the reason why our community has moved forward the way it has is because our community continues to put forth great folks who can serve in a collaborative way on the council, all of you included. We get stuff done in a fun way, and any one of you would be a great additional member to this team. So again, thank you for being willing to step forward in this way. It's a big deal, and just sincerely, it really means a lot to me. I appreciate it. Would someone like to make a motion to appoint a candidate to the vacant position to serve until January 1, 2026?

I move to appoint Jackie Manns to the vacant position. Second.

Second.

All right. Motion is made by Councillor Verdick and seconded by Councillor Corrigan. Colleagues, again, thank you all for your thoughtful comments today. Is there any further discussion? All right. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right. Councillor-elect Manns, congratulations. Looking forward to swearing you in on Tuesday. Larry, Jeff, Suzanne, thank you all very much. Looking forward to continuing work to all of you. We are adjourned.