Barnett Recalled!

Josephine County Commissioner Chris Barnett has been recalled. The results by 10:30 p.m. election night showed 61.86% voted yes for the recall with 38.14% dissenting. The total numbers as of the latest update were yes 13,350 to the no votes 8,230. The total numbers were similar to the recall results last year of John West. More votes from outlying precincts plus mailed ballots with the correct postmark will be tallied with the results updated by 5 p.m. January 14th. Should contested ballots be needed, that count will be released by 5 p.m. January 23rd. Certified results will be released no later than February 2nd, but no sooner than January 28th. ...Read more

30-Day Timeline Missed, Chair and Vice-Chair Designated, Update on Airports at Workshop

The Board of Commissioners met for their first workshop of the year at 1:30 p.m. this afternoon. When designating the Chair and Vice-Chair for the New Year, Legal Counsel Wally Hicks said if no agreement is made, the longest serving member shall be chair. If members are tied for longest continued period of service, the member whose surname comes first in the alphabet would become chair. Commissioner Ron Smith claimed Commissioner Chris Barnett and former Commissioner Andreas Blech "blindsided" him and took the chair from him in a previous meeting. There was an impasse, so Barnett said they would designate Smith as Vice-Chair and him as Chair, per the function of the code requirement. Since the 30-day deadline to appoint a new Commissioner was missed, Counsel will have a discussion with the board tomorrow afternoon at the 1 p.m. workshop. During an update from the Airports Department, Smith asked about the $3 million line of credit and its usage. $1.2 million from the credit was used for the first Knife River balance. Knife River also provided fill from their I-5 project for the Taxiway 'A' extension project coming this summer. ...Read more

Council Moved to Gather Cottage Project Information, Appointed Two to Elk Island Panel

The Grants Pass City Council was unanimous in a motion to move forward with gathering more information on a proposed project for Riverside Park's Caretaker's Cottage at the start of today's workshop. Bradley Clark with Community Development presented in consideration of Requests for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) regarding the cottage. A previous community survey result showed 75% of participants wanted to save the building. Six yurts were proposed to go next to the cottage, with a Riverside Maintenance Yard Expansion. The purpose of the RFEI is to attract an investor to help with the cost. Exterior and foundation work costs would be incurred on the city. Bernie Woodard, representing Elk Island Trading in a yurt proposal for the site providing overnight lodging at the facility, had said staff haven't come to a site layout configuration that would accommodate the needs of both Elk Island and the Parks Division. He has stated lodging only in the cottage without the yurts isn't financially feasible. Council direction was needed on a potential Municipal Code to allow overnight camping in a public park. ...Read more