The city of Umatilla will not appoint a replacement for Mayor Pat Lafferty and will, instead, leave the decision to the voters of Umatilla.
Lafferty died last month after a battle with cancer, and the Umatilla City Council made the decision to leave his successor up to the voters.
Umatilla City Manager Bob Ward said the city had two options moving forward: to take applications and appoint a new mayor or continue with City Council President George Fenton leading council meetings until a mayor could be elected in the November.
Fenton has led meetings and served as mayor pro-tem while Lafferty underwent treatment out of the area. Ward said the city had delayed any decisions on the mayoral seat under the expectation Lafferty would return. Under the second option, Fenton would keep the reins through the end of the year.
“I think I could handle it like I have the past few months. Everyone knows my limitations,” Fenton said. “I’m not opposed to it, but I’m certainly not opposed to someone else.”
The council agreed to “stay the course” with Fenton at the helm, and the mayoral position will appear on the ballot in November. Whoever is elected in November will be sworn in during a ceremony in January 2015 to complete the remainder of Lafferty’s term, which ends on Dec. 31, 2015. The mayor can run for re-election in November 2015.
The council will appoint a vice chairman at its next meeting to step in if Fenton cannot make a meeting.
Councilwoman Mary Dedrick said she is interested in the position and is considering running for mayor.
“I would like to see some of the goals (Lafferty) had set to be fulfilled in his memory,” she said.
In the absence of a mayor, the council will also update its committees and set a regular meeting schedule for those committees. In the past, the city has had council committees for personnel, finance, community development, police and technology.
During the Tuesday meeting, new city council member Mel Ray took the oath of office. The council appointed Ray during its last meeting to fill the term left by longtime Councilman Bill Meade, who stepped down for family health reasons.
In other business:
• The council also accepted Ray’s resignation from both the Code Improvement Board and the Umatilla Planning Commission, leaving vacancies on both, and appointed Jaime Olvera to fill the other open position on the Planning Commission.
• Council members unanimously approved a $7,500 grant from the Transient Room Tax for operational expenses and replacement of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at the Umatilla Museum. Museum representatives said they were unsure if the 45-year-old HVAC system will last through the winter months.
• Ward announced the council will have a special meeting on May 29 to meet with those appealing a Umatilla Planning Commission decision blocking proposed development at the Port of Umatilla. The Port, Port General Manager Kim Puzey and Hammer Industries have filed appeals to the decision.
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