After the Morrow County Board of Commissioners gave the Port of Morrow Commission an Oct. 26 deadline to fill its vacant seat or declare an impasse, port leaders on Monday, Oct. 23, selected Joel Peterson as their fifth member.
During a special meeting, commissioners voted 3-1 for Peterson to fill the PMC’s vacancy. Owner and operator of Daily Bread Farms in Ione, Peterson has served on the PMC’s Budget Committee, Morrow County Planning Commission, Ione School Board, Ione Fire Department Board of Directors among other public bodies, according to his résumé.
“I am honored to serve as a commissioner, and I’m following in the footsteps of my grandfather, Oscar Peterson, one of the founding members of the Port of Morrow,” Peterson said. “And I plan on serving as one of the group, and we’ll make decisions together on policies and strategic plans.”
PMC President Joe Taylor, Vice President John Murray and Commissioner Kelly Doherty voted for Peterson while Secretary/Treasurer Rick Stokoe voted against him. Peterson was immediately sworn in after being selected.
“I am happy to support Joel in this position,” Murray, who nominated Peterson, said. “It’s time to come back together. I think we have a candidate who is knowledgeable of our area, who is knowledgeable in finance, who understands, who h as approved many of the port projects during his work with the planning commission… I think it’s time we came back together.”
County commissioners on Oct. 18 gave the PMC until
Oct. 26 to fill the vacancy or declare an impasse. Otherwise, county commissioners were expected to meet Oct. 27 to fill the seat.
The PMC, which is set up for five commissioners, had been without a fifth member since Aug. 8 when former Commissioner Jerry Healey resigned after nearly three decades with the commission.
To find Healey’s replacement, the PMC accepted applications until Sept. 11 from eligible local residents. Taylor said Peterson was one of eight candidates who applied. The commission narrowed down the applicants from eight to five before deciding upon Jerry Rietmann, of Ione, and Brian Thompson, of Heppner, as finalists. Taylor said Peterson was not one of the five semifinalists.
However, after reaching an impasse on the two finalists at an Oct. 11 meeting, Port of Morrow Executive Director Lisa Mittelsdorf said Taylor sent a letter to the county commissioners stating the PMC was at an impasse and it was up to them to fill the vacancy, per Oregon Revised Statute 198.320.
According to the statute, “a vacancy in an elected office in the membership of the governing body of a district shall be filled by appointment by a majority of the remaining members of the governing body. If a majority of the membership of the governing body is vacant or if a majority cannot agree, the vacancies shall be filled promptly by the county court of the county in which the administrative office of the district is located.”
County commissioners then passed a motion giving the PMC until Oct. 26 to select a new commissioner or declare an impasse.
Taylor said the PMC selected Peterson because his nomination allowed the commission to fill the vacancy and not the county. “I think they (fellow commissioners) wanted to come to a resolution to where our board made the decision and not the county commission, and they probably thought in order to get that done this was a very good option,” he said.
