By Mary Owen
Inaccuracies in Stayton City Council minutes have been corrected, but the allegedly disrespectful delivery of the message has led to two motions on council communication policy.
Councilor Don Walters drafted the motions after Councilor James Loftus publicly criticized city staff at the Feb. 1 meeting for an error made in the draft of the Jan. 19 council meeting minutes.
“The councilor’s outburst astounded those present at the public meeting,” Walters said. “The basis for his unduly extreme criticism of city staff was an inadvertent omission in the draft of council minutes submitted for council review.”
Loftus, who had asked for the minutes to be pulled until corrected, did not return Our Town’s requests for comment by press time. According to the Feb. 1 minutes, he said at the meeting that staff’s failure to catch the omission and other grammatical and factual errors were “almost borderline malfeasance.”
His concern was that inaccuracies in reports could hinder council actions, especially in light of state public records laws.
But Walters, ruffled by Loftus’ “disparaging remarks,” drafted a motion that Mayor Gerry Aboud’s authority as presiding officer to maintain civility at council meetings be upheld as per Roberts Rules of Order.
“Any disrespectful behavior such as bullying, name calling, or belittling shall not be tolerated and shall be called out of order,” he wrote.
Walters’ second motion called for Stayton City Administrator Don Eubank to write a policy regarding appropriate interaction between himself and council members.
“The councilor’s action was contrary to the respectful style of anyone reviewing a draft of any document,” Eubank said about Loftus comments. “Stayton has the best staff in the state,” he added.
Eubank said Councilor Walters’ response was “prompted by the need to bring the Stayton City Council back to a compatible, friendly group of adult elected officials, all of whom should have the common purpose of serving the best interests of the citizens of Stayton.”
“Every member of the council has the responsibility to perform as Councilor Walters publicly declared,” Eubank said.
Mayor Aboud said he was troubled by the demoralizing effect Loftus’ accusations had on city staff, but was not intimidated by his outburst over the draft minutes.
“Frankly, I don’t understand the big deal about it,” he said. “We’re all human, and we all make mistakes. I don’t see the level of mistakes being a problem. Most of the time, the staff gets it right.”
The draft minutes were presented, corrected and revised, Walters said. “The process worked like it is supposed to.”
In his communication to the city, Walter affirmed the job of the city council is to represent the people of Stayton.
“By electing us, they have placed, for a brief time, the stewardship of the city in our hands. This is a grave responsibility. It is my opinion that by accepting that responsibility individually, we are collectively bound to do the work set before us as carefully and efficiently as possible. If we choose to do less, we do not belong in these chairs.”
Walters said he felt compelled to propose steps be taken to ensure that the city has “an efficient, effective, friendly, transparent, honest and fair city government.
“Common courtesy gives us an older guide to the behavior expected of us – treat others as you would wish to be treated,” he said in his communication. “Councilors are expected to behave during all meetings with dignity and decorum.”
