By Mary Owen
Stayton resident Jack Fiske has heard enough.
He said he’s tired of a city councilor berating the city staff so he has decided it is time to do something to stop it.
Fiske is gathering signatures to recall City Councilor James Loftus. He has until June 7 to collect the 383 required signatures to qualify for a recall election.
“It’s the culmination of a lot of things,” Fiske said of the momentum behind the drive. “He has been doing some things he shouldn’t have done and not what a councilor should be doing.”
Fiske pointed out times when Loftus made derogatory remarks about fellow councilors and city staff, most recently on a national radio show, to a federal representative and at recent city council meetings.
Loftus spoke on the Lars Larson radio show in February and at a January town hall meeting with U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Canby) in Salem, Fiske confirmed.
Loftus also publicly criticized city staff at the Feb. 1 city council meeting for an error made in the draft of the Jan. 19 council meeting minutes.
“He doesn’t understand the word ‘draft,’” Fiske said. “And he continues to be derogatory about how the city is run. He’s at the point where he’s caused so much disruption that he’s no longer an effective council member.”
Councilor Loftus declined to comment, but when running for office in 2008, said he wanted to help reduce “the over-regulation” of Stayton citizens. Loftus has been in office since January 2009 and his term expires on Dec. 31, 2012.
Loftus also said he wanted to bring a fresh perspective to the council, helping to boost Stayton’s livability.
City leaders, however, believe Loftus has been too forthright about city offerings.
“Mr. Loftus has used his position to demean, degrade and make statements toward the city administrator, and to the staff that have been untrue, offensive and libelous in nature,” Fiske wrote in a statement to Ken Cartwright of KENC Community Radio.
“This is not acceptable from any person involved with the city, especially a councilor.”
To address the issue, Mayor Gerry Aboud wrote a letter to city councilors describing their role and to remind them to use decorum at all times.
“Frankly, I am concerned that the process has eroded to the point of disruptions during the course of conducting council business,” he wrote. “Such demeanor is uncalled for and unduly hampers the council’s endeavors to attend to the business at hand.”
Aboud reminded councilors to follow Robert’s Rules of Order, a guideline he said, “I take seriously.”
“We are not elected to micromanage, but to direct and oversee,” he said.
Aboud called for requests for information, inquiries and concerns to be directed to City Administrator Don Eubank, not to department heads or other city employees.
“In addition, requests from a council member that require more than 20 minutes of staff time should be referred to the council as a whole,” he said.
He closed by reminding councilors, “We are all elected to represent the citizens of Stayton. As leaders in the community we need to set a positive example for the staff and the public.”
Aboud chose to wait to see if Fiske’s recall effort is successful to comment further.
If Fiske gathers the needed signatures, he will submit the petition to Marion County Elections Office, which will verify the signatures.
After verifying enough signatures have been collected to put the recall question on the ballot, a letter is sent to individual being recalled. The individual is given the opportunity to withdraw from office or submit a written statement of justification explaining his record in office no later than five days after petition is certified. If the office holder doesn’t resign, a recall election is scheduled within 35 days after the resignation period expires.
To contact Jack Fiske, call 503-767-6000 or 503-769-6000.
