On Monday evening, the Corvallis City Council held a new internal election to select its 2026 leadership. Ward 9 Councilor Tony Cadena was narrowly chosen as President and will serve alongside first-term Ward 6 Councilor and now-Vice President Alison Bowden.
This mid-term council leadership election was a break from the Council’s usual customs.
And notably, outgoing Council President Paul Shaffer said he was not even confident the election complied with the City Charter. However, Mayor Charles Maughan said he believed his calling the election was allowable, saying he had checked with the City Attorney, and that he plans to continue holding leadership elections annually in the future.
Maughan elaborated, saying the Charter only mandates that Council leadership elections be held every odd year, which would be every two years, but does not disallow them being held more frequently.
Shaffer, in any event, said he wanted to resign partly for undisclosed personal reasons, and to assure there was no question about the election being consistent with the Charter. Shaffer will remain a Councilor.
The vote
When it came time to vote, Shaffer nominated then-current council Vice-President, Ward 5 Councilor Charlyn Ellis, to replace him. Ward 3 Councilor Jim Moorefield nominated Ward 9’s Tony Cadena.
Ultimately, in a 5-4 vote, Cadena won over Ellis. He received votes from Councilors Jan Napack, Briae Lewis, Carolyn Mayers, and Moorefield. Ellis’s votes came from Councilors Ava Olson, Alison Bowden and Shaffer. Each candidate cast in their own favor, as well.
Bowden then won 6-3 over fellow first-term councilor Carolyn Mayers for the Council Vice-presidency. Councilors Ellis, Shaffer, Moorefield, Lewis and Olson voted for Bowden. Napack and Cadena voted for Mayers. As with the presidency, each of the VP candidates cast in their own favor.
Cadena and Bowden, who hail from starkly different generations and ideological wings within the city council, emphasized that they share a strong commitment to improve what they perceive to be woefully inadequate council processes.
In an Council self- evaluation last month, Cadena wrote, “To perform effectively requires a prioritization process for what Council works on… and what it does NOT work on.” In his view, council ought to adhere more tightly to its “Primary responsibilities, using [its] Strategic Plan as a ‘North Star.’” He also believes the Council should conduct or quarterly, or least semi-annual check-ins on its own performance getting things done.
Bowden shared similar concerns. “Presently,” they noted in the same venue before praising Cadena’s previous attempts to solve the problem, “The council lacks any systematic mechanism to track progress against our strategic plan or adopted goals.” City councilors, due to “underdeveloped processes, fractured internal collaboration, and a lack of systematic oversight… are not failing in our intent, but we are underperforming in our execution.”
Despite voting for Ellis over Cadena to be council president, Bowden pitched themself as an able and willing partner for Cadena. “Leadership is not about ideology, but a dedication to process,” they said, “and that is something that Councilor Cadena and I are consistently on the same page for,” despite “differ[ing] quite disparately on ideological issues.”
By B.D. Colberg
Do you have a story for The Advocate? Email editor@corvallisadvocate.com