For 2024, local government rings in the New Year right away – both the Benton County Board of Commissioners and Corvallis City Council have meetings set for Tuesday, Jan. 2 – the former at 9 am, and the latter at 6 pm.
As Full Disclosure: We at The Advocate have requested the Benton County Board of Commissioners, or BOC, to consider the possibility of accepting a bid from us to publish their legal notices. The agenda for the meeting already contemplates simply continuing to publish these notices with a regional paper.
However, state law concerning the publication of legal notices has changed in the last year, and online dailies like The Advocate are now permitted to publish them as well. In our communication with the County, we noted they’d not posted a Request for Proposal since the state’s requirements changed, and we asked them to consider issuing one in the next 30 days.
These contracts can be lucrative, according to some estimates, the County currently spends between $15,000 and $30,000 annually to publish legally required public notices.
Corvallis Advocate Publisher Steve Schultz said, “If the County were to choose us, I’d estimate about 10% of the proceeds would go to paying for legal clerking to process the notices, and 90% would go into expanding our news coverage of local government – we don’t have any stockholders or large management expenses like the larger newspaper chains do.”
County Considers Lobbying for Inmates: Current federal policy revokes Medicare for both jail and prison inmates nationwide, and the BOC is set to consider lobbying for a bipartisan congressional bill that would change that.
Also, like other counties nationwide, the BOC is considering a draft letter to our state’s congressional delegation in favor of the bill.
In part, the draft reads, “Section 1905(a)(A) of the Social Security Act, makes no distinction between individuals housed in jails versus prisons, and thus unfairly denies or revokes federal health benefits for adults and juveniles who are being housed in local jails prior to conviction. These individuals, who are pending disposition, are still presumed innocent under the United States Constitution.”
The proposed lobbying letter also points out “The MIEP causes disruptions in primary and behavioral healthcare access for justice involved populations that are enrolled in federal programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. Not only does this discontinuity in care contribute to detrimental health outcomes for both individuals and their communities, but it also increases rates of jail recidivism. By contrast, uninterrupted healthcare helps those who enter the criminal justice system break the cycle of recidivism exacerbated by untreated physical and mental illnesses and substance use disorders.”
Then in the Evening, Comes a City Council Meeting
City Councilors will consider requiring a minimum six member vote if the body wishes to expel one of its own – notably, councilors will vote later this month on retaining or expelling Ward 5 Councilor Charlyn Ellis.
The draft resolution, if passed, also clarifies that a member charged with misconduct cannot vote on their own expulsion from the nine-member council.
When the prospect of this new resolution was discussed at the last City Council meeting, questions arose concerning the Council’s legal ability to enact it without voter approval – and at press time, there was no documented analysis from the City Attorney.
However, a memo from City Recorder Alex Downing in the Council packet for the upcoming meeting says, “Due to the short turnaround for Council packet delivery, the City Attorney is not able to provide additional analysis and information in the packet. The Council should anticipate additional information from the City Attorney at, or before the January 2, 2024, City Council meeting.”
We’ll keep you posted.
Council Considers Doubling Terms: Currently, city councilors serve two-year terms in Corvallis, but the Council is considering asking voters to increase those terms to four years. Also, the proposal would stagger terms, and here’s how that would play out…
As drafted, the proposal would go to voters in May of 2024. If it passes, it would go into effect with the November 2024 general election, at which point, the five Councilors in odd-numbered Wards would be elected to four-year terms.
Then, the four Councilors in even-numbered Wards would continue with a two-year term until 2026, at which point the four Councilors in the even-numbered Wards would also be elected to four-year terms. After the 2026 election, all Councilors would be elected to four-year terms.
Mayoral terms are already set at four years, with the seat next up in 2026.
Council Officers Presto-Chango: Also at this upcoming City Council meeting, a new president and vice-president of the City Council will be elected.
The memo in the Council meeting packet puts it succinctly, “Councilor Yee is stepping down from the position of Council President in 2024. At the January 2, 2023, City Council meeting, Councilor Lytle accepted the position of Council Vice President for one year. As a result, both positions need to be filled at the January 2, 2024, City Council meeting.”
When the Mayor is absent, the President, and then Vice-President take over the responsibility of running council meetings. Both positions also sit on the council’s Leadership Committee – which drives the Council agenda – with the Mayor, City Manager, and City Attorney.
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