We’ll get to the Ellis matter in a minute, but first, a brief nudge towards a trio of local blood drives this week – supplies are critically low at the moment.
What’s happing is that blood products are being sent to hospitals faster than donations are coming in. And, importantly, type O inventory is so low that distributions have been reduced below what hospitals count on. Since July 1, the Red Cross-national blood supply has fallen by more than 25%.
Here’s two dates and three locations you can visit to donate blood this week…
8/14/2024: 10 a.m. – 3 pm, Natural Grocers, 1235 NW 10th St.
8/14/2024: 10 a.m. – 4 pm, Corvallis Clinic Corvallis- Aumann Building, 444 NW Elks Dr.
8/16/2024: 10 a.m. – 3 pm, Corvallis Library, 645 NW Monroe Ave.
City Legal Spending to Oust a Popular City Councilor Nears $175,000
At the end of July, the City’s legal costs in the Ellis matter totaled $174,600.98 – more than enough to rent eight families in need a two-bedroom apartment for a full year.
Zillow says the average for such an apartment is $1728 monthly in Corvallis. The legal fee tally came from Corvallis’ Public Information Officer Patrick Rollens.
Okay, maybe you’re not sure what the Ellis matter is….
Here’s the outline: Ellis, in addition to being a City Councilor, is the Chair of the City’s Climate Action Advisory Board, or CAAB. The city employee that once supported the CAAB, left for other employment in April and was never replaced. Boards like these typically have a mix of community volunteers and electeds like City Councilor Ellis, and they often need support from paid staff to identify opportunities and challenges, and to keep the board in compliance with public meeting laws – they often compile agendas, keep minutes and post publicly available meeting videos.
Ellis, looking to remedy the need for help at the CAAB, initiated a conversation with her fellow CAAB members about asking the City Council to direct City Manager Mark Shepard to seek a replacement for the departed staffer, first by posting the job, and then by keeping the City Council updated about progress. One CAAB member so moved, another seconded, and the motion passed.
At the time, more than one Board member expressed their sense that senior City staff doesn’t view CAAB, and by extension, the climate, as a priority.
Five days later, on Sept. 18, Ellis took the matter to the City Council, though her motion never came to a vote, given the City Attorney advised that directing the City Manager to make a hire would violate the City’s Charter. The Council instead approved a motion directing the City Manager to assure CAAB had the City support required for monthly meetings.
Wait, What Does that Have to do with Seeking to Expel Ellis? Well, someone approached a member of the City Council’s Leadership Committee to complain that Ellis’s actions violated the City Charter. We’ve asked all the members of the Leadership Committee to identify the complainant – all of them responded to us, but none named the complainant.
Here’s the Charter section the complainant, and/or Leadership Committee claims Ellis violated.
Section 23(f) of the City Charter says, “Neither the Mayor nor any member of the Council shall in any manner, directly or indirectly, by suggestion or otherwise, attempt to influence or coerce the Manager in the making of any appointment or removal of any officer or employee or in the purchase of supplies; or attempt to exact any promise relative to any appointment from any candidate for Manager, or discuss, directly or indirectly, with the Manager the matter of specific appointments to any City office or employment. A violation of the foregoing provisions of this section shall forfeit the office of the offender. Nothing in this section shall be construed, however, as prohibiting the Council, while in open session, from discussing with or suggesting to the Manager, fully and freely, anything pertaining to the City affairs or the interests of the City.”
In short, the Leadership Committee scheduled the Due Process Hearing to consider if Ellis has forfeited her seat on the Council.
Here’s Who’s was on the Leadership Committee: The Leadership Committee’s members at the time the Ellis matter was put on the agenda were Mayor Charles Maughan, City Manager Mark Shepard, City Attorney James Brewer, former City Council President Tracey Yee, and City Council Vice President Hyatt Lytle.
Yee has since stepped down, and been replaced by the new City Council President, Paul Schaffer, who is on record as being against expelling Ellis. Brewer has since retired, and it appears Lytle will not be seeking another term.
Two Opinions We’ve Run at The Advocate: We ran an opinion letter issued by 17 former Corvallis City Councilors, one of whom went on to become Mayor – they believe the current Council has no grounds to proceed against Ellis. Click here to read their letter.
We also issued our own editorial calling for the matter to be dropped, and advocating for publicly available recordings of future Leadership Committee meetings. Click here to read our editorial.
What’s Next: The City hasn’t retreated, and the matter hasn’t been settled, so it is now in the Court’s hands. In the interim, Ellis has filed to run for another term in November, and is currently unopposed.
Do you have a story for The Advocate? Email editor@corvallisadvocate.com