“There is no ethical consumption under capitalism,” said Ward 6 City Councilor Alison Bowden at last week’s City Council meeting. The irony to some being Bowden sits on our fair burgh’s downtown economic vitality task force.
Okay, what the Councilor really serves on is the Downtown Vitality Strategy Task Force Downtown Economy Subcommittee. And no freaking way we’re putting that whole magilla into a story lead; it’s twenty-one damn syllables long.
Council, hear our reporter cries. Downtown is literally repeated twice in the same moniker; we implore you to name these things more compellingly, or at least in fewer words.
Anyhow, uh, moving right along. Here’s why we’re writing about this; the Council formed the Task Force earlier this year, charging it with forming ideas to better the downtown core, and then also developing strategies to sell those ideas to all the necessary stakeholders.
What the Councilors are hoping for is increased economic vitality and private investment. They want to improve safety, cleanliness and accessibility. And they’re also wondering how to sell a $200 million downtown civic campus to taxpayers, who so far, do not seem supportive.
And now, the Task Force will offer their first report, or presentation at the upcoming Monday, September 15 City Council meeting. We think this will be worth watching. Former Corvallis Mayor Julie Manning and retired OSU Vice-President of Public Relations Steve Clark were selected to co-chair the Task Force. Both have reputations for knowing how to get things done.
Lewis’ BDS Resolution is Next Month
That capitalism quote from Bowden came during the last Council meeting’s discussion of Councilor Briae Lewis’ Israeli divestment, or BDS resolution. That resolution is on deck for October’s City Council meetings.
Other outlets have misreported the resolution is stalled. It’s not. Council simply sent the resolution back to the City’s staff and attorneys for a tighter and more legally defensible draft. Yes they’re afraid they are setting the City up to get sued.
So far, the Council has been voting 5-4 to keep advancing Lewis’ resolution through various stages. Privately, some on the Council are saying they suspect one of the majority may be considering a shift in their position. So, defeat may be possible. We’ll keep you posted.
Tourism Tackle and Sobriety
Visit Corvallis markets tourism into our fair burgh. But visitor dollars have lagged somewhat lately. On Monday, they’ll a present a new draft marketing plan to the Council.
But before we get to that, you’ll want some numbers from their report. We’re talking $163.5 million of annual revenue generated for Corvallis and Benton County by overnight visitors. They peg jobs created at 1,950. They also say we local folk would be paying $9.5 million more in taxes if weren’t for tourists.
The report says, “In recent years, we’ve seen a gradual decline in visitor demand.” It points to the PAC-12 realignment and changing tastes regarding wine and alcohol as factors.
Reading between the lines, the marketing plan presented seems to have two primary goals. First to maintain our community’s current branding with travelers already inclined to visit. Seems practical. Lagging doesn’t mean dead.
Secondly, it also appears clear-eyed about the losses associated with the PAC-12 and changing tastes. It cites two key actions that may prove pivotally helpful: Diversifying Corvallis’ destination appeal by addressing shifting preferences like non-alcoholic pairings and wellness itineraries and connecting local travel industry folks with funding sources to make that happen.
Will our fair burgh become the Santa Fe of the Northwest? Could we start seeing pop-up reiki clinics around town? Stay tuned.
Nash or Gnash
A request is afoot for the City to pretty please annex a 5.89-acre chunk of land and zone it so six houses an acre can be built there. It’s located at 4530 SW Nash Avenue.
The whole plan and City review weighs-in at just over 340 pages. Staff and the Planning Commission are recommending approval. But mostly, these proposals come with some neighborly or even communitywide gnashing of teeth. Right now, we are unaware of any organized opposition. Of course, this is Corvallis, so we’ll see.
Our Wayback Time Machine
Hitting the Council’s agenda again on Monday; an evaluation of Corvallis’ topmost employee, City Manager Mark Shepard. Well, umm, not an evaluation, but the hiring of a third-party evaluator, which has stirred some controversy.
So, a couple of weeks back we published our analysis. We ran it just before the matter was supposedly to be decided. But then the decision got itself punted to this upcoming meeting’s agenda. Sooooo, and you know where this is going, here’s that analysis again, just in case you missed, or if you just want to give it a quick reread…
Analysis: Mark Shepard and the City Council, and Pushes and Pushbacks?
It’s a story that should be boring, and we wish that it was. But this is Corvallis, and when someone feels pushed most everyone watching assumes there will be a pushback.
Let us explain. Tonight, the Corvallis City Council will likely hire an outside evaluator to help them rate City Manager Mark Shepard’s job performance this last year. But concerns have arisen that there is an agenda behind that.
Shepard serves at the Council’s pleasure, and they set his pay. They usually just evaluate him on their own. But months ago, there was discussion among the Councilors that bringing in a neutral and objective third-party may be a good idea this time around.
After all, Shepard, like most city managers nationwide, has stirred both praise and criticism among the general public he serves. And among City Councilors, Shepard has both fans and critics. So maybe bringing in someone that regularly reviews city managers throughout the country would offer both perspective and a fairer process.
But that may not be what’s happening. And many city officials and longtime city hall watchers are calling foul. Ward 9 Councilor Tony Cadena has expressed concern about the role of anonymous comment in the evaluation process. There is worry that someone with an axe to grind could foment a plurality of negative and anonymous comment about Shepard which could be used as a cudgel to sack him.
And there are folks seen as having an axe to grind. Two of them are Ward 7 Councilor and City Council President Paul Shaffer and Ward 5 City Councilor and Council Vice-president Charlyn Ellis. Shepard is often seen as a driving force behind a failed 2023 attempt to oust Ellis from the Council. Shaffer was a staunch Ellis ally throughout the ordeal.
And, well, it just so happens that as president and vice-president of the Council, Shaffer and Ellis are leading the process to choose the evaluator, and so far, it appears the Council will approve their giving final notes on the ultimate evaluation report as well.
Cadena has also raised concerns about the favored evaluator’s level of experience doing these kinds of evaluations.
And there is worry the Council has rushed headlong into considering only one option for an evaluator, the Lane Council of Governments, or LCOG. They sound like a good organization. But in Council deliberations it was revealed LCOG didn’t have anyone on staff with experience performing the type of evaluation being contemplated, so they would have to hire a subcontractor to get it done.
Weeks ago, they located someone to do the work. Her name is Jennifer L. Stapleton, and Cadena has been asking for her resume ever since. Finally, the City published one last Wednesday, which shows decades of human resources experience, but no specific instances of conducting an evaluation of a city’s topmost administrator.
As all this was gaining steam, freshman Councilor Carolyn Mayers tried to introduce a competing bid from Baker Tilly, a national consultancy firm with extensive experience evaluating city managers around the country, and the Council flat ignored the proposal.
Voting in favor of LCOG before Mayers could even state her case were five councilors: Alison Bowden, Briae Lewis, Charlyn Lewis, Paul Shaffer, and Ava Olson. It’s still early in this Council’s term, but these five Councilors already appear to generally vote as a block.
Voting no were Councilors Jan Napack, Carolyn Mayers, and Tony Cadena, who also often vote similarly to one another. Councilor Jim Moorefield also voted no.
Perception matters
Here is our analysis. Onlookers could imaginably see the Council majority’s actions and think a railroading is afoot. We won’t offer our view on that for now. But if the ultimate City Manager evaluation is largely negative, the Council may find it impossible to persuade voters they’ve been fair.
How many voters? Maybe not even a majority, but plurality enough that the Council should worry. After all, these are voters that show up to decide on operating levies and such.
A more robustly normative process could allay these perceptions.
Firstly, and we’re not criticizing, because these things happen, the Council either started too late, or didn’t move quickly enough. The evaluation is due in October. LCOG’s own proposed deadline doesn’t conclude until December.
It would probably be best for the Council to conduct this year’s evaluation on their own, like they usually do.
They could then look ahead to having a third-party evaluator in place for next year; following a more customary process. Usually, when a City Council seeks this kind of consultancy, they issue a Request for Proposal and actively seek and entertain competing bids and methods.
The perception by some that Ellis and Shaffer may not be entirely impartial is more difficult. Whether fair or not, some will see the evaluation as an opportunity for pushback after the City’s attempt to oust Ellis. Some would see a pushback as deserved, and others very much not.
But within the Council’s divides there may be a solution; form a subcommittee for selecting, vetting and overseeing whatever evaluator is chosen. Populate that subcommittee with an equal number from each of the Council’s two factions.
In any event, it’s a performance evaluation. Let’s all hope for something mercifully boring.
Some afterthoughts and notes
Costs: It initially appeared that LCOG’s evaluation would cost $10,000; that bid is now $12,500. For comparison, the Baker Tilly bid Mayers secured was for $12,000.
Peer review negotiation: The evaluation will include input from Shepard’s peers, and the idea is to have both the evaluatee and council agree on who those folks are.
So far, there seems to be agreement over Benton County Administrator Rachel McEneny, Corvallis Schools Superintendent Ryan Noss, and someone from Oregon State University’s leadership. It also seems there’s agreement that the City Managers from Albany and Philomath will be included as peer reviewers.
There are a couple of names that have raised some objections. So, it’s worth keeping an eye on this negotiation.
That ouster attempt: When the City Council’s Leadership Committee initiated proceedings to oust Ward 5 Councilor Charlyn Ellis in late 2023, they offered written and video evidence in support of their arguments. It was balderdash. The scuttlebutt at the time, and even now, was that Shepard had at least something to do with it.
However, in March of this year, Mayor Maughan went on record taking full responsibility. He stated clearly, even after a Federal Court ruled against the City’s actions, that he believed that Ellis should have stood before the full City Council for judgement instead of the court.
The City’s Leadership Committee works directly with the Mayor, who sets the ultimate agenda for the City Council. Members at the time the Ellis matter was put on the agenda included not only Maughan, but also, City Manager Mark Shepard, then City Attorney James Brewer, former City Council President Tracey Yee, and Former City Council Vice President Hyatt Lytle.
We may never know exactly what happened. At the time, we talked with everyone on Leadership, and none of them were willing to disclose how the matter arose or who initiated what.
In our view: We hope the pending evaluation is not a pushback of some kind. Corvallis, like most municipalities, has enough problems on its plate without that sort of thing.
By Mike Suarez with contributions from Hallie Greenberg and Steven J. Schultz
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