COLA Board Member Addresses the Council Appointment Issue

To All COLA LO Members,

This past week COLA board member Gary Gipson submitted his personal views on the "compromise" approach to selecting a replacement for Councilor Bowerman as proposed by an article from Councilor Buck.  

The article is drawing online attention and can be found in Replacing Bowerman.


It provides for interesting reading on an historical perspective over the past twelve years and the willingness of different administrations to "compromise"   when they are elected.  

Its well known that the past two administrations were not willing to compromise and held a very heavy hand in their positions.  

Please notify all members, contacts, and friends.  

More Candidates "pile on" to the Appointment Process

To All COLA LO Members,

It seems there is no end to the number of candidates who would like to be appointed to the LO City Council when the requirements are pretty limited.    The LO Review published a very good summary of the 10 candidates who applied as of mid week.    They then had to update it for three new applicants.  

The article can be found at:   Council Applicants

The process and decisions are expected to be discussed at council meetings on 9/1 and 9/8.  

It will be very interesting to see how diligent this council is in ensuring they appoint a councilor which holds to the will of the voters when Councilor Bowerman was elected in 2012.

Will the council try to sway the balance of power away from the 2012 input of the voters?   Only time will tell but its certainly on the minds of the community.  

Please notify all members,contacts, and friends.    

City Council Inundated with Applications for Appointment.

To All COLA LO Members,

This week the council seems inundated with applications from candidates seeking an appointment for the open council position vacated by Councilor Bowerman last month.  Candidates must believe that its an easy process to be appointed to the LO City Council?   

With the departure of Councilor Bowerman a number of new candidates are beginning to appear in Lake Oswego. There are now no less than SEVEN candidates for the open position.    All have already submitted their applications before the August 20th deadline.    

Among those are Budget Committee Chair Charles Collins, budget committee member Dave Beckett, planning commissioners Randy Arthur and John Lamott, and three unknown candidates Barbara Rizzatti, former allied/republic waste representative Ray Phelps and Robert Price.    

Its hard to imagine that any candidate without previous board or commission experience could believe they would be effective and know all that is required of a councilor within the 1 year term of the appointment.   That alone should be a factor in the selection process.  

Our city council needs an appointed member who can immediately be effective and understands the history of decision making in this administration.    Let's see if the council agrees or is willing to appoint a candidate that will be learning on the job for the duration of the appointment.    Many residents will be asking themselves how many mistakes will be made during this OTJ period.   

It will be very interesting to observe the council and their management skills during the selection process.  Rumor has it that there is a 3-3 split amongst councilors on the direction of the appointment.    

The Application and specific procedures can be found at:   City Council Appointment.

Please notify all members, contacts, and friends.    

City Council Candidates Submit Applications

To All COLA LO Members,

With the departure of Councilor Bowerman a number of new candidates are beginning to appear in Lake Oswego.   Several have already submitted their applications before the August 20th deadline.    Among those are Budget Committee Chair Charles Collins, former allied/republic waste representative Ray Phelps.   Its rumored that budget committee member Dave Beckett will also apply for the appointment.  

The Application and specific procedures can be found at:   City Council Appointment.

Will the balance of power on the council  and the mandate of 2012 be overturned?   That is a question many are asking within the community.    Rumor has it that a 3-3 vote stalemate exists on the council right now for any replacement that is perceived to be a "fiscal conservative"  like Councilor Bowerman.  

Only time will tell but it appears that a storm is brewing on the council once again.   Will they replace Councilor Bowerman with a like councilor and honor the vote in 2012 or will they ignore the voters?  


The details will certainly impact the upcoming election in 2016 where the Mayor and 3 City councilors are up for re-election.    Stay tuned for the outcome.

Please notify all members, contacts, and friends.  

Final Words From Councilor Bowerman

To All COLA LO Members,

This past week Councilor Karen Bowerman published her final address int the LO review.   Its an interesting article form the now departing city councilor.    Many have asked COLA board members what they thought of the article.    Its no secret that COLA endorsed Candidate Bowerman during the 2012 election in what many perceived was a dramatic effort to shift the direction of the city in future years.  

In her article Councilor Boweman makes this statement.  

"In management, we know that unmet expectations are the No. 1 cause of organizational turnover. The workplace was not as expected. Unfortunately, our village is similarly not as expected. Life in Lake Oswego is taking on the character of a more dense profile, with codes that foster it. From my vantage point, village character is not reflected in our decision-making processes and we are not addressing real issues of quality of life."

So its clear she was unhappy about the direction of both the 2012 and 2014 council after serving 2.5 years of her 4 year term.     Its disappointing to see her leave early but we all understand.

Her article can be found at:  Viewing.



Many are now wondering who will replace Councilor Bowerman on the council.  Will the direction of the city council change?    More to come on that discussion and process.    

Please notify all members, contacts, and friends.     


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