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.