The Keizer City Council has hired investigators to probe Mayor Cathy Clark and Councilor Dan Kohler over an episode in a closed-door meeting in early June. A special committee of the council directed the city to hire an attorney and an investigator to conduct the probe.
Investigation Details
What exactly is being investigated is unclear. A finding that either Clark or Kohler violated city rules could result in either a “memorandum of concern” or their censure by the council. Clark said she hasn’t been told the allegations, and Kohler didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.
The complaint comes just as the city’s political campaign season opens. Clark and Kohler in June filed for reelection. Statements at recent council meetings and public records indicate there was some issue during the council’s evaluation of City Manager Adam Brown. That happened in an executive, or private, session on June 1.
Councilors Kyle Juran and Lore Christopher filed a complaint 10 days later. In their June 11 letter, they wrote that they were “alleging that actions taken by a member of the council involving the evaluation of a public officer, if true, would constitute a violation” of council rules.
Four days later, at a June 15 council meeting, Juran led the charge to force a city investigation into what happened in the private session with Brown. Christopher “recognized potential improprieties and left the executive session way before the rest of us,” Juran said at the meeting.
The council voted on June 15 to suspend its own rules to take up the matter, which wasn’t on the agenda and came toward the end of a nearly four-hour session. Juran then named Clark and Kohler as targets of the investigation. He provided no information about what they had done to warrant that action.
The city then retained the Portland law firm of Beery, Elsner and Hammond to investigate. The firm will be paid up to $10,000 for its work, with its attorneys being paid up to $380 an hour.
Original reporting: Salem Reporter — read the source article.
