STEVENSON — Stevenson’s new mayor, Jenny Taylor, abruptly terminated the person in charge of day-to-day city operations and City Council Member Pat Rice announced his resignation.
It’s a lot of change in less than a week for a city of 1,600 people.
Taylor announced her decision to fire city administrator Wesley Wootten in a notice posted on the city website. It was up by Saturday morning.
“Wes Wootten is no longer serving as City Administrator,” the post says. “Mayor Jenny Taylor will serve as Interim Administrator to ensure continuity of operations during this transition.”
Taylor, who took office in January, told Uplift Local in a text exchange that it is her responsibility as mayor to make sure the city’s structure aligns with goals and priorities.
“At this time, the City is best served by moving in a different administrative direction,” she wrote.
She described Wootten’s position as “contractual” and said that this change was handled in accordance with the contract’s terms. Taylor will not be compensated for her additional duties as interim city administrator, and says she is looking to fill the position with a temporary hire before a permanent replacement, which she said could be in place within two to three months.
Wootten didn’t respond to efforts to reach him Monday. He had started the Stevenson position in April, 2025 after serving 10 months in a similar position in Wheeler, Oregon. Wheeler, population 450, is tucked between the Nehalem River and the foothills of Oregon’s Coast Range.
Chuck Oldfield, a Stevenson city council member when Wootten was hired, recalled that council members involved in interviews generally agreed that Wootten was their top choice, and had shared that in an advisory capacity with then-mayor Scott Anderson.
In Stevenson, the mayor has full authority to hire and fire the city administrator.
“I enjoyed working with Wes quite a bit,” Oldfield said, after learning of his departure.
Council member Pat Rice, who this morning announced he is resigning his position, also supported hiring Wootten, and disagrees with the decision to fire him, expressing concern over the lack of process. But that was not the sole reason he decided to give up his seat.
“There was no one thing that prompted me to come to this decision,” he said. “It was a decision that was made slowly over the last month and a half.”
“If I thought that the mayor and I were in alignment on how the city of Stevenson should be governed I would not be resigning,” he added.
In a letter Rice sent to constituents early Tuesday morning, he wrote that “elected officials do not own authority” but “hold it in trust.” He said that belief translates to practical actions, such as meaningful public notice before decisions are made, clear explanations of “land sales, contracts and policy changes,” and expanding public access to government.
Asked for specific examples, he cited information relevant to council meetings not being publicly available in a timely manner, and a recent decision by Mayor Taylor to stop posting videos of Stevenson’s city council and planning commission meetings to the city’s YouTube channel. He said elected officials should look not only at what is legally required, but what is helpful for citizens to know what’s going on.
“When longstanding practices that broaden access — such as posting recorded council meetings online — are reconsidered, those decisions should be openly discussed and clearly justified. Public access should move forward whenever possible, not backward,” Rice wrote in his resignation letter.
Taylor said she reversed direction on a decision to stop posting meeting videos after review and the issue will be discussed at this week’s council meeting. “We want to ensure our approach is compliant and sustainable before making any changes,” she wrote via text.
Rice shared his resignation letter with Uplift Local and the Skamania Pioneer prior to sending it, on the condition that his decision not be made public until he had shared it with constituents.
His resignation is effective Feb. 28, leaving him one more city council meeting, this Thursday, to attend as a member. His replacement will be appointed to serve the nearly two years remaining in Rice’s term.
•••
Emily Harris is a co-founder and Uplift Local’s Community Journalism Director, overseeing the local newsroom network and the Documenters program.
Commented