CASCADE LOCKS — The Cascade Locks City Council met at City Hall on Sept. 8 with a relatively short agenda. But that agenda soon became the focus of the meeting.
Brenda Wood
Mayor, Cascade Locks
The council once again rejected Councilor Eric Keller’s attempts to issue a formal statement of welcoming, recognition, or inclusivity. Keller, asking to discuss a proclamation recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 to Oct. 15), had, in the previous week, asked Mayor Brenda Wood to add it to the agenda. She did not.
Various reasons were given for that denial, including procedural. Councilor Tiffany Pruit added, “That’s not the way it works,” regarding adding agenda items, though council policy does allow agenda items to be added by consensus. Keller then asked for a consensus of council to add it at last Monday’s meeting, but councilors Marianne Bump, Pruit, and Courtnee Keilman, and Mayor Brenda Wood voted against it.
As a reminder, this council defines “consensus” rather specifically. At their March 10 work session, the council defined consensus as, “No one is adamantly against it,” in Wood’s words. Wood then reminded the group that the agenda is set by her, the city administrator, or the consensus of the council.
A visibly frustrated Keller urged the council to recognize the benefits that folks of Hispanic origin bring to the Cascade Locks. Council President Pete Happy pointed out that 31% of the students at Cascade Locks Elementary are Hispanic/Latino. Keilman and Wood both said that such statements and proclamations further divide residents, with Keilman saying, “Once you recognize one, then you have to recognize them all,” and, “I fight for the equality that I see.”
Happy disagreed that this type of statement is divisive, saying, “I don’t see this as a way of dividing us. I see this as a way of us all standing behind the residents in our community that are Hispanic and telling them that we appreciate you and we’re glad you’re here and you make our community better, because they’re not seeing that in other places around the country.” He encouraged the mayor and council to at least put the item on the agenda, saying, “I would just encourage the mayor to put these items on there even if you don’t know that it’s going to pass. It allows us to have the conversation in a public format.”
Later, in council comments, Keller notified the council that he intends to bring a proclamation honoring Indigenous People’s Day to the next meeting. After Bump, Wood, Pruit, and Keilman rejected discussing a proclamation for Hispanic Heritage Month, Pruit discouraged a similar request to honor Indigenous People’s Month, saying, “You’re gonna bring it and you’re going to have the same numbers,” referring to the 4-3 division on the council.
The council’s next regular meeting is set for Monday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m.
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