CASCADE LOCKS — After a months-long vacancy, the Cascade Locks City Council filled its open seat by appointing Bernard Seeger to serve until Dec. 31 as the sixth councilor.
The council once again considered the same two applicants, Seeger and Courtnee Keilman. Both applicants were interviewed, with Seeger citing the top three most important issues for Cascade Locks being city finances and lack of funding, community economic development, and quality of life improvements. Seeger brings municipal experience, particularly in budget and finance, and the majority of council members deemed this a priority need.
Following encouragement by Councilor Denise Emmerling-Baker to avoid another stale vote, Seeger was approved by the mayor and all councilors except Butch Miller, who favored Keilman. Seeger was sworn in, and Keilman was encouraged to continue to participate and run for the permanent council seat.
Handbook changes
Resolution 1510 asked for two changes to the employee handbook: The first one was to change employee meal reimbursement from a flat, per diem rate to submitted receipts that meet city government parameters. The flat per diem rate was not enough to cover employees’ costs incurred while representing the city. The second change to the employee handbook was to make Juneteenth a city holiday. Objection to the proposal to make Juneteenth a holiday came from Seeger and Miller. Seeger’s objection was that Juneteenth should be an optional floating holiday for staff to choose. Miller argued that the 19th of June, 1865, was not the date on which all slaves were freed, that the government chose it because there was “such large numbers in Galveston,” and that “in the following years they decided to have a party.” He said after that, “They moved out of Galveston and brought their condition with them. A lot of us had never heard of Juneteenth until the government started putting it into law.” Miller was also concerned that the additional day off might lead to staff falling behind in their work. He further objected to its official name of Juneteenth National Independence Day, saying, “We only have one. [Independence Day]. And that is as a country.”
Miller’s objections were met with Keller’s plea for the holiday, who said, “I can’t believe we’re discussing semantics here. It’s honoring people that were enslaved. It’s imperative to me that the City of Cascade Locks honor those people.” Councilor Denise Emmerling-Baker added, “This shouldn’t even be a question.”
The council ultimately approved the changes to the employee handbook, and thus the holiday, with Miller and Seeger voting against it.
Other news
Conversely, the vote was unanimous to approve Nathan Jones to serve on the Tourism and Budget committees. Seeger reminded the council that, with his appointment, there would be a new opening on the planning committee. Council will work on replacing him in the near future. City Administrator Jordon Bennett also informed council that the position of community liaison would soon open up and be posted. He reminded the council that the City of Cascade Locks had been fined by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for a violation of wastewater collection that occurred at the Marine Park Pump Station. The new pump had been installed only a month before, and Bennett and the city attorney are looking into the limits of its warranty. The fine is for $14,700.
Council comments revisited the problem of cars parking in the bike lanes, specifically near the airport but also near East Wind Drive-In. Council asked for quicker and firmer enforcement, and Bennett agreed to communicate with the code enforcement officer.
The next Cascade Locks city council meeting is on Tuesday, Aug. 12.
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