By Nan Noteboom
For Columbia Gorge News
CASCADE LOCKS — The Cascade Locks City Council was one councilor short in its last meeting of 2025, held on, Dec. 15. Councilor Eric Keller had submitted his resignation earlier that day.
Keller had faced opposition on the council in his advocacy for proclamations, statements, and formal recognition of marginalized people. He had fought for the council to recognize or otherwise honor Indigenous Peoples, LGBTQ+ populations, and immigrants through welcoming or inclusive statements. His resignation letter said that “serving the City of Cascade Locks on the city council began with a commitment to making the community better. However, over the past year, the joy of creating positive change quickly diminished as the newly formed council promptly became a source of hostility and obstructionism.”
The council will announce a timeline for filling the open seat at its next meeting in January. This brings the turnover on the council to five of seven members, including the mayoral seat, in the past year.
A Work Plan for City Administrator Jordon Bennett was first on the agenda. A committee of Councilors Tiffany Pruit, Courtnee Keilman, and Marianne Bump had drafted the plan, which had two primary goals and numerous action items. The goals focused on clear, detailed communication to the board, “without overburdening them,” and clear, consistent, easy-to-read financial reports. Mayor Brenda Wood blamed Bennett for the city’s delayed audits, chiding him by saying, “We’ve been told it was the auditor’s fault but it wasn’t.”
As previously reported by Columbia Gorge News, Jessica Luther-Haynes, representing the accounting firm Aldrich CPAs, is conducting the current audit, along with current Cascade Locks Finance Officer Chantia Clarke.
In discussion, council still had concerns about the audits, the competency of the city’s finance staff, led by Clarke, and the city administrator’s management of personnel, particularly hiring, firing, and pay increases. Though Councilor Bernard Seeger urged the council to let the city administrator manage personnel, Wood cited the town’s charter in declaring that the “Council has all the power.”
Pruit, who helped author the plan, also criticized it, saying it needs more detail on software training, inventory tracking, and a water loss report, perhaps by adding a section on office procedures.
The council did not approve the plan, and it was sent back to the committee for further revision.
Next up was a discussion on expediting the city’s delayed audits. The delay had previously been attributed to a swath of circumstances, including COVID, lack of staffing, poor software, and slow response time in providing documents; numerous sources said there were “just too many hands” on the city’s books. Councilor Bump, the city’s Finance Officer until 2021, has volunteered to assist with expediting the audits. City Attorney Ruben Cleaveland has vetted the idea, as long as Bump does not receive compensation. Bennett provided a proposed scope of work, and Bump said that current CFO Clark must be on-site. Clark is set to begin in-person work on Jan. 5 The council thanked Bump for volunteering to assist.
The council then discussed a motion to sign a contract with the Historical Museum to serve as the city’s Visitor Center. The museum has served as the city’s Visitor Center for years, but without a formal agreement. Councilor Bump expressed concern that the museum staff was writing the contract, not the city; Seeger suggested the Visitor Center be moved to a more visible spot. The council did not approve the contract.
They did, however, approve a motion for the Tourism Committee to hire an interim Tourism Director. The Tourism Committee has been tasked with creating a Request for Proposal for tourism support services, but needs someone at the helm until that process can be completed. The city still has two openings on its Tourism Committee; one on the Budget Committee; and two on the Planning Committee.
In council comments, Mayor Wood thanked Keller for his service.
The next meeting of the Cascade Locks City Council is set for Monday, Jan. 12.
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