Camas City Council votes to draft change of government

The Camas City Council voted 4-3 Monday to authorize the city attorney to draft a resolution that asks voters whether they would like to reshape the city’s form of government.

The combined resolution, which would be placed on a Feb. 9 special election ballot if approved by the council on Sept. 21, will ask voters whether to shift from a mayor-council to a council-manager form of government, with Council Position No. 1 serving as the new council “mayor” effective Jan. 1, 2028.

“Based on my email, our email and the comments at the (Aug. 11) town hall, it was a preponderance, by a small margin, that wanted us to take this to our residents,” said Councilor Marilyn Boerke. “They want an opportunity to have their voice heard via their vote.”

Camas currently operates under a mayor-council form of government, in which the elected mayor acts as chief executive and administrator of the city. A council-manager government would retain seven elected council members, with the mayor serving as an at-large elected position and a city manager hired by the council acting as chief executive officer.

The councilors who supported the creation of a resolution — Boerke, John Nohr, John Svilarich and Mahsa Eshghi — said that all councilors, not just the mayor, are accountable to the electorate, and that a council-manager model can still preserve accountability while promoting shared governance and more distributed decision-making.

They also favored a special election date rather than November’s general election to avoid a rushed, chaotic transition and to prevent conflicts with simultaneous mayor and at-large council races. The councilors stressed the need for additional town halls, surveys and neutral public education.

“Sometimes people say, ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.’ In fact, I think this particular system is broken,” Nohr said. “We are always one election away from chaos. When you have a seven-member council directing a city manager, you have a better form of control.”

The councilors who didn’t support the creation of a resolution — Jennifer Senescu, Tim Hein and Martin Elzingre — said the city’s AAA bond rating, growth and existing strategic plan are evidence that the current form of government is working. They favored refining roles and authority through amendments to the Camas Municipal Code rather than replacing the structure itself. They said checks and balances already exist if the council chooses to use them.

They also warned that a switch to a council-manager model would weaken voters’ direct ability to “hire and fire” the chief executive, concentrate more power in an unelected official and cost the city $50,000 on a special election for a measure they believe is likely to fail.

“What is the problem we’re trying to address by changing the form of government?” Hein said. “(We should) maintain the current hybrid form of government as it provides a structure of government that understands and supports the current and future needs of the city of Camas, establishes checks and balances for each executive leadership role within the city and mitigates risk during times of challenges and leadership in transition, while providing the participation and accountability to the electorate.”

An ad hoc citizens committee presented a report to the council on June 1 recommending that the city transition to a council-manager form of government with an elected mayor, arguing the change would provide greater long-term stability, professional administration and accountability as the city continues to grow. The council approved Mayor Steve Hogan’s request to create the committee, tasked with gathering information and making a recommendation about a possible change, on March 2.

The city previously explored the change in 2002 and 2018, when the council appointed a committee to explore the pros and cons of the different forms but ultimately did not
adopt a resolution.