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Gold Hill council seeks end to police force By JIM DAVIS GOLD HILL -- The Gold Hill Police Department remains in limbo, even though a vote to abolish it was legal, city officials said Tuesday. The City Council probably will need to vote again on a new ordinance to shut down the department for good, said City Recorder Tony Paxton. "We need to determine how the police department was established," Paxton said. "If it was set up by ordinance like we think, then it will take a new ordinance to repeal that older ordinance." On Monday night, the City Council voted 3-0 to contract with the Jackson County Sheriff's Department. Then council members voted 2-1 to abolish the police department. The two votes came late in the evening with three seats open. One council member left the meeting early on an emergency and two other positions are empty, one because of a resignation and the other because a member had moved to Ashland. Mayor Tim Roddam questioned whether the City Council had a quorum. City Attorney Steve Rich reviewed the city charter Tuesday and said that he believes that a quorum was present. Specifically, the charter states that a quorum is a majority of the City Council. The charter also defines the City Council as the mayor and six councilmen, Rich said. So, the three members and the mayor who were present Monday night counted as a majority, Rich said. However, Rich thought it was unusual that a majority could include the mayor, because the mayor can't vote except in cases of ties. Paxton took the vote as direction from the Council to prepare the necessary steps to abolish the department. He said he thinks that means setting up a new ordinance, but he still was researching Tuesday how the department originally was formed in the town of 1,204 people. The police department has been a controversial issue since former Police Chief Katie Holmboe was dogged by accusations of ticket-fixing and an attempted exorcism. Her successor, Police Chief Dave Crawford, was convicted of a felony. Gold Hill residents voted in November in favor of contracting with the sheriff's department. The City Council voted 4-1 last March to keep the department rather than contract with the sheriff's department. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA