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CITY MANAGER SEARCH Medford council may have run afoul of city charter Document stipulates city manager must be hired within a year Comment By Damian Mann Mail Tribune Follow @@reporterdm MailTribune.com By Damian Mann Mail Tribune Follow @@reporterdm Posted Aug. 10, 2016 at 6:25 PM By Damian Mann Mail Tribune Follow @@reporterdm Posted Aug. 10, 2016 at 6:25 PM » Social News The Medford City Council may be violating its own city charter for missing a one-year deadline to select a new city manager. "It's like the Congress being in violation of the Constitution, and knowing it," said Rep. Sal Esquivel, R-Medford, a former council member. According to the charter, the council was required to adopt a resolution of its intention to appoint another city manager once the position became vacant. The council adopted a resolution on June 18, 2015. "Not later than one year after adopting the resolution, the council shall appoint a manager to fill the vacancy," the charter states. That means almost two months has passed since the council was supposed to select a new manager, based on the charter language, although at least one council member says another section of the charter suggests the council is in compliance. Esquivel and other former city councilors sent Mayor Gary Wheeler and the City Council a letter on July 21 in support of hiring Rob Patridge as city manager. In the letter, the former councilors said the city is out of compliance with its own charter. Patridge lost his bid for the city manager position after Mayor Gary Wheeler vetoed the appointment on Aug. 4. "They were in violation of the charter when they made the selection of Rob," Esquivel said. Esquivel said there are likely no penalties involved in being out of compliance. Councilor Dick Gordon said he has a somewhat different reading of the charter, but acknowledged there appears to be a "minor charter issue." "Even if we are at best in technical violation of the charter, it's more important that we get the right person," Gordon said. "I've read the charter many time, and I don't read the charter as you suggest." Gordon pointed to another portion of the charter that addresses appointing a city manager pro tem, to fill the slot temporarily. "Provided further that the city manager pro tem shall hold office only until a city manager shall have been agreed upon and in no event to exceed a longer period of time than one year," the charter states. The council last year appointed Deputy City Manager Bill Hoke as city manager pro tem. When the year was up, the council then appointed Finance Director Alison Chan as city manager pro tem. Gordon said the city's legal staff is looking at the issue, but he thinks the selection of a city manager pro tem satisfies the requirements of the charter. Former Councilor Claudette Moore, who also signed the letter, said she's more concerned about the time it's taken to select a city manager. "It just seems to take a while to get things done at the city level," she said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected] . Follow him on www.twitter.com/reporterdm . By Damian Mann Mail Tribune Follow @@reporterdm MailTribune.com By Damian Mann Mail Tribune Follow @@reporterdm Posted Aug. 10, 2016 at 6:25 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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