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39 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, December 15, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 13, 2004 Central Point City Council member Donna Higginbotham, who is retiring this month, says she looks forward to seeing the new city library completed. Being involved in its planning was one of her favorite accomplishments over the two decades. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Higginbotham’s new challenges Official steps aside after a career spent working for the citizens of Central Point By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — After speaking her mind in city government for a quarter-century, Donna Higginbotham is stepping down from the City Council. Higginbotham, who will turn 70 in January, said she’d suffered a handful of small strokes this year and recently learned her son is battling cancer. She said she just needed to "focus on other things right now." But she hasn’t lost her trademark spunkiness and sense of humor. When she announced her resignation at Thursday’s council meeting, she said she hadn’t yet drafted a letter. Public Works Director Bob Pierce slipped her a hand-written note, which she read aloud: "Honorable Mayor and Council, I quit!" Though she was able to muster a laugh, Higginbotham admitted she shed tears over her decision to resign after so many years. "I cried about it," she said. "I just couldn’t stand it, but it was time and I knew I should get off. Then the very day I went down to tell them I was retiring, I found out about my son." Advertisement Higginbotham first joined the City Council in 1980 because, she said, it looked like an interesting job. After serving for much of the 1980s, a time of slow growth and minimal funding, Higginbotham took some time off when former mayor Rusty McGrath came into office. "That’s when things got a little controversial," she remembered. The mother of five (including a daughter, two sons and two foster children) then set her sights on college. At age 56, she was one of just a few grandmothers to graduate with a criminology degree in 1991 from then Southern Oregon State College. During college, she volunteered for a year at the county juvenile department and went on to work another eight before retiring in 1999. Higginbotham took on her juvenile justice job with the same no-nonsense approach she took to city government. "A lot of those kids aren’t so tough," she said. "You get them in there and expect them to act like they’re respectable and they’re different people. A lot of them still come to see me." In 1999, after a period of rapid growth and development in the city, Higginbotham returned to the council only to face a recall attempt one year later. A citizens group headed by former mayor McGrath, town hall critic Larry Thornton and councilwoman Carol Fischer launched a recall attempt against Higginbotham, council member Dave Gilmour and Mayor Bill Walton for supporting a citywide smoking ban. Higginbotham, who received the most support (64 percent) from her ward to keep her seat, said of those who attempted the recall, "I don’t know they really made an effort." "We weren’t scared of it or anything. There wasn’t too much hoopla, obviously, because people turned it down." Fischer, no longer on the council, declined to comment about Higginbotham’s departure. Council member Dick Halley, who began his involvement in city government with Higginbotham in 1980, said the spry 69-year-old had been a consistent voice for citizens and for the council. "Donna was never afraid to speak her mind," Halley said. "She did what she felt was right for the majority of the people and she had a good feeling for the seniors in the community. "And she kept the council awake when they got down and didn’t feel like speaking their mind. I think maybe she taught me a thing or two. We’ve had our beefs now and then but always come out good friends." Despite the city’s rapid growth, government has changed little over two decades, Higginbotham said. "It was always just day-to-day, like it is now," she said. "Different things came up and we listened to all the facts and made the best decision we could." Higginbotham lists her favorite accomplishments as passing the smoking ban, helping with development of the new city library and establishing a large park named for former Mayor Don Jones. She also served on the Bear Creek Greenway Committee and the Rogue Valley Council of Governments. Ready to finally slow things down, Higginbotham said she will spend time with family, watch Court TV and comb the beach for agates with her husband of 54 years, Ozzie. Former mayor Walton said Higginbotham had served above and beyond over the past two decades and deserved to retire. "She understood the city, she understood the people and she’s just a fantastic woman," Walton said. "Donna was that type of person that spoke up for the community and she didn’t care what the political implication was. She was and is for the heart and for the best interest of the city. She’s just a great, great lady." Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities