The Nov. 5 general election is now in the rear-view mirror, but it didn’t completely resolve who will be filling all the seats on the King City City Council.
At Tigard Life’s press time, the latest unofficial results posted Nov. 26 showed two likely winners for three open seats: Jessical Braverman with 1,446 votes (20.25 percent) and Rachel Kazmierski with 1,371 votes (19.20 percent). Neck-and-neck for third place were Vince Arditi with 1,303 votes (18.25 percent) and Steve Gerhart with 1,297 votes (18.17 percent).
But a new wrinkle appeared after the election on Nov. 12 when Washington County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Erwin ruled from the bench that he was ordering the City of King City to remove Smart Ocholi from the City Council.
Successful recall
A special election last February led to voters recalling Mayor Jaimie Fender and City Councilors Ocholi, Laurie Petrie and Kate Mohr because of their votes in favor of the city’s Transportation System Plan that would turn Fischer Road into a through street into Kingston Terrace in the city’s urban growth boundary.
At the May 15 City Council meeting, the remaining three councilors appointed four applicants to the open seats: Randall Olsen and Gary Wallesen for terms ending Dec. 31, 2024, and Ocholi and Dennis Gelfand for terms ending Dec. 31, 2026 (Ocholi’s original term ended Dec. 31, 2024). At the meeting, council members justified putting Ocholi back on the council because he was being appointed to a different position and he had institutional knowledge, he represented marginalized members in the city, and by meeting with the recall petitioners, he had demonstrated open-mindedness.
Successful suit
Karl Swanson, who was active in the recall effort, then filed a successful suit in Washington County Circuit Court to remove Ocholi from the council.
“A final judgment still needs to be submitted consistent with the ruling from the bench,” wrote Swanson’s attorney Kenneth Dobson in an email to Tigard Life following the judgment, “but he was adamant that his order was final and that the decision to appoint Mr. Ocholi back onto the City Council after he had been recalled was improper, misconstrued applicable law, was not supported by substantial evidence on the record, and was unconstitutional.”
Swanson said he filed the suit “because on Feb. 13, 2024, King City citizens used their right in the Oregon Constitution of voting to recall several city councilors including Smart Ocholi. City Manager Mike Weston and the City Attorney wasted tax money in a failed attempt to deny citizens’ rights and advance Weston’s personal agenda to cram the hugely unpopular Transportation System Plan (TSP) down our throats.
“Weston and council previously lost in their attempt to deny our constitutional right to recall until the Secretary of State office ruled in our favor, and voters then spoke loudly as all councilors on that ballot were recalled. I challenged the Ocholi appointment because somebody had to stand up and fight for our rights, despite the personal and financial costs.”
Swanson added that the current city councilors “don’t appear to grasp that by following City Manager Mike Weston’s agenda and guidance previously, four city councilors were investigated by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission for their actions on the TSP and received an order finding they violated the conflict-of-interest disclosure requirements of ORS 244.120(2).
“If that wasn’t cause to start thinking independently, why would councilors continue to follow Weston’s agenda and ignore the will of the voters when that got four councilors recalled and another forced to resign?” Swanson asked
King City’s response
Weston confirmed that “Dr. Ocholi resigned on Nov. 13.” After he praised Ocholi’s contributions to King City over more than 10 years in an email to Tigard Life, Weston said, “King City strongly disagrees with the ruling by Judge Erwin. The judge declined to consider the issue of whether Karl Swanson was even a resident of King City, instead holding that whether or not an outsider has standing to challenge the decision of our city was irrelevant. While we respect the court’s decision, we are disappointed that the court refused to consider the evidence and testimony we were prepared to present on this issue. Oregon’s foundational principle of empowering communities to govern themselves are undercut when non-residents can circumvent our Home Rule Charter.
“The City was prepared to file an appeal; however, upon hearing the judgement, Dr. Ocholi elected to resign rather than have the city pursue further legal challenges rendering the judgement moot. This decision once again demonstrates his selfless character. The city will now seek to find a suitable replacement to fill his seat. We encourage all qualified parties interested in the position to apply at the King City website: www.ci.king-city.or.us.”
Appointing a new councilor
The city ran a notice in the Oregonian about the application process, which closes Dec. 13. Weston told Tigard Life, “I believe we will receive applications through that weekend, and then as mentioned previously, conduct interviews on the following Friday. I get the impression from (council members) that they plan to appoint an applicant on that day if they feel they have a satisfactory applicant.
“They are electing to move the meeting to Dec. 20 so we don’t have back-to-back meetings and probably targeting the early hours so they can get through interviews and reach a consensus before the Holidays.”
However, Swanson argued that the four current councilors “hold voting majority power to put the citizens first, not Weston’s agenda, if they can finally summon the courage. To follow the will of the voters and restore trust, they must appoint to (the) council the next highest vote recipient from the Nov. 5, 2024, election as the replacement for Ocholi, which currently would be either Steve Gearhart or Vince Arditi.”
