The Jan. 15 King City City Council meeting had barely started when the first shot was fired across the bow, so to speak, with a motion to unseat a councilor appointed three weeks earlier. The next 25 minutes were a contentious melee among the seven councilors with motions and counter-motions made, passed, defeated or not recognized amid an accusation of a personal attack and arguments about decorum, the agenda, Robert’s Rules of Order, the Municipal Code and a Writ of Review filed against the city in Washington County Circuit Court that day.
Seated at the dais from left to right were newly elected Councilor Vince Arditi, newly appointed Councilor John Hartman, Councilor Denny Gelfand, Council President Marc Manelis, Councilor Jan Tysoe and newly elected Councilors Jessica Braverman and Rachel Kazmierski.
After City Manager Mike Weston swore in Arditi, Braverman and Kazmierski, Manelis tried to start the meeting with the election of a mayor and council president when Braverman made the motion to unseat Hartman, saying he should not be recognized as a councilor because his appointment was an unethical violation of the Municipal Code and City Charter, which were not followed. Kazmierski later seconded the motion.
Braverman passed out copies of a November/December 2024 calendar and the Municipal Code before saying, “We have an ethical duty to make sure the Municipal Code is followed properly. A writ has already been filed with the Washington County (Circuit) Court. If you allow a councilor on the bench who has not been properly appointed, everything that has been voted on in this meeting will be invalid…”
Braverman said that city officials had not properly counted the days from when a notice ran in the Nov. 15 Oregonian announcing an opening on the council following the resignation of Smart Ocholi to the end of the application period. She said the 30-day count should have started Nov. 16, and because the 30th day was a Sunday, the application period should have been open through Monday, Dec. 16, per the Municipal Code.
Four applications had already been received when two more came in Dec. 16, which were turned down. Sandra Cunningham filed the Writ of Review, which stated that her Dec. 16 application was rejected, and the council on Dec. 20 proceeded “with the interviews of other candidates and (appointment of) John Hartman to fill the vacancy.”
Braverman stated that the city should run a new notice in the Oregonian and start the application process again “so the appointment process is fair to all, to avoid attorney fees, another writ by a judge in Washington County and to make sure we are following the code.” She added, “You have now violated the Constitution.”
She made a second motion to run a new notice in the Oregonian and restart the clock to make a council appointment for Ocholi’s seat.
City Attorney Peter Watts said the city had not received the writ and added, “We can’t conduct any business until the two appointments (mayor and council president) are made.”
Manelis said that Braverman’s motions were not on the agenda and needed to be added to the agenda, but Braverman persisted, saying that voting on the agenda would become invalid if the writ was successful in court.
“This is becoming a personal attack,” Hartman said, and Kazmierski countered, “This is not a personal attack. By no means is this a personal attack.”
Braverman, Kazmierski and Arditi said they were given no opportunity to add items to the agenda before the meeting, so during the meeting was their only opportunity. Watts said that agendas are published in advance for the public to view because “the public should be adequately notified.”
Manelis said, “I did not recognize the speaker (Braverman), so all of this is out of order,” Braverman countered, “You did recognize me,” and Manelis said, “We aren’t going to recognize the motions. We are moving on to the City Council officer appointments.”
King City mayors and council presidents are elected by the council for two-year terms in odd-numbered years, and Gelfand nominated Manelis for mayor with Hartman providing the second. Kazmierski tried to amend the motion to vote for an interim mayor until a judge rules on the writ, but Manelis said there would be no amendments and called for the vote. Hartman, Gelfand, Tysoe and Manelis voted in favor of Manelis for mayor, with Arditi, Braverman and Kazmierski in opposition.
Kazmierski nominated Braverman for council president, with Arditi seconding the nomination; Arditi, Braverman and Kazmierski voted in the affirmative, and Hartman, Gelfand, Tysoe and Manelis voted against the nomination.
Hartman nominated Gelfand for council president, and Tysoe seconded the motion. “I think we need a fair City Council, and right now it doesn’t look like we have one,” Braverman said. “The illegal appointment of John Hartman gives them a voting block, and all of you in the audience are seeing what is going on here. You can see it clearly, and I am making a record of this because when the writ is decided, I am going to play this tape for the judge… and I want them to hear the entire record…”
Hartman, Gelfand, Tysoe and Manelis voted in favor of Gelfand as council president, and Arditi, Braverman and Kazmierski voted in opposition.
The remainder of the meeting was congenial as the council voted on the approval of previous minutes, the November 2024 financials, City Council committee assignments and Charter Committee appointments.
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King City City Council meetings are available for viewing on the city’s YouTube channel.
