Several dozen people are expected to hold a protest in front of King City City Hall on Friday, Dec. 20, from noon to 1 p.m. and then continue the protest inside City Hall where a meeting of the City Council is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Protest organizers include residents who worked on a recall campaign earlier this year that successfully recalled four King City city councilors for voting in favor of the city’s Transportation System Plan that would extend Fischer Road into the city’s future development area called Kingston Terrace.
At the 1 p.m. meeting, the City Council is expected to interview four applicants for the City Council and appoint one of them to an open seat that was recently created by the resignation of Smart Ocholi. Ocholi was one of the four recalled councilors, and applied for and was appointed to one of the open seats created by the recall. Following a lawsuit challenging Ocholi’s appointment filed by Karl Swanson, Washington County Circuit Court Judge Erwin on Nov. 12 found that the appointment of a recalled city councilor violated the Oregon constitution, and Ocholi resigned the next day.
Protest organizers noted in their press release that this was the second time in the last year that “the city has tried to circumvent the will of the voter” adding, “The city illegally revoked the recall petitions and was ordered by the Secretary of State to reinstate them. The city refused the order so the DOJ filed suit, and the court ordered the city to comply with the order.”
The group notes that the terms of three of the city councilors will expire 11 days after Friday’s planned appointment, and they are violating municipal code chapters “in their haste to appoint someone of their choosing before the dynamics of the council change.”
Earlier in December, election results were certified for three incoming councilors – Jessica Braverman, Rachel Kazmierski and Vince Arditi – and only seven votes separated the third- and fourth-place candidates. The fourth-place candidate, Steve Gearhart, received 1,298 votes, and he is one of the four applicants applying for the open seat on the council.
“The City Council has so far resisted calls for the vacancy to be filled by the voters’ choice instead of by the six remaining councilors,” the organizers’ press release stated.
It concluded, “If the City Council proceeds with this appointment on Friday, a writ of review will be filed in Washington County Circuit Court challenging the appointment in violation of King City’s municipal code.”
King City City Hall is located at 15300 S.W. 116th Ave., King City, 97224.
