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ONTARIO â Ontario City Councilor Freddy Rodriguez has five days to resign, justify why he shouldnât, or do nothing and wait for a special election for voters to decide on whether he should remain in office. Ontario City Recorder Tori Barnett provided an update to the newspaper this morning. She was just notified from Malheur County Clerk Gayle Trotter that enough signatures had been certified, so there was no need to validate any more of those turned in. If needed, petition circulators had until June 7 to collect signatures. Petitioner Cydney Cooke filed paperwork on March 9 to recall Rodriguez. A request for comment from Cooke has not yet been returned. ....
ONTARIO Former City Councilor Marty Justus was removed from an Ontario City Council meeting on May 18, following his public comments, and the request of a current councilor to review what was written on the signs. Justus has been attending council meetings with his signs for the past several meetings. Councilor John Kirby called for the point of order, asking to clarify what actions would constitute a disruption by an audience member and warrant being censured by the meetingâs âpresiding officer,â who is the mayor, as it pertained to potentially slanderous remarks being presented by Justus. âMr. Justus is now communicating with the council, he needs to stop or be removed from this council,â stated Kirby. ....
ONTARIO Did you know that when former Ontario City Councilor Dan Capron moved out of city limits, thereby resigning from his seat, he didnât have to? The city of Ontarioâs municipal charter states that in order to be elected, a person has to have lived within city limits for one year, but once a person is elected, they could theoretically move outside the city altogether and keep on serving. While that may not have been the original intent of the authors, the 8-page document still reads that way 36 years since its last update in 1985. This is among about 20 subsections that are proposed to be changed by a committee that has been reviewing the charter in recent months. For those areas they are seeking to update, the committee has considered what other cities, as well as what the League of Oregon Cities suggests. ....
ONTARIO Public comments presented by citizens at the Ontario City Councilâs most recent work study session on March 4 directed a slew of allegations at Ontario City Council President Freddy Rodriguez. Among those by Charlotte Kerftmeyer and Christopher Plummer were domestic abuse and using his City Council Facebook page to ârantâ about his personal life or to âslander or abuse people.â Chris Artiach said Rodriguez continuing to serve on the council, âitâs making the city an embarrassmentâ and said it was âhumiliation.â âAll Iâm asking is for the City Council to have a little bit of courage, look at the facts and not weasel away through loopholes and ideas about what a restraining order is,â said Jerry Ward, of Ontario who questioned councilors about their âcourageâ in voting Rodriguez as council president. ....