Umatilla council declares vacancy, schedules July 1 interviews and establishes panel to draft questions

The Umatilla City Council accepted a resignation from a council seat, formally declared the seat vacant and directed staff to advertise the vacancy and present candidates for interview.

The council instructed staff to advertise the vacancy and to schedule interviews in an open-session panel format at the council meeting set for July 1; the council also designated a small group of council members to prepare standardized questions in advance so all applicants would be asked the same questions in the interview panel.

David, city manager, briefed the council on the planned process and said staff would publish the vacancy notice and explain that interviews and any appointment would be conducted in open session. He also said staff would include the council’s preferred interview format (a panel asking the same questions in sequence) in the public notice.

Councilors discussed timing and logistics, including whether to start the July 1 meeting earlier to allow sufficient time for candidate interviews and whether the council would vote to appoint a candidate that same night. Councilors who spoke favored holding the interviews at the end of the July 1 meeting and completing the appointment vote that evening, and they directed staff to prepare the posting and candidate instructions accordingly.

The council also clarified that the appointments process would be conducted in open session and that the council may create a short list of candidates at the July 1 meeting based on the interviews. Staff will return with the advertised candidates and a schedule for the July 1 interviews.

Next steps: staff will prepare and publish the vacancy notice, include the panel interview format in the posting, solicit applicants, and present candidates at the July 1 council meeting for interviews and a possible appointment that evening.