City employees urge council to keep administrator; council authorizes mayor to continue employment negotiations

Dozens of city employees, including office staff, public works personnel and firefighters, addressed the Dundee City Council on July 8 to oppose a reported plan to terminate City Administrator Steve Dahl and to express support for his leadership. "I am here tonight on behalf of every employee and myself to express our full support to Steve and our strong opposition to his decisions," said Melody Osborne, an administrative assistant for the city.

Employees described an open-door management style, extensive on-the-job support and operational improvements they attribute to Dahl. Public Works employee Bernard Namis told the council Dahl "has an open door policy" and said staff trust and respect him. Lt. Angel of the Dundee Fire Department read a letter from firefighters that credited Dahl with helping to mitigate safety issues, replace aged equipment, increase department revenue and move the department toward 24-hour staffing. "The fire department has greatly benefited from Steve's leadership and his willingness to work well with our fire chief Hamilton," Lt. Angel said.

Several speakers warned of operational disruption and costs they expect if Dahl is replaced, noting recruitment and onboarding expenses, potential severance and the learning curve for a new administrator. Melody Osborne said employees had voted to pursue unionization, adding, "We believe unionizing is the only way to ensure staff voices are heard." She said the staff vote had 100% approval among employees present. Those are staff statements and were made as public comment.

After the public comment period the council met in executive session under ORS 192.660 to discuss personnel matters. In public session following the executive session, the council voted to "authorize the mayor and president of council to continue negotiations regarding future employment of the city administrator." The motion carried. The transcript does not record the names of the motion maker or the second.

Why it matters: The administrator oversees daily city operations, budgeting and capital projects. Staff told the council they believe Dahl—s management has produced grants and operational improvements and that sudden leadership turnover would impose transition costs and operational strain. The council—s authorization to continue negotiations signals further closed-door talks and leaves the employment matter unresolved in open session.

What—s next: Council-directed negotiations will continue; the transcript records that no final decision was made in executive session and that any formal action must be taken in a public meeting.