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Keizer oversight committee finds Mayor Clark violated council rules; council asks attorney to draft memorandum of concern
Summary
After an outside investigator's report, the internal oversight committee found Mayor Kathy Clark violated council rules on conduct and interaction with staff (rules 5.2 and 15.1). The full council voted to accept the committee's recommendation and directed the city attorney to draft a memorandum of concern for consideration on Aug. 17; one councilor recused and one abstained.
Keizer's internal oversight committee presented the conclusions of an outside workplace investigation to the council on Aug. 3 and recommended a memorandum of concern. City Attorney Lindsey read the investigator's conclusions into the public record: the investigator found that Mayor Kathy Clark "violated rule 5.2 in her conduct towards councilor Kohler" and "violated 15.1 when she confronted or contacted [the HR director] about his concerns regarding councilor Kohler." The investigator did not find a violation of rule 16.1 related to instigating an inquiry.
The oversight committee met in executive session to review the confidential report and then voted unanimously in open session to recommend the memorandum of concern to the full council. Under the council's Rule 16.1 procedure, a memorandum of concern requires a four‑member majority; the council voted to accept the recommendation and directed the city attorney to prepare a draft for the Aug. 17 meeting. Councilor Kohler recused himself from the vote; Councilor Parsons abstained, citing process and transparency concerns.
Council President Starr urged the public and council to avoid speculation and to allow the process to play out, citing the legal limits of executive-session confidentiality. Councilor Kohler, who had been named in the underlying events and later recused himself, said he was seeking peaceful resolution and was not looking for punitive outcomes.
Why it matters: The action formalizes an investigatory finding about conduct by the mayor and begins a formal council process that could result in a written admonition (memorandum of concern) or other council action. The city attorney urged the council to follow Rule 16.1 and offered to draft the memorandum and to propose future rule revisions (including mediation options) to improve process transparency and fairness.
Key facts - Outside investigator concluded Mayor Clark violated Rule 5.2 (personal attacks/impugning motives) and Rule 15.1 (interfering with staff/undermining city manager authority) but did not find a Rule 16.1 violation. - The internal oversight committee voted unanimously to recommend a memorandum of concern and presented that recommendation to council. - Full council voted to accept the recommendation and directed the city attorney to produce a draft memorandum for the Aug. 17 meeting; Councilor Kohler recused and Councilor Parsons abstained.
Direct quote - City Attorney Lindsey (reading investigator conclusion): "The investigator finds that mayor Clark violated rule 5.2 in her conduct towards councilor Kohler."
