Community

Year in Review: Government, elections, activities & events

CRESWELL

The year began with the swearing in of newly elected government leaders, but Creswell lost some along the way. 

Judge R Scott Palmer began the year with optimism. “In contrast to what we’ve been experiencing at a federal and state level, we are blessed in the City of Creswell with what are truly the best of times. There is energy and optimism and it permeates our public business and temperament,” he said during the swearing-in period. 

It appeared so. Creswell City Council kicked off its first meeting with the swearing in of Amy Knudsen as mayor, along with new councilors Jerri Hutchinson, JoeRell Medina and Shelly Clark. That optimism and temperament has since wavered, as only Clark remains from that bunch.

Knudsen resigned in August, Medina in September and Hutchinson in November. Knudsen left because of “undue stress” from the fallout from the Fourth of July parade. The organizers of the parade, Creswell’s Julie Bivens and Cottage Grove’s Chris Tough — a Proud Boy member — did not file permits, which resulted in traffic snarls and safety hazards, in addition to negative national media attention for the presence of the hate group. Fines were issued, which resulted in an angry group of people at Knudsen’s home, calling her to drop the fines two residents incurred from the violations. Knudsen resigned shortly after. 

Hutchinson said she was moving to Montana for her husband’s job, and Medina said he was moving to another “less totalitarian state.” 

It took a few months of gaps and empty seats, but Creswell City Council will be starting off the new year with a full council. Former three-term mayor Dave Stram was appointed mayor again in November, and Tammy Schuck and Normajean Osborn will be sworn in as councilors during the first meeting of the new year.

SPRINGFIELD

Springfield councilor-turned-mayor Sean Van Gordon has been leading Springfield City Councilors nearly a year. Appointed mayor in January after former mayor Christine Lundberg’s resignation in August 2020, Van Gordon has been leading virtual meetings and helping to execute his vision of building on Springfield’s legacy of “getting things done” to create a distinctive community.

Damien Pitts was a unanimous choice to fill Van Gordon’s council seat, and he joined council in March. If you missed it, check out author and Chronicle contributor Catherine Russell’s in-depth profile of Pitts published in mid-December at tinyurl.com/DamienPitts 

COTTAGE GROVE

In Cottage Grove, incumbent mayor Jeff Gowing and incumbent councilors Greg Irvin and Kenneth Roberts were sworn in during the January meeting, along with newly-elected Jon Stinnett. All councilors remain on council, in addition to Chalice Savage, who was appointed in March. Now, mayor Jeff Gowing is setting his sights on a house seat. He announced his plans in late November to run for the District 12 position in the Oregon House of Representatives, after Oregon became the first state to redraw its congressional map for the next decade, enacting a plan that creates four Democratic districts, a safe Republican district, and one potential battleground district.

The redrawn maps led Rep. Cedric Hayden (R) to pursue the new District 7 Senate seat in the new year, after serving for eight years as a Representative in the Oregon House.

Buttigieg visits, board and staff changes at Lane Transit District

As part of an infrastructure tour in Oregon in July, Pete Buttigieg, the United States Transportation Secretary and now-retired congressman Peter DeFazio (D-Springfield) visited Lane Transit District in Glenwood, where they emphasized the benefits of infrastructure investments, and got behind the wheel of one of LTD’s electric buses. 

In the new year, LTD plans to release 19 battery-operated electric buses, giving them a total of 30 electric buses. LTD plans to transition to a full-energy fleet by 2035.

It wasn’t long after the visit from Buttigieg and DeFazio that Aurora (AJ) Jackson, general manager, announced her resignation from LTD. She’s since moved into the private sector after six years with the company. In September, Mark Johnson, who was the District’s assistant general manager and an employee for 23 years, was appointed into the interim general manager position. 

On Dec. 15, Cottage Grove entrepreneur Don Nordin was elected vice president of the LTD board. He represents Creswell, Cottage Grove, and Lowell and Southeast Eugene. 

Previous Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber appointed Nordin to the board. He was subsequently affirmed by Gov. Kate Brown in 2015. Nordin has served as a member of the LTD Budget Committee from 2009 to 2015, the Cottage Grove Planning Commission director from 2000 to 2005, and as a board member of the Community Sharing from 2000 to 2005. He founded the Friends of LTD in 1995, co-founded the Friends of Mount David in 2001, and is a founding member of the Board of the Cerro Gordo Land Conservancy.

It was also announced this month that Gov. Brown appointed retired Springfield City Manager Gino Grimaldi and information technology consultant and Eugene community leader Pete Knox to the Lane Transit District’s (LTD) Board of Directors.

Grimaldi represents East Springfield to McKenzie Bridge, and brings 45 years of local government leadership experience to the LTD Board of Directors. He served as Springfield City Manager from 2006 through his retirement in 2019. Knox represents Central and West Eugene, including the University area and downtown, and the Whiteaker, Jefferson, and West Side neighborhoods. 

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Still sorting Fourth of July fall out, Chamber, City say better days ahead

It’s been six months since the Fourth of July parade in downtown Creswell. Residents are still talking about the fallout, and city leaders are still entertaining ways to avoid a repeat in 2022. 

In the absence of the Creswell Chamber, residents took it upon themselves to host their own parade, but refused to file any permits to do so. The result was an unauthorized and controversial parade through downtown Creswell, and fines to accompany it. 

The event garnered national media attention for its presence of a hate group, the Proud Boys, of which one of the organizers, Chris Tough, of Cottage Grove is a member. Creswell’s Julie Bivens also helped coordinate the parade. Both were cited over $2,500 each in citations by Lane County Sheriff’s Office for safety concerns. 

But it didn’t end there. 

The Creswell Chamber barely had a heartbeat until just weeks before July 4. Because of social distance restrictions, safety concerns, and a lack of time, staff, or access to the budget, the Chamber could not host the parade this year, but it managed to pull off the fireworks show later in the evening. 

But there was no wind at its back.

Less than 30 minutes into the fireworks show, a drifting ember landed in a thicket of blackberry bushes near the old Bald Knob Mill property.

Flames became visible from the vantage point on Front Street where dozens gathered in the dark on the hoods of their cars and in truck beds. Simultaneously and for several minutes, fireworks burst into the air while the fire ignited nearby. 

The fire covered 1 1/4 acres, but did not affect traffic on I-5, even though the fire could be seen clearly from the interstate. Firefighters finished up on the scene at 3 a.m. that morning.

The cause was due to a firework breaking.

It was a tough first go for the new Chamber leaders, but they have since rebounded with the Chamber-sponsored Winter Lights event earlier this month. That event included a small parade, a community market and of course, Santa.It also hosted a house decorating contest.  

The Chamber is contracted with the City to resume all Fourth of July events — including the parade — in 2022, providing the pandemic doesn’t force the area back into the deep end of the pool with “high” and “extreme” risk tiers or additional shutdowns. 

The City of Creswell, in addition to the Chamber and Creswell School District officials, plan on hosting a town hall-style event early in the new year to hash out any lingering concerns from last year’s events, dispel misinformation, and to get people excited for the return of the traditional Fourth of July activities in the City.

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