COTTAGE GROVE – Poised amidst the wood-paneled, brightly lit backdrop of City Hall, Jon Stinnett, Ward 2 City Councilor, announced his resignation on Sept. 23. Stinnett’s exit from the post, effective Oct. 1, came just two months shy of his term’s end. He referenced his upcoming relocation to Eugene and an “incredibly difficult four years” as reasons for the departure.
“My work is there, my daughters both go to school there, my partner’s there. Life is pulling me in that direction, and I’m answering that call of momentum,” Stinnett said in his resignation letter.
Before his time on the city council, Stinnett served as a community reporter and later editor of The Sentinel, crafting a “weekly book report” on Cottage Grove for roughly a decade. Stinnett noted.
“I love this place more than I thought it was possible to love a place. It feels like family. It feels like a body part. It’s not easy to move and leave that behind,” Stinnett said.
Stinnett’s resignation comes after a tumultuous summer for the council, which saw councilors Alex Dreher, Mike Fleck, and Chalice Savage recalled in a special election on July 30.
“I’ve covered city council for many years. There were fierce disagreements at times over key issues, and we never got this personal and this dark about things,” Stinnett said.
Stinnett’s egress left Cottage Grove City Council in breach of a quorum, or the base amount of group members required to be considered an official meeting. For the City of Cottage Grove, at least four members must be active on the council. Failure to comply results in councilors being unable to gather and make decisions regarding matters impacting Cottage Grove publicly.
According to the Cottage Grove Municipal Code, a vacancy can be declared upon several factors, including a recall from office, the death of a council member, or, in Stinnett’s case, the relocation of a council member to another city. A resident in the same ward may be appointed. Their term of office spans from the acceptance of the council position to the time of the next general election, which is currently Nov 5. Afterward, a candidate will be voted in to take over the remainder of the term.
Cottage Grove city councilors appointed Randell Lammerman, an unopposed Ward 2 candidate in the upcoming election, to fill Stinnett’s position.
Lammerman graduated from the Opportunity Center, an alternative high school in Eugene, and works at Lane Forest Products. The company develops top-grade landscaping products and crafts organic goods for nurseries, dispensing them throughout Oregon and California.
Stinnett and Lammerman both declined to comment further.
As Election Day draws closer, the City of Cottage Grove City Council’s true constant has become increasingly apparent: its persistent relationship with change.
