CRESWELL – Michelle Amberg, who has served as Creswell’s city manager since 2014, has stepped down, and now the council is tasked with finding someone to fill the role. Her last day will be Dec. 13.
Amberg submitted her resignation letter, which was discussed during the Nov. 18 special city council meeting. Amberg did not attend.
“I have been going over last night’s meeting. I believe that I have damaged the city council/manager relationship to an unrepairable state,” Amberg’s resignation letter reads. “I think it is best if I resign from my position … which will allow the new Council to engage with a new city manager of their choosing instead of one that they have inherited.”
The letter, dated Nov. 13, references a city council meeting held on Nov. 12. That evening, there were three meetings: one public session and two executive sessions.
The media may attend executive sessions in most cases; however, it cannot report on those meetings except to state the nature of the conversations. The first executive session concerned Amberg’s annual city manager performance review, and the second discussed the city manager’s contract.
After the meeting, the discussion regarding Amberg’s was listed as “rescinded,” meaning that the council did not meet to discuss her contract.
Amberg declined The Chronicle’s requests for more information, including why she resigned, whether she will relocate, or if she plans to take another position elsewhere.
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work with you over the past years,” Amberg wrote in her closing remarks. “I hope you will look back at the things that were accomplished favorably despite my temperament.”
Amberg declined to answer specific questions about the meeting she referenced to expand on her remark about her “temperament.”
Mayor Dave Stram said hiring Amberg in 2014 was a “joy.”
“She’s one of the very finest city managers we’ve ever had,” Stram said. “She is the best implementer of strategic planning I have ever worked with.”
Normajean Osborn, city councilor, said Amberg has “done an excellent job, and it’ll be hard to find somebody even as good as her anywhere. “
She “has just done a great job for the City of Creswell managing the city, and I wish her well for her next venture. She will be missed, and I thank her for her time here in the City of Creswell,” said Alonzo Costilla, council president.
“The resignation … is a loss for the City,” said Shelly Clark, councilor. “Manager Amberg has done so much for our community … the expansion of the parks, all of the grant funding that’s been able to come in, work out of the airport, support of city staff … I hope that we and future councils can find a path forward so we can have someone of her caliber to serve our community.”
Councilor Clark Kent cracked a lighthearted joke, “I looked up online ‘Can we not accept the resignation?’”
Councilors Staci Holt and Mayor-elect Nick Smith did not comment.
The next steps
Creswell City Council will begin its search for an interim city manager through conversations with interested parties held by Stram and Costilla. Potential interim candidate options will be returned to the council for further discussion.
Stram proposed a deadline of Dec. 6, a week before Amberg’s resignation date, to make a concrete decision.
In conjunction with the City charter, the mayor will appoint an interim with the consent of the majority of the council. All agreed.
