Bryan, ‘Sissy’ Cutchen plan to remain in city after his contract ends as city administrator

By DEAN REA/The Herald — Bryan Cutchen likes a challenge. After retiring from the Navy as a rear admiral, the affable 60-year-old and his wife “Sissy” moved to Oakridge where he has served as city administrator since July 15, 2019.

He knew about the issue that has plagued the community for decades: How to maintain a timely and professional ambulance service that serves a 2,200-square-mile area that stretches into the Cascades Mountains and halfway to Eugene. “I thought I could make a difference,” he said during a recent interview. The city administrator discovered, however, that he and a contentious city council have what he calls a “different vision” about how to deal with emergency services, which is orchestrated by Lane County. True, he mentions that in his letter of resignation, but if you read it closely, you’ll see that he is leaving because of the absence of “trust and respect” in his relationship with the council. As a result, he plans to leave his post in late February.

That may change, however, depending on how city council members feel on Jan. 6 when they meet in executive session to begin the task of seeking Cutchen’s replacement.

“Sissy” Cutchen urged the city council Thursday night to retain her husband as city administrator based on his leadership and management skills developed during a 40-year Navy career. A growing number of residents have joined the “keep Cutchen” brigade.

Meanwhile, the unresolved issue remains: How to deal with an annual negative cash flow of a half-million dollars that results from maintaining a professional emergency service equipped to respond to calls in a timely manner. Cutchen said his replacement needs to work with the county to find a way to deal with the ambulance services problem.

“I let the council know that I was looking for options,” he said. “I didn’t want to change the service.” To provide time to research and to deal with the problem, Cutchen proposed a three-year public safety levy that failed last November by a 2-1 margin. Eventually, the council approved a $22 monthly public service fee that was not subject to a citizen vote. Oakridge residents began to pay the fee this month. The fee will be reviewed during the next budget cycle in February to see if it is meeting the city’s financial needs, Mayor Kathy Holston explained.

A little Oakridge history

Meanwhile, Cutchen and his wife, who is affectionately called “Sissy,” purchased a house built by Pope & Talbot on Hills Street.

During the boomtown era that began in the 1940s, Pope and Talbot also constructed a large sawmill and began a massive timber logging operation in the region. Hines Lumber Company operated a sawmill in nearby Westfir. The Union Pacific and trucking firms hauled away logs and lumber round the clock. Retail business was lively uptown and downtown. Four decades later the mill closed, and Pope and Talbot laid off all its workers.

During that era, Lane County was charged with providing emergency health services to its citizens, and Oakridge took on the task for District 7. The Ambulance Service Area Plan was created in 1987. Regulations are detailed in a 35-page document.

Marsha Miller, who served as interim city administrator prior to Cutchen’s selection, said the city has faced the emergency services challenge for years. The retired Lane County Public Works director said changes must be made if Oakridge wishes to “balance its books.” Miller, who helped direct the national search for a city manager, said during a recent interview, “If Bryan Cutchen can’t figure out a solution, I don’t know who can.”

The problem explained

Figuring out a solution has been a priority for Cutchen. However, talk of change apparently created friction with several city council members who “don’t want to see the service changed,” he said.

His initial investigation noted that the contractual agreement with Lane County directs how the EMS fund “drives what we do in terms of manpower.” For example: The targeted response time to an emergency call is 10 minutes, which means that a second ambulance and two trained people must be on standby.

Response time is critical, Cutchen said. The community, which has a number of elderly citizens, is located 42 miles from medical and hospital help in Eugene and Springfield.

“It doesn’t break even if your targeted response time to a trauma center is 45 minutes rather than three hours,” he said. “The ambulance service is really a county function, but if you turn it over to the county, the response time might be longer.” The city picks up the tab when people are unable to pay for the service. The basic rate for transporting a resident is $1,800 plus $25 per mile.

Dealing with this issue was a primary objective that Cutchen said he attempted to address.

However, he received pushback when other methods of solving the city’s financial shortfall were mentioned: a public safety levy to help fund EMS and police departments; abandoning the EMS operations and converting the fire department to a primarily volunteer operation.

Recent developments

The city council changed early in Cutchen’s tenure, and a majority of the members was more contentious when changes were proposed by the city manager and his staff. Recently, the council met in executive session and discussed not renewing Çutchen’s contract, which pays $92,330 annually. On two occasions, he turned down pay raises because of the city’s financial situation.

Business owners, civic leaders, professional people, retirees, neighbors — 22 people in all — later spoke out in a united call for keeping Cutchen as the city administrator.

“Technically, it wasn’t a firing,” Cutchen said. “Some members of the council did not agree with the public safety fee, which I had supported. Maybe it was a reaction to that. We don’t share the same vision, one that I could see.” So, Cutchen submitted his resignation effective Feb. 28, which is the day his contract ends.

The Cutchens’ plans for the near future

But this “old salt” who flew jets, worked in the Pentagon and retired as a two-star admiral, doesn’t expect to quit looking for opportunities to serve. Maybe do a bit of consulting.

“We intend to stay in Oakridge,” he said. His wife has become active in the Oakridge-Westfir arts community where she specializes in acrylic on glass painting and whose current art show can be viewed at the Palace Bakery in Eugene. “We love it here, and we love the people” she told council members Thursday night. “It’s one of the most welcoming places we’ve had in our 17 moves during the last 33 years.”

If Cutchen doesn’t continue to show up mornings at City Hall, don’t expect him to do any hobby flying because of its expense. “However, I like sailing, hiking, biking,” he said. “There’s plenty of recreation around here.”

And Oakridge is within striking distance of two children, both lieutenants, who represent the fourth generation of family Navy “salts.” Max, an engineering duty officer, is shipping out to Singapore, and Annie just won her wings as a helicopter pilot.

(Dean Rea is a former newspaper journalist and journalism educator who has covered the Lower 58 for the Herald as a volunteer reporter since the Highway 58 Herald was founded.)