By GARY CARL/for The Herald — On Tuesday, July 5, 2022, the Oakridge city council met in a closed executive session pursuant ORS 192.660 (2) (a) to consider the employment of a public officer, employee, staff member or individual agent.
Immediately following the Executive Session, the council adjourned to a “Special Session”. A motion was made by counselor Kinyon, seconded by counselor Coker, that the City of Oakridge hire James Cleavenger as our City Administrator beginning July 6, 2022.
Council members lauded the decision
All counselors weighed in. Counselor Kinyon said she was “excited about the council’s decision and was looking forward to the next step forward with our new City Administrator”. Councilor Hooker said hiring Mr. Cleavenger was a “good decision for our community”, and she believes he’ll do an excellent job. Hooker also said the hiring of Cleavenger followed a “good process”, although she did not say what that process was.
Mayor Hollett said James is a multi-faceted person; he has good knowledge of Oakridge and will “hit the ground running”. Hollett said Cleavenger loves this community.
Counselor Spliethof thanked Chief Martin for all the work he has done in filling in as our temporary city administrator.
Oakridge feels like home to Clevenger
In his brief remarks, City Administrator Cleavenger said he was proud and grateful to be selected as the new City Administrator. He said Oakridge feels like home to him. Cleavenger said he didn’t think the CA’s job would be easy. He is struck by the natural beauty here and thinks Oakridge is rich in diversity. It’s a very generous community and believes we can all work together for the common good.
Mr. Cleavenger intends to communicate with the people and towards that end he said he will be writing a weekly letter. While he initially indicated these letters would be posted on “Facebook”, he later, privately, assured the Highway 58 Herald that he would post his letters to the newspaper as well.
George Custer lives in Oakridge with his wife Sayre. George is a former smokejumper from his hometown of Cave Junction, a former captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. and ran a construction company in Southern California. George assumed the volunteer duties as the Editor of the Highway 58 Herald in 2022. He loves riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, building all things wood, and playing drums on the weekends in his office.
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