In-house city manager candidate to test water after Caudle leaves Lowell for new challenge

By DEAN REA/for The Herald  —  A new city manager will move into City Hall next month in Lowell, a picturesque rural city of 1,200 people overlooking Dexter Reservoir on Highway 58.

Jeremy Caudle is moving to Dayton, a growing community of 2,600 southwest of Portland in Yamhill County, ending a four-year term during which Lowell completed the renovation of a former church building to serve as a library and city hall, upgraded city parks and promoted business development.

Max Baker, who has served the past decade as public works director, will spend the next several months exploring whether he wants to become Caudle’s permanent replacement.

“The city council decided to give Baker, who has voiced interest in the job, an opportunity for up to six months to find out if he wants to change jobs,” Mayor Don Bennett said during an interview. “Jeremy has done a great job,” the mayor said in citing Caudle’s role in completing the $700,000 project in which the city hall and library are now housed in the former church building on Pioneer Street.

Arranging financing and helping accomplish this project was the No. 1 objective of Caudle when he moved to Lowell from western Colorado where he worked as a county business manager.

“When I saw Lowell in this business setting and the hospitality of everyone I met, I was convinced that this was the perfect community for me and my family,” he said when he arrived in Lowell in January 2021.

He arrived with three cats and with his finance. They have resided in Eugene but have rented a house in Dayton, a growing city that offers what the 38-year-old Caudle considers new challenges, including upgrading the city hall.
Baker, who is 40, said he “loves the Lowell area” where he hunted and fished as a boy, now lives with his wife Cassidy, serves as the chair of the Lowell Rural Fire Protection District and has been the city’s public works director for a decade. He also has pinch hit as the city manager on short occasions.

He studied wastewater management systems in a number of major cities while participating in a state-sponsored program in Sweet Home. This training led to Baker being hired by Lowell where his department is responsible for drinking water, wastewater, storm water, parks and public facilities. That involves taking care of 10 miles of sewer lines, 9 miles of water lines and 9 miles of storm system lines.

While Baker toys with becoming the city manager, he will continue to lead a public works staff of three-and-a-half positions. Baker said he is pleased with the department’s “gold-star service” in delivering quality drinking water to residents and in treating wastewater.

The department saved the city money three years ago by changing water meters that are read by a staff member driving by rather than by being checked by an individual.

“As the public works director, I’ve prepared budgets and done much of the work of a city manager,” Baker said during an interview. “I’ll need some help in areas like Oregon budget law and audits, but I’ll have staff that I can rely on and resources like Jeremy to help me.

“I’m excited, nervous but optimistic,” he said.

Dean Rea is a retired University of Oregon journalism professor and a former Highway 58 Herald reporter.