Oakridge Pro Tem City Administrator’s contract abruptly terminated at special meeting

By GEORGE CUSTER/Editor/The Herald  —  Last night, the Oakridge City Council voted to terminate interim City Administrator Kevin Cronin’s contract. The recording had not been made public by the time of publishing this article.

Meetings were held on short notice

The attorney for the City of Oakridge, Matt Dahlstrom, confirmed that Mr. Cronin was told that his services were no longer needed. Making no further comment, Mr. Dahlstrom referred The Herald to the publicly available recording of the meeting. The Herald checked the City’s website and official Facebook page, but there is no announcement posted for last night’s meetings. Also, the recording has not been released to the public.

However, there appears to be conflicting reports as to the type of meetings held and notification process required. The Herald was informed that postings of the special meeting and executive sessions were done on the city’s reader board outside of City Hall and at the Post Office.

Requirements for posting

The Herald was not able to cover the Special Session due to the minimally advertised meeting at such short notice. ORS192.640 stipulates noticing requirements for special, executive, and emergency sessions.

Attempts to contact Mayor Christina Hollett for comments were unsuccessful. City Council member Audy Spliethof was contacted by phone but declined comment on the vote to terminate Mr. Cronin. He did remark that the Council met in executive session and went into special session immediately afterwards.

Mr. Cronin had approximately six weeks remaining on his contract. He has not been able to be reached for comment at this time.

The replacement process for Mr. Cronin’s position has not been announced yet.

The Herald will update this story as more information becomes available.