Letter: Rookstool recall effort unfair, misguided

Published 6:15 am Thursday, November 23, 2023

To the Editor:

I would like to comment on the proposed recall of the John Day mayor.

For the last several years, I have either watched and listened to or attended the John Day City Council meetings. I have read every agenda and all of the attachments for every meeting.

What I have seen and heard from city employees, councilors, city staff and some people in the audience has been unbelievable at times. What I have seen firsthand is nothing less than bullying. The mayor is constantly being criticized for doing her job. There has been no city manager for several months, and the city would not have run if she wasn’t doing what she has been doing. She has been working with the city attorney and consultant to try to keep things moving forward.

It has become obvious with the formal complaint and now this recall effort that these people are desperately trying to make you think that the mayor is ruining the city. This is not what I am seeing.

What I am seeing is just the opposite. She is trying to save the city and it is an uphill battle, because the city is a mess due to no fault of the mayor. She and the city council are becoming more and more aware of how much of a mess it is at every meeting.

Before you support this recall effort, I hope you will watch or attend a meeting and see for yourself. Recalling someone just because you don’t like them is really not fair. Would you like to try to do what she is doing to save the city? Just ask her family how much fun it has been!

Tammy Bremner

Canyon City