Bradley Hale is given the oath of office by John Day City Manager Melissa Bethel following his appointment to the John Day City Council on Oct. 22, 2024. 

JOHN DAY — For the first time in over a year, the John Day City Council is back to full strength, with six councilors and a mayor.

At the council’s Tuesday, Oct. 22, meeting, Bradley Hale was appointed to fill the council seat vacated when Sherrie Rininger was appointed mayor in September.

The appointment wasn’t without controversy, however, as there are just two weeks left until a general election that could see three new faces elected to the council.

Councilors Chris Labhart and Dave Holland objected to the move, saying that the council had told the public that any appointments would be delayed until after the election is over and the new council is seated.

Labhart pointed out that the number of appointed councilors now far outstrips the number elected by the voters because of resignations and the recall of former Mayor Heather Rookstool in January. Holland echoed Labhart’s concerns, adding that only he and Ron Philips are elected members of the council while everyone else has been appointed.

“This council told the public one thing, then they went against that,” Holland said at the meeting. “Now they have an opportunity to at least partially stick with that, and if you choose not to, you have the controlling vote.”

In February, when Rininger and other Rookstool supporters on the council had the votes to appoint a new mayor of their choosing, Rininger proposed putting an advisory question on the ballot in November, when three of the seven council seats would also be up for election. The voters could state their preference for mayor, and the newly elected council could make the appointment after the first of the year.

The proposal was thought to be an “olive branch” that would hopefully lead to a spirit of compromise on the often-divided council.

But a second recall effort targeting Rininger and two of her allies on the council — Phillips and Eric Bush — threw that compromise into disarray. After that recall campaign failed, the targeted councilors pushed through the appointment of Rininger as mayor and Hale to fill her former seat.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Bush reiterated a statement he made when Rininger was appointed mayor, noting that elections have consequences.

“I was really hopeful that that olive branch back in (February) was going to result in some unity,” Bush said. “What it did was it resulted in a recall election of three members of this council — and the citizens saw right through it.”

The vote to appoint Hale to the council passed 6-1, with Holland voting “no.” Prior to the vote, Holland made clear that he has no personal issue with Hale but does have a problem with the process taken in appointing him to the council.

Hale was the only applicant for the seat that was left vacant with the appointment of Rininger to the role of mayor.

Hale, who was a member of John Day’s budget and planning committees, resigned from those positions following his appointment.