JOHN DAY — After months of disagreement over how to fill its lone open seat, the John Day City Council is back up to full strength after the appointment of former John Day Mayor and Councilor Chris Labhart on April 11.

The council also voted to join Regional Rural Revitalization Strategies Consortium, or R3, a partnership with the cities of Lakeview and Burns.

Labhart was voted onto the council by a 5-1 tally, with council President Dave Holland casting the only “no” vote.

Labhart finds himself back on the John Day City Council following a short hiatus from the body after newly elected councilors were sworn into office on Jan. 10. He lost his seat in the last election, but will now fill the position created when Heather Rookstool moved from the position of city councilor to assume the duties of mayor.

The appointment of Labhart brings an end to uncertainty surrounding who would finish the remainder of Rookstool’s unexpired council term. The body had been deadlocked since the Jan. 10 city council session over choosing a replacement.

Two rounds of voting led to 3-3 ties between John Meiling and Shannon Adair, with lengthy discussions regarding how to break that deadlock.

Labhart said he wasn’t approached by anybody in an effort to get him to consider taking the appointment, stating he just threw his name into the fray and waited to see where things would wind up. Labhart stressed that he has no agenda in taking the position, instead describing himself as someone willing to listen to all sides.

“I’m just a moderate that listens to both sides and goes with the facts and votes for the best for the people of John Day,” he said.

“I don’t know how I’m going to vote,” Labhart added. “I think that’s why they chose me.”

Labhart said his hope is that people will just give the city a chance to see how the policies and initiatives put in place by the previous council will work out.

“We’ve got some things in the process now, and I want to take a look at what we’ve got planned and whether it’s a good idea or not,” he said.

A high priority for Labhart is getting the new sewage plant up and running, something that has been years in the making.

“I wish we could get that done quicker, but … it’s not the city’s fault, it’s all the rules and regulations that we have to go by,” he explained.

Labhart said he wasn’t involved in any of the initiatives former City Manager Nick Green launched during his six years in the job, giving him an unbiased mindset as he serves on the council.

“I come in with an open book,” he said. “I look at (city projects) and I don’t know if they’re good or bad, other than the sewer plant, but I’m going to take a look at them.”

Labhart will serve the remaining two years of Rookstool’s city council term.

Council votes to join R3 agreement

At the same meeting, the John Day City Council voted 6-0 to join the long-proposed R3 intergovernmental agreement with Burns and Lakeview after a number of lingering issues with the original agreement were resolved.

The first and most pressing issue involved what it took to leave the agreement as previously proposed. Voluntary withdrawal from the agreement used to be a lengthy process, with requests to leave needing to be received no less than six months before the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Now a 30-day notice of intent to withdraw is all it takes to leave.

Any financial decisions made by R3 which could affect a city’s budget in any way need a unanimous vote from the R3 board along with passage in that city’s city council before moving forward under the revised plan. Any major decisions, including a vote for the R3 managing director, need unanimous passage by the R3 board to go into effect as well.

The mission of R3 has changed from sharing heavy equipment like snowplows and chip sealers among the three partner cities to addressing housing shortages in rural Oregon communities. House Bill 3138, which has been introduced in the Oregon Legislature, would fund R3 to the tune of $30 million.

There are whispers of other communities wanting to join the R3 agreement. The R3 agreement would be limited to just five cities in total, although cities from all around Oregon could potentially access some of that $30 million in funds for their own projects with the approval of the R3 board.