JOHN DAY — Two hours. That’s how long the John Day City Council spent discussing how to fill the vacant council position during the body’s Tuesday, Jan. 24, meeting, and it is still no closer to filling the seat than it was following the previous council session two weeks earlier.

Both the Jan. 10 and the Jan. 24 vote resulted in a 3-3 deadlock. One voting bloc is composed of council holdovers Elliot Sky, Katrina Randleas and Dave Holland, while the other is made up of newcomers Sherrie Rininger and Ron Philips along with Mayor Heather Rookstool.

The returning councilors maintained their support for former Councilor Shannon Adair, with all three voting for her appointment. Rookstool and the newly seated councilors all voted to appoint Jon Meiling.

Much of the discussion at the second meeting echoed the main points raised during the first: Adair is under investigation by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, and Meiling is accused of lacking the public service experience most appointees have before stepping into the role of city councilor.

There were some new allegations leveled against both Adair and Meiling, however.

Rininger criticized Adair’s efforts as the liaison between businesses and the city council. Rininger stated that Adair was not pleased with the answer business owners gave to the question of whether they wanted food carts at the Pit Stop, so she distributed a survey in order to obtain the result she wanted.

Rininger also accused Adair of stating that she had ideas that would benefit local businesses following a conference she attended on the Oregon coast and subsequently not sharing that info with John Day business owners. Rininger ended by saying, “I don’t feel she’s been a good representative for everyone.”

Criticism of Meiling’s candidacy started with Randleas, who said she’d made some concerning discoveries on Meiling’s personal Facebook page. Randleas alleged that Meiling had instructed community members to “bombard and overwhelm” city staff with phone calls about various things and questioned whether somebody who would do that should be appointed to a position where they would need to work closely with city staff.

Holland alleged he was the victim of a months-long internet harassment campaign by Meiling surrounding Holland’s treatment of then-Councilor Rookstool during the council session in which she announced she’d inquired about the possibility a $2 million alternative to the $6 million pool proposal. Holland stated Meiling demanded a public apology and that Meiling’s emails to him grew increasingly hostile once Holland made it clear he would not apologize.

Adair defended herself against Rininger’s allegations, stating that she circulated the survey because not all local business owners were present when she asked the question about food carts at the Pit Stop.

Adair also clarified her role as the council’s business liaison in an interview with the Blue Mountain Eagle, saying she’d intended to have monthly meetings to discuss ways to move businesses forward but enthusiasm for that idea among business owners had fizzled out.

Adair said the first meeting was well attended but nobody came to subsequent meetings, so she opted to scrap the idea of monthly meetings. Adair stated she was always willing to share information with businesses but the business community may not have been ready for monthly meetings.

Meiling did not address the council in response to any of the allegations made against him at the Jan. 24 council session.

In an interview with the Blue Mountain Eagle, however, Meiling hit back at assertions that he doesn’t have the public service experience to fill the vacant council seat, pointing to his work with search and rescue and his time as the marshal of Mt. Vernon.

“They keep saying I have no community experience. (But) being a town marshal for no pay and being a volunteer on search and rescue with no pay, that certainly qualifies for their argument (Tuesday) night,” he said.

“Every one of those people who are on that panel, at one time or another had no experience before they were put on the council. What’s the difference between them and me?”

Arguments in favor of appointing both Adair and Meiling were also scrutinized at the council session. The desire to return Adair to the council due to her institutional knowledge was challenged by Rininger, who said that one individual’s appointment would not make or break the group, a sentiment Sky agreed with.

Those backing Meiling’s appointment to the empty council seat argue that the community wants change, as shown by the November election. But while voters did elect two new councilors and a new mayor, a close look at the tally points to an almost evenly divided community.

In the lead-up to the election, those seeking office in John Day campaigned in two groups. Rookstool, Philips and Rininger ran on a platform of bringing change to city government, while Adair, Randleas and former Mayor Ron Lundbom promised stability and continuity.

Combined vote totals of the individuals who campaigned together and appeared on the ballot in November paint a picture that is much more blurry than simply saying the community voted for change.

The coalition of Philips, Rininger and Rookstool wound up with 1,247 votes altogether, while Randleas, Adair and Lundbom garnered 1,222.

As it stands now, the effort to appoint a seventh council member has been tabled once again and won’t be taken up again until the Feb. 28 city council session. The council unanimously agreed that no vote will be taken to fill the vacant seat without all six current council members present.