EDITOR’S NOTE: Rockaway Beach Mayor Charles McNeilly provided a report about the city’s recent lawsuit in which the judge decided in favor of the City. One of the plaintiffs, Justin McMahan, also a candidate for Rockaway Beach City Council, responded to the Mayor’s report with his “side of the story” which include some inaccuracies and false information. Here is another Rockaway Beach citizen’s opinion, that’s fact-based, explains the process, and provides an unbiased view.
By Sandra Johnson
I believe that citizens have a right to participate in local government and to be informed in advance of issues to be addressed and provided the basis for decisions that are being made. I also believe that citizens should be told the truth and should have the right to participate in fair elections. Contrary to a recently published letter by Rockaway Beach City Council candidate Justin McMahan, I find the City of Rockaway Beach to be a community where my beliefs are promoted, local government transparency exists, and community engagement is encouraged.
I am a citizen of Rockaway Beach who, unlike Mr. McMahan, regularly attends City Council Workshops and City Council Meetings. I review the agendas and Council documentation that is made easily available to the public many days in advance of the meetings. I also volunteer to serve on City commissions and committees. I have no local political agenda other than supporting an Administration, Mayor and City Council that will work hard to make my community a safe, enjoyable, fiscally sound, and functional place that I can be proud of.
As a retired attorney, when I read information I ask myself “where is the evidence to support that information?” When I read the letter of Mr. McMahan, wherein he makes unsubstantiated allegations about an illegal election process, injustices, and closed door orchestrations, I hoped that all readers would also ask, “where is the evidence for those statements?” None was provided in the letter, as none exists.
Addressing the issue of Rockaway Beach’s election process, I recall that there were at least two City Council Workshops and a City Council Meeting this year where the issue of Rockaway Beach’s election process was discussed. These January and February public meeting recordings, documents and minutes can be found on the City’s website (corb.us). The County Clerk personally attended the January Workshop and discussed the City’s current use of position numbers, which has been used since at least 2014. All in attendance agreed that they wanted to make sure that the City was acting in accordance with Oregon law. (1/10/24 City Council Workshop video at 13:56)
A draft ordinance was included in the January Workshop Agenda Packet at page 2 and was available to the public in advance. That draft ordinance, which codified the City’s current procedure, was reviewed and discussed (at 15:42). It was confirmed by the Mayor that the draft ordinance “replicates what we currently do” (at 17.16). At that workshop, the City Manager was directed to consult with legal counsel to ensure that the current procedure and ordinance “is the best legal way” to proceed. (at 14:49).
The Workshop Minutes for the February 14th meeting confirm that the City Manager reported that he had consulted with legal counsel as directed and was advised that the current process using position numbers is legal and that other cities in Oregon also use this process. The draft ordinance was included with the Board packet, once again available for public access, before the February 14th meeting. (Agenda Packet p. 75.) Mr. McMahan did not appear and speak in opposition to the ordinance, nor did anyone else. The ordinance, which expressly requires the City’s Nominating Petition form to “specify the office and position for which the candidate is filing” was passed by a unanimous vote of the City Council (2/14/24 City Council meeting video at 2:24). Clearly, contrary to Mr. McMahan’s inflammatory rhetoric, the City Administration, Mayor and Council acted in good faith and in a transparent manner to ensure that the City is conducting its elections in accordance with Oregon law. The ordinance did nothing more and changed nothing in the way elections have been conducted for the past decade.
Addressing the issue of Mr. McMahan’s lawsuit, when I read the Petition filed with the Court, I got the impression that no one had advised Mr. McMahan’s attorney about the ordinance that had been ratified by the City Council in February. In light of that properly enacted ordinance, Mr. McMahan’s Petition lacked a viable basis. It was no surprise to me that the Tillamook Circuit Judge ruled in the City’s favor. Despite Mr. McMahan’s spinning of “his story,” the bottom line is, the Court found no legal grounds to issue an order demanding that the City change its election process, as Mr. McMahan and his co-Petitioner had sought. The “political storm that has shaken our town” which he “found [himself] thrust into,” was caused by Mr. McMahan and a very small group of collaborators. Hopefully now that the Court has ruled and the community can proceed with its legal election process, the voters will look for the truth, reject inflammatory rhetoric and lies, and vote accordingly.
