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Prineville Councilor Search Extended

PRINEVILLE, OR -- Prineville City Councilors continue to search for a replacement for Jack Seley who stepped down more than a month ago, after 10 years on Council. Mayor Betty Roppe had hoped to have a new Councilor seated by now.

 

But, Prineville City Manager Steve Forrester says initially, they only received two applications and one pulled out for health reasons just before the original deadline, prompting a deadline extension. "The one individual who declined at the last minute was fairly well known in the community," he tells KBND News. "And, I think a lot of people that were aware of that elected not to put their name in the hat because, ‘oh, this person’s in there and he’s good; he’ll do a great job.’ The Council made a decision to say, ‘hey look, with this particular person out some other people might want to step up and put their name in the hat.’ And that, in fact, has happened."
 
With that candidate's application withdrawn, Forrester says they now have three qualified people for consideration, "I’m happy to report, I think three very solid, qualified candidates – actually, we’ve had more than three. But, a couple of them were in the UGB so they weren’t inside the city limits, so they weren’t actually eligible." 
 
Forrester expects to see a few more applicants before the new deadline of October 19. "And then the Council will bring – at their discretion – but, I expect the Council will be bringing those applicants in for an interview. And, we’ve formed a committee for the application process that will bring back, after the interviews have been completed, a recommendation to Council." He hopes the new Councilor will be sworn in by early November.  

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