Dean Bunkers has resigned for "health reasons."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011023131_apwaoceanshoresmayor.html

Is Ocean Shores really in Grays Harbor?

At least until the next great Tsunami to strike the coast.

According to the DW article, Mayor Bunkers "appointed" Police/Fire Chief Mike Styner to act as "chief executive officer" until someone is appointed to fill the vacancy. Only in Ocean Shores would they appoint a city employee to act as Mayor. I can't wait to see if they expect Mike to sign contracts, ordinances, etc. on behalf of the City. By state law, the mayor (in a mayor/council form of government) is the chief executive officer of the city.

The other issue is whether Mike will be paid the mayor's salary of approximatley $100,000 per year, or his own salary as Police Chief.

Actually, I would see the issue being whether the Mayor has the authority to appoint his successor, and/or if the Council will step up and assert its authority. Imagine if Mayor Durney had announced he is resigning effective immediately and has appointed Chief Myers, or Volkers, or the City Attorney as the Acting Mayor. Do you think the City Council would sit back and say "Well, ok." Or would they step up and say, "Excuse me, Mr. Mayor?", "We don't think so."

I wonder if Ocean Shores has a Council President. I wonder if the Council President understands his/her role?

The city attorney would be okay

You make a good point. The council can override anything the mayor does as soon as his resignation takes effect.

Another issue is the fact that a city employee cannot legally hold elective office in the city. Remember when Mike Rand was on the city council, and had to resign so that he could take a job with the Hoquiam Parks Department?

Yep. I remember. That was back when the Class of '73 really ruled.:)

Councilmember Hurd wanted to be the forester for a while, too. When he was finally no longer a councilmember, he eventually became the City Forester... and by all accounts, a reasonably good one, too.

Since when in the last few years has Ocean Shores let a silly little thing like state law get in the way of a decision.

Doesn't OS employ a city attorney? Or is it the city officials don't ask for her or his opinion before violating the law?

The city attorney with whom I worked off and on for twenty five years wasn't shy at all of calling a time out to explain to the mayors and councils why what they were proposing was not legally defensible.

Generally the elected officials had the good sense to heed his advice.

For a few years, Ocean Shores had a full-time city attorney. When she left about two years ago, they went back to having a part-time contract city attorney. It was Doug Lewis for awhile, and then he had enough and they retained Art Blauvelt. The problem is, I don't believe that they pay him to go to all of the meetings. He is kind of "on-call." Art is a smart guy, but I get the impression that Ocean Shores does a lot of things without consulting him at all. I guess their philosophy is that if they don't hear the city attorney's advice, they don't have to heed it.

Thanks for the perspective.

I have worked with both Doug and Art, and have great respect for both.

You're welcome, Turnow. I also have great respect for Doug and Art, as well as Dan Glenn, whom I assume you were referring to earlier. Dan is like the Everready Bunny. He has survived so many mayors in so many cities that it is unbelievable

I was indeed referring to Dan, whom I admire greatly, and whose ethics are above reproach. Likewise Doug and Art.

Having observed Dan at hundreds of council meetings, almost without exception he has enjoyed the respect and trust of all those different mayors and councilpersons, even though he always gave it to them straight.

Years ago my sister brought out the 1963 Jefferson Jr. High (Olympia) annual, and as I leafed through it there I found a young Dan Glenn in the faculty photo. I had left Jefferson in Nov. 1962 so had no idea that he'd taught there. He taught English, I think, for a year or two before going to law school.

He and I, though residing on different sides of the political center, developed a close relationship over the years, with him often jabbing at my political ideals and me jabbing back. He also produced a couple of overly complimentary, appropriately humorous council resolutions noting a couple of my resignations, copies of which I retain today.

I just love the guy.

BTW I attended Lewis and Clark in 1968 and 1969, which is, I think about the time the law school was under development.

Ditto that.

"Above reproach" is exactly right. Besides that, he's from Satsop.

Indeed. I remember many occasions when he launched into his "I'm only a farm boy from Satsop" routine and knowing whomever he was addressing should better watch out.

I attended Lewis and Clark Law School from 1976 to 1979. The law school at one time was called Northwestern School of Law and was in an office building in downtown Portland. It became a part of Lewis and Clark College at about the time you mentioned and was moved to a separate campus which was built a short distance away from the undergraduate campus.

As I recall the L & C law school campus was under construction when I was there. Some of us engaged in a bit of harmless mischief at the construction site.

Being one myself, he had to use a different tack.

... but the result was the same.

Yeah, I always called BS when he tried it on me, after I came to understand it was a routine, that is.

Mike is the acting mayor until the City Council appoints a new mayor. If that person is from the Council, he or she must remove him or herself from the Council and a new council person appointed again by the Council. The appointed mayor and councilperson will fill out the terms of those they replaced. Hope this clears up a kind of murky situation

Actually, it doesn't clear it up at all. Are you suggesting the Ocean Shores Ordinances don't take into account the loss of a Mayor mid-term? I'd be willing to bet the ordinances say the Council President shall act as Mayor. If they don't, they should. If Mayor Bunkers would have died rather than resigned, how would he have personally named his successor?

It's just odd that an employee... an appointed employee... is serving as mayor while the elected officials figure out what to do. But, then it IS Ocean Shores.

It sounds as though perhaps the matter is simply an inappropriate use of the term "mayor" relative to Mike temporarily assuming executive functions of the city. He may be acting as the mayor, but is not the acting mayor.

It would seem to me, the actual "Acting Mayor" which, if their Ordinances are written properly, would most likely be the Council President, would make the decision about who handles "executive functions".

Well. Hit me with a stupid stick! I just had the wild idea to check the Ocean Shores Website and look at their ordinances. It seems they have no succession rules. There is no "Mayor Pro Tem" or ordinances for what happens if the Mayor dies in office.

Yumpin' Yiminy! Whodathunkit?

Yeah I also checked out the city code. I also checked the RCWs.

RCW



Normal city councils elect a mayor pro tem in case there should be such an eventuality.

I would argue that once Dean Bunkers left office, Ocean Shores had no Mayor, or "acting Mayor." They are essentially without an executive officer. I can't figure out why the city council didn't have a special meeting, if necessary, and elect one of its member to act as Mayor Pro Tem until they officially appoint "a qualified person to fill the vacant position." Instead, the city council seems to be accepting Mr. Bunker's "appointment" of the Police Chief to act as Mayor. That indicates to me that none of them have what it takes to be Mayor.

Ha! Touche.

This being Ocean Shores, we march to a different drummer. In the last 20 yrs I have lived here the Police chief acted as city manager under the Council City Manager form of government. Under the new form, Mike took the position until a new Mayor could be named Garland French is the Mayor pro tem and is a likely candidate for Mayor. Like Paris Hilton, Ocean Shores always seems to be in the spotlight. At the Council meeting tonight a Mayor may be named although there is a 90 day period in which to do so. Stay tuned

What does the "different drummer" think "pro tem" means?

That's fine so long as the drummer city officials, both elected and appointed, march to is consistent with the law.

The definition of pro tem is "for the time being; temporary 0r temporarily"Perhaps its a matter of semantics, but it means that the Council will still appoint someone to the position, It does not insure that person will be the Mayor pro tem. The Mayor pro tem acts for the mayor in his absence or if he is incapacitated not permanently.

The second Mayor Bunker's resignation took effect, the position was vacant and the Mayor pro tem would act as Mayor until the Council made a permanent decision.

The Chief acting as the City Manager by direction of the Coucil-elected Mayor, is light years from the Chief acting as Mayor by direction of the outgoing Mayor while the Mayor pro tem sitting around twiddling his/her thumbs.

But, it is Ocean Shores.

As it relates to city government "Pro tempore" is a legal term. Stash is exactly right as to normal cit governments, which, of coiusre does not include Ocean Shores.

Of course I suppose one can not reasonably expect normal city government, conducted in accordance with the law, when its management is drawn from a population of folks who thought it prudent to buy property on an eroding sand spit which will be over run by the next tsunami.

Just a point, Mayor Bunkers was not elected by the Council, but ran for Mayor in an election and was elected by the people

What is your point?

And the Councilmember selected as Mayor Pro-tem was elected by the people, too.

This is all true, but he was not elected Mayor Pro Tem by the people. I don/t want to get into a contest of words here. I was at the Council meeting when Dean resigned and I am simply repeating what I heard. Since our City Attorney was present and agreed with the proceedings I assumed them to be correct

What Stash was saying is that when Mike Wilson, the former Police Chief, was appointed to act as interim City Manager by the City Council, Ocean Shores had a Manager/Council form of government. It was okay for an appointed city official to serve in another appointed official capacity. But now Ocean Shores has a Mayor/Council form of government. State law does not allow an appointed city official, or for that matter, any city employee, to serve in an elected official capacity in the same city. You can be either a city employee, or an elected official, but not both at the same time.

Ocean Shores is new to the Strong Mayor form of government. That all of the i's and t's haven't been dotted or crossed is somewhat understandable.

With a Mayor/Council, when functioning properly, safeguards are put in place. The elected members of Council select a "Mayor Pro-Tempore", usually the Council President, to function in the absense of the Mayor.

If the Mayor gets the flu and can't make the meeting or needs to be at the hospital with a sick relative or takes a well-deserved vacation to Hawaii, the "Mayor Pro-tempore" steps in and fulfills the function. He/she fills that function completely. Meaning, he can sign checks, run meetings, etc. For all I know they can make appointments and fire staff. Of course the Mayor could re-hire the fired employee as soon as he returns. I'm not sure if they could recind the appointment.

The Mayor Pro-Temp also functions as the Mayor in the event of a death or resignation. It's like the Vice-President in our Federal system or the Lt. Governor in our State system.

I am surprised the attorney hasn't addressed this with ordinances before this and that he would give the advice he's given in this situation.

That being said, this wouldn't be the first time I was wrong if there is another legal way... like the one the City of Ocean Shores seems to think is ok.

I'm hoping what really happened is that Bunkers said, "Mike, help with the day to day stuff while the Mayor gets his feet under him or makes a change."

But, the "Mayor Pro Tempore" is the Mayor and the Police Chief answers to him unless Ocean Shores is even more screwed up than people think.