Benny Westcott
At the July 25 city council meeting at City Hall, councilors and staff honored volunteers who have helped with the Paint the Town project currently underway in Sweet Home.
City Manager Kelcey Young gave out prizes including a city racquetball membership and free camping at Quarry Park to Robert Egner, Councilor Lisa Gourley, and Valerie Antonio.
Young said Gourley has been out there every single day, working on three different buildings just in the first weekend.
The city manager said Antonio was also there every day, arriving before any of the crews got there and staying “pretty much until we were done.”
“She volunteered to do all the nasty paint clean up jobs,” Young said. “She never stopped smiling. It was hot. It was kind of rough, honestly. But Valerie was just amazing and never, ever stopped. Even with any type of personal difficulties, she got herself there. She did everything. I think Valerie is a perfect example of the heart of this community and project.”
Young said that about six buildings had been painted through two weekends. She thanked Miller Paint and Fitzpatrick Painting in addition to the volunteers.
“There are so many people who really have shown up and made such a difference,” Young said.
Also at the meeting, councilors and staff bid farewell to Administrative Services Manager Julie Fisher, who worked for the city for almost 12 years. Fisher has accepted a job as city recorder for the city of Lebanon.
Fisher was initially hired as the city’s planning assistant in August 2012. In that role, she supported the planning commission, ran a summer recreation program, oversaw the Harvest Festival, and initiated the creation of the Sweetheart Run.
In April of 2015 she was promoted to administrative assistant to the city manager, and in 2021 her position was reclassified as administrative services manager and she took on additional HR duties.
She was with the city through the transition of three city managers, making sure that “all the essential things that needed to get done got done while we were transitioning.” Of all her duties, it was in that role that she saw herself being the biggest aid to the city.
“There are things that I did that were way more fun, but that was probably what I felt I did that was the most important, helping that office keep going in the absence of a city manager,” she said.
Fisher, who lives in Brownsville, looks forward to her new job as city recorder for Lebanon. “Once I started working in the city manager’s office I realized that’s really what I wanted to do and that’s the part of the job that I loved,” she said.
Mayor Susan Coleman said that the city will be searching for someone to fill Fisher’s “large shoes.” The mayor noted her “dedication to details and dedication to being kind and responsive to people.”
“You have had everybody’s back,” she added. “Character is what comes to mind when I think of you.”
Young said, “In talking about Julie, people keep talking about her sense of humor, grace, fun positive attitude, and professionalism. She has made a huge impact for me, and has absolutely eased my transition and I’m extremely grateful to her.
President Pro Tem Greg Mahler said, “When you say pride in ownership, she’s got it. She’s done a lot, not only for the city but for us councilors. Whenever we’ve had meetings she’s rolled out the red carpet for us. She’s always prepared and has always done a phenomenal job. She has been a rock for the city staff and council.”
Councilor Dave Trask said, “She has been a very big thing for us, the way she ran things and kept it going.”
Gourley said “She hit the ground running when she took that job, and she’s been doing it ever since. She does it and keeps doing it, and she’s on top of it. Very, very professional.”
Fisher herself said, “When you put so much time into a place, it becomes your second home and second family. That’s how I feel about the staff here at the city, and I’m definitely going to miss my place here.”
In other action, the council:
-Conducted the first and second reading of an ordinance amending various portions of Sweet Home Municipal Code Title 17, after city staff identified errors to be corrected for defensibility and clarity of the code, according to Community and Economic Development Director Blair Larsen.
“The vast majority of the amendments that are identified here are correcting errors that we found after we passed our new development code,” Larsen said. “Many of them are relatively minor.”
In addition, the amendments include land-use regulation of adult-oriented businesses, which the code defines as “establishments that provide sexually oriented entertainment, services or products. … Types of uses include, but are not limited to, adult motion-picture theaters, video arcades, massage parlors, nude modeling studios, lotion studios, adult bookstores, adult paraphernalia shops, nude photography studios, or eating and drinking establishments that have sexually oriented entertainment such as nude dancers, strippers, or other similar entertainers.”
The ordinance makes such businesses conditional use, limiting them to the city’s industrial zone, with at least 500 feet between the businesses and schools, parks, churches and residential zones.
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