Enterprise won’t change form of government

Published 6:31 am Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Shifting city to strong mayor/manager system would require vote of the public

ENTERPRISE — The Enterprise City Council made no plans at its special meeting Monday, July 28, to change the city’s form of administration.

The proposal came during the regular July 14 council meeting when Councilor David Elliott said with city Administrator Lacey McQuead resigning at the end of the year, the city should consider changing from a weak mayoral system to a strong mayor/manager system type of governance. Elliott said such a change would allow the public to replace the mayor/manager at the ballot box if they felt he wasn’t doing an effective job.

Mayor Cody Lathrop at the time asked the councilors to research the issue.

Elliott said he is concerned about a lack of knowledge about city operations when McQuead leaves and reviewed the wealth of experience she had gained working under her predecessor, Michele Young. A strong mayor/manager could deal more effectively with the day-to-day operations of the city and the council members wouldn’t have to rely solely on reports from the administrator, as they do now.

Councilor Carl McFetridge compared the strong mayor/manager to the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners, saying they don’t really know what they’re getting into until elected to the position, which would be the same for a mayor/manager. But Councilor Eric Stangel disagreed, saying since the commissioners are part of a board that has assistants, but he used the example of having a neighbor run for the position with zero knowledge or the job, including the budget process, ultimately requiring the city to have an administrator to assist. This position would cause additional costs for the city.

Elliott disagreed, saying any candidate for the mayor/manager position would have to be semi-qualified if they are applying. He compared the process to that of the Wallowa County treasurer, who is in an elected position.

Stangel said he agrees with the current set-up of the city, noting as elected officials, the job of the council is to ensure that qualified candidates are interviewed, and a qualified candidate selected for the positions they hire.

Former Councilor Bruce asked the council what the benefit would be of making this transition. He explained his prior experience with the council and in the community, noting he does not want to see things go back to the way they were before, as the position became too powerful.

Councilor Jeff Yanke asked about the reason for the suggestion by Elliott. He reminded everyone the city has a balanced budget, passes all audits with flying colors, has employees who apply for grant funding and receive grants, and listed the departments. Yanke reviewed the efforts of McQuead, noting the work she does for the city. He stated her moving on doesn’t mean the city should start over from scratch trying to fix something that isn’t broken. Bringing in an individual under an existing system that works is not the same as starting over with something completely unproven.

Yanke said the limited number of individuals who run for the mayor’s position, he has concerns for qualified individuals through an election process. He called the discussion as bureaucratic overreach, again reiterating that the council is trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.

But McFetridge said the community should be given the option if they want to see change the system.

Stangel said he is opposed to this change. He explained that the current setup for city is how it should be. He said he does not believe the city could not elect someone without added administrative support.

He also said that a “strong mayor” would be someone with veto power over the council. He called that a huge detriment to the city.

Elliott noted while some councilors haven’t been on the council that long or lived in Enterprise that long, there were prior city administrators whose actions “almost destroyed” the city. He said McQuead has done a great job and gotten things straightened out.

Lathrop described both options as a “common sense approach” but changing the (government) structure would use a massive amount of administrative time and effort, and the city would end up in the exact spot it is in. He said the city is not in need of a change.

Yanke moved to maintain the city’s charter and government structure as they are and sustain the hiring process that is in progress.

The council will continue seeking candidates for the administrator position until they have three candidates. Elliott said he would like the entire council to be involved in hiring all employees.