When I posted the January City Council notes, I noted the controversy regarding the selection of Chris Piper to fill the vacant City Council seat that was opened by Sally Russell’s mayoral election win. In particular, not only was Piper not the top choice by any councilor for the position, his appointment was a surprise moved that stunned onlookers at the Council meeting on the 16th.

The Bulletin covered this reaction in the article about that meeting:

Disbelief swept through the Bend City Council chambers Wednesday night after the council voted 4-2 to appoint a white, Republican man to an open council seat over a young woman of color who garnered passionate community support and an older woman with government experience.

Chris Piper, the 51-year-old vice president of business development at the Cleveland, Ohio-based marketing company Proforma, will serve out the remaining two years of a council term that opened when Sally Russell won November’s mayoral election.

Piper does not have government experience, though he worked for George H.W. Bush’s presidential campaign while in college. And while he was Russell’s top choice Wednesday night, he wasn’t on her top three list two days earlier.

After the vote, Russell said she would prioritize diversity and inclusion when working on setting the City Council’s goals. Campbell laughed at this, and Bend resident and community activist Michael Funke shouted from the audience.

“You turned your back on the people of color in this community,” Funke yelled at Russell.

The Source has a good article digging into the other councilors’ responses to this appointment.

While I don’t have any information aside from what was published and/or made publicly available, my own reaction to the Piper appointment over every other preferred candidate was, it sure looks like there’s some sketchy under-the-table or backroom dealings going on. To paraphrase a quote I came across years ago, sometimes the appearance of impropriety is impropriety (that is, from the outside, there’s no perceived difference).

And, The Bulletin since posted a story digging deeper: Emails, texts reveal decision making process for new Bend councilor. Some great reporting here, and (back to that appearance of impropriety issue) it doesn’t appear to paint this situation in any better light. It might make it appear worse.

The Bulletin requested all emails and text messages received and sent by city councilors about the vacancy between Jan. 4, the day applications closed, and Jan. 16, the day of the final vote. During that period, nearly 40 people emailed all or some of the councilors to support Kerani Mitchell, a 33-year-old renter, woman of color and telecommuting accounting associate with extensive community experience.

While emails were flooding in about Mitchell, other conversations about Piper were happening behind the scenes Jan. 15 and 16. Text messages reflect conversations Russell had with former Mayor Oran Teater, Bend Chamber of Commerce President Katy Brooks, Chamber board President Vic Martinez and Karna Gustafson, vice president of government affairs for the Central Oregon Builders Association.

Martinez texted Russell the morning of Jan. 15, saying he knew the mayor would make a good decision in “someone who will support your vision and help develop your legacy.” He followed up a few hours later asking for Councilor Bruce Abernethy’s cellphone number, and said he would call Abernethy to advocate for Piper.

Martinez said he thought appointing Piper would keep the ideological pendulum of the City Council from swinging too far to the left.

“We just felt that Chris was probably the most experienced one and more of a moderate,” Martinez said. “We thought that Chris would be the most balanced one.”

Brooks, meanwhile, texted Russell and sent Goodman-Campbell an email advocating for Piper.

“Feedback from the Chamber Advocacy Council and board members was they were most impressed by Chris Piper,” Brooks wrote to Goodman-Campbell. “Seems like he has a good perspective that lends balance to the council, will be a productive member and an advocate for solving some of the growth-related issues. I know you were leaning toward Kerani, but our impression is that she may be an incredible asset in another capacity that is housing focused.”

Go and read the whole article. It’s notable that among the records of the public communications referenced, it appears that the only dissenting voices came from the Chamber of Commerce, the Central Oregon Builders Association, and the Central Oregon Association of Realtors, and former councilor Oran Teater. Intentional or not, the impression I get from that article is these organizations hold significant sway over City Council decisions, overriding public opinion and the councilors’ own top picks.

One thing made clear about all this, is the need for transparency in government, particularly at the local level. Good job on The Bulletin for obtaining and publishing these records.