Sisters city manager resigns

Sisters City Manager Eileen Stein resigned effective Monday, April 1, after serving 11 years in the position.

The city council voted 3-2 to accept Stein's resignation in a special meeting Monday morning. Mayor Brad Boyd, Council President McKibben Womack and Councilor Wendy Holzman voted in favor, while councilors David Asson and Catherine Childress voted against the motion to accept the resignation.

Mayor Brad Boyd indicated that Public Works Director Paul Bertagna will serve as pro tem city manager for the next several weeks until an interim manager can be identified and approved by the council. The process of finding a permanent replacement for Stein has not yet been identified.

In a prepared media release signed by both Mayor Brad Boyd and Stein, the former city manager said, "I am proud of our many achievements over the years in making Sisters a community of considerable distinction in the region and around the state. We couldn't have accomplished so much without such a dedicated and professional staff at city hall."

Mayor Boyd thanked Stein for "her contribution to the City of Sisters."

Each of the counselors declined to discuss any specific details of the events that led up to Stein's resignation.

However, in a prepared statement, leaked to The Bulletin on Saturday, Childress and Asson objected to both the process that led to Stein's resignation and to the expected acceptance of the resignation. Childress stated that Stein had been asked to resign because three of the councilors have lost confidence in her.

In a lengthy "open letter to the community" provided to The Nugget after the Monday special session, Asson and Childress amplified their objections to the process and their disagreement with the outcome. They cited a lack of transparency as their major bone of contention.

Childress told The Nugget, "The test of the leadership of the current administration will be the transparency of the process of selecting an interim and then a permanent replacement for Eileen, and then what moves are made to repair the relationships within the council."

According to the separation agreement, on April 1 the city paid Stein $75,523, representing 11 months of severance, plus $5,027 in accrued vacation time. The city will also cover Stein's health insurance for the next 11 months at a cost of $18,150. The severance package totals just under $100,000.

The agreement also includes a letter of recommendation signed by all five city councilors.

Stein's relations with different members of the city council have been rocky for some time. Three councilors moved to terminate her employment in January 2012, but backed away in the face of public criticism. There followed a mediation process designed to improve relations. Two of the councilors involved did not run for reelection and Womack and Boyd were elected in November 2012.

Stein took over as Sisters city manager on April 2, 2002. She and her family moved to Sisters from Springfield, where Stein served four-and-a-half years as a senior management analyst with the City of Springfield Public Works Department.