Camas, WA — Camas City Council member Steve Hogan announced Thursday he’s running for Camas Mayor following this week’s abrupt resignation of the city’s former chief executive, Barry McDonnell.

Hogan, who’s served on council for 16 years, and has 30 years of managerial experience, said he’s well qualified for the position.

“I am running to help stabilize our city government,” said Hogan. “I believe in preserving and improving our Camas heritage of being a city that prides itself on a strong city government, outstanding school system and a high quality of life. I support the vision of Camas as a place where people who live in Camas, work in Camas. We need to do what we can to assure that we grow at a rate that is sustainable. As a city, we have prided ourselves on good financial management. We need to have balanced financial strength in the future while sustaining our high quality of life. I have pride in knowing that Camas is, has been and will be a great place to live, work and play.”

Hogan acknowledges the challenges of the last 14 months given the pandemic, and expresses gratitude to McDonnell.

“I want to thank Barry for stepping up and leading the city in a troubled time during COVID,” he said. “He changed staff and dealt with other pressing issues. He took care of them. Thank you very much.”

Hogan stands on his record of “hundreds of votes” and support of many initiatives, which currently include working to clean up of local lakes.

“Let’s figure out what needs to be fixed at City Hall so people can feel good about their jobs as soon as possible,” said Hogan. “I’m here to serve, I’ve been in government and worked in the private sector for 30 years in industrial management — in steel, wood, and recycled paper.”

He said the city has a “great history and huge potential and we just have to improve the communication of what is taking place, and make sure that the whole organization is working together effectively.” 

“The local organizations, such as the Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Camas Association, and others, all need to know we’re here to help them be successful and have our city be successful. It’s worked well in the past. Now that COVID is turning the corner we can get back to more normal circumstances and work with community. It’ll be better to have open meetings.” 

Hogan officially applied for the mayor position by mail, and hasn’t decided whether to apply for a council appointment or just run for citywide election in November.

He stands on his vote to have citizens vote on Proposition 2, the pool bond. “I felt the process was rushed and my advice was to wait and do more research. Then Mayor Turk wanted council to vote on whether to build the community center and I felt it should be decided by the voters. Personally, I was against building the community center.”

The Lacamas Watershed Ad Hoc Committee is working with Senator Ann Rivers, Rep. Larry Hoff, and Rep. Brandon Vick to obtain grant money to start the process to improve water quality at Lacamas, Round, and Fallen Leaf Lakes. 

“We are in the process of presenting staff the consulting group,” he said. “When approved, this will get to where we have a defined program on how we work on water quality. We are also working with the Clark County Health Department and the city storm water department.”

Hogan’s other work includes:

• Member of the Board of Directors of the Columbia River Economic Development Council 
• Member of the Camas Washougal Rotary Club
• Downtown Camas Economic Vitality committee member
• Mayor Pro Tem position (2014 and 2017)
• Past President of the Camas Educational Foundation

Hogan and his family have lived in Camas for 27 years. 

Camas, WA — Late this afternoon, Camas Mayor Barry McDonnell resigned from his position effective immediately. He notified staff via email.

“While we’re surprised and saddened to see Mayor McDonnell step down from the role, we understand this is a personal decision between him and his family,” said Bryan Rachal, City of Camas Communications Director. “We appreciate the leadership Mayor McDonnell has provided the City and wish him the best in his future endeavors.  In terms of next steps, the City does have a process to fill vacancies of this nature and we will provide additional information related to this in the coming days.  In the meantime, Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Burton will assume the duties of Mayor of the City of Camas.”

This is the email the former mayor sent out this afternoon:

My fellow Camasonians:

Over the last few months, it has become clear to me that the needs of this Council, City and community are such that balancing a full-time job and family, while running the day-to-day operations as Mayor in our form of government is not sustainable for me. 

This job has taken up so much of my physical and emotional presence with my rapidly growing children, and I find myself missing out on more of their young lives than I am comfortable with.

After discussing with my wife and family, it is with a heavy heart that, effective today, I am resigning as your Mayor. This is solely a personal decision and I have full confidence in the City’s leadership team. I am leaving you in the capable hands of Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Burton.

It has been a privilege to work with the City’s staff – they are the secret of Camas’ success.

I want to thank our department heads for the faith they placed in me, their loyalty and most importantly, their friendship.

I want to thank Jamal Fox for being my right-hand man the last 9 months. It has been a pleasure getting to know him and I have a great appreciation for the amount of work he has done in tightening up our operations.

I also want to thank the citizens of Camas for giving me the opportunity to take the lead in our community. My greatest hope is that this run has inspired some of you to stand up and make a difference for what you believe in too.

In October 2019, I rolled the dice as a write in Mayor and took winning as an extraordinary honor. It was a historical opportunity and a huge challenge, and I am proud of what we accomplished together and that I was able to help lead this City through 2020.

I evolved my personal mantra of “love, peace and harmony” to a platform of Land, People, and Honesty and infused it into our bi-annual budget and how we approached our work. 

I have been able to serve 50 percent longer than the previous mayor’s turn, but 50 percent less than Oliver T. Clark, Camas’ forgotten mayor.

I have done my best and followed where the universe led. I am proud of my time in office, and I thank you for the chance to serve.

With gratitude,

Barry McDonnell

Mayor Pro Tem Burton is in meetings and she will provide an update at a later time.

McDonnell’s short political career began in 2019 as a write-in on the wave of the anti-Prop. 2 pool campaign. He told Lacamas Magazine he didn’t think he’d win, but rather wanted to make a statement. He took office in late November 2019 and he oversaw the struggles of the pandemic and the impacts it had on the city.

Gresham, OR — Gresham Mayor Travis Stovall said today his city council selected Nina Vetter, a city administrator from Colorado to take over as city manager this June.

Vetter, who has worked in local and federal government for a dozen years, made the cut from a search that included 37 candidate applications. 

“After thoughtfully considering the priorities of our Council, the needs of our employees, and the input from the community, we believe that Ms. Vetter’s skills will be critical to moving us forward,” Stovall stated in today’s news release.

Camas City Administrator Jamal Fox, who’s been in this position since August 2020, was a top three finalist for the Gresham city manager position. Camas Communications Director Bryan Rachal said Fox has been pursued by multiple municipalities in recent months.

Fox, along with Vetter, and Patrick Quinton, a former director of Prosper Portland, made their case to Gresham City Council on April 21. Council made their deliberations and the decision was announced today.

Fox was hired by Camas Mayor Barry McDonnell after an 8-month search to succeed former city administrator, Pete Capell, who ran mill town 2013-2019.

“Knowing what type of leader Jamal is, we completely understand why. Jamal’s skills, talent and leadership have been much appreciated and they have been an important part of the success the City has experienced during the pandemic. While we are saddened to possibly lose Jamal to another city, we’re also excited for the opportunity for him and his family,” Rachal said. 

It’s unclear at this time what the status is regarding Fox’s other municipality candidate applications, or how long Fox intends to stay in his position. An email has been sent to then city of Camas asking for further clarification.