King City Council appears to be digging in their heels to resist change

We’ve heard a desire for a united community. But actions speak louder than words, and the actions of the current King City Council are troubling.

Current Council is rushing to fill their new vacancy before the newly elected Council takes office

After voters recalled several council members last February, the remaining council reappointed one of the recalled councilors (Smart Ocholi) to an even longer term, completely dismissing the electorate’s will and simultaneously restricting one of the new applicants to the shortest term possible.

On November 12th, 2024, a Washington County court examined the reappointment of recalled councilor Smart Ocholi and found it to be unconstitutional. Council convened a closed-to-the-public executive session immediately after the hearing, and then hurriedly advertised a new council vacancy. The current Council has made it clear that THEY want to appoint the replacement with their chosen appointee and are going as far as to encourage hand-selected candidates to apply. My opinion? Their actions say that they think THEY know better than their constituents and they are taking active steps to block what they consider “opposition” from holding a majority of the seats on Council. Let them know that their behavior is not OK – please sign the petition here: https://chng.it/sdMxtg9NST.

Regardless of the politically charged behavior you may see, let’s not lose sight of what the recall was all about. We need a Council that listens. The majority of King City citizens are opposed to the master plan. We need Council that will commit to finding a better solution.

Continue to call for changing the Master Plan to protect our neighborhoods and nature

The successful recall election sent a strong message. The city councilors that were not recalled and the newly appointed councilors have all expressed a desire for deeper community engagement. It is important that we all continue to make our voices heard. Continue to call for:

  1. Move the collector road north, away from the river.
  2. Avoid the Bankston Nature Preserve. These 12.82 acres along the Tualatin River are a large wildlife corridor, directly across from Metro’s Heritage Pine and Beef Bend Natural Areas. Read more about the Bankston Nature Preserve and the importance of respecting this Private Land Trust here.
  3. Protect existing neighborhoods by designing the collector road for intra city traffic and discouraging regional cut-through traffic.

These three things are possible without scrapping all plans and starting over, but it means making a choice to prioritize these things based on community values. See more details here.

Make sure that City Council hears your voice

We will continue to update this website with ways to get involved to help move things forward as our community grows. There are several ways to get involved, including:

  • Attend the next city council meeting and speak during the public open forum
  • Attend the next Washington County CPO4K meeting (the 4K region of the Washington County Community Participation Organization is for King City & vicinity). Sign up to receive meeting notices here.
  • Write an opinion statement to post on the Community Voices tab (send to email@unitekingcity.com)
  • See the Get Involved tab for more ideas

If you have an opinion piece you would like to submit, please send to email@unitekingcity.com and we will post it on the Community Voices tab. Note, this is a moderated site, and all content will be reviewed before being posted. Submittor’s last names and email addresses will not be posted (unless requested), but no anonymous posts will be accepted.

Continue to monitor the Get Involved tab for more ways to engage.