NORTH BEND — The first meeting of the Coos Bay-North Bend joint communication committee seemed to unravel before the eyes of city officials and a small group of citizens, when the mayor of North Bend made a statement no one but his councilors expected.

“The North Bend council ... have with unanimous consensus decided that the current format for the North Bend/Coos Bay cooperation/communication committee is not working for them,” read Mayor Rick Wetherell to the gathering Thursday, at the North Bend Public Library. “The council does realize that communication and cooperation between our two cities is essential and that the success of one is the success of the other.”

Citing comments that were made in a Coos Bay Finance Committee meeting aired by Channel 14, Wetherell said his council came to a unanimous consensus that the format of the cooperation/communication committee, sometimes known as the Coos Bay-North Bend Joint Council Committee and the Coos Bay/North Bend Communication Committee, did not meet their needs. He said they would revisit the issue during the council’s work session today and would likely present a new format to the Coos Bay council for input and/or approval.

“That’s a difficult statement to make, but we are having difficulty,” Wetherell said.

The topic came up during an agenda item to set a regular meeting agenda, which Wetherell had asked be tabled until the end of the meeting.

 Coos Bay Mayor Jeff McKeown, who appeared pained by Wetherell’s statement, said he found the decision extremely disappointing and told Wetherell the councils need to overcome their differences and push forward.



“I think you are making a mistake. I am very disappointed,” McKeown said. “The only way to work through that is to meet and talk. We have a responsibility to the citizens of Coos Bay and North Bend to do the best job we can.”

The intergovernmental committee was formed late last year after McKeown approached the North Bend Council to propose a joint committee that would bolster communication and stave off misunderstandings between the neighboring municipalities. The councils spent some time politely arguing how often to gather and who would participate in the committee. McKeown wanted to meet every month, while Wetherell asked to hold the meeting twice a year with full councils from both cities attending, and to only schedule additional meetings if necessary.

Eventually, the full councils came together for a Jan. 24 meeting where they decided to meet every other month with appointed members, along with any other councilor who chose to attend, and to hold full joint council meetings biannually.

Now, that format is back in question.

Following Wetherell and McKeown’s statements, councilors from both cities backed up their mayors’ statements.

North Bend Councilor Janet Rubin said the two cities just weren’t on the same page.

“We are going in very different directions right now,” Rubin said, noting that Coos Bay has a number of committees that North Bend doesn’t, her council isn’t interested in pursuing new revenue streams and would rather focus on beautification. “It seems like right now perhaps we’re not totally in sync ... with what we are doing.”

McKeown said none of those things should matter.

“We’re neighbors. We should talk. If we don’t talk, shame on us.”

At that point, North Bend Councilor Larry Garboden said his issue with the committee stemmed from the comments made at a Coos Bay Finance Committee meeting, which he said took shots at North Bend that struck deep.

“Those comments are cutting very deep, like Larry says,” Rubin echoed.

McKeown said that while he didn’t agree with the comment made in the finance meeting by Councilor Mark Daily, he did respect his opinion.

After the meeting, McKeown said he believed North Bend councilors took umbrage against a comment Daily made regarding the Coos Bay-North Bend Visitors & Convention Bureau, that Coos Bay should pull out of the bureau and promote itself, but McKeown wasn’t completely sure of what was said.

According to a video recording of the March 13 finance meeting, Daily suggested the city of Coos Bay pull out of the arrangement, get greater representation on the bureau’s board, or else have other communities pay more. This year, Coos Bay is expected to pay $158,000 to support the bureau, while North Bend will give about $67,000, said Katherine Hoppe, the director of promotion and conventions for the bureau.

“If they want the equal attention and treatment (from the bureau), then they should be paying for that as well,” Daily said at the meeting.

On Friday, Daily, who did not attend the joint council committee meeting, said he didn’t expect his comments to produce a reaction from North Bend.

“I’m not out to offend them,” he said. “I’m stating my case for Coos Bay, which I believe is what I’m supposed to do as a city councilor.”



On Monday morning, Wetherell said the comments that upset North Bend councilors were made at two separate meetings. Wetherell said North Bend councilors took exception to comments at the March meeting regarding North Bend’s financial participation in the South Coast Development Council. He also mentioned comments made at a February finance committee meeting, which he thought questioned whether North Bend deserved promotion.

Throughout Thursday’s heated conversation, McKeown tried to convince the North Bend councilors to change their minds, while Wetherell repeatedly stated he wasn’t against communication, but didn’t agree with the current format of the fledgling committee.

“The more we disagree, I think the more reason we want to come together and talk,” McKeown said.

Coos Bay Councilor Michele Burnette said she found the whole proceeding ridiculous and suggested North Bend officials simply didn’t want to hold committee meetings publicly.

“Let’s get over ourselves,” Burnette said, “and do what’s best for this one community.”

Rubin disagreed with Burnette.

“North Bend has no problem with the public coming to the meetings and no problem with the camera,” she said.

Following the meeting, Wetherell emphasized that North Bend was not quitting the communications committee.

“(We) probably had more oomph and dialogue between the two cities than (we’ve) had in a lot of years,” Wetherell said, adding any decisions about North Bend’s participation in the committee would be up to his council. He said he had an example in mind for how to improve the committee, but did not want to share it until the work session. “We’re not giving up. We want to approach it in a different way.”

He explained that he held the issue until the end of the meeting because he didn’t want to distract the committee from its agenda to discuss a gas and transient occupancy room tax and an issue with the Department of State Lands. The councils agreed that due to the state of the economy and other problems in the county, it would be best not to impose either tax at this time.

The decision to reformat the committee came after councilors watched the Coos Bay Finance Committee meeting, Wetherell said. They contacted him and expressed their feelings about the joint committee, he said, and came to a consensus to do something about the joint gathering. He then called each member to review the prepared statement he read at the committee meeting.

“I’m just hoping that the discussion we had today will open the way,” Wetherell said. “You do what’s in your heart, you do what’s right and we serve our constituency. That’s what we’re here for.

“We’re not trying to douse communication.”

After attempts to convince North Bend officials to reconsider their decision, McKeown said he remained upset about the situation.

“I’m bitterly disappointed. I believe we have an obligation to work together,” McKeown said. “The more we disagree, the more important it is that we do talk.”

— Staff Writer Alexander Rich contributed to this story.