North Plains Makes Growth Moves Before New Leadership Arrives

Editor’s Note-  See correction on Re-Look Meeting Date-  is it 12-12-24 

Editor’s Note 2: The Herald, in this article, mentioned that unsuccessful attempts had been made to get a comment from Mayor Lenahan of North Plains.  On December 3rd, 2024, a detailed email was sent to her; as of Dec 10th, it was not responded to.  A response has now come, which did not answer any questions we have posed but instead asked for proof that we tried to contact her.  For all of our readers, we have officially requested Mayor Lenahan, in response to the fact she may not have received previous attempts we have made, to sit down on the record and answer questions and make her positions known.  City Manager Bill Reid was CC’d on this email, and we look forward to her accepting this invitation. Much of what has happened appears to be an extension of her leadership and decision-making.  To clarify, she may not have received previous attempts for comment, and that happens.  She received the Dec. 3rd email from the Herald (see bottom of the article), and we are now awaiting an official response to our invitation to go on record.

This year’s story of North Plains, Oregon, has been something to witness.  Mayor Teri Lenahan and the City Council, led by Russ Sheldon, made a power play to push a massive 855-acre growth expansion on the people of the rural Oregon town. That plan, which would have doubled the side of the town, was presented as being “required” by the State of Oregon.  The Herald fact-checked that and received comments from the DLCD agency in Salem, which clarified that no growth was required given the town’s size (10,000 residents or less).

The Council approved the plans, creating a path forward for the development of hundreds of acres North, West, and East of the City. Something which would have enriched landowners by hundreds of millions of dollars.  Some of the same landowners that the Herald reported had given significant political donations to Sheldon and Lenanhan and a PAC created for their re-election.  A group of citizens organized and created a smart growth referendum to repeal the Council’s actions, which was voted for on the May ballot. They won by a landslide and stopped the power structures plan.  The City leadership, via city Attorney Chris Crean, has now, at the last minute, filed legal motions and cases to negate the vote and to throw out the people’s will. This will cost upwards of an additional $50,000 in fees for something the vast majority of locals are opposed to.

After the landslide victory for the NO or Smart Growth locals,  Mayor Lenahan promised the community would regroup and relook at the growth plans for North Plains.  The sentiment of working together lasted about 60 days before a committee was formed that seemed stacked with those backing the massive growth plan.  Then came the November elections, and a new Mayor and three new Council members were elected into power for 2025, who all ran on the Smart Growth platform.  Lenahan ran for a Council seat and was defeated.  Sheldon went for the Mayor’s role and had his hat handed to him by Ariel Gordon, who will lead the City starting next January.  The people spoke loudly in November; they want to slow things down and not pander to and be “handled” by outside interests.

Local Election Results Bring Big Changes To Washington County Cities And Communities

You can catch up on the election story in the article linked above.

• Ok, so now, as the year ends, the City of North Plains should be looking ahead to new leadership and a more measured approach to growth.  In a world where politicians honor defeat, that would be true.  But sadly, Lenahan, Sheldon, and the leadership in power for a few more days are not going quietly into the future. Instead, they are making some moves to try and make the next four years difficult for the incoming leaders.  Those moves include:
• Authorizing the City attorney to file an appeal in Washington County to overturn Judge Andrew Irwin’s legal decision that North Plains voters were allowed to blockade the growth.  Lenahan who was very vocal about healing and coming together as a community, is going to make her legacy more about going against the will of her citizens.  Sheldon and the current council agreed to this.  And this will be very expensive.  So, as they leave office, these leaders want to force the growth on the voters.  Growth that was flatly rejected in a landslide vote.  Talk about being sore losers.

A local community leader, Aaron Nichols, had this to say:

“…what is really shocking, is the $40,000 of taxpayer money they plan to authorize for continuing the relook and another $45,000 for an appeal of their loss in court.  With a new council coming in and a clear majority not supporting massive UGB expansions, it is very hard to see what this money is buying.  No appeal and no amount of relooking will save a plan that is unpopular and has been voted down in two consecutive elections.  A lame duck council spending $85,000 dollars on a failed plan is an unacceptable use of taxpayer funds. “

In additional steps to “piss in the pool,” if you will, Lenahan and crew are working on other rules, which could benefit Sheldon by keeping him in power, even though he was voted out of office by the voters in November.

How is that possible?

Resignation of sitting Councilor Opens Opportunity for Sheldon to Come back in 2025

• Ricky Smith, an active North Plains Councilor with two years left on his 2nd term, suddenly wants out and has resigned.

• Smith’s new term will open up the process of filling his seat.
• It looks likely that Lenahan and the reigning Council could fill Smith’s seat with Sheldon. Anyone can apply, provided they live in North Plains, but this appears to open the door to Sheldon and his pro-growth policies and land backers continuing their quest to get into the Urban Growth Boundary in North Plains.  Will they so blatantly abuse power and thumb their nose at the voters?  I do not know- but I would not bet one dime against it happening.

• Here is the process to apply:

The City of North Plains has an opening on its City Council due to the recent departure of a council member named Smith. This position will be filled by appointment for the remainder of the two-year term.

Interested residents are encouraged to apply for the vacant seat. Applications are being accepted now through noon on Friday, December 13th.The City Council will begin reviewing applications and may appoint a new councilor as early as December 16th, with the goal of swearing in the new member by January 6th.

While the city charter requires applications to be submitted within two weeks of the vacancy announcement, there’s no deadline for the council to make a decision.

To learn more and apply for this opportunity to serve your community, please visit northplains.gov/news_detail_T15_R112.php.

Another Change –  The sitting group is passing new Charter and Code amendments to specifically allow a sitting Council President to state if He/She/They want to continue as President.  This new rule could only be written for this situation with Sheldon.  If Sheldon is applies and is confirmed as the Councilor taking the Smith vacancy, this rule might allow him to remain as Council President.  That would be cronyism and bad governance unlike any we have seen in recent years.  Something that would leave a stain on someone’s reputation that generations would remember.   Time will tell.

Will Sheldon be offered and awarded the Ricky Smith seat?  I sure hope not. North Plains and its people deserve much better than that.  He was voted out.  His vision was rejected by 72% of the Voters.  His PAC took money from landowners outside the city to try to get in the boundary.  And it is not even a matter of needed growth. Instead, it is money that seems to drive things.  If the landowners want in, perhaps they just offer 70% of the upside of the land value after annexation to the people of North Plains for new cars and college tuition for their kids.  Maybe pay it forward to schools and parks?  How about some genuinely affordable homes in the $250-$300K range?  After all, if we are playing Monopoly, shouldn’t they pay to pass go?  That would be better governance than some things we have seen recently!

Lastly, the current leadership has produced a Map for a relook meeting on Thursday Night and is asking locals to attend and weigh in on the future.  The year is almost over, and all of this vital work should be done next year once the people of North Plains are represented by leaders they trust and want in office.  But NO- Lenahan and crew want to move this ahead in a hurry, which leaves the possibility that Growth will be voted on again before year’s end.

Community leader Nichols messaged his impressions on this meeting and its topic:

Hello everyone,

We wanted to let you all know about and ask you to attend the next re-look community meeting.  It is this Thursday, the 12th, from 6-8 at Jessie Mays.  It will consist of a mapping exercise where citizens are invited to draw their own maps for what they’d like to see for a new Urban Growth Boundary. There is a zoom option as well:

Meeting ID: 872-4054-6321

Passcode:419217

To be clear, we think this exercise makes little sense and staff from the state land use agency have called it a “bad idea.” ,,,,,, If you attend, tell the city what you want to see, not what they tell you to want!

 

We have added a red arrow to show that the photo has cut off all the numbers and that the FB post is now closed.  You can not make this stuff up!

So we took the Map the City released, which will be the basis for the upcoming meeting.  The map on its face is deceptive.  It does not show very well the existing Urban Growth Boundary.  However, the Expansion Area Study Boundary is shown in faint red lines.  Who says that is the boundary? This meeting and exercise started with the presumption that there would be growth after the State of Oregon and the North Plains voters made it clear that growth is not mandatory.  And the facts are it is not.  So why are Reid and Lenahan and others orchestrating a community meeting to take input when the presumption is that a massive landscape exists to grow onto?     All of that is High-Value Farmland zoned EFU, which in Oregon Land Use Law equates to Don’t Touch.  

Have a look for yourself.

North Plains Map- Green Line drawn to show existing North Plains UGB – Red line is the Expansion Study Boundary.

          

Here is a Washington County Land Use Map showing the areas being proposed for growth:

One last look from Google Earth shows the farmland around the town for what it is.

Corrections:  The Re-Look Meeting is Thursday Night- we corrected our previous error saying it was tonight:

Here is that info:

Re-Look Community Meeting #2 ~ Mapping Future Growth

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Because Mayor Lenahan has gone onto social media (NextDoor) and called me out for not trying to reach her, I made a 5th attempt to do so (email, comments & Questions on NextDoor, and other), to be fair.  Last week I made a written request to Mayor Lenahan, City Manager Bill Reid, and Lori Lesmeister that runs the City offices.  

Lenahan did not respond.  Reid finally did.  Here is that Exchange as it was sent and responded to:

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Hillsboro Herald, Editor <hillsboroherald@gmail.com>	Dec 3, 2024, 10:18 AM (7 days ago)
to me, teri.lenahan, citymanager, lori.lesmeister

Greetings,

On behalf of the Hillsboro Herald, a local news-media source, we are asking for comment from the City of North Plains on a number of recent items that have been acted upon or discussed.  They are as follows:

1. We would like access to public information regarding any new rules regarding the selection of positions for Council vacancies. Has the Council / City of North Plains recently changed or adopted rules that will impact the selection of vacancies going forward? We are also requesting Public comment by Mayor Lenahan or the City Manager’s office regarding this matter and the reason for these changes so late in the year and at the end of the Mayor’s term.  We need a comment by tomorrow at 1 p.m.
2. We request access to public information regarding any and all legal fees that the City of North Plains spent in 2024 with any legal firms in any manner. A summary of expenses and the matter at hand is acceptable.
3. We want to have an official statement by Mayor Lenahan or the City Manager’s office regarding the City of North Plain’s decisions to appeal the legal decisions rendered by Washington County Judge Andy Irwin regarding the growth plans in North Plains, Oregon House Bill 4026, or any other legal decisions regarding the referendum and vote that occurred in North Plains this year.  Did the City Council and Mayor Lenahan decide in a recent Executive Session to authorize City funds to be spent on legal fees to pursue an appeal in the Oregon Courts regarding the abovementioned cases? If so, where will that money come from?  Why has the City of North Plains decided to move ahead with this appeal when the super majority of the citizens of North Plains voted against the growth that the City leadership has proposed in 2024?  What legitimate reasons are there for trying to move ahead with an unpopular and legally unenforceable policy? Mayor Lenahan promised a relook and time for reflection on these matters.  Why has is that not happening?  Again, we need a comment by tomorrow at 1 PM for a story we are running.

Mayor Lenahan, we have previously called to speak with you.  City staff have indicated they would leave a message.  You have publicly stated we made no effort to get statements or facts from the City of North Plains.  It is important to us and the public that the facts on these matters are made available.  Therefore, we ask for official statements from the City of North Plains on these simple questions.

Our readers have asked for additional reporting on these matters, and we will be covering North Plains for years to come as the City is important to Washington County and the State of Oregon.  The public has a right to know what the facts are.  We therefore ask for your cooperation.  We will publish our questions in the article and the responses you send to us.

Please send along a link to any Public Information forms you have if we need to fill those out.

Best regards;

Dirk Knudsen

Editor- Hillsboro Herald

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Response

Bill Reid <bill.reid@northplains.gov>	Dec 4, 2024, 9:27 AM (6 days ago)
to City, me, Teri, Lori

Good day Dirk. Thank you for reaching out. I respond to each of your three questions below.

1. In filling the council vacancy, the city followed the requirements of the existing city charter and municipal code.  No new rules were adopted or changed. The issue is discussed in detail in the recorded video for the Monday, November 18, 2024, City Council meeting.
2. Legal services expenditure information will require a public records request. Please submit a completed request form and email it to Lori Lesmeister, our City Recorder, with the specifics of the information you seek.
3. We cannot comment on pending litigation.

For comments from the Mayor and members of the City Council, you’ll need to contact those members directly. At a meeting and sending via text. Forgive any misspellings.

 

Bill Reid
City Manager	| North Plains, Oregon
503.647.5555	| www.northplains.gov

 

 

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For the record, we sent this email to teri.lenahan@northplains.gov, but there was no response.

I would typically never get to this extent to cover a local government. However, our record on these matters over the past 12 months leaves a body of work that has the potential to become a Net-Flix series, and there is no way to turn back now.  Netflix deserves the whole story, and so do the great people of North Plains.  The Series will be called “How Not To Run An American Town- Big Business, Land Deals, and the Death of the American Citizen“.

More to follow.

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The City of Hillsboro leadership denies the Hillsboro Herald access to Executive Sessions, which has been held almost every meeting lately.  There is no record of what happens in those meetings, and media and journalists are allowed.  The Herald has been denied access because their city attorneys stated that this is a blog site, not a news media source.  This makes it convenient for them to hide what is being done and said from the Herald.  We tell you, our readers, this to make you ponder their decision and why they have made it.  Several attorneys from the State and National Levels offer to take this matter to court.  We want to bring you the news- and the best of the news.  
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