This story was originally published on LincolnChronicle.org and is used with permission.
Lincoln County’s presiding judge ruled Thursday that the Waldport city council had to reinstate Heide Lambert as mayor until there is time to decide whether her removal last month was legal.
The order by circuit judge Sheryl Bachart came one day after Lambert’s attorney asked the court to review the council’s unanimous vote April 3 to remove his client from office for actions it claimed violated the city’s charter.
Attorney Jesse Buss of Oregon City termed the April 3 decision to remove Lambert a “product of a slapdash local proceeding” that was “both substantively and procedurally improper.”
In a social media post Thursday night, Lambert hailed Bachart’s order and thanked her supporters for being “vigilant and dedicated to our Democracy.”
City manager Dann Cutter said he and city attorney Corey Blake were surprised by Bachart’s reinstatement order and that the city was not given the chance to argue against it before it was issued. Cutter said Thursday night that he will recommend the council seek an injunction to stop the order and ask for the case to be handled by a judge from outside Lincoln County or try to move the issue to federal court.
“We will endeavor to move this to federal court to get a unbiased review,” Cutter told the Lincoln Chronicle. “It’s too small a community to have this in a local court. But we’re happy it’s in court where we can present our evidence instead of it being played out on social media.”
In her order, Bachart gave the city until June 3 to turn over all records from the April 3 council meeting so she could make a decision on Lambert’s reinstatement request.
Thursday’s order came during a chaotic week at Waldport city hall.
On Tuesday, district attorney Jenna Wallace said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute a second-degree disorderly conduct charge against Lambert for refusing to leave an April 10 council meeting.
On Wednesday, the city council canceled its regular monthly meeting scheduled Thursday after learning than Lambert and her supporters and a new group of city supporters were both planning to attend the session.
“We have been informed by the district attorney that they will not be able to reliably prosecute charges brought by the local sheriff’s office against members of the public for disrupting the meeting, and as such, we feel that the safety and security of the meeting cannot be ensured,” the city said in its statement.
In her social media post, Lambert said her attorney would be working on details of her return.
But, Cutter said Thursday night he was unsure if the city council would meet again until Lambert’s status was determined in court. If the council decided to meet, however, he said it could also vote to take away Lambert’s ability to run the meeting – which is the Waldport mayor’s main duty.
In its statement Wednesday to cancel Thursday’s council meeting, the city said it was “a challenging time” for the council and opposing community groups.
“… you want your voices to be heard and the council does want to listen — what we saw were two citizen groups in diametric opposition coming to a meeting in which the LCSO Deputies were just told the DA would not back them up,” the city’s statement said. “The operating options we were given are not satisfactory. Safety is our top priority.”
The DA’s decision
In her memorandum Tuesday, Wallace cited insufficient evidence in her dismissal of Lambert’s disorderly conduct charge.
“A person commits the crime of disorderly conduct in the second degree if, with the intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, the person disturbs any lawful assembly of persons without lawful authority,” she wrote.
In reviewing Lambert’s conduct at the meeting, Wallace said she did not believe there is “sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury” that Lambert had the intent to do anything unlawful.
“It appears that Ms. Lambert believed that she had been unlawfully removed as mayor and was at the meeting acting in what she believed to be her official capacity,” Wallace wrote. “Given there is a question as to whether civilly the city of Waldport can lawfully remove an elected official by city council vote, it will be difficult to prove Ms. Lambert had the mental state required by law to commit the crime …”
Wallace added that she confirmed with Waldport officials that Lambert’s actions occurred prior to the start of the April 10 meeting and that “it is unclear whether Ms. Lambert’s conduct of sitting at the council table actually disrupted the meeting and prevented it from starting.”
Waldport’s reasoning
On Thursday, council president Greg Dunn told the Lincoln Chronicle that it was only after hours of discussion Wednesday between councilors, the sheriff’s office and an awareness that two opposing groups planned to attend the meeting that it made the decision to cancel.
Lambert and a group of her supporters planned to attend the meeting, according to an interview she gave to The Oregonian newspaper. Dunn said a newly formed group that supports the council and who is “tired of the other group” also planned to attend and protest.
“With that we were like ‘Okay, now we have two opposing groups, tensions are really going to get heated’ …,” Dunn said. “So mainly, that’s what the reason was. We had two opposing sides that were going to be coming to city council and we didn’t want even higher tensions.”
According to Dunn, Sheriff Adam Shanks informed the city that law enforcement’s hands were pretty much tied and “that they are trying to walk through this muddy water without stepping on anyone’s toes.”
But Dunn said if Lambert again sat in the mayor’s chair and spoke after the meeting started and persisted after being told to stop, she could then be arrested, as could the people who interrupted the meeting if they continued to speak after the 20-minute public comment period had ended.
The April meeting
The disorderly conduct charge against Lambert came on the heels of her dismissal one week earlier during a public hearing when the city council voted 6-0 to remove her for violating the city’s charter by trying to direct city employees in their duties.
On April 10, Lambert was accompanied by a large and vocal contingent of supporters when she arrived at a scheduled council meeting, where she made a brief statement before sitting in the chair normally reserved for the city’s top elected official.
“I am the elected mayor and have done nothing wrong,” Lambert said, and then accused the council of not providing her due process, overstepping its authority and claiming the section of the city charter that allowed her removal is unconstitutional. “I have every right to be here in the capacity as the mayor. The people elected me. Only the people who elected me can remove me.”
Supporters cheered Lambert’s statement and several began yelling questions and insults at council and Cutter.
After several minutes of the crowd yelling, Shanks and Deputy Abby Dorsey, who were attending the meeting on a separate matter, approached Lambert and persuaded her to leave the seat and step outside where she was cited. Lambert was allowed to return to the council chambers where she sat quietly in the back row.
The council was only able to conduct business when Shanks returned and asked the crowd to quiet down.
Pending legal action
Lambert was elected last November in a two-way race and took office in January. She had served two years on the Waldport council before taking a job as Yachats’ city manager in 2022, but left after 15 months because of a change in the mayor and council there and turmoil with city staff.
Lambert’s arrest was the first of a former public official in a public meeting that anyone can remember and highlighted the months-long, increasingly bitter and social-media fueled dispute between Waldport Beachcomber Days officers, its supporters and the city.
Buss filed paperwork Wednesday asking Bachart to review Lambert’s removal, saying it exceeded the council’s jurisdiction, failed to follow its procedures, made a finding not supported by “substantial evidence,” misconstrued applicable law, or made a decision “that is unconstitutional.”
Lambert did not respond to phone calls or messages from the Lincoln Chronicle on Wednesday or Thursday, but told The Oregonian newspaper she planned to attend Thursday’s meeting, remain in the audience and make a short public statement about how she believes she is still mayor. But Lambert told The Oregonian if the council shut off public comments like it did last time, she might have to take the mayor’s seat at the front of the room again to read her statement.
In her memo, Wallace went beyond Lambert’s disorderly conduct arrest to also weigh in on her removal from office.
“Although the city charter appears to allow the removal of the elected mayor through a city council vote, it is unclear whether this provision in the city charter is constitutional,” the district attorney wrote.
The April 10 meeting did not begin immediately after Lambert’s removal, Wallace continued, and no one else in attendance was arrested or cited for preventing the meeting from beginning or disrupting the meeting in the time before her return.
“Given this, it will be difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms. Lambert’s conduct did in fact prevent the meeting from starting or disrupted the meeting,” Wallace wrote. “For these reasons, I am declining to pursue charges at this time.”
