OAKRIDGE, Ore. (AP) — Elections officials have certified signatures on recall petitions aimed at four members of the City Council in Oakridge, the Lane County town trying to figure out why the city treasury is short hundreds of thousands of dollars.
So far, 12 city workers have been laid off, utility rates have been increased, and the city has borrowed $500,000 against future property tax collections to shore up its finances.
The Eugene Register-Guard reports (http://bit.ly/o8nCiE ) that the council members now have until Friday to resign or to file a rebuttal statement, leading to a vote in September on whether they should remain in office.
The four council members resisted firing the city administrator, Gordon Zimmerman, who says no money is missing but hasn’t explained how the city overspent its budget by so much.
