The Canby City Council voted 4-2 to cancel its contract with city administrator Eileen Stein. (File photo)

At it’s June 11 meeting, the Council votes to terminate its contract with Eileen Stein

Eileen Stein’s tenure as Canby’s City Administrator was not a long one.

Stein was officially removed from her post at a Canby City Council meeting Wednesday, June 11.

Pressure had been building for some time as issues within the city and without, particularly accusations of all sorts tossed around at the city’s finance manager and Stein, who was acting as the interim HR manager for a period of time, grew in scope.

At recent council meetings, calls for change had been made loudly, as was a call for accountability and a request for a vote of “no confidence” for Stein.

All that the public could see and hear, and plenty that went on behind the scenes, led to the decision on June 11 to end the relationship between Stein and the city.

“This has been building for a while,” said Canby Mayor Brian Hodson the day after everything went down. “There had been some dissatisfaction of Ms. Stein by some on the council, not the majority, but some.

“There was also some dissatisfaction with her leadership and abilities by a small group of Canby citizens,” Hodson added. “And that small group became very vocal in the last two months.”

The Council met in executive session to discuss the matter on Wednesday, June 11, then convened its regular council meeting and “the motion was made and seconded to end Eileen’s contract with Canby,” said Hodson, noting it was a 4-2 vote.

Stein, who was not at the June 11 meeting, had been Canby’s permanent city administrator for about 18 months, and had served as its interim administrator for several months before that.

Canby Police Chief Jorge Tro is now the acting city administrator, but Hodson and the city attorney will meet Monday to try to create a short list of possible local candidates to take over on an interim basis as the search for a permanent replacement begins – a process that could last anywhere from four to six months.

Hodson said he appreciated what Stein brought to Canby when hired, but admitted it was already a tough situation, with her predecessor leaving for a new position after enduring turmoil amongst city staff and the council. She also needed to fill several other key city positions that lost people due to similar reasons.

“As a person, I really liked Eileen,” Hodson said. “She has a really good heart and really came in with excitement and passion for where Canby was headed and where it could go. I think if circumstances would have been different she could have been successful here.”

A quick bit of math revealed that Canby has gone through five city administrators in 14 years, not counting interim city administrators. Now, the city must look ahead to finding a quick solution for an interim city administrator, then a lengthy candidate search process, all while dealing with a healthy portfolio of projects moving forward, about to move forward, or in need of more work to move forward.

“It’s going to be tough, we have a lot of things going on,” Hodson said,” the comprehensive plan, UGB expansion, system development charges development, other big planning pieces, the Walnut Street project going on, just a lot of things happening.”