VETERAN FORMER MEMBER APPOINTED TO FILL GRESHAM CITY COUNCIL VACANCY: DAVID WIDMARK RECEIVED THE COUNCIL'S UNANIMOUS VOTE AND IMMEDIATELY GOT TO WORK ON CITY BUSINESS
News Release from City of Gresham
Posted on FlashAlert: August 18th, 2015 4:48 PM
GRESHAM, Ore. - David Widmark, who has served on the Gresham City Council on multiple occasions over the past two decades, was re-appointed on Tuesday to fill vacant Council Position 5. After his nomination received the unanimous approval of the Council, Widmark was immediately sworn into office and got down to work on City business at its regular meeting.
The City Charter required the Council to fill the vacant seat within 30 days, but provides no guidance regarding how to fill the vacancy. Given the short amount of time, Mayor Shane Bemis therefore asked his Council colleagues for suggestions, with Council President Jerry Hinton nominating Widmark.
Hinton said it was the Council's duty to fill the position expeditiously, calling Widmark - who also serves as chairman of the Home Forward board - "an excellent choice." "When he retired from the City Council, I was privileged to take his position, and I know he would bring a lot back to the City Council" over the next 14 to 15 months, Hinton said.
"He knows our community," Councilor Mario Palmero said. "He knows about the work and the efforts of our community and our staff to make Gresham a better place."
Widmark said he was honored to have the support of the full Council and would "do his best to support not only the Council and the City staff but also the citizens of this community and those that are less fortunate than we are, as the chairman of the board of Home Forward."
Widmark previously served as a Councilor in Position 6 from 1996-1998. In July 2005, he was appointed to Council Position 4 when it became vacant after the resignation of another Councilor. In 2007, Widmark was appointed to fill the remainder of a term vacated by another Councilor. Widmark was elected to Council Position 1 in November 2008. In 2010 his peers elected him Council President. Professionally, Widmark retired after 36 years with the U.S. Forest Service, then served as general manager and public relations director for Cramer Fish Sciences until 2008. Over the past 20 years, he's volunteered on a variety of committees, including the Planning Commission and the Finance Committee. He also helped form Gresham's first neighborhood association in 1989 and served as its president.
Widmark has said he will not seek election to the Position 5 seat when the term expires in December 2016, which the Mayor said means Gresham residents who are interested in the position can take out candidacy paperwork for that election and begin reaching out to voters.
Position 5 became vacant on Aug. 10 when Michael McCormick resigned from the Council suddenly for family reasons. With Widmark's installation, Bemis called the transition "seamless," saying it is "important to me, and to Council, that we have someone on Council who can step in right away and articulate the City's vision, and who helped create that vision."
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The City Charter required the Council to fill the vacant seat within 30 days, but provides no guidance regarding how to fill the vacancy. Given the short amount of time, Mayor Shane Bemis therefore asked his Council colleagues for suggestions, with Council President Jerry Hinton nominating Widmark.
Hinton said it was the Council's duty to fill the position expeditiously, calling Widmark - who also serves as chairman of the Home Forward board - "an excellent choice." "When he retired from the City Council, I was privileged to take his position, and I know he would bring a lot back to the City Council" over the next 14 to 15 months, Hinton said.
"He knows our community," Councilor Mario Palmero said. "He knows about the work and the efforts of our community and our staff to make Gresham a better place."
Widmark said he was honored to have the support of the full Council and would "do his best to support not only the Council and the City staff but also the citizens of this community and those that are less fortunate than we are, as the chairman of the board of Home Forward."
Widmark previously served as a Councilor in Position 6 from 1996-1998. In July 2005, he was appointed to Council Position 4 when it became vacant after the resignation of another Councilor. In 2007, Widmark was appointed to fill the remainder of a term vacated by another Councilor. Widmark was elected to Council Position 1 in November 2008. In 2010 his peers elected him Council President. Professionally, Widmark retired after 36 years with the U.S. Forest Service, then served as general manager and public relations director for Cramer Fish Sciences until 2008. Over the past 20 years, he's volunteered on a variety of committees, including the Planning Commission and the Finance Committee. He also helped form Gresham's first neighborhood association in 1989 and served as its president.
Widmark has said he will not seek election to the Position 5 seat when the term expires in December 2016, which the Mayor said means Gresham residents who are interested in the position can take out candidacy paperwork for that election and begin reaching out to voters.
Position 5 became vacant on Aug. 10 when Michael McCormick resigned from the Council suddenly for family reasons. With Widmark's installation, Bemis called the transition "seamless," saying it is "important to me, and to Council, that we have someone on Council who can step in right away and articulate the City's vision, and who helped create that vision."
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