No Agreement...No Commission Appointment

The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners remained deadlocked Wednesday over its vacant third seat, despite Commissioner Casey Miller continuing to expand the number of people he said he would support for appointment.

At the Sept. 2 meeting, Commissioner Walter Chuck again nominated Cristen Don. After Miller declined to second the motion, Miller proposed nine possible appointees. Chuck declined to second that motion and instead nominated Cathie Rigby. Miller declined to second Rigby’s appointment.

The exchange underscored a key feature of the months-long stalemate: Miller has now proposed three of the five candidates Chuck selected as finalists earlier in the vacancy process.

Three of Chuck’s five finalists

Chuck’s five finalists were Don, Rigby, Dru Earls, Dave Hansen and Matthew Harwell.

At previous meetings, Miller proposed appointing Earls, Hansen and Harwell, along with Commissioner-elect Curtis Landers, Marci Baker, Cheri Brubaker, Rob Barnhill and former Commissioner Kaety Jacobson. None received Chuck’s support for appointment.

Chuck has repeatedly pressed Miller to explain why Don is unsuitable, although Miller has consistently said that is not his objection. Miller has praised Don as a strong candidate but has said he will not vote to appoint someone who is still seeking the vacant seat in the November election because doing so could give that candidate the advantages of incumbency before voters make their choice.

By contrast, Miller moved to appoint Landers after Landers won a majority of the vote for Position 3 in May, arguing that voters had already made their decision in that race.

Chuck has not publicly provided comparable candidate-specific reasons for declining to support any of the 15 alternatives Miller has proposed.

On Sept. 2, Miller moved that the board consider one of nine people: Barnhill, Donald Gomez, Hansen, Chris Chandler, Carter McEntee, Eddie Townsend, Sheahan Griffitts, John Perez or Mikel Diwan. That brought the number of people Miller has publicly proposed for the vacancy to 15.

Chuck returns to Don, then Rigby

Chuck opened Wednesday’s vacancy discussion by returning to Don.

“My preference, and so right now, I’ll be making a motion to appoint Cristen Don to fill the vacancy,” Chuck said. Miller declined to second the motion.

Chuck said the board had already established an appointment process and that he had “still not found a good reason why Miss Don is not suitable.” Miller asked whether the commissioners could agree on another approach.

“What we’ve done hasn’t worked, right?” Miller said. “And so finding something new would probably be a good idea.” Chuck disagreed, saying the earlier process had not been completed and questioning why the board should begin another one.

Miller then offered the nine-name group. “I’m not willing to basically throw out names,” Chuck said. “And so no, I won’t be seconding it.” Chuck then proposed Rigby. “If we are going to throw out names, I move [to] appoint Cathie Rigby to that position,” Chuck said. Miller declined to second the motion.

Don is running for Position 2, the same seat the board is attempting to fill temporarily. Rigby is running against Miller for Position 1. Miller has maintained that his objection to Don is not based on her qualifications, but on appointing a candidate who is still competing for the seat.

Miller seeks future governance discussions

Earlier in the meeting, Miller presented a list of subjects he wants the board to take up at future meetings, including written board operating rules and agenda access, administrator authority and organizational structure, public comment rules, county finances, workforce and service continuity, the Community Services Consortium and NOAA.

Miller described the list as including “a lot of heavier governance, board rules-type subjects” that he believed the commissioners should discuss. Chuck thanked Miller but did not respond to the individual proposals or identify any he would support placing on a future agenda before moving to the vacancy discussion. The meeting ended without an appointment.

About the author:

Ross Smith is a seventh generation Oregonian, publishing his first book in 1990. He is the principal author of RigbyVerify.com, and in 2026, has donated to Dan Osborne (I-NB), Val Hoyle (D-OR), Casey Miller (N-Lincoln County), and Mary Pelota's (D-AK) campaigns.