The $14.5 million question after the defeat of the May firehouse bond: What next?

For the City Council, it could be a town hall, a new firehouse survey — or a recall election, vote of no confidence and legal action.

Last Thursday, Mayor Paulina Cockrum resigned, citing personal reasons.

Kerry Smith, the City Council’s president, will serve as interim mayor. A majority of the remaining councilors will appoint a replacement to serve the unexpired portion of Smith’s Position 1 term.

Jack Zimmerman, an outspoken critic of the bond measure, said councilors failed individually and as a collective body.

“We need an admission from you folks,” he said. “On May 17, your six years of effort failed. You failed as individual counselors and you failed as a collective body. Gearhart voters did the right thing for Gearhart. You failed — not Gearhart.”

Gearhart resident and co-owner of the former Gearhart Elementary School Bob Morey blasted Cockrum and councilors for what he called “the $10 million giveaway” — the land exchange agreement enabling developers to build homes at city zoning levels rather than more restrictive 2-acre county zoning. “It is hard to imagine a more poorly negotiated and crafted agreement if the objective was to optimize the value the city brings to the transaction.”

The contingent land transfer agreement with the Cottages at Gearhart LLC is up for reconsideration on Aug. 23. In the event that the city is unable to bring the property into the urban growth boundary by that date, the agreement will terminate unless both parties agree to extend the term.

The proposed swap as structured would lose millions of dollars of potential value to Gearhart taxpayers, Morey said.

“Now that the fire station bond has been soundly defeated it’s time for the city to provide fully supported financial information regarding the multiyear fire station effort and the UGB land swap,” Morey said. “I have retained counsel and directed counsel to file appropriate actions with the court if compliance is lacking.”

July “would be a great time to begin a recall election,” he added.

Last month, two-thirds of voters said “no” to the $14.5 million bond to build a firehouse and a police station on property off Highlands Lane north of the city.

Of 1,562 registered voters, the Oregon Elections Division reported 931 votes, with 615 against the measure, with 316 in support.

A citywide town hall could take place within the next two-and-a-half months, to determine next steps, Cockrum said. “I feel like the longer it’s put off the more it will cost. If we go for a November ballot, we need to decide by mid-August.”

Smith proposed live or virtual town halls. “We’ve got to find a place to move forward,” Smith said. “I’d like to know what they’re willing to do and how much they’re willing to spend.”

A survey may be useful, Beth Cameron, a resident, said in public comment Wednesday, but falls far short of what bond critics are seeking.

“As to surveys, you all seem to think that surveys are easy to write and they are not,” she said. “The bond failed because you guys failed to listen to and include Gearhart taxpayers. You thought you knew best and all you needed to do was tell us what to think and we would fall in line. Instead, people started doing their own research and began asking questions that you couldn’t or wouldn’t answer and lost confidence in your words and your actions.”

Cameron proposed a citizens’ advisory committee “representative of all sides of the issue, not just cherry-picked people that only support one side of the argument, whether it’s for or against.”

“We heard that you need more surveys,” Zimmerman said. “We participated in those surveys. We saw those surveys and how biased they were. What I heard is that we need experts. We need more education. That implies that the people voting who don’t have the capability of critical thinking. I assure you, based on the turnout the voters thought long and hard.”

Morey said he wanted Cockrum and the entire council replaced. The vote of no confidence will be targeted to nonresident property owners who will be able to voice their dissatisfaction with the performance of the entire council.

In other business, Gearhart’s final 2022-23 budget passed without an appropriation for debt service to create a fund for a future firehouse bond measure. The $14.5 million fund had been placed in the proposed budget in order to establish appropriations for the objective of constructing a new fire/police station. The fund was contingent on a successful measure being passed by taxpayers.

City staff recommended two different options for specific funds, debt service and fire/police general obligation bond, city treasurer Justine Hill said.

Because the bond measure did not pass, the council decided to adopt option one, which reduced debt service by almost $700,000 and removed all appropriations for the bond project fund of $14.5 million, Hill said.

The budget committee approved $23.5 million, but without the debt service and appropriations included, the City Council adopted a final 2022-23 budget of a little over $8.27 million.

For now, a new firehouse bond vote in the foreseeable future appears to be off the table.

“I would like to move it out,” City Councilor Reita Fackerell said. “I think trying to go for another vote in November is too soon. I think this community needs time to heal.”