A photo of Wilsonville City Hall. (Staff File Photo)

Wilsonville Mayor Shawn O’Neil faced criticism this week from two city councilors in the wake of recent clashes over the city’s budget.

During the work session Monday, June 16, Councilor Katie Dunwell called for O’Neil to apologize for accusing her and Councilor Adam Cunningham of having political motives for their dissenting votes and comments on the city’s now-adopted budget.

During two budget committee meetings in May and a City Council meeting in June, Cunningham and Dunwell both expressed concerns about potential crime from a new bus route to Clackamas Town Center, and Cunningham also cited possible funding issues in the transit budget. O’Neil accused Cunningham of ambushing the city’s transit director with his questions at the first budget meeting, and said at a later council meeting that he believed some of the opposition to the transit budget from community members and council members was politically motivated.

Dunwell said during her comments on June 16 that O’Neil was “out of line” with his recent statements and should apologize.

“We set the standard in this community … and if we cannot all rise to the occasion of believing that we are all here with good intent, even when we disagree on a vote, then we should step down,” Dunwell said, asking other members of the council to join her in effort to “stop the name calling.”

Dunwell added that the council should lead by example with collaboration to foster trust within the community, and O’Neil’s “inflammatory rhetoric” and questioning of the councilors’ motivations “set the tone of distrust.” She also addressed the mayor’s accusation that Cunningham “ambushed” Wilsonville’s transit director with his questions.

“As far as transparency, I believe as public officials our discussions and questions with staff should not always be behind closed doors,” Dunwell said. “I believe we are asking the questions our citizens would ask. It’s not an ambush, and it’s not politically motivated.”

Dunwell said her own dissenting vote on the budget stemmed from a personal experience she had in the time the transit master plan was approved in 2023, and the mayor had “insulted” her integrity with the accusations. In previous meetings O’Neil had noted that Dunwell was on the council and did not voice concerns when the transit master plan including the new bus route was adopted.

In his response, O’Neil said he believed a councilor should highlight past voting history when changing their position from past votes (Dunwell previously acknowledged that she likely would have voted to approve the transit master plan had she been present for the vote).

O’Neil said he had spoken generally in his previous comments and did not reference any individual by name, but acknowledged that he “could have communicated differently.”

“If you were offended by (my comments), I do apologize,” O’Neil said, adding that he had also “taken hits” and faced “pretty strong” communications from other council members and believed this was part of the job.

Councilor Anne Shevlin said she stood with Dunwell on “always, always acting with decorum.”

Changes to meeting protocol

 

Prior to Dunwell’s comments calling for an apology, O’Neil, who is charged with managing City Council meetings, announced some structural changes going forward. For the order in which councilors speak, O’Neil said he will rely more strictly on a notification system through the computer monitors at the dias.

O’Neil also asked councilors to begin comments with no more than two questions on matters expected to foster significant discussion, with any additional questions to be addressed after other councilors waiting to speak have had the floor. During a lengthy discussion on the transit budget and new route at a recent meeting, O’Neil attempted to cut off Cunningham’s comments to allow another councilor a chance to comment.

Additionally, O’Neil said that councilors wanting to share materials not included in the agenda packets should provide them to other councilors and the city manager prior to the meeting with the councilor’s name and citations for data. During the previous meeting, Cunningham shared crime statistics for Clackamas Town Center, census data and previous surveys for the city’s transit master plan.

“These aren’t in response to any one person or situation,” O’Neil said on the updates. “Rather, these are course corrections to help maintain a fair, orderly and productive work environment, especially as our discussions become more complex and high profile at times.”

Criticism over Town Center

 

Wilsonville’s mayor was also critiqued by Cunningham during the meeting, when the councilor accused O’Neil of failing to act on a campaign promise regarding Town Center.

The Town Center Plan, adopted in 2019, is the city’s long-term vision to build a vibrant downtown in the city’s center, prioritizing walkability over large parking lots and big box stores. However, the plan has recently faced scrutiny by some residents over the proposed increase in density and traffic, and last year voters narrowly shot down a proposed funding mechanism for infrastructure projects related to the plan

Cunningham said that in recent weeks residents have conveyed to him worries about the city’s direction and felt frustrated in the lack of action with regard to Town Center. He noted that the city has not yet made significant outreach efforts to determine why last year’s ballot measure failed, and highlighted a campaign promise by O’Neil to initiate town halls and an advisory task force for gathering community feedback on the plan. Council members must hold themselves and each other to campaign commitments, Cunningham said, adding that the council must act when one member fails to “uphold a significant commitment like this.”

Cunningham proposed establishing a timeline for creating a Town Center advisory task force with defined “roles for residents, staff and council representation” within 30 days as well as scheduling an initial town hall within 60 days for gathering community input on the Town Center Plan and working to understand why last year’s vote failed. He said regular updates need to be given during council meetings “ensuring residents are continually informed and engaged in the process.”

“Our community deserves a responsive government that listens and acts on its promises,” Cunningham said. “It’s time for us to work together to rebuild that trust and advance the Town Center Plan with the robust community input our residents were promised and deserve.”

O’Neil responded that following the council’s goal setting session in March, city staff were instructed to present to council “a form of communication” related to Town Center that has yet to be produced.

City Manager Bryan Cosgrove said that traditionally, once the City Council creates goals, staff will build a potential plan to achieve the goals and return to council for feedback. He added that the plan is based on the perspective of each council member, and is not based on campaign promises.

Cosgrove said the council should have an agreed-on process, realistic timeline and expected outcomes prior to simply hosting a town hall to “let people talk at you.” He said the council may want to poll community members on their current knowledge of the topic prior to a town hall to help inform a communication and outreach strategy.

“It’s not as simple as just saying we’re going to just start this process. Please be patient. I know that you want to get there, I want to get there with you, but I want to do it in a way that’s meaningful, and that gives the broadest base of community outreach that we can possibly give,” Cosgrove said to the council.

After O’Neil asked for confirmation that he had not asked Cosgrove to delay communication related to Town Center, Cosgrove said that no members of council — including O’Neil — have discussed or pressured him on any of the council goals.

Shevlin thanked Cunningham for starting the discussion on Town Center, noting that she had also received questions from the community, but said that she believed the council needed an “organized process” for approaching the topic.