By GARRET JAROS/Lincoln Chronicle
WALDPORT — The Waldport city council canceled its scheduled monthly meeting Thursday afternoon, saying it could not ensure the public’s “safety and security” after the Lincoln County district attorney dropped a disorderly conduct charge against former Waldport mayor Heide Lambert for her actions at an April meeting.
“We have been informed by the district attorney that they will not be able to reliably prosecute charges brought by the local sheriff’s office against members of the public for disrupting the meeting, and as such, we feel that the safety and security of the meeting cannot be ensured,” the city said in a statement posted on a Waldport Facebook page.
In its statement, the city agreed that it was “a challenging time” for the council, and opposing community groups.
“… you want your voices to be heard and the council does want to listen — what we saw were two citizen groups in diametric opposition coming to a meeting in which the LCSO Deputies were just told the DA would not back them up,” the city’s statement said. “The operating options we were given are not satisfactory. Safety is our top priority.”
The city’s announcement said it hopes to have a “safe solution” to the issue while staying within Oregon ‘s public meetings laws in the next two weeks “and get back to productive council business.”
In a memorandum issued Tuesday, district attorney Jenna Wallace cited insufficient evidence for dismissing the second-degree disorderly conduct charge against Lambert that would have required a mandatory court appearance.
“A person commits the crime of disorderly conduct in the second degree if, with the intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, the person disturbs any lawful assembly of persons without lawful authority,” wrote Wallace.
In reviewing Lambert’s conduct at the meeting, Wallace wrote that she did not believe there is “sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury” that Lambert had the intent to do anything unlawful.
“It appears that Ms. Lambert believed that she had been unlawfully removed as mayor and was at the meeting acting in what she believed to be her official capacity,” Wallace wrote. “Given there is a question as to whether civilly the city of Waldport can lawfully remove an elected official by city council vote, it will be difficult to prove Ms. Lambert had the mental state required by law to commit the crime …”
Wallace added that she confirmed with Waldport officials that Lambert’s actions occurred prior to the start of the April 10 meeting and that “it is unclear whether Ms. Lambert’s conduct of sitting at the council table actually disrupted the meeting and prevented it from starting.”
Waldport’s reasoning
On Thursday, council president Greg Dunn told the Lincoln Chronicle that it was only after hours of discussion between councilors, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and an awareness that two opposing groups planned to attend the meeting that the decision to cancel was made.
Lambert and a group of her supporters planned to attend the meeting, according to an interview she gave to The Oregonian newspaper. Dunn said a newly formed group that supports the council and who is “tired of the other group” also planned to attend and protest.
“With that we were like ‘Okay, now we have two opposing groups, tensions are really going to get heated’ …,” Dunn said. “So mainly, that’s what the reason was. We had two opposing sides that were going to be coming to city council and we didn’t want even higher tensions.”
According to Dunn, Sheriff Adam Shanks informed the city that law enforcement’s hands were pretty much tied and “that they are trying to walk through this muddy water without stepping on anyone’s toes.”
But Dunn said if Lambert again sat in the mayor’s chair and spoke after the meeting started and persisted after being told to stop, she could then be arrested, as could the people who interrupted the meeting if they continued to speak after the 20-minute public comment period had ended.
Dunn said the city is seeking advice on how best to proceed and is considering rescheduling the council meeting to be online only.
The April meeting
The charge against Lambert came on the heels of her dismissal one week earlier during a public hearing when the city council voted 6-0 to remove her for violating the city’s charter by trying to direct city employees in their duties.
On April 10, Lambert was accompanied by a large and vocal contingent of supporters when she arrived at a scheduled council meeting, where she made a brief statement before sitting in the chair normally reserved for the city’s top elected official.
“I am the elected mayor and have done nothing wrong,” Lambert said, and then accused the council of not providing her due process, overstepping its authority and claiming the section of the city charter that allowed her removal is unconstitutional. “I have every right to be here in the capacity as the mayor. The people elected me. Only the people who elected me can remove me.”
Supporters cheered Lambert’s statement and several began yelling questions and insults at council and city manager Dann Cutter.
After several minutes of the crowd yelling, Shanks and Deputy Abby Dorsey, who were attending the meeting on a separate matter, approached Lambert and persuaded her to leave the seat and step outside where she was cited. Lambert was allowed to return to the council chambers where she sat quietly in the back row.
The council was only able to conduct business when Shanks returned and asked the crowd to quiet down.
Pending legal action
Lambert was elected last November in a two-way race and took office in January. She had served two years on the Waldport council before taking a job as Yachats’ city manager in 2022, but left after 15 months because of a change in the mayor and council there and turmoil with city staff.
Lambert’s arrest was the first of a former public official in a public meeting that anyone can remember and highlighted the months-long, increasingly bitter and social-media fueled dispute between Waldport Beachcomber Days officers, its supporters and the city.
On Wednesday, attorney Jesse Buss of Oregon City filed paperwork asking Lincoln County presiding judge Sheryl Bachart to review the Waldport council’s removal of Lambert, saying it exceeded its jurisdiction, failed to follow council procedures, made a finding not supported by “substantial evidence,” misconstrued applicable law, or made a decision “that is unconstitutional.”
Buss termed the council’s decision to remove Lambert a “product of a slapdash local proceeding, is both substantively and procedurally improper.”
Bachart gave the city until June 3 to provide her with audio and any video of the April 3 meeting.
Lambert did not respond to phone calls from the Lincoln Chronicle on Wednesday or Thursday, but told The Oregonian newspaper she planned to attend Thursday’s meeting, remain in the audience and make a short public statement about how she believes she is still mayor. But Lambert told The Oregonian if the council shuts off public comments like it did last time, she might have to take her seat at the front of the room again to read her statement.
In her memo, Wallace went beyond Lambert’s disorderly conduct arrest to also weigh in on her removal from office.
“Although the city charter appears to allow the removal of the elected mayor through a city council vote, it is unclear whether this provision in the city charter is constitutional,” the district attorney wrote.
The April 10 meeting did not begin immediately after Lambert’s removal, Wallace continued, and no one else in attendance was arrested or cited for preventing the meeting from beginning or disrupting the meeting in the time before her return.
“Given this, it will be difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms. Lambert’s conduct did in fact prevent the meeting from starting or disrupted the meeting,” Wallace wrote. “For these reasons, I am declining to pursue charges at this time.”
- Garret Jaros covers the communities of Yachats, Waldport, south Lincoln County and natural resources issues for the Lincoln Chronicle, formerly YachatsNews, and can be reached at [email protected]
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To read Lincoln County District Attorney Jenna Wallace’s memo, go here
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To read the writ of review filed in Lincoln County circuit court by Heide Lambert’s attorney, go here
World leaders faced with genuine assassination threats are having their security guards taken away from them and y’all are scared of a bunch of old local ladies? Quiz: If this were a school, which grade would you guess is being represented here?