City Fee Switcharoo: Councilor no longer supports fee ballot measure

Two city councilors have informed us that Councilor George Brown, who initially supported the city fee measure that will appear on the May 21 ballot, has changed his position and will now oppose the measure. Brown told EW earlier this week that he was considering changing his mind, but he needed more time to weigh both arguments.

Councilors Brown, Mike Clark, George Poling and Betty Taylor oppose the measure. Councilors Chris Pryor, Claire Syrett, Alan Zelenka and Mayor Kitty Piercy support it.

To EW‘s knowledge, Councilor Greg Evans has not yet taken a public position; we sent an email inquiry today to confirm this and will update this post when we hear back. Brown has not yet responded to messages left at his home and business.

[Update: 8:50 pm April 5]: Evans responded that he opposes the fee proposal because he is not satisfied with the options presented by the staff to close the budget shortfall. He voted to place the issue on the ballot so that citizens could decide whether they wish to pay the fee, and he doesn’t believe it will pass.